Can't walk after Trimethoprim
Posted , 17 users are following.
I was prescribed a 3 day course of Trimethoprim for a UTI I thook the first one on a Tuesday night and buy Wednesday morning i had a numb left knee, the next day i couldn't walk, phoned my GP asking if i should contunue on the antibiotic because it seemed obvious to me that i was having a bad reaction to it. I was told to continue the course but wish i hadn't, the pain on Thursday night was unbearable in my left leg, i couldn't move it and it was hugely swollen. On Friday morning i went to hospital and was there for 5 days on more antibiotics and pain killers. it's been 5 weeks now and i still can't walk on my left leg i still have pain and it aso started in my roght hand too. Before taking Trimethoprim i was a healthy 43 year old woman with no health issues. I'm now waiting to see a Rheumatologist and am terrified my leg ownt recover.
0 likes, 37 replies
LadyRara
Posted
A few years ago I had a scarily similar reaction ( you should be able to find my posts under my previous log-in of Rara) to yours. I can say that 3 and a half years on I still get twinges in my left knee/ankle and backache but mainly I am over the worst of it. The hospital referred me to a rheumatologist who told me I had arthritis and they wouldn't believe it had anything to do with Trimethoprim. In the end I had to discharge myself from her 'care' as she wanted to put me on all sorts of pills and potions and I wasn't prepared to risk my health further with more medication.
I wish something could be done about this drug as there are just too many cases and even GP's say it can't be these pills. Well I for one believe otherwise.
I hope you get well soon.
maz68
Posted
I did see your other posts, your story is very similar to mine. I'm certain it is down to the antibiotic but doctors wont admit to it. There is no way i went to bed perfectly active and healthy and woke up with Rheumatoid arthritis. There are too many cases exactly like ours after just one or 2 Trimethoprim, they need taking off the market.
I wen't to see the Rheumatologist and was given Sulfasalazine. I'm really weary of taking any medication now so after looking up the affects of the sulfasalazine i decided not to take any and i'm not going back to hospital again. I've seen so many doctors and not one has admitted it is down to Trimethoprim but none of them has told me i definately have rheumatoid arthritis either.
Since i had Trimethoprim my knee, feet and finger swelled, my white blood cells were double the normal amount and i got a rash on my torso.
3 months on i am walking almost normally again, still a bit of a limp and my feet ache if i stand for long periods of time. My finger is still swollen and i cant bend it. I still cant run and i used to run a lot.
All in all i seem to be getting gradually better without medication.
I hope you continue to improve Rara, and i wish anyone who is given Trimethoprim for a simple UTI could read all these posts first, i certainly wish i had, the last few months have been terrible.
redshift12
Posted
I finished taking a 3-day course of Trimethoprim 2 weeks ago and my legs are still like jelly. I can only drive
short distances and as for doing the shopping, forget it! I'm going to get this drug put onto my medical
records as a no-no. I remember as a kid being able to take Amoxyllin no problem but I've heard that you can
develop an allergy at any time.
After the first tablet of Trimethoprim, I developed a pain similar to sciatica in the left leg which I got rid of by
keeping the leg cold. I kept taking the tablets because of a urine infection which cleared up but now I feel
ill - weak all over, a bit breathless, shaky and sensitive to bright light.
Does anybody know how long, if at all, it takes to get back to normal?
Thanks for any replies!
LadyRara
Posted
When I finally discharged myself from the 'care' of the rheumatologist and went back to my GP to discuss coming off the prednisolone steroids the last thing he said to me as I left his surgery was 'get you and your odd body out of here'. I know this was banter but I was still amazed that no-one I spoke to believed Trimethoprim was the cause for my problems. He did note my records that I was potentially allergic to it but no-one was willing to actually admit that this drug was capable of turning a totally healthy young woman into a cripple overnight.
As you see I still pop on this forum from time to time to see if the posts stopped regarding this drug and maybe it was just me but as I see it still rumbles on.
Hi redshift12, I can't comment on your personal situation but at worst I was bed ridden for 3 weeks, after that it gradually improved with steroids, painkillers etc. However, 2 and a half years on I still get twinges in my left leg and lower back pain.
I hope everyone who has been affected by this drug makes a full recovery.
I wish I could get to the bottom of what is wrong with this drug but I have neither the money nor the time to do so. I did some research when I was off work unable to walk and did find that this is a cheap antibiotic compared to a lot of others, maybe that speaks for itself.
maz68
Posted
I still take Diclofenac to keep the pain under control.
Redshift... i was off work for 10 weeks, i couldn't walk for a few weeks and was pretty much housebound, it seems to get easier week after week so hopefully you will improve too.
LindaG
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maz68
Posted
LindaG
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Noreen31
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Noreen31
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diane89852
Posted
maz68
Posted
To put your mind at rest, i have pretty much fully recovered apart from slight ache in leg and back when i
stand for long periods. My foot is a little deformed and so i my index finger which i cant fully bend. I find
exercise helps a lot, the more i cycled the better i got. It did take a long time, about a year to get fully back to
fitness. You do have some symptoms that i had, I hope you feel better soon. please come back on here and let me know how you get on. It makes me angry that no medical professional seems to have picked up on
the problems this nasty cheap drug has caused to so many people.
diane89852
Posted
I went to see my doctor yesterday - he is brilliant and I trust him. He said it certainly seems like a reaction to the tablets but he thinks the pain should stop in a few days or 3 weeks at most. I think it was something that my body decided it just didn't like because, as I have said , I have taken the tablets before without reaction.
There is a really good case for some sort of easily accessible and simple to use national forum where people can note reactions to any drug and for the manufacturers to check on and take note.
I am sure that a lot of people must have reactions to all sorts of drugs and not go on to log their symptoms so a lot goes unreported
It should be possible for doctors surgeries to be able to log customers comments as many people do not have internet access or knowledge
I will never ever take another tablet without first going onto the net to obtain some realistic advise from other users as the warnings on instructions are so copious as to be meaningless.
I will update this with my progress
bronwen79701
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diane89852
Posted
Unluckily I had been misdiagnosed by the nurse practitioner I saw at the out of hours surgery and a week later I was back there with horrendous back pain.
This time I saw a doctor who said it wasn't a UTI at all and he suspected gallstones I was sent to hospital at once for an ultrasound and am now waiting to have my gallbladder removed - happy days!!!!