Copro

The 'Pubmed' article seems comprehensive regarding = acute renal failure secondary to oral ciprofloxacin. Pubmed articles are doctor research orientated. There are several sites re Cipro and creatinine findings and the article concludes that any one taking Cipro should be 'followed' closely...... I was told by a TB specialist that cipro does have a niche in TB treatment but she had heard of unfortunate patients (few) who had to wear a special boot after taking a course of that particular antibiotic!

However thousands of patients have taken that antibiotic to good effect for a month on the full strength regime and in my case it did me a power of good......... The cures that some antibiotics

have achieved are 'legion' but some people knock that antibiotic because it has harmed some patients. There is a dilemma surely...... don't take it and continue to be ill or take a chance and more than likely be cured....... There is a choice? I myself knew that it was a 'kill or cure' situation well known by many a farmer!

One good thing about cipro is that apparently the adverse effect stops some time after taking the course!

More information would be useful such as did the patient have raised creatine levels or any sign of kidney problems before being given the Cipro? Also what was the Cipro prescribed for?

The fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics are Ciprofloxacin/Cipro, Levofloxacin/Levaquin, Moxifloxacin/Avelox, Norfloxacin and Ofloxacin/Oflox) although there are many other names - so it's best to check the class name. They often get a bad press and then arguments start up because they are broad-spectrum and very useful, as Mickelmus points out. The problem with them is that they can and do cause very severe adverse reactions in SOME people.

The FDA have issued several Black Box warnings, two in the last year, for this class of antibiotic and now the EMA (European Medicines Agency) have issued new warnings and restrictions - you can bet that they don't issue these things for no good reason.

The fluroquinolones (FQs) kill bacteria by interrupting enzymes (called topoisomerases) that they need to replicate. Unfortunately, around the same time FQs were being developed in the 1960s, scientists discovered that we humans (and all mammals) also have these 'bacterial-type' enzymes in our mitochondria (the 'powerhouses' of our cells). If our mitochondria are damaged then so are we as we have thousands of them in every cell. As well as preventing them from replicating, FQs also interfere with the very complicated process of cell metabolism by causing oxidative stress and chelating (hijacking) essential minerals - amongst other things. There are academic papers that explain these bio-pathological processes but I've tried to keep it to just one paragraph.

Throughout our lifetime mitochondria are damaged by various 'insults' including genetic deficiencies, and environmental toxins such as exhaust and industrial fumes (and smoking), pesticides, domestic and industrial chemicals (including food additives) and some pharmaceutical drugs - including some antibiotics such as FQs. It would be a miracle if any of us make it to adulthood with sustaining some damage. Luckily we are equipped with about 60% more mitochondria than we need so we all should have a bit of reserve in the tank.

Why some people get affected by FQs more severely than others comes down to what prior insults the body has had over the years. The over 60s are supposed to only be prescribed them with "special caution" which makes sense. Also people with certain conditions such as heart and kidney problems should not be prescribed them - there's a long list in the package leaflet. This is why I asked if the person you write about has a prior history of raised creatine levels.

Those "unfortunate (few)" patients Mickelmus mentions had to wear special boots as their Achilles tendons ruptured due to taking an FQ - which is the best known problem associated with Cipro etc. I find it odd that doctors don't seem concerned that an antibiotic, given to fight an infection, causes tendons to snap! Don't they ever wonder what other damage may be happening ? If you look for problems with Cipro you will find that just about every system in the body is liable to be affected, including the cardio-vascular, the endocrine, and the central nervous system. Mental health problems are as common as physical problems - but many doctors deflect this by saying the pains are all in your head! For the hundreds of thousands of people all around the world who have been affected this isn't funny.

The majority of people who take FQs say they were not adversely affected and they would happily take it again. I'm sure most, like Mickelmus, say it did them a power of good. The problem is, these people have no idea how much damage they sustained from the one course. With 60% extra mitochondria perhaps many courses can be taken before any damage becomes apparent - I saw a post from someone on this website who said she must have taken over 50 courses and now suddenly she's in agony. I've heard from others who took ONE tablet years ago and are still in agony. There is no average - it all very much depends on the state of your body and how much you take.

The kidneys and liver can take a particularly hard hit as these are the organs to do with clearing toxins out of the body. They not only suffer cellular damage but they are also having a lot of the drug pumped into them from other areas. You've posted this question on the UTI site so I wonder if the person had a UTI and now has raised creatine? You are obviously worried about whether the Cipro could have caused kidney damage. I hope my post has helped you understand better how Cipro and the other FQs work although I could have just given a short answer which is probably - as Cipro can (and does) damage everything to a degree.

The FDA and EMA have taken steps to restrict the use of FQs but have yet to realise that they really should be kept in reserve for the life and death cases. For most other infections, especially uncomplicated UTIs and sinus (which they are still commonly handed out for) there are other options. There is a choice - FQs should only be used as the last resort.