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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Avelox Posted on 20 December 2003
I have been reading this Forum since February of this year. I finally decided I should tell my story to give hope to some of you. Feb of 2003 I took Avelox for a sinus infection. I took 1 pill and felt funny, thought nothing of it becasue after all it was just an antibiotic. I took the 2nd pill and that was it, my life had changed, it was 7 months of a complete life change. I woke up that night with a horriable sensation through my whole body, I could tell my whole central nervous system had been overstimulated. I couldnt sleep, I couldnt sit still, I keep rocking back and forth, it was awful! I went to the medical clinic and the doctor told me I was having a reaction to the Avelox but it should go away when it leaves my bloodstream. WRONG! Thinking he was right, I waited it out till I could not take it anymore, went to a differant doctor, by this time I was an emotional mess. That doctor started me on Paxil and some Xananx. This doctor had no clue, I think he just thought I was mental. After a few more days I tried to get into a psyciatry office and it was a 6 week wait. I couldnt do that, I was going crazy with how I felt so I checked into a mental health clinc so I could been seen right away by a psychiatrist. And that I was. This man was wonderful, he researched Avelox, he told me beyond a dought it was this drug making me feel this way and he would never let his family take it!! He put me on Klonapin and left me on Paxil, the Klonapin did help right away, for the first time in a week my body calmed down. But I researched Paxil and Klonapin and thought, "oh no, Klonapin is addictive and Paxil is one of the hardest Antidepressants to get off". So I took myself off the 2 medications. All the syptoms came back, I couldnt sleep for a month after that, depression set in really bad which I had never suffered from in my life and so on.... Back on Konapin I went and back on a differant anitdeprssant. Well, lucky me, Celexa made me even more depressed and I ended up in a Mental Health Hospital, I could not beleive all this was happening to me from a stupid antibiotic! I felt dead inside, I still had the rocking back and forth thing going on, my adrenaline was always on high alert. I had to take a leave of absence from my job, I have 2 small children that I couldnt even take care of, it was the worst time I had ever had in my life. My life seemed over as far as I was concerned. I just couldnt beleive this was happening. And my poor husband who is a pharmacuetical rep felt horriable as he was the one who brought home the free samples for us. We did file an FDA report. Basically at this point my whole central nervous system had broken down, it went from severe anxiety which in turn leads to depression. This drug just zapped my GABA receptor in my brain and I was floxed. I spent 7 months working with my psyciatrist and just trying to keep me stable, I also at one point had to include a mood stablizer called Trileptal which was fine. I think he was trying anything. Well, to end this story, during this whole process I also worked with a functional medicine doctor in CA. I followed a book called, The Principle, transition 2 by Diane Swartbein. She promised me I would get better and she was right. She has a website.What could have taken 2 years to reheal my nervous system we did in 6 months. I ate perfect, no sugar, no refined flour, all I drank was water, I took all my supplements in theraputic doses to heal the brain and my nervous system, everything I bought was organic as possiable and ect.... My husband made it possiable that I had hardly any stress in my life except what I was going thru. I slowly started having good weeks and then it just got better from there. My life is completely back to normal and I am back to my happy old self. It seems like a bad dream and now I cant beleive it ever happened. If is helps anyone, dont give up and dont feel bad you are depressed or now have anxiety, you are not crazy, it is becasue of the drug and it can end. Remember I was suicidal and just a mess for 7 months and now I am completely well! But you are going to have to have a healthy body to work with so dont just rely on the meds, work with both. Best wishes to you all.

Originally posted on the Quinolone Adverse Reaction Forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinolones/message/17128