This personal story was originally posted to the Quinolone Adverse Reaction Forum. If you are a victim of a quinolone antibiotic and need support or advice then please visit the Quinolone Adverse Reaction Forum (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinolones/).
 

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Cipro
Posted on 28 October 2002
Hi all, I'm back after probably 6 months of not reading the forum at all.

To recap, I'm a 29 year-old male. Next week will be my 1 year anniversary since taking 6 doses of Cipro 500 mg. Overall, I have improved a lot since the early days. My tendons and joints are better. I can walk normally again. My brain is better. My muscle twitching is better. My balance is better. My taste buds have returned to normal. The nausea is gone. But things still linger for me.

I still have not attempted to run or long jump since Cipro. I am hopeful to try this again sometime, but I'm still building up my confidence. I have been getting back into swing dancing in the past month without much problem. My achilles tendons usually hurt in the morning when I wake up, but after an hour or two they feel ok.

My eyes still have a mild burning sensation most of the time. I cannot focus as well at a distance. It seems that when I focus close up for a while that my eyes cannot then focus at a distance. I never had this problem before, but it seems to me that my lenses and/or muscles and tendons in my eyes must be stiff like the rest of me.

I still have mild muscle twitching about once or twice a day. It can happen just about anywhere on my body. My muscle tremors seem to have subsided, and a lot of my strength has returned.

I still have various pains that act up in various places. It can change daily, and seems to have no real rhyme or reason.

I still have Cipro moments sometimes, where I can't remember a word I know I should be able to, or a name.

My craving for chicken and turkey has mostly subsided. I basically don't eat them anymore.

About 5 months into my ADR, I suffered a collapse of my left lung. Spontaneous pneumothorax for all the medical terminologists. This culminated in surgery and two microstaples in my lung to patch it up. Of course, the surgeons felt this was completely unrelated to my Cipro injuries. A spontaneous lung collapse is usually due to tiny defects in the lung that have been present since birth. And the surgery revealed that I had those defects. I agree that I was predisposed to the collapse, but it seems reasonable that since the Cipro attacked various connective tissue, it could have weakened those defects as well.

Like probably anyone here, I have been thankful for the victories. The first time I went out dancing again in about a year was really special for me.

But now that I am mostly back on my feet and better able to deal with normal life and my ADRs, and realizing that nobody really knows what lies ahead for me, I've been wondering about the case for legal action. I know that lawyers cannot restore my health. But what can be done to change an entire healthcare system that seems to be spiralling toward profits at the expense of patient wellbeing?

Hope everyone continues to improve, and that we continue to learn more about our conditions. Take care, Rob

Originally posted on the Quinolone Adverse Reaction Forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinolones/message/10374