A warning for PCOS ladies against antibiotics in the same family as Cipro

stacicali

Hi everyone,
I unfortunately just became aware of this through personal experience this weekend. Long story short, avoid Cipro and other antibiotics in the same family if you have any other options (and you should - there are lots of antibiotics out there.) This class of drug destabilizes blood sugar! Only three days of Cipro shot my glucose levels sky high despite the fact that I'm not diabetic and am on Metformin for PCOS. Oh, and they all carry FDA black box warnings against rupturing tendon risk because they attack your body's collagen through depletion of magnesium. How charming. Read about all the antibiotics you should avoid if possible here:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/09/25/fluoroquinolone-antibiotics.aspx

Sabine_Stroehm

They really are quite quite dangerous. A dear friend of mine's life was forever changed by them.

KnitOrMiss

That is absolutely insane - and that's without reading the article. I opt for a steroid shot anytime I'm in desperate need and have for years. It would take something serious for me to even consider antibiotics at all. But I'm happy to report that since launching into heavy focus on my health, I've been ill relatively little. Getting proper nutrients and supplements into one's body can be utterly life-changing...

Antibiotics are so commonly prescribed, and I recall with my daughter that even at a young age, she would have major reactions, and we had to put her on acidophilus every single time she had to be on antibiotics (she had ear infections as a baby before getting tubes put in, and then later for sinus infections related to undiagnosed allergies), which was relatively few, because I was somewhat paranoid about antibiotics and anything to give to her that required additional medicines be taken to compensate...

I'm so sorry to hear about your complications, @stacicali - and you're friend's devastation, @Sabine_Stroehm ... Life is too short for misery - and frankly, it's terrifying...we're darned if we don't and darned if we do...

Sabine_Stroehm

@knittormiss: yes, she experienced a wide range of horrible complications after three days. Before all this, she was completely healthy, except for a simple UTI.
Of the many things she experienced: tendons tearing. Blistering of her esophagus, a minor heart attack, numerous food allergies, retinal scarring.... She's forever changed. Has to eat a special diet, and has chronic pain. Three days of an antibiotic for a UTI.

KnitOrMiss

Oh my dear gods....that is so utterly horrifying. Is any of this reversible for her??!?!!?!?!?!

MariahMichaels

Thank you for posting this link, my husband went to the ER 3 times back in February after taking ciprofloxacin. He was sent to an endo who diagnosed him with Addison's disease, but we are now suspecting this may have all started with the ciprofloxacin. He has symptoms that cannot been explained away by the Addison's disease diagnosis and he's always felt like his endo was missing something, that something else was also going on in addition to his Addison's. We will continue to learn everything we can about this and take it to his endo once we feel we have our answer.

Sabine_Stroehm

MariahMichaels wrote: »

Thank you for posting this link, my husband went to the ER 3 times back in February after taking ciprofloxacin. He was sent to an endo who diagnosed him with Addison's disease, but we are now suspecting this may have all started with the ciprofloxacin. He has symptoms that cannot been explained away by the Addison's disease diagnosis and he's always felt like his endo was missing something, that something else was also going on in addition to his Addison's. We will continue to learn everything we can about this and take it to his endo once we feel we have our answer.

Consider having him connect with other "floxies" (others who've been poisoned by cipro). THEY are a wealth of knowledge. There's a great Facebook community.

Sabine_Stroehm

KnitOrMiss wrote: »

Oh my dear gods....that is so utterly horrifying. Is any of this reversible for her??!?!!?!?!?!

Tendons healed. Blistering stopped. It was 6-9 months of utter hell, followed by a few years of pretty miserable stuff. She's back at work. Through her I became aware of others. Some who've become permanently disabled.

There's *some* suggestion that "gulf war syndrome" is related...as they were given many antibiotics...

Deena_Bean

My husband just finished a round of cipro! I wish I had known...thankfully he seems fine, but sheesh. Why do they prescribe things that result in far worse issues than the one you were trying to resolve (sinus infection in this case)???

Sabine_Stroehm

Deena_Bean wrote: »

My husband just finished a round of cipro! I wish I had known...thankfully he seems fine, but sheesh. Why do they prescribe things that result in far worse issues than the one you were trying to resolve (sinus infection in this case)???

I had a UTI last year. Went to urgent care on a saturday morning. Doc was, well, an *kitten*. I told him no cipro or anything from the Fluoroquinolone family. He says "oooh someone consulted Dr. Google". I wanted to punch him.

Bearbo27

Unfortunately I am allergic to quite a few antibiotics and cipro has been one they've had to go to many times

MeepleMuppet

Me too. I JUST finished my course of Cipro for bronchitis and it was my only option since I'm allergic to everything else. It worked fine for me. Something to talk to the doctor about should it ever happen again, I suppose.

stacicali

If it's the only thing you can take, sometimes a girl needs antibiotics! I'm glad it worked for you. I'm not sure why I had such nasty side effects except that I suspect I'm already magnesium deficient, so Cipro wreaked havoc with my blood sugar, anxiety, and muscles. If anyone on here does need to take this class of drugs, it may be worth a shot to take magnesium glycinate, powdered collagen in bone broth, and probiotics to attempt to prevent or lessen side effects.