Metronidazole Lasting Side Effects

I have been taking this medication for 7 days and off of it since a week and still have severe side effects, abdominal cramps, severe headaches, dizziness, unsteadiness... How long is it expected to last? It was prescribed with Ciprofloxacin to me and I take Entrophen on a regular basis...

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Have things improved any? Have you consulted your doctor?

For a short course of the medication, it would be unusual for side effects to remain that severe for that long, after you are finished with it.

https:/­/­rxchat.com/­wiki/­Metronidazole/­

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I started flagyl on 3/5/12 I'm so sick now, but I stopped it 3 days ago when these symptoms started yet they have only gotten worse. My throat is covered in sores and blisters. It also has a yellow type puss that runs down the back of my throat. I Itch like crazy my stomach is so bloated i look 5 months pregnentl!! My feet and fingers twitch uncontrollably. Is this from taking flagyl? If so what do I do? My doc is currently on vacation. Is this serious should I go to the ER or what? Anyone else experience this problem?

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I was on Metronidazole 500mg 3Xday for 4 days over a month ago. I had to stop on the fourth day because of severe symptoms, weakness, dizziness, lightheadedness, imbalance and confusion. I called my pharmacist after my first dose on the third day and he told me to continue. I did and the next morning after the first dose I started to have tingling in my hands and feet with a weird awful feeling in my legs and feet. If I would have known this could happen, I would have stopped them earlier. It's now been 3 weeks since I stopped and although I've gone to my doctor and have been told that my symptoms should go away in time, I'm not sure this is true. I wake up feeling druged (swimming head) etc. and my balance is way off. I'm very afraid and know a little about periheral neuropathy. Why does my brain still feel not right? I have to hold on to things when I am standing still and walking I often reach out to hold on to chairs, walls etc. What is happening to me and will I really get better? Each day I hope to feel better to give me some hope but not much has changed. I can't even drive my car anymore. Please if you have gone through this and can offer me some help, I'd appreciate it very much.

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hi my son stopped taking this drug 2months ago but his side effects are still continuing he keeps being sick how are you doing

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I've been off of Metronizadole since July 02 and here it is August 19th and my symptoms are worse. I am experiencing symptoms of peripheral neuropathy in my hands and feet especially. My feet are very painful and the weakness in my arms and legs make it hard to walk and to stand for long. I have other symptoms as well such as imbalance and dizziness at times. My doctor says he's sorry and is not offering any solutions. I still can't believe this has happened to me! :(

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Hi i am sorry you are not feeling better the dosage of 1500mg over 4 days does seem high my son took 1200mg per day over 6 days he should have continued for 14 days but the side effects were so bad i stopped it he stopped on 18th june he was exceptionally anxious to an extreme degree so i can understand it affecting your nervous system since then his nerves seem better but its now affecting his stomach and he is bringing up lots of acid.Its as if the drug has started in his head and is now working down his body he has never had such a bad reaction to an antibiotic or any other drug before.The only crumb of comfort i can give you is that he is very slowly improving but like you i wonder when it will go away for good.Good Luck

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Hi Dawn, I'm sorry to hear about what your son is going through. I've never had such a severe reaction to an antibiotic either. To me this is poison and it makes me wonder about the drugs they give us. From now on I will never take anything without doing extensive research! If you don't mind I will say a prayer for your son for a complete healing. Hugs

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Thank you i will say a prayer for you to.My feelings are exactly as yours its as if i am dealing with a poison which is why i feel that drinking plenty of fluids especially water to dilute and flush it out would seem like a good idea.I am not at all surprised your doctor couldnt help and like you i will undertake extensive research before i ever administer another drug which is what the doctors ought to be doing.Please stay in touch.

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I am so glad I found this, I am on the same dosage for 10 days (now on my 5th) and thought I was going crazy, as I feel spaced out most of the time and keep loosing my balance,although I have less pain I am wondering if it should be gone by now. How are you feeling

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Regarding side effects of Metronidazole,I would suggest any Probiotic preperation or Lacto-Bacillus prepration and Cynocobalamine-Methylecobalamine preperation should be given along with Metronidazole which will reduce the side effects mentioned by the patients on Metronidazole.I personally find this very effective in patients with Oral-infections where in sometimes I have to give this drug for 10 days. Umesh Sahgal

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Hi Pat,
All I can say is I wish I had stopped as soon as my dizziness and lightheadedness started. It just took 4 days before I started having symptoms of peripheral neuropathy and this is a seriously debilitating condition. I would not take any more if I were you. Even if you don't get PN from what I've read from others the other side effects are long lasting. The imbalance could be a sign of nerve damage starting. Please let me know how you make out. I wish I could tell you that I'm doing much better but I can't. Although the imbalance has improved some and the dizziness too. I'm not giving up hope though. I would take a good probiotic if I were you and speak with someone who knows their stuff about ridding your body of this med. I've been taking milk thistle to detoxify my liver and fish oil, vitamin E. Other antioxidants for the PN etc. Hope this helps you!

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As I have only 2 more days I am going to stick it out and have started taking a probiotic, I find if I haven't slept well symptoms are worse. Today I making myself keep going which seems to help rather than lie around(which my husband)tells me to do.

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Hi just a brief update on my son.It has been 10 weeks since he stopped taking the drug.They have seemed very long and traumatic weeks this has NOT been minor but I feel he is starting to improve so there is light at the end of a long tunnel.

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Thank you, Dawn, for your update on your son's progress. I'm glad to hear he is doing much better. It also gives me hope. I have 4 children and I know how heartbreaking and helpless it feels to see one of them suffering. I wish the drug hadn't affected my nerve endings, that's what scared me. My feet still burn and pain quite bad, especially my toes. However, with faith nothing is impossible with God so I'm believing for a complete recovery(healing). I will keep you posted on my progress if you'd like. God Bless!

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Hi Pat, How are you doing? I hope you haven't had any lasting side effects. :)

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Thank you i do want to know how you are getting on and like you I am a great believer in faith healing.

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Thanks for caring, I am now on my 2nd day of but still feel a bit spacey, I have carried on taking the probiotics and think they have helped. I have never had this type of side effect before . How are you feeling

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I have a bad headache from this has anyone else just had the headach

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Hi, I had the headache too but that was only one of many side effects I experienced and am still experiencing 2 months later.

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I don't know if everyone is aware of the side effects of Metronidazole taken while consuming alcohole. Mind you Alcohole is strictly prohibitted during the course of Metronidazol(and its derivatives)..

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Re: Dennis (# 1437)

WOW!!! That is horrible. Have you considered a lawsuit against your doctor and the drug maker?

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Re: Galina (# 1438)

It's hard to say, but visual changes can be caused by many things, blood pressure, caffeine intake & addiction, even age or lack of sleep. So please don't panic. Yes Metronidazole destroyed my vision. It took roughly 36 hours after it was started to blow out my eye. Sadly the destruction is permanent.

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Re: Dennis (# 1437)

Dennis, thank you so much for letting me know about your vision damage due to metronidazole. I also noticed that the vision in my right eye is slowly worsening as well. I am so afraid that I am going to lose the vision in both eyes. I am naturally nearsighted and in 2013 had a vision correction with PRK laser free. After that my vision was perfect for years until I took metronidazole in the end of 2017. I saw my surgeon in spring and he told me that for a year or two he will be monitoring a change in my eyes and if the surgery is possible later on, he will do it to restore my vision. So for now I am just waiting and observing the changes in my eyesight. Dennis, did your eye doctor find out if the vision can be restored in one your eyes or it is impossible. My doctor said that because I had a corrective surgery before, the eye tissue is thing and he doesn’t sure if the surgery is a safe option for me. Dennis, did your eye doctor Or neurologist know whether metronidazole damaged the eye itself or the part of the brain that is responsible for vision. My doctors have no clue when I asked them.

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Re: Galina (# 1436)

Sadly I had no eye issues before taking Metronidazole, although as I mentioned earlier, I carried a Med-Alert card describing severe antibiotic sensitivity throughout my life, which was ignored by the prescribing physician. Within 24 hours I felt a loud snap in my left eye (my perfectly healthy 20/10 eye) which then went completely black. My retinal macular had completely burst, vision was instantly lost. My right eye is now slowing deteriorating as well, went from 20/20 to 20/100 in less than 6 months.

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Re: Dennis (# 1433)

Hello Dennis, i have another question to ask you. How is your vision in both eyes? My vision in left eye has been worsening a lot. I used to have 20/10 vision in this eye, but now it is probably 20/90. So I lost 8,9 lines in visual acuity test. The weird thing is that when I look straight I cannot see well in my left eye, but i I look to the side, I could see very well out of my left eye. I have no idea why the eye is functioning in this way. Last time I saw my optometrist was in spring and I decided to wait until next summer to have another appointment. The eye doctor did not find anything wrong with the eye. He did the scanning of the back of the eye and could not see anything. I think that my brain part that is responsible for vision is damaged by metronidazole and my vision cannot be recovered. Is your eye vision in both eyes the same as before taking metronidazole or it got worse in one or both eyes? I am not sure how long my vision will continue go down but I hope it will stop at some point. I hope you have a better day and feeling better.

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Re: Dennis (# 1432)

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Re: Dennis (# 1433)

Hello Dennis, I am so sorry for what you are going through. I actually researched the ototoxicity due to the antibiotics and saw that currently there are no treatments available to heal the damage. I feel so bad for you and what led to help you but don’t know how. I can only tell you to hang in there and have hope that the body can recover gradually. I don’t know if my neuropathy will ever go away, but I can only hope. During the first year, I also had very bad migraines with aura and it was frightening experience. Like you said, nausea and headache are very debilitating. So when I had bad cases of migraines I could only lay on a couch. Before metronidazole, I have never had headaches or migraines and I know that this evil drug had damaged my body system very badly. Now I still have pain in a head, but is very manageable. The migraines and aura went away slowly. Please, Dennis hang in there and keep hope for recovery.

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Re: Galina (# 1431)

Sadly the answer is "no" to both of your questions. There are days I can walk yes, but that's an extremely rare occasion. I feel perpetually sea-sick and hung over every second of every hellish day with nausea, sweating, photophobia and severe migraine. NSAIDS are worthless, and in fact increase the tinnitus and nausea with no benefit whatsoever. There are no known treatments.

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Re: Betty (# 1429)

Hi Betty, you may need to be tested for Microvascular disease. You may also benefit from a brain scan preferably a MRI and/or MRA to detect small lesions in the brain due to vascular impairment or infarction. If so Metronidazole severely harmed you as it did me. This antibiotic was recently contraindicated in persons suffering from either a brain or vascular pre-existing condition by Pfizer because a severe medical event reports, including vestibular impairment, balance disorders, retinal/macular damage, severe ototoxicity and tinnitus, cerebral infarction, and death to name a few. If you had any of these pre-existing conditions (known or unknown) and were given this antibiotic to treat something else by mistake it could have caused catastrophic harm. Sad part, the US-FDA is dragging their feet to add these Manufacturer Warnings to the USA's DataSheet for the drug due to industry pressure from the AMA. Every other nation on the planet has already complied, even Russia and Iran!... but NOT the good old USA. Please see here: https:/­/­jmp.sh/­Yb5QsVi

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Re: Dennis (# 1428)

Hello Dennis, I it so good to hear from you. It’s been a while since you posted here. I feel so bad that you got such a bad damage to you inner ear. I truly hate this drug and what if has done to our life. I cannot even describe how this drug changed the quality of my life. I am just greatfull that I am not bedridden and can walk. Dennis, have you noticed any improvements or it has gotten worse over time. Have some symptoms improved or not at all? Can you walk or your balance is very bad?

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