Ciprofloxin, a Toxin. This is the story of how I went down hard and came back fighting. Maybe not everyone can come back, of this I'm not sure. I hope it's possible. I'm not going to dispense advice or offer a medical opinion, just my own opinion on what has happened to me and what has worked for me. Keep in mind as you read mine was a MILD case. I thought long and hard about posting the exact vitamins and minerals that have brought me back. On the one hand there are always people out there who will seek damages when none were intended. I'm not force-feeding anyone just as no one forced you to take a drug from the major pharmaceutical companies that did damage in the first place. If you're reading this it's because you're desperate, just as I was. Each case of this poisoning seems to be different, so what I was recommended may not work for you as it did for me. Draw your own conclusions and do whatever your gut instinct tells you. If you have the money, or a good credit line, make the investment and find an M.D. who specializes in a holistic approach, what they call "complementary medicine". Do your research and make sure they will perform the necessary blood and urine tests to know how best they can help you. I'm afraid you, like me, are now in an area that is somewhat gray, with the mainstream medical possibly prescribing more of the very poison that did this or simply unable to help with their knowledge at hand. You are, like it or not, not much better than a lab rat when you've run out of mainstream medical assistance. Or more importantly, out of money. For the one person my misfortune might be able to assist, I write the following.
Three weeks ago I was living my life, building a house by myself. I'm 36, female, with no prior major medical problems. Never smoked, never did drugs, once in a blue moon drank a glass of alcohol just to be somewhat sociable. Never broke a bone even. The only problems I had were daily headaches. Other than that, nothing wrong with me that I knew about. Special note - I had never taken a mammogram, more on that later.
July 25th. I went to the doc (Denise Woods, R.N. of Brenham Family Care in Brenham) due to an inflamed breast with a lump. The lump scared me half to death. The first thought of any woman, cancer. Being a creative person I had visions of my untimely demise leaving my poor mother with a half-finished house that would cost a fortune to try and complete. Turns out that was the least of worries after my visit with the good doc. Before I continue I must say I have the greatest respect for the medical profession. They put in long hours and many years of training to become certified. For sure I couldn't do it. I get woozy at the sight of a needle. However, this particular doc should not be "practicing" medicine on anyone, as this is not the first mistake she's made, although certainly the most toxic for me. I don't usually bad-mouth people completely but in this case, beware of Denise Woods, RNP. Even after my mother wrote the doc a letter about what had happened to me in the first week, she couldn't be bothered to call, apologize, offer advice, nothing. I guess I fell into the "problem patient" category. In fact, run if anyone prescribed any fluoroquinolones (check out the link for what brand names these things are sold under). What I've learned is horrifying. Mostly saved as a last resort for anyone not responding to conventional antibiotics, best known as a reserve for "bird flu" treatment. I'm not sure about everyone else, but I'd rather keel over from the bird thing. Maybe you'll feel the same after reading this.
My "doc" in Brenham is actually an R.N. working under an M.D. in another small city in Belleville. I arrived and after waiting 40 minutes in an empty office (just what is the deal with waiting?) was seen and upon examination she decided I must have a breast cyst and it should have a second opinion and be aspirated. The inflammation I was told must be an infection. Standard procedure, I'm sure. Thing is, this was Friday so no one was available at the hospital. So instead she left me waiting in the room another 15 minutes, came back and said she would aspirate it and prescribe some "strong antibiotics" for the weekend. She thought it must be a fluid-filled cyst, only it wasn't. Nothing came out but the digging around with the needle did hurt, even with the local anesthesia. So with no answers, more pain now from the digging we headed off to the drug store to fill the prescription. The prescription was for ciprofloxin 500mg twice daily for 10 days. I've had antibiotics before with no ill-effects, so placed my trust in the doc. Blind trust. Even after reading through the long list of side-effects and in between all that it said "may cause tendon rupture". A special note here, I filled my prescription at Walmart. There was NO BLACK BOX WARNING, even though I have subsequently learned the FDA passed a law requiring black box warning on this medication on July 8th, 2008 and no consultation as to what, if any, effects this drug would inflict. I thought the bland warning very odd and unsettling. However, even smart people make stupid mistakes. I had a raging headache from all the stress and the pain in my breast, but with doc's advice I overlooked my gut instinct to second-guess and started taking the medicine that night.
July 26th - 31st. I still had some swelling in the breast only now the top part of that arm felt like it got hit with a baseball bat. My mom said it might be from the needle having gone in and inflamed the muscle. Sounded reasonable. No one to call as it was a Saturday. I dismissed the matter and it wasn't until the 30th I knew something was very, very wrong. I decided to stop taking the medicine right away, but with eleven pills down the damage I feared was done. Mom put a call into the doctor's office that morning at 9 a.m. and the receptionist said the doctor would call back. She didn't. I got worse. Extreme muscle spasms all down my legs like I've never experienced. I could barely walk to the toilet in terrible pain. All day this continued. The doctor did finally call back, or rather the receptionist did on her behalf, at 4 p.m., with the most insulting question, "have you been working on that house again?" Like I'd caused this somehow? When I said I couldn't even make it out of bed she told me once again, "I'll let the doctor know and she'll call you back." For the record, she did not call back until late the next day, the 31st, again the receptionist, and left a message saying, "Just call us if you need us." Sure, that's it. When I need you. I'd been up all night in agony worrying my mother and couldn't even answer the phone. Not only the muscle spasms in the legs, but a tightening in the the legs, like a rubber band being pulled both ways along with shooting pains and more worrying, now my left shoulder was doing this same thing. All day, all night. Extreme headaches from all the pain. In between barely being able to walk, in despair I researched the Internet for as long as I could sit without wanting to scream in agony. What I found out made me want to panic even more. Ciprofloxin belongs to a class of drugs known as fluoroquinolones, used for the most extreme of situations, bird flu or bacterial infections untreatable with other, safer antibiotics. Three were already yanked from the market for these types of reactions, and more severe reactions, many tendon ruptures, some deaths. I was horrified. And most tragically of all, not alone. Commonly prescribed for uterine tract infections and all sorts of common ailments, doctors hand out these prescriptions like candy at a state fair. If you have a uterine tract infection, go with the cranberry supplements instead, anything but this.