Life-shattering antibiotics dished out like candy - Here, have some Cipro!

All antibiotics have more or less serious side-effects, but those known as fluoroquinolones are in a class of their own as far as the damage they can do. Literally, just a few pills can destroy your life and, although the dangers are known in the medical community, doctors mindlessly prescribe them for mild infections, that other less toxic drugs could cure just as well.

Source

I don't know the people in this photo, they are just some of the floxies, the people whose lives have been devastated by fluoroquinolones, photo taken from one of their many support sites.

If you're not familiar with the term fluoroquinolones, you might know the brand names under which these drugs are sold: Ciprofloxacin (Cipro), Levofloxacin (Levaquin), Moxifloxacin (Avelox), Gemifloxacin (Factive), Norfloxacin (Noroxin), Ofloxacin (Floxin). They're commonly prescribed for sinus infections, urinary tract infections, bronchitis and bacterial infections of the prostate. Common scary side-effects of these drugs are damaged or ruptured tendons as well as damage to muscles and joints. The damage is permanent – just a few pills and you might end hardly being able to walk or stand in line at the grocery store. I picked this one up from the story posted by a someone poisoned by these drugs. Someone floxed – that is the terms used for fluoroquinolones toxicity syndrome.
People affected by this syndrome report excruciating pains, patients becoming unable to perform simple every day tasks.

You can even buy Cipro online as treatment for traveller's diarrhoea (!)

As the name implies fluoroquinolones contain fluoride, which enables the drug to cross the blood-brain barrier. By doing so, the drugs in this class damage not only the peripheral nervous system but also the central nervous system. People poisoned by these drugs go on to develop peripheral neuropathy – pain, numbness, tingling burning sensations of arms and legs. Not to mention headaches, weakness and diziness.
There are then psychiatric effects – brain fog, anxiety, suicidal thoughts.
Fluoroquinolones have been around for decades and reports on these side-effects appeared in the 1980s, yet the FDA waited till 2016 to issue a 'safety review' and warn fluoroquinolones should be used as a last resort treatment, when all options have failed.

Reports put the number of suspected US cipro-related adverse reactions at 79,000, including 1,700 deaths, between 2005 and 2015.

Maybe US doctors are more careful now when prescribing these drugs (I wouldn't bet on it, though), but in other parts of the world doctors have no qualms about prescribing them. This is why I am writing this today, because a friend of mine was just prescribed Cipro for an UTI. (In Romania it is sold as Ciprinol). No, I'm not in the habit of overseeing my friends' medical treatments, it's just that I'm deeply scared of this drug. Some time ago, this same drug was prescribed to my daughter for a presumed UTI, with no tests done. We stay away from antibiotics as much as possible, but at the time she was quite unwell. And no, it didn't cross my mind to check it out. After just one pill, the next morning she had a scary dizzy spell. No alarm bells, maybe it's the antibiotic, maybe the fever.
That evening, after the third pill she experienced an episode of elevated heart rate. Only at this point I got concerned and went online – a terrifying experience during which I learned new words, like tendinitis. You can imagine how scared I got after reading that only a few pills you might be damaged for life.
As I am a generally rational person, I know that many people have no problems after taking fluoroquinolones, but some do – quite a large number of them do – so why would you want to be among the victims, the floxies, when there are other options.
It took me 10 minutes to find out how dangerous these drugs are and you'd expect doctors here and anywhere else would know about side-effects. Many reputable mainstream scientific websites now warn fluoroquinolones are a last resort treatment. Or maybe the doctors know and they just don't care.
Doing some research for this post I came across many tragic stories of people poisoned by fluoroquinolones, some have been struggling for years with the above symptoms. A father of two who died within a few days after starting a course of such drugs. Far too many to include in a post.

"I can't walk properly and haven't been able to walk properly for over a year. My elbows, knees, ankles, pelvic joints, just snap and pop - even my neck." (Richard Pyne, 42, Glasgow, Scotland)

Incidentally, the US troops involved in the 1990-91 Gulf War were prescribed Cipro against potential anthrax attacks and there are suspicions that some of the symptoms generally associated with the Gulf War Syndrome might have been caused by these drugs.

One more thing – do not assume that if you've taken one of these drugs before, you're in no danger and you can take it again. Your body might react differently the next time.

Sources:

https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm500143.htm
https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/fluoroquinolones-safety-risks
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/11/01/fluoroquinolone-antibiotic-side-effects.aspx
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/09/left-paralysed-fluoroquinolone-antibiotic-toxicity-170919135407632.html