FLUOROQUINOLONE IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRY

Hi Jiwa,

I don't agree that the difference is because the Cipro was a generic brand. Many people in the USA and UK seem to be able to take more than one course of it with no ill-effects.  Others, however, take just a couple of tablets and BAM - everything goes wrong!  The problem with raising awareness around the world is because statistically not enough people have been damaged by fluoroquinolones (yet!).

I strongly suggest you advise your cook to avoid Cipro and the other fluoroquinolones in future or she may be affected as badly as you have been.  (Remember you  took it for 2 weeks while she only took it for one - who knows if another week's worth might have affected her).  I don't know the names of the other quins in Indonesia but you probably do or can look them up - they're all as bad as each other, including the generic brands.  (A guy has written on another thread here that he took Cipro occasionally over many years for prostatitis but then took a generic version and now he's very ill).

I'm so sorry that you have been very badly affected but grateful that you are able to post on here so that others can read your warning.  I just don't agree that generics are any more (or any less) safer than the originals.  The best advice is to NEVER take a fluoroquinolone unless it's a case of life or death.  Doctors find quins very useful because they are broad spectrum and so saves them from trying to figure out what type of bug you've got.  They are very strong drugs, designed to be used as a last resort but globally doctors are misusing and over prescribing them - which is why you are so ill my friend.

Take care of yourself and try to stay positive - even though you are so ill, if you can warn people against these terrible drugs you are doing a good job.

I was given Cipro for a simple urinary tract infection in 2003 in the US. I had a reaction to the second pill and the doctor just thought my sickness needed more Cipro. The more he gave me the more sick I became. Before it was over he had given me more than 70, 500mg of Cipro and Levaquin. Before Cipro I was a runner training for a marathon. After Cipro I was bed ridden for 3 years. It affected every cell in my body. I am now nearly blind. I have nearly died more than once and have permanent heart damage. Every organ has been damaged. I am still going through relapse and remissions. It feels like I am climbing in and out of my coffin each time. My hands are damaged and my feet are damaged. I recently started an herbal and raw food regiment- the healing crisis is almost unbearable but I feel like for the first time I am beginning to improve. It has been 13 years this past October - 13 years of spending 24/7 trying to figure out how to survive - my life was robbed! I am hopeful and haven't yet given up.