It is almost 1 year since my mother left for the spirit world. When I returned home in 2011 to help care for her, I did a bit of research into her conditions. She had been diagnosed with Scleroderma. It is an autoimmune condition. I also researched some of the medication she had been taken. She had also been diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, cause unknown to those Dr's treating her. My once on-the-go mom, had become a shuffle walker. She had been prescribed a drug called Flagyl or Metronidazole as early as 2009. In my research I discovered that there were cases of the drug Flagyl causing peripheral neuropathy. She was prescribed Flagyl and had many repeats on the prescription, which is clearly not recommended for long term use. When I asked a few of her specialists if this could be the cause, they quickly dismissed it. However later on when she changed family doctors, her new family doctor acknowledged this could possibly have caused it. As early as 2006 the medical community were seeing signs of this occurring: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16901452
Apparently there are also other antibiotics that can cause neuropathy and they are the class of fluoroquinolone antibiotics – Cipro, Levaquin, Avelox, Floxin. This is new information to me. There is a website dedicated to helping people recover from what is being called Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome. It is a page called Floxie Hope. There is also a FB page for Floxie Hope. Lisa, who started the Floxie Hope website had experienced all these symptoms after being prescribed Cipro: peripheral neuropathy, urticaria, loss of energy/stamina, loss of memory and reading comprehension, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, painful and inflamed tendons, muscle weakness, and more. Here is a host of other symptoms experienced by others: symptoms include dry eyes, mouth and skin; ringing in his ears; delayed urination; uncontrollable shaking; burning pain in eyes and feet; occasional tingling in hands and feet; heart palpitations; and muscle spasms. That is not the whole list either. Here are some more taken from an article in the New York Times. "the drugs in rare cases can seriously injure the central nervous system (causing “brain fog,” depression, hallucinations and psychotic reactions), the heart, liver, skin (painful, disfiguring rashes and phototoxicity), the gastrointestinal system (nausea and diarrhea), hearing and blood sugar metabolism."
Apparently Fluoroquinolone toxicity resembles Autoimmune diseases. I am quite sure there were times that my mother was also prescribed Cipro. Did my mother have Scleroderma or the effects of too many antibiotics? She did have some of the same symptoms described above, as well as other symptoms. My mother was also a 19 year liver transplant surviver. We can't really know for sure, now. I do know that medical intervention in terms of the liver transplant and anti-rejection drugs gave us another 19 years with our mother. My mother was adamant about not taking natural remedies as advised by her liver transplant specialist. However did the reliance on too many pharmaceuticals cause some of her later conditions and deterioration. Again we don't know the answer. However I am telling this story for other to be alerted to some of the serious side effects of these particular pharmaceuticals.
Here is also an MD, talking about the antibiotics that can cause Neuropathy. Antibiotics and Neuropathy: What's the Latest? Medscape. Sep 17, 2013.
I share this information, not to incite fear or disrespect for Allopathic medicine or Big Pharma. Certainly there are plenty of times that Pharmaceuticals are life saving. However, we absolutely must be aware of the side effects, black box warning signs (that apparently only the physician sees) We have a right to ask questions about meds being prescribed. We can look for other alternatives in medicines and treatments and yes resort to natural treatments first, especially when treating things like sinus infections, bronchitis, and earaches. I think most people are becoming aware that the over-prescription of antibiotics is causing antibiotic resistance and superbugs. Naturopaths can also be that alternative. Prevention is also important, ensuring what we put into our bodies is life sustaining and not life draining. Do your research and be well informed about your own health issues.
My mother had a wish to donate her body to science, so that she could help others. However, we could not do that. She was an incredible helper to many in her earth walk journey. I thought this blog is one way her helping nature could continue in a divine way. I was awakened at 4:20am this morning and events lead me to write this blog.
When I wrote this article in 2016, I did not come across any Canadian references about the dangers of fluoroquinolone antibiotics. However Health Canada issued this warning in January 2017:
http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/hc-sc/2017/61920a-eng.php