Cipro, Avelox, Levaquin - floxed? Please read if you took any of these antibioti

Hello all:

 

I have been looking over posts for awhile as someone, who now realizes, started benzos for anxiety from a quinolone antibiotic and in the beginning of the this year took more (yikes). I am now slowly microtapering but having lots of symptoms (although 10 months post levaquin, not sure which are from benzo withdrawal and which from the antibiotic exposure as symptoms from them can take some time to show up). Anyway, I have noted that many of the posted on BB either started a benzo due to the effects of an antibiotic in this class (knowingly or not), took some while on benzos, during with w/d or after.

Here are some of the people I have noted:

Jittery18

Lori Lee

Litobitoblond

Stonyco

Recover08

WonderWoman

Sunny71

JSince

JWM1

Jeannie

Putter

ByByMatrix

IAmQuitting

HockeyGal

Leena

Kenneth

Vertigo

Amber83

Karin

SetMefree

Syssoniq

Boagie

PerlGrau

Itzweird

AfterU999

Brandy

ShortTimeTom

SunnyGirl

Karma

Dominic

ClickClack20

IHope

Crono

Lady48h

WoodyIndia

Mal

 

So, it is so clear this family of antibiotics in POISON. I am determined to get off the benzo and be a success story like Recover08, ByByMatrix, Sunny71 and Kenneth!

 

Please if you are on this list and have recovered, let the rest of us know. It helps so much! Also, if you should be on this list but are not, also add yourself. Maybe we can share things that have helped.

 

Windows to all!

 

IAQ

 

Hi IAQ

thanks for putting this list together.  I do hope some of the recovered people respond. In the document 'the flox report' it is mentioned that benzos can slow down recovery from FQ toxicity, So we have to be patient.  The good thing is that recovery IS possible.

 

Continued healing to all,

Jeanie. ( one 'n' instead of two)

 

20 months post- floxing

13 months benzo withdrawal

I was taking Kefex and it put me into a terrible w/d. I was only taking K once in a while for sleep and I took it with the Keflex and started to feel really nervous so I started toking more K. I was in a w/d situation before I knew what was happening. keflex is a Cephalosporin so I don't know what to think. 

While on benzos, I was given Avelox and Prednison (steroid) for a sinus infection (now recognized to also be related to chronic stuffiness due to benzos! Argh!!!)  Anyhow, I went into acute w/d - brain fog, heart palps, the whole nine - for about 3 days.  I stopped the Avelox and finished Prednisone - and it went away.  Only on looking back did I realize that this fluoroquinolone had really taken hold and displaced the Klonopin from my receptors.  Not sure what long-term impact, if any, it's had. I'm 11 weeks post jump - definitely improving, although, not yet healed. Hope this adds to your info gathering.

 

:)Parker

I'm scared the cipro did permanent damage. I am 5.5 months off with severe insomnia and muscle twitching and jerks.

Thanks Posters.

 

Jeanie et al: where in the time frame related to benzo did your flox-like symptoms begin, peak, end? What are or were your symptoms? Jeanie - have you gotted any more symptoms as time goes on post-floxing?

 

The ones I have now that probably are not benzo-related but more likely floxing are: VERY dry skin, hair, eyes, nose, sinuses (mucous membranes), decreased sweating and lack of skin elasticity and calf hair. I am concerned too now that the quinolones were behind the onset of my autoimmune vasculitis in early 2009 (the anxiety that came right before I got critically ill led to the benzo which I later took for sleep). I have burning skin, lots of muscle twitching, pins and needles, joint and muscle weakness and pain, shakiness, hair and weight loss, blurry vision, some cog-fog, total apathy, insomnia, some anxiety, poor stress tolerance and depression but not sure if these are benzo or quinolone-related. I am starting to have issues with my kidneys, I think, as my urine is almost always clear no matter how much fluids I take in. I have a call into my doctor to get some labs run. I am now 10 months post last quinolone and have been tapering slowly (difficult) since August.

 

Thanks all!

 

IAQ

Parker/Jittery/Jeanie:

 

Are there any of your current symptoms that you believe are strictly related to the antibiotics vs. benzo withdrawal?

 

Thanks!

 

Happy Holidays!

 

IAQ

You can add my name to the "poisoned" list I was given high doses of cipro in the hospital. I'm starting to wonder how much of this is because of the antibiotics. I wish I had known what to stay away from post-benzo 

You can add my name to the "poisoned" list I was given high doses of cipro in the hospital. I'm starting to wonder how much of this is because of the antibiotics. I wish I had known what to stay away from post-benzo 

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Sassy when did this happen ? Are u ok??

 

I think my insomnia is more related to the floxing then benzo wd.

Hello fellow floxies,

The question has been asked about separating benzo vs fq symptoms. I've been trying to sort that out and I'm not sure I can.

 

Since I am twenty months post floxing, it appears according to The Flox Report (available online in PDF format, ) that I have had a severe reaction that has been getting progressively worse and should be peaking in the next few months. The main symptoms that may not be benzo related are the extreme upper body weakness and loss of muscle and collagen... Worst in the hands ( peripheral neuropathy?). Then again, I am on a minuscule dose of Ativan which comes with its own array of horrible symptoms.  I have a feeling that the benzo withdrawal is slowing the healing from cipro. Yet with every cut, I get increased symptoms!  I'm physically weak and its hard to find the physical strength to continue the taper.  It's a nightmare.

 

We are all in a difficult position as we need to become our own doctors, as so little is known ( and even denied) about fq cns damage. Let alone, adding the complexity of benzos!  I think that will all change eventually, but it appears for now, we are pioneers.  But from all I've learned, time, healthy diet and low stress appear to be the main healers.

 

Let's all keep in touch. Especially helpful, would be hearing about any healing!

Jeanie

 

 

Jeanie and others:

 

Have you had any joint issues, tendon issues, burning skin, wound healing issues, vision issues, weight and hair loss, dry mucous membranes?

 

Thanks!

 

IAQ

All fellow floxies:

 

Please share what has helped alleviate your symptoms.

 

Thanks!

 

IAQ

 

My floxing happened prior to benzo's.  I was put on cipro after gallbladder surgery and that caused an extreme case of C-diff. It took over a month for the doctor to diagnose and treat the C-diff. I was given another a/b and sent on my way with no clue what was about to happen. For about 3 years my mental and physical health declined. I was told it's all in my head and that I was just getting old. I then insisted my b12 be checked and found it to be extreme low along with thyroid troubles. Things got even worse after starting treatment for b12 and thyroid. Then I was told my problems were all in my head and started xanax and zoloft. Things got even worse, I became very ill and thought I was soon dead. Then I was told to stop the meds because they found a lump on my adrenal and that's what was causing my problems. Well, the lump wasn't causing the trouble but was removed because of the size. I came out of surgery in a living hell.

I'll spare you the entire story of seeing a zillion docs and their many WRONG diagnoses.

I finally found a doctor who confirmed where my troubles all began. Cipro, which caused C-diff, which, after treatment, was never re-checked. Nor was I informed about how to take care of my intestines after the infection. Now I'm in big trouble!!!!! The damage may have gone too far, that's unknown right now.

 

IAQ,

Please check out Fluoroquinolone Antibiotic Toxicity on Facebook for some ideas on things that have helped people. Also, Saferpills.org  :pokey:has a fairly comprehensive list : http://www.saferpills.org/?page_id=498

 

Also, I have had all the things you mentioned in your post occasionally.

 

I would be really interested in others letting us know how they feel they were affected by benzo-FQ combination. 

 

Jeanie.

Jeanie:

 

I am going to try to send you a PM.

 

Thanks,

IAQ

you can add my name to the list of unsuspecting floxed..i had to have two surgeries last fall and both times was given cipro as will as introvenus 2x daily of flagyl(not sure if its a flouroquinolone) and levofloxacin......i had a staff infection and thought that was the worst of my worries...keep in mind i had no clue at that point i had issues with clonazepam nor had any idea what it even was...it was how i slept, kept muscle cramps at bay, and kept a so called tremor under control....now after the HORRIBLE reaction i had i know what clonazepam even IS....and know the muscle cramping i was having was due to interdose w/d....and tremor?  well its the shaking/tremor with i/d w/d as its so clear to me now....as far as side effects from being "floxed"....i am even embarrassed to type them but if it helps one other person ill do it...

nausea...

hallucinations

rage/anger...i even went after my hubby from a hosp bed with a gaping open wound convinced he was out to kill me

crying uncontrolllably

itching all over my body especially legs, arms and belly

emotional moods like typhoons and happening in seconds...one to the other extreme

shaking...oh god shaking of my entire body, legs arms hands feet etc...even my eyes wouldnt stay in one place

blurry vision

hearing cars, babies, footsteps, beeps, crackles, ANYTHING sounding like i was by the speaker in a ZZ Top concert..lol 

nooooooooooo sleep...

fization on the weirdest things....was i warm was i cold was i ok was i dying did i eat i was sure i had some flesh eating disease as it felt like i could feel it eating me alive...crazy

sweating ...

fever of 102 and the dr telling me that was NORMAL???? urgh...anyhow...

i had to have the second surgery as my wound/muscle that was operated on ripped and tore open....

heart rate of 191/111.....scary

all this came on about day two of the experience...it took weeks to overcome the last bit then i was stable again...only to be taken off my clon. cold turkey....big mistake but i then knew what the heck it was and went back on..stabilized....and began a SLOW taper....my advise to anyone thinking of going near a fluoro antibiotic....RUN LIKE HECK and dont look back.....

as i look at what i typed it sounds like a horror film i am so sorry!  just my experience and please take with a grain of salt...there is hope and i am surviving now!  its not ALL doom and gloom...i have learned some harsh lessons through this but that which hasnt taken me out has only made me stronger and that much more willing and determined to be clon free!  here is to hope!

 

 

I'm going to see Dr. David Flockhart in Indiana who is an FQ reaction expert. I'm hoping he can shed some light on the persistent severe insomnia I have.

jittery18, did you see the Doc.? What did he say?  Jeanie, you can add me to the list also :'(

I took cipro for 30 days in 2006, during my first taper off benzos.

 

I am recovered.

This is an old thread I never saw.

My mom took Avelox while tapering ativan and she recovered 5 months after taper.

I can only assume it was the avelox that reset her benzo receptors, so the rest of her taper was as if she was only on the ativan at a low dose for a few months versus years.

The only problem is that she reinstated after recovery and is now, kindled.

This time will take at least 3 years to heal.

 

I took cipro after starting a month after I started Ativan. And I was on a take as needed script. In and out of withdrawal, but did not know it.1 mg

 

Went ct two months ago and I in trouble. Plus I was a long term heavy pot smoker and beer drinker. So we have 4 items that effect the gama.

 

Insomnia is my biggest problem. Have zero natural sleep pattern. 1 hour a night for 55 days. Take evaril at times but it's crap

 

What do you think

I took cipro after starting a month after I started Ativan. And I was on a take as needed script. In and out of withdrawal, but did not know it.1 mg

 

Went ct two months ago and I in trouble. Plus I was a long term heavy pot smoker and beer drinker. So we have 4 items that effect the gama.

 

Insomnia is my biggest problem. Have zero natural sleep pattern. 1 hour a night for 55 days. Take evaril at times but it's crap

 

What do you think

My uses Doxylamine which is in Unisom2 and wal-som which worked very well for 2 years.

Keeping vitamin D levels in the optimum range of 60-80ng/mL is also, essential for restorative sleep.