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sdgluck

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It's sad to hear these stories. There seem to be so many of them online, which you can find if you search for "floxies".

I wonder when medicine will catch up and recognise the danger of fluoroquinolones. I've heard that in the US they have a "black box warning" on them. In the UK where I live the only warning you get is from your GP that you might experience tendonitis, and if that happens to stop taking the medication. No warning of life altering and crippling illness.

I was given two courses of Ofloxacin back-to-back in 2019. After four years of being the most ill I hope I will ever be, I am now finally starting to feel normal again. My symptoms were chronic fatigue, chronic gastritis, inflamed liver, liver cirrhosis, crippling anxiety (including derealisation), and inability to eat most things without horrendous bloating and brain fog.

No doctor I spoke with would correlate my illnesses with Ofloxacin, and all considered the fact that my symptoms began with my prescription as nothing more than coincidence.

My advice is never, ever take a fluoroquinolone antibiotic unless absolutely necessary. I certainly will never touch them again unless I am in mortal danger and all other options have been exhausted. They should not be handed out so carelessly.

This made me laugh! You're so right. Luckily I made no claims to the contrary otherwise it would be rather awkward. As I said in the article though, I enjoy reading other people's thoughts. Hopefully others feel the same about mine one way or another, though you can't please everyone.

(I am the author of the blogpost.)