Hi I'm new here and have been reading a
lot of your posts for the past couple days
and I have a few questions and a story to
share. Just wondering how many of you have
taken quinolone
antibiotics(cipro,avelox,tequin,levaquin)
and also how many of you have taken sulfa
drugs such as Flagyl and Bactrim?
My story starts when I was about 14(31
now) and I remember taking an antibiotic
for a chest infection(bronchitis) so after
a couple days of taking this med which was
either biaxin or some form of
metrodinazole(flagyl) I started having my
first panic attack. I couldnt
breath,needed water, had vision trouble,
severe trouble swallowing, dizzy and a
fast heart rate so I was taken to the
doctor and told I had a reaction to sulfa
drugs and to stop taking them. So I
continued to have panic attacks and a
constant need to drink water for about 4
months then POOF one day they were gone.
After that I was perfect until Sept 2006
when I went to the doctor because of a
sinus infection and was put on Tequin and
Bactrim. My first night on the meds were
horrible and I felt something wasnt right
but i kept taking the meds. I took the
meds for a total of 4 days and stopped
them because my arms and feet were feeling
numb for most of the day and I was very
confused. After I stopped the meds I felt
a ton better.
I was off the meds for about 2 weeks
when all of a sudden I woke up and couldnt
breath, heart was racing and had slurred
speech. From that point on my life hasnt
been the same and I wish I could take back
time to stop myself from taking those
meds. I was rushed to the ER and had a
series of tests done and all had optimal
results and no signs of stroke or heart
attack. I couldnt figure it out I mean 2
weeks off some medication so there is no
way it could be from that right.....wrong.
From the information I have gathered you
can get side effects from taking a single
pill 6months to a year after taking it. So
for the first 3 months I could barely put
together a sentence in speech or writing
and BRUTAL anxiety 24/7 would not let up
TERRIBLE TIMES... Also I couldnt sleep for
the first 4 months and would stay up for
about 48 hours and then be so exhausted
and pass out only to get about 3-4 hours
of sleep and then up again for 48 hours
again. I was so afraid of taking anything
else and I just wanted to tough it out but
after losing almost 30lbs and never
sleeping I started on xanax which has
saved my life. So I'm almost a year and a
half into my drug reaction or whatever it
was and Ive seen about 20 doctors who all
tell me I have organic panic disorder and
refuse to think it was because of the meds
I took however I think they are pompus
idiots who think their product of drugs is
inferior when the funny thing is legal
drugs kill more people than illegal drugs
in the USA. Also when I eat sweets, soft
drinks, tomato and some soy products I
feel like have have been poisoned and
brings on severe panic attacks that can
last for days until whatever I ate is out
of my system.
I would say im about 60% better from
when I was first hit in Sept 06 so things
are looking better and I can now kind of
get out of the house a bit. Also just so
you know the max amount of xanax I would
take per day was 1mg.
Thanks for your time and I hope we all
find a way to get better! I know my
question was a little vague but those
types of drugs(quinolones and sulfa) can
have severe, long lasting, multisystemic
damage to the brain which can get worse
with time. Maybe some of you have taken
these medications in the past and this may
be a reason for some of your anxiety
troubles. You may also have not reacted to
these medications like I have but the
damage from these medications are so
multisystemic that you would never know.
There is no test for damage from
quinolones or sulfa drugs.
Dez
|
shaker
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 09 Feb 2008 Posts: 10
Posted: 02-09-08 04:45am
Hey, I took all those antibiotics atleast
2-3 times in a year. Now today im
suffering from panic and anxiety
disorders. I also had same kinds of
symptoms as you. Maybe does meds. could
be the cause.
|
katrina5558
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 01 Feb 2008 Posts: 31
Posted: 02-11-08 13:28pm
i also started having severe anxiety after
i took biaxin and then cipro. the biaxin
gave me an allergic reaction, i broke out
in hives so they switched me to cipro and
i just felt weird after taking it for a
few days and hated the way it made me
feel, so i stopped taking it. But it was
shortly after these rounds of antibiotics
that i started having anxiety disorder.
Dr's tell me that they dont think
antibiotics would cause anxiety, but i am
still convinced that it did play a part.
the problem is that because of this and
some other bad reactions to medications i
am now pretty much terrified of all
medications and my doctors have
recommended xanax, but i am too scared.
did it not cause you any side effects?
does it make you tired??
|
Dezsecretagent
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 08 Feb 2008 Posts: 4
Posted: 02-11-08 15:44pm
I probably would have shot myself if it
wasnt for xanax. Not sleeping for 3 days
and barely eating takes its toll on your
mind and body. Xanax is great but prepare
to be addicted to it. All you have to do
is make sure you dont start taking more
than your recommended dose(Im fine with
1mg a day in afternoon and at night). It
makes you tired at first but then after a
month you get used to it and its better
than feeling like your having a heart
attack all day. I think the funny thing is
people think anxiety disorders come out of
thin air, I believe it is bio-chemical.
Your brain and nervous system can only
handle so many chemicals before it gets
injured so with all these internal
medicines they stick us with it makes me
wonder why all of a sudden people are
having so many anxiety issues. People
werent this plagued with anxiety disorders
30 years ago before the heavy use of
antibiotics, if you put sugar in the gas
tank car goes BOOM..
Dez
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katrina5558
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 01 Feb 2008 Posts: 31
Posted: 02-11-08 16:01pm
so, other than feeling tired at first, did
you not have any additional side effects?
i am super afraid of medication and its
side effects. i dont know if i would want
to take it everyday. i would just take it
whenever i needed to go somewhere or do
something that would make me
uncomfortable.
|
2good2betrue
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 09 Jul 2008 Posts: 1
Posted: 07-09-08 16:19pm
Yes these drugs can 100% have long lasting
effects on anxiety. I took flagyl and had
severe anxiety for about six months after.
Most doctors do not reconize them as
having these effects. I had several other
effects too such as dizziness dry mouth
and insomnia. I had taken antibiotics in
the past with no problems. Anway happy to
say I am recovered now but very very
afraid of ever having to antibiotics
again.