Post Marketing Reports for July 1999

 jane.brennan@m...
Date: Sun Jul 25, 1999 3:56am
Subject: Ciloxan - Ciprofloxacin
Last Sunday I woke up with a screaming headache, it lasted for days and no
amount of Aspirin, Tylenol, etc. would relieve it. I also noticed a ringing in
my ears and I could not get to sleep at night. I am usually asleep by 11:00,
but here it was 1,2, 3 in the morning and I was tossing and turning. On
Thursday night I was talking to a close friend who started describing something
that had happened to her friend. The woman was given two rounds of Cipro for
an illness (I don't know all of the details, so I can't post them here). She
ended up in ICU at Stanford Hospital for 7 weeks, with major organ failure and
was put into a drug induced coma. She has recovered, but not completely. The
doctors do not know how she came out of this alive. They also believe it was a
reaction to the Cipro. My friend cautioned me against using it. I logged onto
the internet and found this site, reading one horror story after another. Among
the sysmptoms was sleeplessness. I forwarded her the site and cautioned her
about all quinolones. I logged off, ready for bed, and was about to use the
antibiotic eye drops I had started taking last Saturday. You guessed it -
ciprofloxin, AKA Ciloxan. I did not use the drops that night. I called my
doctor's office the next day and told them of the reactions I had been having.
I was advised to stop taking them and to call next week to let them know if the
symptoms were continuing. This morning the headache was gone, but the ringing
is still there I had had some trouble falling asleep. I am thankful that I
received the information in time and that I was only taking 1 drop 4 times a
day rather than the oral meds. It is curious to note that my symptoms were all
in the head, possibly contained by the small dosage in and where they were
used. Jane