dangers of fluoroquinolone antibiotics

When Investigating Fluoroquinolone Reactions, Move Beyond the ER

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When trying to determine the danger associated with a drug, the number of Emergency Room (ER) visits that result from use of that drug is often cited. While anaphylactic shock and other acute ER worthy reactions should certainly be measured, exclusively looking at how often a drug leads to ER visits is not a comprehensive, or accurate, way of determining the danger of a drug. Simply looking at ER visits leads those trying to determine the risk associated with a drug to fail to take into consideration chronic illnesses and conditions that are caused by prescription drugs, and leads them to only recognize adverse reactions that are immediately life-threatening. Acute and temporary reactions are over-emphasized while systemic and chronic reactions are under-recognized.

When Only ER Visits are Considered, Fluoroquinolones Look Safe

For example, when comparing the safety profiles of different antibiotics, the following was noted in the Journal of Family Practice:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that adverse events from FQs (fluoroquinolone antibiotics) leading to emergency department (ED) visits occur at a rate of 9.2 for every 10,000 prescriptions. That’s higher than the ED rates for cephalosporins (6.1 per 10,000) and macrolides (5.1 per 10,000), but far lower than for penicillins (13 per 10,000), clindamycin (18.5 per 10,000), sulfonamides (18.9 per 10,000), and vancomycin (24.1 per 10,000).

Thus, fluoroquinolone antibiotics are slightly less safe than cephalosporins and macrolides, but slightly more safe than penicillins, clindamycins, sulfonamides and vancomycin, right? That’s what the statistics around trips to the ER clearly note. However, what these data fail to take into account is that adverse reactions to fluoroquinolones are not generally allergic or acute reactions, whereas adverse reactions to penicillins, clindamycins and sulfonamides are. The ER is the place to go when suffering from an acute reaction. When a patient is going through anaphylactic shock or inflammation that is threatening their life as a result of an allergic reaction, the ER is where their life can be saved.  It is where epinephrine, steroids and antihistamines can be administered, and those drugs can save the life of a patient experiencing a severe allergic reaction.  Adverse reactions to fluoroquinolones are not allergic reactions. Though anaphylactic shock can occur as a result of taking a fluoroquinolone, it is an uncommon adverse effect.

More often, those experiencing adverse reactions to fluoroquinolones experience weakening of all of the connective tissues in their body (especially tendons), peripheral neuropathy, insomnia and/or other CNS related symptoms, debilitating fatigue, dysautonomia, etc.  None of these conditions warrant a trip to the ER, yet they are serious and severe symptoms of Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome. In only looking at ER visits when trying to determine the safety of a drug, the symptoms of an adverse drug reaction that are chronic, as opposed to transient like allergic reactions, are systematically disregarded and the safety profile of the drug is not accurately represented.

Conditions that can be quantified and measured using tests and data-points that are currently easily at the disposal of doctors, and conditions that can be rectified through the tools that are available to doctors – like allergic reactions to penicillin – are recognized.  Everything else is considered to be non-existent, mysterious or all in a patient’s head (as if what is in a patient’s head isn’t important). Systemic, chronic injuries caused by fluoroquinolones and other drugs are not seen because only adverse drug reactions that result in ER visits “count.” This is a problem because if doctors are only looking at a single data-point for determining the safety of a drug, and that data-point is the wrong one to look at, no one is getting an accurate or complete picture of the safety of drugs.

The frequency of adverse reactions to drugs that are more chronic and systemic in nature can be determined through long-term studies that take into consideration things like lifetime tolerance thresholds, delayed adverse reactions, etc. They should be implemented so that patients and doctors alike can have an accurate and comprehensive notion of the dangers of the drugs that are prescribed. ER visits are easy to calculate while long-term studies that recognize issues that are difficult to quantify (because the right tests are difficult to find and expensive to administer) are very difficult to conduct. Therefore, out of laziness, inertia and lack of funding, the wrong data is considered and drugs that cause chronic issues are falsely thought to have inflated safety records.

Asking the wrong question and expecting the right answer has never served anyone well, and doing that systematically in medicine is not serving patients or doctors well. It is not good for healthcare and it is not good for anyone seeking the truth about adverse drug reactions. If one wants to know the answer to the question of “How safe are fluoroquinolones?” we must move beyond trips to the ER and standard acute adverse reactions. Simply looking at ER visits is intellectually shortsighted and it leads to a false sense of security when prescribing dangerous drugs. Perhaps gathering some additional data-points should be considered.

Information about Fluoroquinolone Toxicity

Information about the author, and adverse reactions to fluoroquinolone antibiotics (Cipro/ciprofloxacin, Levaquin/levofloxacin, Avelox/moxifloxacin and Floxin/ofloxacin) can be found on Lisa Bloomquist’s site, www.floxiehope.com.

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More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

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This article was published previously in December 2013.

Friends Don’t Let Friends Take Fluoroquinolones: Four Stories

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I’ve been writing about the dangers of fluoroquinolone antibiotics (cipro/ciprofloxacin, levaquin/levofloxacin, avelox/moxifloxacin, floxin/ofloxacin and a few others) for a little over a year. As my friends, family, and associates have read what I’ve written, their skepticism has waned and many of them have realized that I actually know what I’m talking about when I say that fluoroquinolones are dangerous drugs that lead to destruction of connective tissues and nerves throughout the body. They have glanced at my source articles and noted that there are peer-reviewed journal articles that back up what I say.  It feels nice to be believed. It feels even nicer when those people let me know that they didn’t take fluoroquinolones because of the information that I gave them. It’s nice to know that they won’t get “floxed.”

In the last few months, several friends have approached me, asking about alternatives to fluoroquinolones. Here are some of their stories. All their names have been changed, but the stories are true.

Rick and the Sinus Infection

Rick was prescribed Levaquin to treat a sinus infection. He read through the warning label and noted that two of the listed side-effects are tendon ruptures and seizures. Rick has a seizure disorder and had surgery on a tendon in his foot six months earlier. He refused the Levaquin prescription and asked for something else. He was prescribed Bactrim. The Bactrim cleared up his sinus infection.

Question – What was that doctor thinking? Why would a doctor prescribe a drug that is well-documented as causing destruction of tendons to a patient who has a history of tendon problems?  Rick told the doctor that he had surgery on his tendon in his foot. Did the doctor think that the tendon issues that are severe enough to lead to a black box warning on all fluoroquinolones was something to be dismissed and disregarded?  And why would a doctor prescribe a drug that can cause seizures, along with a myriad of other central nervous system problems, to a person who has a pre-existing seizure disorder?  It seems like a negligent decision – or at least a horribly uninformed decision.  Unfortunately, the disregard of well established side-effects happens all the time. The contraindications for fluoroquinolones are routinely ignored and patients with pre-existing conditions are frequently prescribed fluoroquinolones for non-serious infections where other antibiotics would be sufficient. If Rick hadn’t read the warning label himself, and insisted on being prescribed a more benign antibiotic, he might have become one of the millions suffering from and adverse reaction to fluoroquinolones.

Melissa and the Use of Cipro in Children

Melissa’s 2-year old daughter suffered from ear infections. She was prescribed Cipro twice to treat the ear infections. Both times, Melissa refused the prescription for Cipro and was given something else.  A more benign antibiotic, then tubes put in her daughter’s ears, cleared up the infections.

Again, what was the doctor thinking? Fluoroquinolones are contraindicated in the pediatric population because they have been shown to damage the cartilage and joints of juvenile animals (source).  A review in U.S. Pharmacist noted that:

“Fluoroquinolones have demonstrated adverse effects on cartilage development in juvenile animals through the inflammation and destruction of weight-bearing joints.  These arthropathies were often irreversible, and their potential occurrence in children limited the use of fluoroquinolones in this population. In one pediatric study, ciprofloxacin had a 3.3% (9.3% vs. 6.0%) absolute risk increase in musculoskeletal events within 6 weeks of treatment compared with control agents used to treat complicated UTIs or pyelonephritis. Adefurin and colleagues found a 57% increased relative risk of arthropathy in children given ciprofloxacin (21% overall) versus those in a non-fluoroquinolone comparator arm. In contrast to animal models, neither dose nor duration had an effect on the rate or severity of arthropathy.  A 2007 study by Noel and colleagues determined the incidence of musculoskeletal events (primarily arthralgias) to be greater in children treated with levofloxacin compared with nonfluoroquinolone-treated children at 2 months (2.1% vs. 0.9%; P = .04) and 12 months (3.4% vs. 1.8%; P = .03).  These results and the severity of the effects should be weighed heavily when initiation of fluoroquinolones is being contemplated in pediatric patients.” (source)

Fluoroquinolones can cause irreversible damage to the cartilage of juvenile animals, and adult humans, so did Melissa’s daughter’s doctor think that somehow toddlers with ear infections were exempt from being damaged by Cipro? Melissa’s daughter could have been hurt. She could have been damaged by the Cipro. She could have developed permanently weakened tendons, lesions on her cartilage, destruction of her joints, etc. None of the damaging effects of fluoroquinolones are easy to treat, and their severe side-effects should not be the trade off when treating pediatric ear infections.

Did that pediatrician completely forget his or her Hippocratic Oath?  She must have, because Cipro could have done severe, irreversible, life-long harm to the toddler.

Fluoroquinolones during Pregnancy? Denise’s Story

Denise was eight months pregnant when she came down with an upper respiratory infection. Her doctor tried to prescribe her Cipro. She refused the Cipro and instead took Azithromycin.

Azithromycin just happens to be the only antibiotic ever studied in pregnant women, at least partially. That is, there is one study showing basic pharmacokinetic or dosing information for its use during pregnancy. There are no data on the health and well-being of the offspring.

Given the total lack of data for medication use during pregnancy, one has to wonder what that doctor was thinking prescribing Cipro, one of the most potent and dangerous antibiotics, to a pregnant woman.  Why in the world would he prescribe a fluoroquinolone to a pregnant woman?  In big, bold, capitalized words on the Cipro warning label, it is stated that, “THE SAFETY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF CIPROFLOXACIN IN PREGNANT AND LACTATING WOMEN HAVE NOT BEEN ESTABLISHED.”  The warning label goes on to note that, “No differences in the rates of prematurity, spontaneous abortions, or birth weight were seen in women exposed to ciprofloxacin during pregnancy. However, these small post-marketing epidemiology studies, of which most experience is from short-term, first trimester exposure, are insufficient to evaluate the risk for less common defects or to permit reliable and definitive conclusions regarding the safety of ciprofloxacin in pregnant women and their developing fetuses.”  Note that no research has ever been done to investigate the effects of fluorquinolones on fetal development and child development post pregnancy when used during the second or third trimesters.

Differences in musculoskeletal development, cognitive development, mitochondrial and microbiome health, etc. of the children of women given Cipro while pregnant weren’t looked at in the first trimester studies that were done. Those are the things that should be examined – not just spontaneous abortions and low birth weights. Indeed, these effects should be looked into for all meds prescribed during pregnancy, as very few medications routinely prescribed to pregnant women have ever been tested. Most physicians know this, or should know this, but over the last few decades, have ignored it and prescription medication use during pregnancy has increased by 60%. Concurrently, the rates of chronic childhood disorders from autism and neurodevelopmental disorders, to obesity and Type 2 diabetes have increased significantly.  Perhaps before we so cavalierly prescribe medications to pregnant women, we ought to investigate the long-term effects on their children.

Violet and Cipro for Traveler’s Diarrhea?

Violet was planning a trip to Ecuador. Her travel doctor wanted to give her Cipro just in case she got traveler’s diarrhea. Many other, less problematic antibiotics are available and equally effective in treatment of traveler’s diarrhea – doxycycline, Bactrim or sepra.  She asked for a prescription for something other than Cipro.  

The appropriate situation for fluoroquinolones to be used is when they are needed to save a life and when a life-threatening infection doesn’t respond to other antibiotics. To prescribe fluoroquinolones in situations where life-threatening infections are not present is absurd and it is wrong. To prescribe fluoroquinolones prophylactically, when no infection is present, for treatment of traveler’s diarrhea, is to completely disregard all of the dangers of fluoroquinolones that are listed on the 43 PAGE warning label (for Cipro – the ones for levaquin, avelox and floxin are equally as bad).  The adverse effects for the fluoroquinolones include: permanent peripheral neuropathy, tendon ruptures, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, hepatic failure, hallucinations, suicidal ideation, and more.

Fluoroquinolones should not be prescribed frivolously. They should not be prescribed to anyone who is not in a life-threatening situation. The risk for adverse effects of these drugs are such that their use is not appropriate in situations that are not life-threatening and they certainly should not be used prophylactically for traveler’s diarrhea.

To all the doctors who prescribe Cipro and other fluoroquinolones prophylactically to people for traveler’s diarrhea – What are you thinking? There is nothing that is okay about giving a drug to a healthy person that can injure them grievously. Even if the chances are low (but no one really knows the incidence of fluoroquinolone toxicity), the severity of the adverse effects of fluoroquinolones are so extreme that fluoroquinolones shouldn’t even be considered as a treatment until other antibiotics have been tried, and have failed.

To all the doctors whose knowledge of the drugs that they prescribe I have questioned – please, please, please read some of the articles about how dangerous fluoroquinolones are. I have more than 100 peer reviewed articles listed HERE.  Or, just read the warning labels and note that all of the horrible symptoms listed on the warning label can happen to your patients at once. You don’t want to do that to your patients.  Please DON’T do that to your patients. Prescribe more benign antibiotics. They’re available. Use them first.  Please.

Information about Fluoroquinolone Toxicity

Information about the author, and adverse reactions to fluoroquinolone antibiotics (Cipro/ciprofloxacin, Levaquin/levofloxacin, Avelox/moxifloxacin and Floxin/ofloxacin) can be found on Lisa Bloomquist’s site, www.floxiehope.com.

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More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

Yes, I would like to support Hormones Matter.

Image credit: Lisa Bloomquist.

This article was published originally on Hormones Matter on June 30, 2014.

 

How Many Doctors Does it Take to Fix the Shower? A Tale of Fluoroquinolone Injury

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I don’t know much about plumbing, I’ll admit it. I‘m not afraid to use a plunger, or take the lid off the toilet to jiggle the parts on the inside. I am also a master at pouring Drano in a clogged pipe. Usually this level of expertise is enough to solve the majority of my problems. However, when things get complicated, jiggling the handle just won’t do. Luckily there is a person with the technical know-how to fix most everything that my plunging skills won’t. Just one phone call away and I’ve got him. The plumber.

Plumbers can handle all sorts of issues. They arrive, do whatever magic it is that gets everything in running order again, charge a fee, and leave us happily using the facilities.  But imagine this. When the plumber arrives, instead of fixing your shower issue, he (or she) takes a cursory glance. Maybe he quickly turns the faucet on while you try to explain the problem.  He doesn’t really listen, but still pinpoints the issue right away.  “Your problem is the showerhead. You need a new one.” Perhaps you argue that this may be true, but what about the drain?  “Well, I only diagnose showerheads.  You are going to need to call a drain guy to fix your drain.”  Huh?  Well, OK.  At least go ahead and fix the showerhead.  “Oh, I can’t fix that. You need the showerhead guy for that.  I just diagnose showerheads.  I don’t fix them.”

Ridiculous right?  Of course it is.  But this is essentially what happens when we venture into the medical world with any complaint more complicated than the sniffles. Take my experience. In the last 5 months an adverse reaction to a fluoroquinolone antibiotic (Cipro) has caused my husband’s body to go haywire. Going to our family doctor my husband had a myriad of complaints (some that came right after the prescription, some that came later). These included tendon and body pain, nerve pain, tingling and buzzing nerves, insomnia, depression (can’t think why), chemical and food sensitivities, a persistent rash, and other issues which I am not at liberty to share publicly.

My husband’s doctor did what doctors are trained to do. He consulted the checklist.

Primary Physician Checklist:

  1. Throw more drugs at the problem (in this case NSAIDs for inflammation).
  2. Perform tests to eliminate “serious” issues (MS?  Fibromyalgia? Arthritis? No, no, no. Fluoroquinolone/Cipro toxicity?  Yes. This seems serious enough to us, despite our doctor never having heard of such a thing.)
  3. Refer to specialists.

Fluoroquinolone Side Effects Aren’t Impressed by Checklists

The Physician’s Checklist is a three pronged approach that got us exactly nowhere. Which is not at all surprising because the logic behind this all too common approach is deeply flawed. The implicit reasoning is that a patient can be divided into individual body parts and systems, each one with an associated specialist. For the body and tendon pain, a rheumatologist. For the nerve pain, tingling, and buzzing, a neurologist. For the rash, a dermatologist. For the foot pain, a podiatrist. For the crazy B6 and B12 blood test results, a nutritionist. For the depression, a therapist. Although we haven’t been to an endocrinologist, an allergist, or a gastroenterologist, I’m sure we could get an appointment quickly. Referring to specialists is something our primary care physician does very well. It’s the last thing on his checklist after all.

The problem that should be obvious here (besides our doctor’s total ignorance of side effects from fluoroquinolones) is that nowhere in this process has my husband been treated as more than the sum of his parts. None of these doctors talk to each other.  (For good reason perhaps. Would another doctor have patience with a neurological diagnosis of “it’s probably static on the line” with a prescription for “you can try the meds I prescribe to my diabetic patients, or not”?)  Why, for example, is my husband intolerant to foods, supplements, and medications that used to cause him no issue?  Aren’t these symptoms possibly related, both to each other and to other symptoms?  Also, why are the majority of his issues concentrated on the left side of his body? His rash is on his left leg.  His foot pain is in his left foot.  His nerve issues are most pronounced in his left leg and left temple. His left big toenail has a discoloration that is not present on the right toe…  None of our doctors have found this at all remarkable or interesting. Perhaps we would do better if doctors divided themselves by body regions.  We could go see the “leftologist” and have better luck.

This specialization is now the cornerstone of western medicinal practice. And under ideal conditions, it saves lives. For example, if you have a strange spot on your skin, where else would you want to go but to Stanford’s “Pigmented Lesion and Melanoma Clinic”? An entire clinic of the most well renowned doctors in the world, whose sole focus is diagnosing and treating spots like yours. Yes, that is truly great. However, doctors have become so very specific in their field of expertise, that they most often do not have the knowledge, time (or frankly the interest) to look outside of their own domain. (Looked at in a different way, they treat melanoma, not people.)  Humans are intricate creatures. Our health is a complex and elaborate system that is not divisible into discreet elements.  Sometimes a spot is skin cancer. Sometimes it’s a hormonal imbalance.  Sometimes it’s a side effect of medication. When our health becomes complicated, our specialists are rarely equipped to look beyond the bits and pieces and treat an entire person.

Modern general practitioners have become, in many cases, little more than the gatekeepers to these special specialists. When health concerns becomes complex, there is another professional to direct the patient to. This creates a situation in which nobody is truly responsible for treating the whole patient. Had my husband taken the conflicting advice of every specialist he visited he would, with no diagnosis whatsoever, have treated irritated nerves with pain medication, aching tendons with pain medication, injured feet with pain medication, insomnia with sleeping pills, depression with anti-depressants, ulcer-like stomach pains (caused from accepting the pain meds early on) with proton-pump inhibitors.  And the rash?  The treatment recommendation for that was a fluoroquinolone antibiotic. Specifically, Cipro. The same fluoroquinolone drug that started this whole mess.

There is No Such Thing as a Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Specialist

The one tangible outcome from visiting these various specialists is the gravity that it lends to my husband’s situation. The prevailing thought from people seems to be, “Well, it must be very serious if he has seen specialists!”  Close on the heels of this thought is the question of whether we have yet seen the right specialist. We live in Silicon Valley so people’s inevitable question is, “Well, have you been to Stanford?”  I guess Stanford is where people go when they are serious about getting well.  (Not like us, we’re satisfied with misery?)  This question is well meaning. But it clearly shows that people have an ingrained trust in the way our medical system runs (insurance issues not withstanding). If you have not been helped, it must be because you haven’t been to the right specialist yet.  The specialist with the most education. The expert. Surely a Stanford neurologist can cure my husband’s nerves, a Stanford rheumatologist can soothe the body pain, a Stanford podiatrist can fix the feet, a Stanford dermatologist can cure the rash, and a Stanford therapist can make everything cheery again. It’s not the system that’s the problem.  It’s the individuals within the system.

This isn’t logical and I no longer believe it. I don’t accept that our two options are that groups of specialists looking at small parts of the whole can fix each of those parts independent of one another, and if not, we’re hopeless. Surely our multitude of doctors can aspire to do better than this, but it seems not. Ultimately we were helped by one visit to a specialist.  It was the nutritionist who finally was at all useful.  She essentially said, “I don’t know how to help you. You need to see a naturopathic doctor, and research alternative medicine.”  This is ultimately what we have decided to do.  We will have to go outside the mainstream to find a health professional that sees patients as whole humans. We refuse to be treated any longer as a mismatch of thrust together parts. The plumber could do better.

We Need Your Help

More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

Yes, I would like to support Hormones Matter. 

Image credit: Mike Bitzenhofer, via Flicker; CC 2.0;  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

This article was published previously on Hormones Matter in December 2013.

Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics Associated With Nervous System Damage

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The labels for fluoroquinolone antibiotics, Cipro, Levaquin, Avelox, etc. have two black box warnings, warnings reserved for only the most serious and severe adverse effects of drugs:

Fluoroquinolones are associated with an increased risk of tendinitis and tendon rupture in all ages. This risk is further increased in older patients usually over 60 years of age, in patients taking corticosteroid drugs, and in patients with kidney, heart or lung transplants.

Fluoroquinolones may exacerbate muscle weakness with myasthenia gravis.  Avoid fluoroquinolones in patients with a known history of myasthenia gravis.

It is later noted that death can result from administration of fluoroquinolone antibiotics in people with myasthenia gravis, hence the warning that these drugs should be avoided in that population.

Central and Peripheral Nervous System Damage

In addition to the black box warnings, there is a 212 word warning of the adverse effects of these drugs on the central nervous system including, “dizziness, confusion, tremors, hallucinations, depression, and, rarely, psychotic reactions have progressed to suicidal ideations/thoughts and self-injurious behavior such as attempted or completed suicide” and seizures.

On August 15, 2013, the FDA announced that they were changing the warning labels for fluoroquinolones to more adequately describe the risk of permanent peripheral neuropathy.  The new warning labels will now note that peripheral neuropathy symptoms including “pain, burning, tingling, numbness, weakness, or a change in sensation to light touch, pain or temperature, or the sense of body position” can be caused by fluoroquinolones. They also note that peripheral neuropathy “can occur at any time during treatment with fluoroquinolones and can last for months to years after the drug is stopped or be permanent.”

Label Changes Based on Patient Reports

Also noted in the August 15th announcement was that the FDA was adding the warning of permanent peripheral neuropathy based on patient reports to their Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) database. They note that, “the recent AERS review evaluated cases of fluoroquinolone-associated peripheral neuropathy with an outcome of ‘disability,’ reported between January 1, 2003 and August 1, 2012. The review showed a continued association between fluoroquinolones use and disabling peripheral neuropathy.”

Cipro was patented in 1983.  It took 30 years of people reporting their peripheral neuropathy to the FDA for them to add an appropriate warning to the label.

Additional Warning – Autonomic Nervous System Damage

Since the FDA is slow on the uptake of vital information that should be listed on the warning labels of drugs, I will let you know that, in addition to the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system, the autonomic nervous system is also damaged by fluoroquinolone antibiotics. The autonomic nervous system, also known as the involuntary nervous system, is composed of the nerves that control heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, salivation, perspiration, pupil dilation, urination and sexual arousal.  Damage to all of these body parts, controlled by the autonomic nervous system, are associated with fluoroquinolones.

How do I know this?  In addition to the patient led research and patient descriptions of autonomic system damage, I know this by personal experience. Every one of those autonomic functions was negatively affected when I had a severe adverse reaction to Cipro that began December of 2011.

Though we don’t yet have scientific proof, as no studies have been published, I have personally heard from hundreds of patients experiencing similar symptoms. Since it took 30 years for the FDA to recognize the peripheral neuropathy, I wouldn’t be too keen to disregard the possibility that the autonomic systems is also affected.

Why hasn’t the FDA investigated autonomic neuropathy potentially associated with the fluoroquinolones?  Perhaps because the malfunctions of the autonomic nervous system are very difficult to describe and detect and, though they are common among those who are suffering from Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome, they may not have risen to the top of the list of complaints in the AERS database.  However, seeing as damage to the autonomic nervous system is serious and potentially life-threatening, the FDA should connect the dots and add an additional warning of autonomic nervous system damage to fluoroquinolone labels.

Overall Nerve Damage

Since multiple nervous systems are damaged by fluoroquinolones, it leads me to believe that fluoroquinolones damage nerves generally.  Some early theories suggest that the fluoroquinolones induce the axons of nerves to degenerate and damage the myelin sheath protecting the nerves. Though I have several theories as to the damage mechanism for fluoroquinolones, anything conclusive other than reporting on what I experienced and have seen, is beyond my level of expertise. I do know that symptoms of nervous system damage are suffered from by the victims of fluoroquinolones and that they suffer mightily, sometimes permanently.

The possibility of fluoroquinolone toxicity is serious. With 26.9 million prescriptions for fluoroquinolone antibiotics dispensed in 2011 alone and the rate of fluoroquinolone induced peripheral neuropathy suspected at 1 per 6000, the number of potentially injured people is staggering. Worse yet, a 2011 study published in BioMed Central, found that 39% of fluoroquinolone therapy in hospital patients was unnecessary. Who knows what the rate of unnecessary fluoroquinolone use is in the general population.

Fluoroquinolones are dangerous antibiotics that are often used to treat sinus infections, urinary tract infections, upper respiratory infections, prostate infections, etc., infections that could be treated with a safer antibiotics. It is absurd and wrong for people to suffer from chronic and often debilitating nerve damage and other health conditions as a result of a prescription antibiotic, especially when other, safer alternatives can be used.

Information about Fluoroquinolone Toxicity

Information about the author, and adverse reactions to fluoroquinolone antibiotics (Cipro/ciprofloxacin, Levaquin/levofloxacin, Avelox/moxifloxacin and Floxin/ofloxacin) can be found on www.floxiehope.com.

Image by brgfx on Freepik.

This post was published previously on Hormones Matter in 2013.

Who Reads the Drug Warning Labels?

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I have a confession – I didn’t even glance at the warning insert that came with my Cipro prescription. I didn’t even think about reading it. I didn’t think for a second that I needed to be worried about the side-effects of an antibiotic. I assumed that all antibiotics were safe, thoroughly tested, had few side-effects and that any side-effects that they had wouldn’t hurt ME. After all, I was a fit, strong 32 year old with zero health issues other than the urinary tract infection that I was trying to treat. I thought that I had nothing to worry about and that medicine generally and antibiotics specifically fell into the category of things that do good, not harm. So when I developed severe Central, Peripheral and Autonomic Nervous System malfunctions and inflamed tendons after taking Cipro, I was shocked and shaken that an ANTIBIOTIC that is prescribed every day to treat simple urinary tract and other infections, could cause me, a healthy and fit woman, to be suddenly systemically sickened.

I suppose that, since I didn’t read the warning label, I have to take a certain amount of personal responsibility for what happened to me. Officially, I was warned. I should have known that Cipro, one of the most popularly prescribed broad-spectrum antibiotics on the market, could cause tendonopathy, renal failure, rash, anemia, hepatic failure, hallucinations, seizures, permanent peripheral neuropathy, etc. I should have read the warning label so, at the very least, I would have known that when I experienced inflammation and weakening of every tendon in my body (lightly referred to as tendonopathy – as if that even comes close), hives all over my body, loss of memory and reading comprehension, inability to concentrate, peripheral neuropathy, anemia, etc., that I was experiencing an adverse reaction to the drug that I had taken. Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve. I lived and learned and will certainly read warning labels in the future. However, I don’t think that I am unusual in not bothering to read the warning label that accompanied my prescription for antibiotics. Do other people read drug warning labels?

Doctors certainly don’t seem to read drug warning labels. Every single doctor who I asked whether or not Cipro could have caused my symptoms said that it couldn’t have, despite the fact that the majority of my symptoms are listed on the warning label.

And even if I had read the warning label, would I have been sufficiently warned? I assumed, as I think most people do, that drug side-effects are transient, that they are stopped as soon as administration of the drug is stopped, or at least as soon as the drug is fully metabolized. I had no idea that a drug could cause a syndrome that would take me years to recover from. Nowhere on the warning label does it say that side-effects can be long-lasting and, when I took Cipro in 2011, nowhere on the label was the word “permanent.” It was only added to the warning label in 2013 in reference to permanent peripheral neuropathy.

Who would think that a drug, an antibiotic no less, could cause a chronic syndrome that includes pain and nerve destruction? Again, doctors certainly don’t because not a single one acknowledged that my cascade of physical and mental issues that cumulatively was a toxicity syndrome, was caused by Cipro. This was despite not only the warning label but also thousands of patient reports, lawsuits, media reports and studies that show that I was not crazy or suffering from sudden onset of an autoimmune disease; I was poisoned by a prescription antibiotic.

Even if I had read the warning label, I likely would have assumed that side-effects were rare. The people who acknowledged that Cipro caused the damage that it caused in me dismissed the possibility that what happened to me could happen to them by saying that adverse effects of fluoroquinolone antibiotics (Cipro, Levaquin and Avelox) are rare. How, I wonder, would anyone have a clue whether or not Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome is rare? Given that the onset of symptoms is often delayed by days, weeks or even months after administration of the drugs has stopped; that doctors and patients alike are looking for allergic reactions when they are looking for adverse drug reactions, not systemic breakdown in the form of a syndrome; that the doctors who prescribe fluoroquinolones (general practitioners and emergency care doctors) are typically not the same doctors who treat the symptoms (rheumatologists, neurologists, psychologists, etc.); that there appears to be a tolerance threshold for fluoroquinolones (meaning that you can take it up to your threshold point without incident but once you cross your threshold point you suffer from a severe onslaught of symptoms), a concept that those who are doing drug studies don’t even seem to consider; and that almost everyone in the medical field is in complete denial about the dangers of these drugs, how in the world would anyone, including the FDA, have a clue what the frequency of adverse reactions to these drugs is???

Risk is not properly communicated via drug warning labels. Risk is a function of severity and frequency. Individual adverse symptoms are listed on drug warning labels, but nowhere does it state how severe each symptom can be, or whether multiple symptoms can occur simultaneously, or if the drug can trigger a long-lasting syndrome that itself is a chronic disease. How can people possibly assess the risk of experiencing severe, life-altering, long-term side-effects if it’s nowhere on the warning label that those things can happen? And if frequency of adverse reactions is systematically under-acknowledged for the reasons listed above, how can people possibly assess the likelihood that an adverse reaction will happen to them?

Perhaps doctors and patients alike are doing the sensible thing in not bothering to read drug warning labels. If the information that they give is arbitrary and they don’t help people to assess the actual risk associated with a drug properly, they should be ignored.

The only party that the warning labels are truly serving is the drug companies, because if they can say that they warned you through the paperwork that accompanies dangerous drugs, you can’t sue them.

So who is appropriately communicating the real risk of adverse drug reactions to patients? Who is communicating the risk to doctors? How is anyone supposed to know the real severity and frequency of adverse drug reactions? We’re not getting that information – from anyone. The FDA is failing to provide that information. Neither doctors nor patients are demanding that information. Everyone is assuming that adverse drug reactions are rare, while the number of deaths from prescription drugs climbs and the number of chronic diseases that people suffer from, many of which are caused by adverse drug reactions, skyrockets.

Perhaps it is time that we start demanding that drug warning labels mean something. They should accurately and completely reflect the real dangers associated with each and every drug. Frequency of adverse events should be noted on the warning labels. This is not too much to ask for. Patients, doctors and everyone else involved should insist on it. We deserve to know.

For a list of warnings that should be on the label for fluoroquinolone antibiotics, please visit www.ciproispoison.com.

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This article was published previously in October 2013.  

 

Fluoroquinolones 101 – Antibiotics to Avoid

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Fluoroquinolone antibiotics, Cipro, Levaquin, Avelox, etc. are broad-spectrum antibiotics used to treat a variety of infections, from urinary tract infections to anthrax and everything in between.  The first quinolone created was Nalidixic Acid which was discovered by George Lesher in 1962.  (Nalidixic Acid was added to the OEHHA prop 65 list of carcinogens in 1998.) Cipro (ciprofloxacin) is a second generation fluoroquinolone patented in 1983 by Bayer, Levaquin (levofloxacin) is a third generation fluroquinolone  patented in 1987 by Ortho-McNeil-Janssen (a division of Johnson & Johnson), and Avelox (moxifloxacin) is a fourth generation fluoroquinolone patented in 1991 by Bayer.

Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics – Still on the Market

Of the 30 quinolones that have made it to market since the 1980s, all but 6 have either been removed from the US market or have severely restricted use.

The fluoroquinolone antibiotics that are still on the market are some of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics. Per the FDA, “Approximately 23.1 million unique patients received a dispensed prescription for an oral fluoroquinolone product from outpatient retail pharmacies during 2011,” and “Within the hospital setting, there were approximately 3.8 million unique patients billed for an injectable fluoroquinolone product during 2011.”

When used properly, such as in cases of life-threatening hospital acquired pneumonia, fluroquinolone antibiotics can save lives.

Fluoroquinolone Antibiotic Side-Effects and Adverse Reactions

When used improperly, fluoroquinolone antibiotics can needlessly cause devastating side-effects.  Devastating side-effects can also occur when fluoroquinolone antibiotics are used properly, but the devastation can be justified by weighing it against the alternative – death.  In 2001, Dr. Jay S. Cohen published an article on the severe and often disabling reactions some people sustained  as a result of taking a fluoroquinolone antibiotic.  Dr. Cohen says,

“It is difficult to describe the severity of these reactions. They are devastating. Many of the people in my study were healthy before their reactions. Some were high intensity athletes. Suddenly they were disabled, in terrible pain, unable to work, walk, or sleep.”

Dr. Cohen’s study of 45 subjects suffering from Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome, a name that I’m pushing for, (without an official name, it is difficult get the word out) showed that they had the following symptoms:

  • Peripheral Nervous System: Tingling, numbness, prickling, burning pain, pins/needles sensation, electrical or shooting pain, skin crawling, sensation, hyperesthesia, hypoesthesia, allodynia (sensitivity to touch) numbness, weakness, twitching, tremors, spasms.
  • Central Nervous System: Dizziness, malaise, weakness, impaired coordination, nightmares, insomnia, headaches, agitation, anxiety, panic attacks, disorientation, impaired concentration or memory, confusion, depersonalization, hallucinations, psychoses.
  • Musculoskeletal: Muscle pain, weakness, soreness, joint swelling, pain, tendon pain, ruptures.
  • Special Senses: Diminished or altered visual, olfactory, auditory functioning, tinnitus (ringing in the ears).
  • Cardiovascular: Tachycardia, shortness of breath, hypertension, palpitations, chest pain.
  • Skin: Rash, swelling, hair loss, sweating, intolerance to heat and\or cold.
  • Gastrointestinal: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain.

When a fluoroquinolone antibiotic triggers a toxic reaction in a person, multiple symptoms are often experienced. I experienced all of the symptoms that are italicized.

Fluoroquinolone Antibiotic Damage – Technical Aspects

Fluoroquinolones are eukaryotic DNA gyrase and topoisomerase inhibitors very similar to many antineoplastic agents (source).  What this means in plain English is that these drugs work the same way as chemotherapeutic drugs; they disrupt DNA and lead to destruction of cells.  A recent (2013) study conducted by a team of scientists at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University Studies showed that Ciprofloxacin, along with a couple of other non-fluoroquinolone antibiotics, causes oxidative stress and mitochondrial malfunction. A 2011 study published in the Journal of Young Pharmacists found that, “There is significant and gradual elevation of lipid peroxide levels in patients on ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin.”  They also found that “There was substantial depletion in both SOD (superoxide dismutase, “a free radical scavenging enzyme”) and glutathione levels” and that “On the 5th day of treatment, plasma antioxidant status decreased by 77.6%, 50.5% (and) 7.56% for ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and gatifloxacin respectively.” The study also notes that administration of fluoroquinolones leads to a marked increase in the formation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and that “reactive free radicals overwhelms the antioxidant defence, lipid peroxidation of the cell membrane occurs. This causes disturbances in cell integrity leading to cell damage/death.”

How Many People are at Risk?

The exact rate of adverse reactions to fluoroquinolones is difficult to determine.  Studies of adverse reactions to fluoroquinolones have noted that, “During clinical trials, the overall frequencies of adverse effects associated with (fluoroquinolones) to vary between 4.4 and 20%.”  Just the fact that the spread is so large, a 15.6% spread in frequency of adverse reactions is a HUGE difference, implies that the actual occurrence of adverse reactions is difficult to establish or unknown.

With the FDA figures above noting that 26.9 million unique patients were given fluoroquinolones in 2011, if you just take the conservative adverse reaction figure of 4.4%, you’ll get a horrifying number of people with adverse reactions in 2011 alone – 1,183,600 people.  20% of 26.9 million is 5,380,000 people adversely effected.  That is scary.  Those numbers are truly frightening given the severity of the adverse effects described above.

Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome

I see fluoroquinolone toxicity everywhere, and even I think that those numbers are high for severe, disabling reactions like mine where multiple symptoms develop simultaneously.  Not everyone who has an adverse reaction to a fluoroquinolone has a reaction like mine, or even develops Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome – thank God.  Many people have milder reactions.  Milder symptoms include any one of the symptoms listed above as well as  diarrhea, vomiting, mild tendonitis, decreased energy, painless muscle twitches, memory loss, urgency of urination, or any number of reactions that the body may have to a massive depletion of antioxidants and increases in lipid peroxide levels and reactive oxygen species production.

Even though severe adverse reactions to fluoroquinolones antibiotics can be painful and disabling for years, many (possibly most, but certainly not all) people recover from Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome with time.  I anticipate that I will be fully recovered 2 years after my reaction started. Sadly, there are some people who don’t recover.  They suffer from chronic pain, disability, impaired cognitive abilities, etc. permanently.

It is absurd, to say the least, that an acute problem, an infection, that can easily be taken care of with administration of an antibiotic that is not a fluoroquinolone, is converted into a chronic problem, a  syndrome that can disable a person for years, by a prescription ANTIBIOTIC, used as prescribed. In my case, a urinary tract infection that could have likely been taken care of with macrobid or even cranberry juice and d-mannos, was treated with Cipro which left me unable to do many physical and mental tasks that I had previously been able to do with ease. It’s a crazy, absurd situation.  It’s absurd and it’s wrong.

Some Antibiotics are More Dangerous than Others

The bottom line is that these popularly prescribed antibiotics are dangerous drugs that have caused thousands of people to suffer with a myriad of maladies. Undeniably, they have their place, in treating life-threatening infections.  Unfortunately, they are not being reserved for use in life-threatening situations and people are being hurt after taking them for simple sinus, urinary tract, bronchial and prostate infections. A strict and rigorous protocol needs to be established to limit the damage that they cause; because it’s not right to maim and disable people to treat their sinus infections.

Information about Fluoroquinolone Toxicity

Information about the author, and adverse reactions to fluoroquinolone antibiotics (Cipro/ciprofloxacin, Levaquin/levofloxacin, Avelox/moxifloxacin and Floxin/ofloxacin) can be found on Lisa Bloomquist’s site, www.floxiehope.com.

This article was published previously in August 2013 and is being re-posted in light of the recent press coverage warning of fluoroquinolone dangers.

Truth Seeker or Conspiracy Theorist? You Decide.

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I’ve always believed that the simplest answers to most problems are the ones that are closest to the truth. I don’t particularly like conspiracy theories. I generally find them to be offensive. So as not to offend the people who believe in conspiracies, I’ll refrain from giving an example, but I tend to think that what you see is what you get and that there aren’t any evil masterminds controlling the world. I don’t think that there is anyone smart enough to have evil plots that control the world. Rather, I believe that there are complex feedback loops that keep certain parties in power and others powerless. Of course, those in power work to protect their power, sometimes through greed, lies and cover-ups, but it’s not necessarily a conspiracy per se. It’s just people being people and trying to maintain the status quo because people generally don’t like change (and a million other complex psychological and sociological reasons why people like to keep those in power who are in power and those without power without power).

Then I got sick. I got sick because a prescription pharmaceutical, an antibiotic no less (Cipro), hurt me.  I was poisoned by a prescription drug that is considered to have an “enviable record of safe and efficacious use.” (1)  I started screaming about how it’s not okay to take away people’s ability to walk, sleep, work, etc. to treat their sinus or urinary tract infections.  I started screaming about how fluoroquinolone antibiotics (Cipro, Levaquin, Avelox, Floxin and a few other less commonly used drugs) are dangerous and over-prescribed. I started researching how fluoroquinolones work and was appalled to find that they dismantle and disrupt replication of DNA.  I began making connections between the side-effects the fluoroquinolones, and the various diseases that fluoroquinolone toxicity mimics.

Diseases of Fluoroquinolone Toxicity

Fluoroquinolones cause peripheral neuropathy (2), peripheral neuropathy could easily be mistaken for Fibromyalgia. Fluoroquinolones cause destruction of tendons (3) and cartilage (4), both of which are found in the joints, and thus fluroquinolone toxicity could be misdiagnosed as Rheumatoid Arthritis. Fluoroquinolones have many psychological side-effects including anxiety, depression and even psychosis (5), and thus they may be connected lead to psychiatric disorders. I found a study that connected topoisomerase interrupting drugs (6) (fluoroquinolones are topoisomerase interrupters (7), along with several chemotherapy drugs) with Autism. A conspiracy theorist was born.

Fluoroquinolone antibiotics can take an acute infection and convert it into a chronic illness (Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome). The new, chronic illness likely will be misdiagnosed and not recognized as a drug side effect, and the treatment of the misdiagnosed disease often leads to prescriptions for additional drugs. And, even though that line of thinking leads to more profits for Big Pharma, I don’t think that it’s a conspiracy. I don’t think that it’s intentional, even on the part of the companies that initiate and perpetuate it, Bayer and Johnson & Johnson (J&J). Though making people chronically ill through an antibiotic that is viewed as benign by almost everyone is convenient and profitable for them, I don’t think that it’s their intention. Perhaps I’m naive.

Somewhere between naively believing that Bayer and J&J have no idea what they’re doing, and pessimistically believing they are poisoning us all to turn us into lifelong customers, lies the truth.

The Truth about Fluoroquinolones

The truth, especially when dealing with something as complicated and multifaceted as biochemistry, cellular biology and genetics, is very difficult to comprehend. But the fact that it is too difficult for most of us to understand does not mean that there is no truth. The correct answers are probably not the easiest answers. They don’t fit into a box of good or evil. They aren’t linear. The truth about fluoroquinolones involves inconvenient things like delayed reactions, tolerance thresholds, system-wide cellular destruction that results in a wide array of disease states, enzyme depletion, etc. The truth about fluoroquinolones defies common sense because our common sense tells us that antibiotics are benign, that drug side-effects are rare, that when side-effects happen they’re treatable and transient, etc.  That “common sense” approach, unfortunately, is not the truth.

The truth is that fluoroquinolones disrupt and dismantle DNA.  This has been shown repeatedly.  Per a 1998 study entitled “The Mechanism of Inhibition of Topoisomerase IV by Quinolone Antibacterials,” Fluoroquinolones are “among the first antibacterial agents that efficiently inhibited DNA replication.”  (8).  The mechanism for action for Ciprofloxacin, as listed on the FDA warning label is, “The bactericidal action of ciprofloxacin results from inhibition of the enzymes topoisomerase II (DNA gyrase) and topoisomerase IV (both Type II topoisomerases), which are required for bacterial DNA replication, transcription, repair, and recombination.” (7) Disrupting the DNA replication process is how these drugs work (or at least part of how they work).  Denying that fluoroquinolone antibiotics damage DNA because it’s not a pleasant thing to acknowledge, is futile and it does not get us closer to the truth.

Very little is known about the consequences of disrupting DNA replication through pharmaceuticals. The truth that fluoroquinolones disrupt and dismantle DNA is only part of the puzzle; it is only part of the truth. As complicated and poorly understood as the effects of these drugs on DNA are, there are still multiple levels of questions regarding the effects of fluoroquinolones on the human body. Some of the questions, answers and truths likely lie in understanding the effects of these drugs on mitochondria. A thorough understanding of article “Mechanisms of Pathogenesis in Drug Hepatotoxicity Putting the Stress on Mitochondria” (9) and how it relates to fluoroquinolones will likely give you some answers about how these drugs do damage. There is evidence that fluoroquinolones cause cerebellar ataxia (10). The carboxylic acid molecule that is part of fluoroquinolone drugs likely leads to the formation of hazardous acyl glucuronoids (11). The interaction between broken mitochondrial DNA, acyl glucuronoids and cerebellar ataxia, combined with other ill understood and complex factors, is probably where the truth lies. It is hugely complex. It is impossible for the average person to comprehend and it is difficult for even the smartest person to understand. So, instead of seeking understanding and truth, the majority has chosen to ignore the fact that no one knows how these chemicals work in the human body and what their consequences are. We will take them because we know one small element of what they do – they kill bacteria – and believe that all other effects of these drugs are coincidental, accidental or rare.

Willful Ignorance about Fluoroquinolone Dangers

Willful ignorance has taken over, and faith-based assumptions about the good or evil that the medical system is have come to dominate the conversation. The established medical system is the entrenched party with the power, so those who support it are the majority; they are those with “common sense.” Those who rebel against the assumptions that the medical system is doing good are accused of being conspiracy theorists or worse. No one is really qualified to say that they have a position based on truth though, because there are too many unknown variables to know the truth (at this time). No one, not even the smartest researchers and scientists, fully know how fluoroquinolones, and probably many other drugs, affect every system in the human body. The human body is too complex and too little is known (at this time) about it, and how each of its systems interact, for anyone to truly know how everything works together. So little is known about the human body that ligaments, something that you can see with the naked eye, are still being discovered (12). If we don’t even know every ligament in the body, you can certainly bet that we don’t know every enzyme or neural pathway. Yet enzymes, neural pathways, mitochondrial DNA and other really important parts of human physiology are being disturbed by pharmaceuticals. And people are getting sick because of it.

Though the truth about how adverse drug reactions occur is difficult to ascertain, it should be sought. Questions should be asked. Experiments should be done. The effects of drugs on all bodily systems should be explored.  Perhaps answers to difficult questions about how drugs effect mitochondria, neurons, enzymes, etc. should be asked before drugs are released into the public.

Back in 1992, when fluoroquinolones were first gaining popularity, Scientists raised concerns about their use in an article published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States:

the interaction (of fluoroquinolones) with DNA is still of great concern because of the possible long-term genotoxicity of quinolone compounds, which are increasingly adopted as first-choice antibiotics for the treatment of many infections, and because it addresses the real mechanism of action of this class of molecules.” (13)

The question hasn’t been asked though.  People have been stuck on the faith-based assumption that fluoroquinolones have “enviable record of safe and efficacious use” because the only side-effects that they’re willing to see are allergic reactions. They have been intent on willful ignorance. Willful ignorance protects them. It keeps them from seeing that in frivolously over-prescribing dangerous and poorly understood drugs, we may have damaged our precious DNA, and that the consequences of doing so may be many of the “mysterious” systemic diseases that plague us.

There is a fine line between screaming about willful ignorance on the part of the majority and being a conspiracy theorist.  I’d like to think that I am reasonable; that my assertions are backed up by scientific findings, and that I’m right.  Of course, all conspiracy theorists also think that they’re right, so my conviction does very little to convince naysayers.  I hope that my screams are heard though. I hope that some people in power do something to stop the foolish over-use of these DNA damaging drugs.  I hope that it’s not too late to be prudent and cautious.

The real world is complicated. Sometimes human bodies work in ways that aren’t simple.  Sometimes problems are complex and difficult to understand. Sometimes pharmaceuticals work, or don’t work, in ways that are poorly understood. The power to do a massive amount of both good and harm is possible with modern medicine. Perhaps it is time that we start admitting that the harm that some drugs do is disproportionate to the good that they do. Perhaps it is time that we start recognizing that adverse drug reactions are not always immediate or easy to remedy. Perhaps it is time that we start insisting that the mechanisms of action for drugs be fully understood, at least by Scientists, before they are mass marketed to the public.

I don’t think that these suggestions and assertions make me a conspiracy theorist.  But if they do, so be it. The notion that the pharmaceutical/medical system is killing and sickening innocent people is a “conspiracy theory” that I know to be true.  So I will continue to fight to expose it, whatever the consequences may be.

Information about Fluoroquinolone Toxicity

Information about the author, and adverse reactions to fluoroquinolone antibiotics (Cipro/ciprofloxacin, Levaquin/levofloxacin, Avelox/moxifloxacin and Floxin/ofloxacin) can be found on Lisa Bloomquist’s site, www.floxiehope.com.

Participate in Research

Hormones MatterTM is conducting research on the side effects and adverse events associated with the fluoroquinolone antibiotics, Cipro, Levaquin, Avelox and others: The Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics Side Effects Study. The study is anonymous, takes 20-30 minutes to complete and is open to anyone who has used a fluoroquinolone antibiotic. Please complete the study and help us understand the scope of fluoroquinolone reactions.

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References

  1. Expert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy. Levofloxacin: update and perspective on one of the original respiratory quinolones.
  2. FDA Drug Safety Communication: FDA requires label changes to warn of risk for possibly permanent nerve damage from antibacterial fluoroquinolone drugs taken by mouth or by injection.
  3. Quinolone Arthropathy in Animals Versus Children.
  4. Levofloxacin-induced acute anxiety and insomnia.
  5. Topoisomerases facilitate transcription of long genes linked to autism.
  6. FDA: Flouroquinolone warning label.
  7. The Mechanism of Inhibition of Topoisomerase IV by Quinolone Antibacterials*
  8. Mechanisms of Pathogenesis in Drug Hepatotoxicity Putting the Stress on Mitochondria.
  9. Current Drug Metabolism (v.12, #3).
  10. Surgeons discover new ligament in human knee.

Open Letter to Pharmacists Prescribing Fluoroquinolones – You Know!

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Dear Pharmacists,

You know about the dangers of fluoroquinolone antibiotics. You know that Cipro, Levaquin, Avelox and the other fluoroquinolones can cause central nervous system damage that can show up as anxiety, depression, memory loss, depersonalization, loss of intellect and social connectedness, suicidal ideation, etc. You know that fluoroquinolones can cause permanent destruction of all the connective tissue in a person’s body, their tendons, ligaments, fascia and cartilage. You know that adverse reactions to fluoroquinolones can be delayed and that stopping the medication will do nothing to stop its path of destruction.  You know that fluoroquinolones are contraindicated with NSAIDs and steroids. You know that they should NEVER be prescribed or administered to anyone under the age of 18.

You are pharmacists. Your expertise is in pharmaceuticals.  You have studied the chemical structure of fluoroquinolones and you know their effects, both good and bad.  You know that they are dangerous drugs that should only be used in life-or-death situations.  You know that they are over-prescribed. You know that they can have DEVASTATING adverse effects.  YOU KNOW.

Yet you continue to hand them out.  You continue to fill prescriptions with no more warning to the patient than a slip of paper in the bag that contains the poison that may shake their world.  You tell them that their infection will go away when they take the Cipro, Levaquin or Avelox.  The infection will go away but you FAIL to warn them that it may be replaced with chronic conditions that mirror autoimmune diseases, that their mental health may never be the same again, that they may never be the athletic, healthy person that they used to be.

You know that fluoroquinolones should NEVER be given to children. Yet you fill prescriptions for eye and ear drops containing fluoroquinolones for children, even BABIES.  You hand poison over to a mother with a crying 11 month-old child with an ear infection, knowing that the Cipro ear drops will get rid of that child’s infection, but that it may fry their little brain. You know. And you don’t protect the children.

You say that it’s the doctor’s job to know what he or she is prescribing, but you know that they have no clue about the dangers of fluoroquinolones. They disregard the warnings of side-effects on the drug labels, thinking that all drugs have side-effects and that they all should be disregarded because the side-effects listed are arbitrary.  There is nothing arbitrary about the litany of side-effects included with prescriptions of Cipro, Levaquin or Avelox.  You know this to be true, but the doctors don’t.  Their crime is one of willful ignorance and arrogance. They refuse to listen to anyone outside of their ranks, including you (and that’s another problem). They are ignorant, possibly through their own fault.  But you are not ignorant. You know about the dangers of fluoroquinolones. You know.

Doctors may not listen to you, but you can still do something about this moral atrocity.  Please, please, please STOP giving out these drugs. You are the gate-keepers. You can keep patients from poisoning themselves, or worse, poisoning their children. You can refuse to fill those prescriptions. You can tell doctors that they MUST follow their Hippocratic Oath and prescribe a safer antibiotic in non-life-threatening situations. You can ensure that all patients who walk away from your counter with a prescription for a fluoroquinolone have real INFORMED CONSENT. The Hippocratic Oath and Informed Consent are indescribably important. They are the moral bedrocks of the medical system, yet they are being disregarded. You can reinstate them in their appropriate place, at the top of the consciousness of every patient who deals with the medical system. You can and you should, yet you don’t.

You, as an individual, have the power to stop filling these prescriptions. You have the power to talk to the doctors that you work with, to inform them that fluoroquinolones are dangerous drugs. You have the power to talk to your patients and ensure that they have the information that they need to make a decision with true informed consent.  You have that power. Please use it to make the world a better place.

You, as a group, have the power to change the way that all drugs are viewed. You can make sure that a protocol of careful examination and active warnings to patients for all drugs that are truly dangerous is followed when prescribing and filling prescriptions of drugs with serious side-effects. You can pressure the FDA into making sure that the side-effects listed on a drug insert are real and not arbitrary so that they are actually paid attention to.

Please be moral. Do the right thing. Please be ethical. Know that your actions have consequences. They matter. Your decision about whether or not to fill a prescription of Cipro, Levaquin or Avelox can make a difference in a person’s life.

I know that the tone of this letter is scolding. Please know that my intention is not to make you feel like a horrible person, my intention is to ask you to be a better, more empowered, more ethical person.  If that is not possible, I ask you, I beg of you, please just STOP filling prescriptions of fluoroquinolones for children. They need your protection. They will thank you by living a full life without the chronic illness that plagues people who have been adversely effected by fluoroquinolones. Please, do what you can. Please do what’s right.

Thank you,

Lisa Bloomquist

Survivor

P.S. – If you’re pleading ignorance, let me ask you this question – Would you give your child a fluoroquinolone?  If your answer is no, YOU KNOW.

Information about Fluoroquinolone Toxicity

Information about the author, and adverse reactions to fluoroquinolone antibiotics (Cipro/ciprofloxacin, Levaquin/levofloxacin, Avelox/moxifloxacin and Floxin/ofloxacin) can be found on Lisa Bloomquist’s site, www.floxiehope.com.