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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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/).

Tequin (Gatifloxacin)
Posted on 26 September 2002
It's been 13 months since my liver transplant and I'm still having a hard time settling for the "we'll never know" reason the doctors gave me for the sudden liver failure I experienced. My obsession is what led me to this site. I'll relay just the facts as I've realized that emotions just get in the way. I am female, 44, active, healthly and hardly ever got sick or went to the doctor.

July 18, 2001 - I went to my doctor (a GP) for a pelvic pain I was having. I couldn't sleep and was in constant pain. I had a full pelvic exam and pap smear and he couldn't find anything. He scheduled me for a colonoscopy for August 8th mainly because my mom died of colon cancer 11 years earlier and that seemed like the place to start.

July 25, 2001 - I went in for the pre-colonoscopy blood tests. Even though the pelvic pain was alot better we were still going to get the colonoscopy done to check out if anything was going on there. While I was there I had him look at the swollen glands in my throat that were making it painful to eat. That's when I got the Tequin. Five pills to take over the next three days. On the third day, my doctor called me and sternly told me to STOP taking the Tequin. I told him I only got five and they were all gone already. He again told me to STOP taking them. I told him I couldn't take any more because I didn't have any more. He told me a third time NOT to take any more of the Tequin. The blood tests had come back and my liver numbers were not normal. The tests were done a few hours before I started taking the Tequin.

August 1, 2001 - I turned very yellow and was very tired all the time. I spent the next three weeks having blood tests, vitamin K shots, EKG's, x-rays and a boatload of other tests I can't remember the names of.

August 23, 2001 - I started swelling up. This is when they called me at work and said I should go to the hospital. They sent me to a very large hospital. After 24 hours of tests and ultrasounds and questions I was told that I needed a new liver and I needed it in the next 12 hours.

August 25, 2001 - I had a liver transplant. At the time of my surgery I had six hours to live, my kidneys had started shutting down and I had 2% liver function. I had two heart attacks during surgery. My heart stopped for 30 minutes the first time and 15 minutes the second time.

I am fine now but what this did to my husband and friends and relatives was awful. The first thing my hometown doctor asked me when it was all over was did the liver physicians at the large hospital think he did anything wrong. Too suspicious for me. I must have had a problem but my family and friends and I all believe that the Tequin is what killed my liver. Can't prove it. Can't get any answers. But we can't get any peace of mind either. Be thankful that I'm alive? You bet! The miracle of organ donation is just that...a miracle. But 13 months later and I still ponder the reason why. That is why today I got on the internet and entered the word Tequin and it led me here. Hoping for anything, I guess.

Originally posted on the Quinolone Adverse Reaction Forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinolones/message/9830