I took Cipro & Ibuprofen for over 90days...

Hi Gwen, 

I feel your misery, and im sorry to hear your suffering from the effects of Cipro - its a tricky process getting the right help after this nasty drug gets in the system....

Hot baths help, as does sleep and rest. But thats not much of a life. 

Opiates and pain meds? They do little to numb the burning and deep pains. Ive exhausted the compliment of pain medications to use from Lycra Gabapentin to Tramadol Zomorph and Oramorph. They simply dont do anything but add misery to your symptoms by adding yet more side effects to your woes. I wouldnt recommend this route for the males, especially if it started with Prostate issues. 

Ive had limited success with Amytriptlyne, it aids sleep but thats it. 

I met with a good military Rheumatologist who confirmed that i had CNS nerve problems and associated Chronic “ongoing” tendinopathy due to the Ciprofloxacin. 

He added that the intake of Ibuprofen only added to the chances of CNS damage. 

I then only last year was referred to a Pain specialist. On first glance i was dubious as to the amount of help they could provide, but upon telling my tale, i was interupted and he divulged that a close family member of the consultant was also crippled via the use of Ciprofloxacin. Saddened as i was to hear the news of another victim, i felt easier knowing this “guy” could help? He understands, and his more than aware. So lets see what happens. Even a glimmer of hope is like a beacon atm.

Absolutely Gwen, please keep your chin up, and keep healthy, after just a week of cipro you have a great chance of recovering - as Miriam has said, eat well and rest and i hope the pains ease over time. 

I too have just started dosing up on Magnesium, il keep you posted on any improvements 👍🏻 Take care

Hi Gwen,

I just wanted to tell you not to panic!  Armylad has been suffering for 7 years now but he was given a huge amount of Cipro in 2011 (90 days!!).  It's actually criminal how they dish out this drug with no idea of the harm it can do.

Your dose of just 7 days is easily enough to cause you problems - sometimes just one pill can do it - but hopefully the affects won't be as long-term as his.  With a short course the affects tend to get worse for maybe a couple of months and then they sort of come and go in cycles but people often find they feel much better in between the cycles.  There is a lot of debate as to what causes the cycles - maybe sufferers feel better and just do too much which kicks it all off again.

I can go into what's causing the pain and why but I know it's all there in the other discussions.  I would say you need to concentrate on rest (the best medicine!), take supplements such as magnesium and also probiotics (as your gut will have been affected). Never take Ibuprofen or other NSAIDs or steroids - or another fluoroquinolone ever again!

Try to eat very clean and healthily as junk food and pesticides, alcohol and sugar can all make things worse.  Organic meat and wild fish rather than cheap meat and burgers and farmed fish and prawns (fluoroquinolones are routinely given to farm animals and farmed fish).

Read the other discussions, check out support groups (some addresses are on the discussion started by the Moderator) and find out what you can about it.  Good luck!

Hi Miriam, 

Im on the case, the last time i saw this doctor i was on the operating table as he was working away on my back and shoulder, i diddnt have a chance to speak with him in length. Im seeing him again this Friday in clinic. 

Il divulge a little more on this visit and test the waters as to what he has planned, and what he can do. His very approachable and was forthcoming in damning this drug, even going as far to tell me the statistics of volumes that Cipro is prescribed in the UK. That tells me he has done some leg work on it already. Ive been under his care for tendon and nerve pains for some time now. I believe that the Pain Consultants & Rheumatologists are key in us gaining support and highlighting the issues. Neurologists & GPs wont give us the time of day. 

Infact my current GP had the audacity to look me in the eye and defend Cipro.... now then, rather than lose my temper, i left. With him saying relax, enjoy life it could be worse....hmmmm, does that get the pumping? Im glad i had someone with me, i felt the squeeze on my knee to say “calm, stay calm” 

Its shocking, and im bemused about the staunch attitude medical professionals adopt when you tell them its side effects of the medications they dish out like sweets. 

I just dont get it.

PM me anytime Miriam, np. Il keep fighting. 

He doesn't want you to sue him. Miriam told me of a successful UK case against a doctor by a patient with a previous history of tendonitis.

PS, there is a class action against the makers in America.

Thats promising mate - i found that without a concrete diagnosis from a related Doctor scuppered any chance of proving Cipro caused the damage. 

Infact i had a solicitor on this for over 3 years, but in the end, its what you can prove and not what you can show or say. In the end he said there was little chance of winning and dropped the case. 

Hey Derek,

I diddnt. I went as far as AFCS compensation tribunal and a civil case, and lost both. 

I left MD with a ill health pension, but was told by the army to persue a civil case against the doctors who prescribed it. Tricky when it was on tour and by the USAF. 

In the end the time scale and eligibility had expired. 

So no mate, sadly i got nothing. Diddly squat

I've not been able to walk unaided outside since June 2015 due to what was first said to be "idiopathic neuropathy". I get around the house OK. Last year I saw a specialist neurologist who did a fifteen second diagnosis from my walking into his office of CMT. I told him that genetic testing and conduction tests had not supported that, He said the either did the wrong ones or did not interpret them correctly. What can you do with Guys like that ?   

Im sorry to hear that Derek, i know what you mean, keeping a cool head with these guys is a battle in itself. 

I once wrote to the head of urology with a list of complaints about his department. The next day he was on the phone shouting angrily. He found that I could shout louder than him.

The head of cardiology was much better we had a meeting to discuss my complaints and he took heed of them all and instigated changes as a result.  

Good man, its sink or swim and im glad to hear you bit back at the fella. 

I mean cmon, you gave honest feedback and highlighted some below par standards. Instead of taking the feedback on board and listening with a touch of sympathy, he decided to go the other way. That tells me alot about his character and his practice. Sounds like he needs more than a word in his ear, but hey, who knows maybe one day he will have to put one of these pills in his gob - i bet he thinks twice at that point. (I dont wish ill health on anyone, thats a throw away comment in anger) - but i wonder if he would think twice? Theres something to ponder on. 

i too have had heart problems, but was extremely reluctant to approach my GP in fear of him thinking im some kind of scroatbag who is paranoid. But ive had to go to A&E a few times with some really scary heart problems etc. Im sure there will be a thread somewhere on the forum so il check it out, no doubt a good portion of the trouble is Anxiety, but when you wake up from sleep clutching your chest in epic pain, its a wee bit difficult to ignore. And again, it never happened before i took these “wonderful antibiotics to quote the doctors” 

I say BS - its a broad spectrum antibiotic you deal out and forget. Here you try a few! Urgh its just grim mate. 

I think that the first time I had Fluoroquinolones was when my aortic valve was replaced in 2012 and I started to develop tendonitis while still in the hospital. On release I reported the tendonitis to my GP and he sent me for physio. He prescribed Cipro and fluoroquinolones later for prostatitis and UTI's about three times. Each time I felt the tendon problem and stopped it but did not reckon long term effects. Last time was three years ago by the hospital after I had a pacemaker fitted and again the pain in the tendon within a couple of days..