Summary
Name: Jennifer
Email : jennyboychuk@yahoo.com
State or Country of residence: USA
Sex: Female
Age: 40
Quinolone taken: Cipro
Reason for the Quinolone: UTI
Was a safer antibiotic tried first? : Yes
How long did you take the Quinolone for? : 3 Days
How long ago did you take the Quinolone?: 3 months
How much have you recovered as of now?: 50%
How often do you relapse or cycle?:
Does your doctor agree the Quinolone is the cause of your problems?: Yes
Do you have a history of seizures or neurological problems?: No
Please list anything your doctor did that helped in your recovery: She prescribed me an anti-inflammatory Relafen. But it made my symptoms much worse
What has helped you in your recovery?: I have continued to
walk 3-4 hours a week even though my shoulders and left elbow are in pain when I
do
Jennifer's Story
Sure I am working, but I am in pain every hour while I work at my computer 8 hours a day. I refuse to quit. I took Cipro almost 3 months ago for a UTI. I was given sulfa for 3 days first, but the symptoms were still there (i.e. painful, frequent urination). So I went back into the doc and asked for more. Unfortunately I pointed out that I had taken antibiotics 2 years earlier for a UTI and the UTI went away just fine. I found out later that the antibiotic I took 2 years earlier was Macrobid as well as Ofloxin (both quinolones), again 2 because the UTI did not go away with just the first course of antibiotics. Looking back to two years earlier when I took the Macrobid and Ofloxin, the only side affect I had then that I never knew was related to the antibiotics was a terrible nightmare--one so bad that I thought I had woken my roommate up with all of the screaming I was doing in my dream. I even asked her about it and sent a note to my boyfriend about how bad the dream was. Anyway, I was also really, really sleepy all of the time I was on the antibiotics as well, but I had no other side affects. So that is why I suggested to the doctor that we use the same ones (unbeknownst to me what I was about to get myself into). Well, for some reason the doc gave me Cipro instead of Ofloxin this time. I took 250mg twice a day for 3 days. I felt fine when I was on it, but I remember when I was on a 5 hour flight my first day of taking the pills, that I had trouble getting my arms comfortable because the guy next to me was hogging the armrest. Still I fly frequently and had never noticed this problem before. On my daily walks the week after I stopped taking the Cipro, I noticed my left elbow hurt badly. Then 2 weeks after I stopped taking the Cipro, my shoulders started killing me at work. Well that
was about 2.5 months ago, and my shoulders still hurt as I type this. I
cannot hug my husband at night anymore or turn on my shoulders at all--I
have to sleep flat out on my back. I can no longer golf, go bowling, or Just in the past week, I have started to
get better. I did a couple loads of laundry over the weekend. I have an apt
with a rheumatologist tomorrow, though I do not have much hope since there
isn't much they can do except confirm it is indeed a reaction to the Cipro
and not other types of arthritis. I know Cipro usually only affects the
Achilles tendon, but for me, it affected only my upper body. And the anti-inflammatories
my doc told me to take only make it worse. |
Last Updated 5/05/04