Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Learning to Dance in the Rain!


While I try to fill my life full of sunshine, I must admit that Cipro has added quite a bit of rain! It has now been nine months since I was floxed and I thought that it was high time I updated my symptoms. During the first few days and weeks I was barely able to walk. Sitting was also an issue as my knees and hips did not want to bend. The knees felt as though they would explode if I bent them. The upper back of my thighs, where the muscles connect to your bum, were excruciating. I used to say that my "bender-overer" was broken! The air literally cause pain in the balls of my feet and toes. Absolutely NOTHING could touch them!

My brain, now that was another special feature of being floxed. I often found the milk in the pantry and the mail in the back yard. I would leave the sprinklers running after watering the garden...... all night long. I would walk around the house aimlessly wondering what I was doing or what I was looking for.


I honestly thought that if this was to be my life I should just jump in front of the bus and get it over with. Doctors and pharmacists offerd no help. No treatment, no protocol. The only person to offer any suggestions at all was Dr. Carroll, a chiropractor and my daughters friend, Laura Laffranchini, the owner of Harvest Health Foods. Being that they were the only ones to offer any sort of suggestions, I followed their advice. I began to see improvement in about 3 weeks. I began to slowly dance again. I found that the more stationary I was the more pain I was in.


Today, nine months later, I just competed at the World Championships of Country Dancers. I placed ninth out of 23 dancers in the newcomer division. I was so thrilled to have come so far and to be able to participate in the competition. I dance my personal best of the entire year and was relatively pain free until my last two dances out of 16. Not bad fro a gal that could barely walk nine months ago.


So for my update: My knees, ankles and hips are close to being "normal". I still cannot squat!

My feet, especially the balls of my feet and toes are very much improved. I can now bend my toes and can even push forward with them. They only start to hurt about 2 hours into my dance practice and typically recover by the next day.
The brain fog is clearing, but is still lurking. Of course I am trying to figure out if that is Cipro or old age!
The overall fatigue comes and goes, but I have more good days than bad.

The aversion to bright light, mostly in the morning is getting better

The newest "symptom" that I have noticed is eye pain and headaches. I saw an eye doctor last week. He informed me that I have broken blood vessels inside my eyes, he is referring me to a retina specialist. I shall wait and see what he has to say, but in my heart of heart I feel as though this condition will also be Cipro related. I will keep you posted!

Take care and hope you are all improving daily!

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for the update. I will be interested in what the specialist says about your eye pain and headaches. I haven't experienced those symptoms, but have thought about the possibility of it affecting my eyes...aren't there tendons there too? Anyway, I hope all goes well for you.

    Since my last inflammation test was in the normal range (it was very high for 3 months during the worst of my symptoms) It seems the areas I can feel it now is around my trunk/upper-neck and shoulders. (Not my arms, it's been there already.) Mine seems to want to travel to all my tendons, and once it attacks an area, it moves on to a new, never-been-attacked area. Does that make sense? It has hit one or two areas twice, but but that is rare. I see the rheum. dr. next Tues. and I want to ask him about my eyes. My symptoms seem to be aggravated by alot by movement or exercise, but nothing like before. I just started back slowly with doing a mini tramp, and cross-trainer for 20 minutes total. That is why my shoulder is acting up ( did some arms over head) and the tops of my feet get sore, but like you, I've noticed it gets better the next day. The areas on my feet have been the ankles, achicilles, but not the toes or soles. My worst has been my hands and wrist areas! Oh, it hit them both so bad!

    Congrats on your dancing comp. and your up
    beat attitude! I really wish you continued healing!!
    Sorry for any typos, I can't seem to find a spell check..
    Terri

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  2. Thanks Terri! And typos are the least of our worries! My girlfriend's hands were 100% immobile, almost paralyzed for one year. She had such extreme pain that she could barely feed herself. Every doctor she saw said it was arthritis. She woke up one day and it was all just gone.

    It wasn't until I figured out that the Cipro almost crippled me that she went back and checked her medical records and sure enough she had taken a floroquinolone the week before her hands started to hurt.Unbelievable!

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  3. Hi. I am very new to realizing that I was floxed. My story is a long one, gong back to Feb 1997. I had a UTI and took Cipro just prior to leaving for a trek in Nepal and Tibet. I was in the best shape of my life, but when I got to Nepal, my body just broke down. Of course I thought it was the traveling conditions, since I was roughing it. But I had to slow down, didn't trek, and cut my trip short to return. I threw my hiking boots away in disgust. I started seeing orthopedists for my Achilles tendonitis, on both right and left, and was told ice, use Ibuprofen, stretch, rest and acupuncture. The acupuncturirst said I'd be there 3-4 visits tops. On the 7th visit, he said I was beginning to frustrate him. I never went back. I stopped working out, barely could walk, I gained weight, was depressed. Limping became my norm.

    Fast forward to 2000, and 2003. The birth of my two kids set off a whole new round of pain in my Achilles. I attribute it to FATIGUE: the less I slept, the worse my pain got. Then it became a viscous cycle: the pain kept me awake, I got fatigued and the pain got worse. I begged my husband to feed the kids two days in a row so I could 'get back on my feet.'. I saw a different doctor, and was told I need surgery in both. I have partial tears in both Achilles tendons. I had to change my shoes, which helped.

    Another relapse in 2007 and 2009. Finally I was told again to wear the boot to immobilize the left tendon, 6weeks. It helped a lot. I even got to play tennis in August. I thought I was fine... Joined a gym. Worked out regularly from September to February, when again, it gave out, but this time it was my right. I really thought I had this thing licked. My doctor now tells me I should never do anything at the gym that is weight bearing, not even push off the side of a pool. IT WILL RUPTURE eventually. I feel like I have a ticking time bomb in me. I started researching Achilles tendon rupture causes and now I see, I've been oblivious that I was floxed.

    So, bring it on. Please advise me on the vitamins, etc. that I might try. I am really in need of some direction! My doctors don't have a clue.

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  4. Ugh! Another Tragedy, I am so sorry to hear this. Here is what I did:
    http://www.cipropoisoning.com/2010/04/helpful-suggestions-post-cipro-poisonng.html

    http://www.cipropoisoning.com/2010/09/current-cipro-weapons.html

    I wish you all the luck in the world and will send a few prayers your way!
    Michele

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  5. You mention that the only person to offer any suggestions at all was Dr. Carroll, a chiropractor and your daughters friend, Laura Laffranchini, the owner of Harvest Health Foods. What suggestions were they that helped you see improvement?

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  6. Yes, the suggestions that they gave me are listed in other posts:
    http://www.cipropoisoning.com/2010/04/helpful-suggestions-post-cipro-poisonng.html
    http://www.cipropoisoning.com/2010/09/current-cipro-weapons.html
    Hope this helps, there may be other references in this blog, too!

    ReplyDelete