My Cipro Toes are Starting to Bend!

For the past 4 1/2 months of my life, after being poisoned by Cipro, the very first thing I did every morning, while just barely awake, was to try to bend my toes. And for the past 4 1/2 months, every morning was the same.........No, Not Today - Maybe Tomorrow. I know how odd that may seem to some, but Cipro has robbed me of so many simple things. Bending my toes is just one of them.

Almost two weeks ago, on August 31, 2010 in my still somewhat comatose state, I tried to bend my toes and much to my surprise, it worked! At first I wasn't sure, so I tried again and low and behold my toes bent! I whipped off the covers to see with my own eyes and sure enough they were bending. Not much, but it is a start. I was reluctant to believe my good fortune and could hardly wait to check out my new trick again the next morning. Voila', bending toes! It has now been a little over two weeks and the toes are still bending and the balls of my feet are a bit less painful. It seems as though I have reached a new plateau, hopefully this one will not be as long as the past one and the improvement will begin to accelerate, as opposed to remain stagnant.

If you are a dancer you know how important your toes are to your dancing! Cipro has hindered my physical ability to pursue my passion. Besides the constant pain in the balls of my feet and toes, the fact that they were so locked up caused me to change the way I walked and the way I danced. I was back weighted and turned on my heels. I was often off balance and had to change from one foot to the other quickly, due to the pain. With this improvement, I am now attempting to make the necessary changes in the way that I have been dancing to dancing the way I should be dancing!

This improvement came about 3-4 weeks after I began increasing my Vitamin C level. Vitamin C helps promote the production of collagen. I am not sure whether or not the Vitamin C was instrumental in my improvement, or just purely coincidental, but either way, I thought I would share my improvements and methods with you. It seems to me that it could be beneficial in helping to restore the destroyed sheath around the tendons and muscles from the antibiotic Cipro. (Levaquinn and Avelox are in the same class of Fluoroquinolones) I am currently taking 2000 mg per day and I weight 128 lbs.

Thanks to Cipro, Dancer Injured Again!

Last weekend we were at the Palm Springs Summer Dance Camp and a friend of mine who had previously taken Cipro, and has had two previous surgeries on her calves due to ruptures, re-ruptured her calf while dancing. It is a harsh punishment to take a drug that robs you of your passion.

What I would like to know is when this will ever end! The fact that Cipro, Levaquin and Avelox (flouroquinolones) cause severe muscle, tendon, joint pain and rupture and are still being prescribed without telling the patient of these risks is ludicrous! They claim that "only" 1% of people taking these drugs are effected and that they are otherwise "safe". I believe that to be an inaccurate number of people effected due to the lack of correlation between the antibiotic and an injury, therefore there is a lack of reporting the incidence to the FDA.

I have found numerous people that have been effected by these drugs and never realized that the antibiotics were the cause until it was brought to their attention. How many of you ever even thought that your muscle and joint pain, or ruptured tendons might be related to an antibiotic? I know that I never correlated my first tendon rupture due to Cipro, until one year later when I took it again and could not even walk. It was then that I re-examined my medical records and found that I was on the drug for 2 days when the rupture occurred.

I urge anyone that has had any injury of been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, or Rheumatoid Arthritis to go back and check their medical records to see if you had previously taken any of these drugs. You may be amazed to finally be able to figure out why your physical health seemed to deteriorate overnight.

Doctors and hospitals love these drugs and prescribe them like candy. It is a crime that they continue to do so with no warning, and no cure once the damage has been done. You will be hard pressed to find any help or even someone to believe you if you are poisoned by these drugs. Dancers' and all others please Beware of the Antibiotics called: Cipro, Avelox and Levaquin.

4 1/2 Months Floxed and Dancing!

It is now 4 1/2 months since I was floxed by Cipro for the second time. I am happy to report that after hitting a 2 month plateau on improvement, I have reached a new plateau. I was almost afraid to admit to myself or anyone else, that I felt as though I am experiencing a slight improvement in my feet. A VERY important improvement for me, as my passion is dancing. I passed my true test after a week of dancing every night. 3 nights of classes and 4 days at Palm Springs Summer Dance Camp. Yes, my feet were swollen, but I could still walk and they have since returned to their original shape and size!

My actual daily improvement is: A bit less pain in the balls of my feet and A bit more flexibility in my toes. Two mornings in a row now, I have been able to bend my toes, just a bit, but a great feat considering that they have been locked up for 4 1/2 months. My knees have improved more than my feet, but my pots and pans, and tupperware cabinets are still a disaster as I still cannot bear any weight on them in a squatting position....yet! I can now almost bend them to within 6 inches of my buttocks while lying down, which is miraculous, as when I was first floxed I could not bend them at all. I am also now able to maneuver stairs, both up and down, like a normal person. Slower than most, but still able to go up and down. In the beginning I could barely get up and down the 2 stairs into our living room. I had to use the railing and take them one step at a time, pulling myself up the stairs and holding my weight in my arms while going down them. I remember my chiropractor telling me that I would know when I was getting better when I could go up and down those stairs without having to think about it. Right now I think about it every time, in awe that I can now actually go up and down without the railing! Wow, the simple things in life!

I find that the more I move the better off I am, even if it is painful. The more I sit or lie down, the stiffer I am. I have continued to take the supplements and vitamins listed in another post, but have also increased my vitamin C to 2500 mg per day to increase my collagen. I actually began to notice the improvement 2 weeks after the increase in Vitamin C. I also am continuing to see a chiropractor every 3-4 weeks for therapy. It seems that this whole floxing episode has caused both of my arches to fall, which has led to increased pain. Custom Orthotics have helped tremendously. I am not a medical doctor and am only wishing to share what is working for me.

My best wishes to you all,
Michele

Symptoms from Another

> I'm a 32yr old guy who has generally been very healthy, fit and active. I was 'floxed' at the beginning of April this year. 5 days of 250mg twice daily of Cipro for non-existent prostatitis (I took half of a ten day course). The first day I took it I got terrible brain fog and blurred vision, it's like my IQ has been halved and I struggle to think straight, my short term memory is terrible. I feel constantly spaced out and unable to multi-task. An optician confirmed that my vision has indeed got worse. 1-2 weeks after stopping the Cipro I started getting tendinitis in my right Achilles and left knee. The tendinitis isn't particularly noticeable at rest, but as soon as I become active my right Achilles in particular becomes very sore - this limits my ability to walk and drive. I also began to get a tingling feeling in the sole of my right foot whenever I exerted pressure on it. I now have tendon pain in my left hip, and transient tendon pain elsewhere.
>
> A week ago I started to get spasms in my left thumb, it sort of locks up and spasms towards my forefinger whilst twitching when I try to use it, when it does that I almost feel like I am having a fit for a fraction of a second - really weird. I am also having tendon pain around my left wrist and forearm.
>
> Prior to me taking Cipro in April I had NEVER had any of these symptoms.There are 2 things I would like to know, if possible:
>
> 1) I HATE the brain fog, I am finding it a real struggle and very depressing, will I recover my cognitive abilities at some point?
>
> 2) The spasms/cramps in my left thumb are worrying me. I start to think "oh no, it must be ALS/MS" etc etc. Logically I know that it must be the Cipro, I have too many other quinolone ADRs for it not to be, but I'm looking of some reassurance that others have had similar spasms/cramps to this...
>

10 Weeks Post Cipro Poisoning

Well, it has been ten weeks now and I must say that while I am so much better than I was during the first six weeks, I am pretty disgusted with the feeling better/feeling worse cycle that seems to have become my new routine.

I was actually doing quite well last week. Dancing without too much residual pain and only hobbling around for about an hour in the mornings vs hobbling half of the day. I have discovered that normal everyday occurrences are no longer simple.

A long car ride to Boise proved to be quite painful. I have found that extended periods of immobility increase the stiffness and achy-ness in my muscles, joints and tendons. I have also come to the conclusion that walking for any length of time on hard surfaces, such as tile, concrete, and composition floor over concrete will cause a set back for me. I recently spent two days at my parents house (lots of tile) and visiting my mother in the hospital, lots of long walks over pavement and hospital floors. The cost: severe calf, knee and Achilles pain as well as additional foot pain. I've been home now for two days and the aches and sharp pains are beginning to subside. They were severs enough for three nights that I did not sleep.

The up and down of the roller coaster ride is no picnic! How pathetic it is that after taking Cipro, an antibiotic that is "supposed" to help you, that a visit to my family causes physical pain. I guess my new mission will be to find shoes that will better cushion my body.

I feel fortunate that I am beginning to be able to live my life again, even though it is physically painful, as I know there are many out there who have been effected at a much higher level of disability, however, I am still VERY ANGRY!

The continued use of this drug and other floroqiunolones is a crime and the fact that they have done NOTHING to find a "cure" is appalling! My best wishes to all of you floating in this boat and my strongest warning to those of you who are not. Never take Cipro!