Metronidazole Lasting Side Effects (Page 68) (Top voted first)

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...

REPLY

REPORT

Re: canie (# 1348)

Hello Canie, Thank you for your suggestions regarding the diet. I agree with you that eating as healthy as possible is important in the healing process. I’ve been juicing the veggies and fruits every day for the last 3 to 4 months and eating healthy most of the days. I try to do my best to give my body the right nutrients so it can heal. The healing of the nervous system is a slow process but I feel that I am on the right track. I just have to continue eating the right food, exercise, rest, and have a lot of patience and faith. Canie, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and everyone on this site and I wish a good recovery to the folks who still struggling!!!!!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Re: Betty (# 1349)

Hi Betty, I wonder how are you been doing. How is your balance and dizziness issues? Has it gotten better over the past 2 months? Also, have you seen a new neurologist yet? I think you mentioned early that you were going to see a new neurologist. Meanwhile, i’ve been healing slowly but surely. My neuropathy is getting less and less in my legs and feet. I am so grateful for the improvements I am been making these past two months. But for some reason i’ve been having bad nasal and lung congestions on and off for the past 8 months and cannot get rid of it. I guess my immune system is down. Betty, Merry Christmas to you and I hope you are doing well!!!!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Re: Galina (# 1351)

Thank you dear for asking. No, I am not any better. The new neurologist did lots of bloodwork.. all in the normal range...told me those drugs don't cross the brain barrier so can't be the cause of all this. Told me to start doing an hour of physical activity a day and to just power on through the exhaustion and that I would get a second wind. I'm still missing the first one. Spent at least 2 hrs in his office talking with him but his recommendation was to see this ENT specialist to see if it is inner ear issues causing the dizziness and balance issues. And go back to PT for balance, etc.. and set an appt for 3 months to come back.

I tried an hr of physical activity in short increments on Sunday and was totally exhausted on Monday. Today I did hr and 17 min, we'll see how I feel tomorrow. No second wind, but I am winded... I went out and watered plants in the yard as we've had no moisture here in CO since early Nov. Will be lucky if I make it through the balance of the day without collapsing.. and there are some folks in our neighborhood that are needing help packing their stuff to move because there was a fire in their building. 163 of them. I was able to get 6 of my garden gang folks to help out today but I wasn't physically able to stand up and do anything. Tomorrow I'm going to try to help.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Re: Betty (# 1352)

Sorry to bring some bad news, but your doctor is gravely mistaken. Metronidazole does breach the blood brain barrier. In fact the manufacturer has issed a new Warning that this antibiotic is contraindicated in those who have known neurologic conditions of the brain, spine or CNS in general. Find yourself another doctor who respects your health enough to know what he or she is talking about, after all, they’re only human.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Re: Betty (# 1352)

Hello Betty, I was hoping that you are feeling better now but I guess the healing is very slow process. I am sure that your neurologist is wrong when he said that Cipro doesn’t cross blood brain barrier. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Cipro is just like metronidazole crosses BBB and causes all kind of damage in our cranial cavity. I believe that the neurologists are so incompetent and so in denial that these antibiotics can clause so much damage to our body. I am going to see my neurologist in January for the follow up and she is the same as your doctor. She never admits that the antibiotic caused my neurological symptoms but blames everything on some mysterious virus. Betty, have you try to take MitoQ supplements? I read on Ciprohope that it helped some folks to combat fatigue and dizziness. I read all the recovery stories that website because some of the folks took Cipro and metronidazole and it was very interesting to hear their road to recovery. Seems like the recovery period is very different for everyone as we are all have our unique genes and everyone recovers at their own pace. How long it’s been for you since you took Cipro? Betty, I also been to ENT doctor with my sinus problems and he could not find anything wrong with me other than allergies, so I just hanging in there and hoping that time will heal my body. Betty, I am glad that you are trying to exercise although it is very hard. I know how you are feeling. I’ve been pushing myself every day to walk while having very intense burning neuropathy in my feet and legs. It was so bad that I would cry at the times and wanted to end everything. But recently I started to notice that the intense burning started to subside slowly, very slowly. You are also will get better, just continue doing what you can every day. Time will heal you!!!!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Re: Galina (# 1354)

What is mitoQ? Haven’t heard about this. Where do you get it?

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Re: Betty (# 1356)

Betty, I heard about MitoQ from ciprohope web site. Some folks who took Cipro tied this supplement and it helped their symptoms a lot. MitoQ is designed to enter the cells and deliver the powerful antioxidants into the cells so they can repair. It supports Mitochrondia health and overall gives the cells energy it’s needed. You can read about MitoQ on MitoQ.com I have not tried this supplement yet but I think I will and may be it will help me with boosting my immune system.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Re: Betty (# 1352)

Oh, wow--your new neurologist is a grade A moron. I don't say that about most doctors, but he/she is clearly either clueless of the situation or is trying to gaslight you into silence, which is downright abusive. See someone else--this one is not worth your time.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Erin (# 1357) --

Thanks. I've been taking the thiamine and magesium for about 3 months now. Any idea how long it takes? Then I also made the mistake of taking cipro which trigger additional symptoms. what I've figured out in the past 4 days is that 1 hr of physical activity, no matter how mild totally wrecks my energy and today I'm exhausted and mostly nonfunctional.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Betty (# 1358) --

Metronidazole and Cipro can cause mitochondrial dysfunction and possible damage--mitochondria are the energy source of your cells, which explains your lack of energy and other issues. Metronidazole causes this by indirectly taxing/harming mitochondria by starving it of the vital nutrient, vitamin B1 that mitochondria require to function. Cipro, unfortunately, can directly damage the mitochondria, so there's no one vitamin that can effectively treat it. I would suggest, if you are dealing with Cipro-related problems, to look up floxie hope in the search engine and read recovery stories from other victims and see what they suggest (and what to avoid). Do some research into functional doctors who are aware of fluoroquinolone toxicity (aka, Cipro-toxicity). Good luck to you.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Re: Erin (# 1359)

thank you Erin, I'll do a bit of research... my nutritionist recommend a lot of stuff but that ends up being tooooo many pills and my system rebels at about the 3 week mark and I end up "forgetting" to take them...

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Erin (# 1357) --

Thanks for the info Erin. Can you please link the document(s) from where you were quoting?

Best
Dennis

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Re: Galina (# 1355)

Thanks for the warm letter Galina. Sadly my condition continues to worsen. Everything changed overnight in late June of 2017. These multiple nightmarish symptoms began within 24 hours of ingesting this poison that they wrongly call a "safe" antibiotic. Like a Hot Potato, doctors continue to run away from me, yet some have admitted that there is evidence of cerebral damage and disease exacerbation while others are theorizing the Metronidazole may have triggered a severe case of SLE, or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus which is an severe Autoimmune response on top of everything else. Whatever the case, FLAGYL and the doctors that gave it to me have literally destroyed what's left of my life. Merry Christmas Galina, I will pray for you!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

I started using metronidazole for stomach flu, but after taking it for 3 days I can't stand the side effects like abdominal pain, terrible headache, nausea, dizziness, and so on. I had to stop it and the effects are lasting. This is a toxic drug...

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Re: Erin (# 1365)

Thank you Erin! Have you seen this fairly new document? Licensed manufacturers of Flagyl® all over the globe have now added this InfoPage with prescription Flagyl. Notice the clear warnings concerning neurotoxicity. https:/­/­jmp.sh/­Yb5QsVi You may wish to add this to your blog. The manufacturer has yet to respond as to the reason these new warning were added. It's a long detailed story.

Before I was severely harmed by this antibiotic, I was the director of the EDNC here in Washington DC, a patient advocate collaborative representing thousands of harmed individuals all over the world after they suffered severe outcomes following ESI therapy. I was instrumental in pushing the FDA to make significant label changes to Pfizer's DepoMedrol, a particulate steroid being used off-label for Epidural Steroid Injection therapies with low efficacy and high safety risks. In 2014 we made considerable progress after several advisory panel hearings decided to grant many of our proposed changes but refusing to contraindicate the drug for epidural administration.

Thanks for your blog.
Merry Christmas
Dennis

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Re: Seth (# 1366)

You’re doing the right thing Seth, the sooner the better are there is no known antidote. Keep us appraised of your recovery!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Re: Dennis (# 1368)

No, I haven't seen that one, just the FDA label and the FDA adverse drug report that I requested from 2015 (plus medical literature information). There are warnings on the FDA label about the drug's neurotoxicity, including cerebellar lesions and nerve damage, but since it's created by Pfizer, they gloss over the impact and act like the lesions and toxicity are no big deal.

Last spring, I contacted Dr. Charles Bennett, one of the leading patient advocates for ADR, but unfortunately--while he seemed enthusiastic about leading the charge about metronidazole when I first talked to him, even giving him his personal email and cell phone--he's been ghosting me ever since. I have no idea why.

If you want to get involved in helping with getting better recognition of the dangers of metronidazole, we have a support group I started in 2016 (the link is on my blog) that's now up to almost 400 victims. The group is only for metronidazole toxicity.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Re: Seth (# 1366)

Seth, I'd suggest getting some thiamine (aka vitamin B1) and magnesium (I like magnesium threonate the best, as it crosses the blood brain barrier). Metronidazole destroys thiamine; you need magnesium to absorb thiamine, so that's why you need both nutrients. Start slow, build up. You can take high doses of thiamine as it's water soluble. See my blog, linked a few posts below, for more details. I'm not a doctor, so you will need to make the final decision is you agree with the treatment or not, but I've researched this drug for over 3 years and the leading researcher of thiamine deficiency disease, Dr. Derrick Lonsdale, agrees with my findings about metronidazole.

But you will need to decide what's best for you.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Re: Erin (# 1371)

I've some new info that I thought I'd share. And no, I don't have any resolution or plan yet.

I took this medication in Sept 2016 for h. Pylori bacteria. I was sick before I finished the dose, doctor convinced me to just finish the dose if I could stand it. Afterward I was even sicker. At some point my eye doctor who was also a patient of my regular doctor saw me and told our mutual doctor to get me in and see what was going on. I was diagnosed with ataxia and polyneuropathy. After months of PT and yoga and tai chi I was able to stand up and walk well enough to walk in the Women's March in DC in Jan 2017. And I got better until March 13, 2018 when I went to the Dr for a suspected UTI and was given cipro before BEFORE waiting to see what bacteria was involved. I made the mistake of taking it. About 24 hrs after taking the first pill I got really sick with similar symptoms PLUS extreme exhaustion. 10 months later I'm struggling to function. About 2 months ago I was given a referral to CUHealth's neurology dept. 4 weeks ago I had that appt and bloodwork was taken and I was referred to an ENT for tests (so far the ENT hasn't called to schedule and appt with me) and then the blood work started coming back. All were negative except Calcium Channel Binding Antibodies....which my research shows connected to some kind of cancer. I've known about small calcium deposits in one breast which have been monitored for 4 yrs now with no changes. The neurologist says it is probably related to that (called carcinoma in situ) and that my body is making antibodies against it. I asked if removing the calcium deposits wouldn't be a good idea and he said no, we'll just treat the symptoms!

I'm seeing the oncologist today and talking with her about all this to see what she says. I'm excessively upset about all this. So my GP says I should see a counselor to help me cope. COPE? what the hell does she think is going on. that I'm just worried and talking will help? How do you cope with the fact that you likely have cancer somewhere and they don't have a clue where or what kind and the neurologist thinks you should just treat the symptoms?

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Re: BAH (# 1372)

Wow, I'm really sorry to hear that--and that you took Cipro and had the reaction that you did. It seems pretty common that if you have a reaction to metronidazole, you might be more sensitive to a reaction to Cipro. I think it's because both drugs can cause mitochondrial dysfunction and/or tax the mitochondria that can lead to dysfunction. Metronidazole, in theory, does this by depleting thiamine, which needed for normal mitochondrial function, and Cipro, like other fluoroquinolones, has the ability to directly damage the mitochondria.

I don't think (but to be fair, don't really know) if the cancer is related. One in two people will get cancer; my mom's dealing with lung cancer right now and my dad just died from cancer last year. It's such a horrible disease and I'm so sorry you're going through that. I wish I had more suggestions or ideas about what to do or what the options are. The fact that nothing is showing up on scans is probably a good sign, I'd think, but what you're going through, along with metronidazole/Cipro reactions, is just too much.

I hope they can find a way to help you moving forward, not just "treat the symptoms." I do think a counselor (or family support) might be beneficial here; I saw a therapist over my metronidazole toxicity, not because I or the therapist thought it was "all in my head," but because I needed to talk to someone and get a more objective view of things. It did help.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

I used flagyl almost 4 months ago for 7 days. I still have a terrible, sometimes salty, sometimes metallic taste in my m...

3 REPLIES

I have a tingling sensation all over the body! ## Has it changed or improved any yet? Learn more Metronidazole details h...

24 REPLIES

Hy,i am 13 weeks preg,and i had an abdomen pain so I went to the clinic the nurse gave me Bio-metronidazole 400mg,she ad...

5 REPLIES

I was on Metronidazole for 7 days & finished it 3 days ago. I experienced some nausea & even vomited a couple of...

5 REPLIES

My doctor provided me with this and i dont know what the side effects are? ## Hello, Ladypink! How are you? The side eff...

1 REPLY

Ive been on pliva334 for 4 days now. I have noticed a change in the color of my pee, it the normal? ## Metronidazole is ...

3 REPLIES

I have been taking this medication for three days now, 3 times a day for 7 days. I have noticed an increase in my appeti...

1 REPLY

I am on metronidazole 500 mg, 3 times a day, and doxycycline 100mg, twice a day. I am almost finished with them. But can...

2 REPLIES

I had to take plan b in early November, and ended up having two periods a week apart from each other. 11/14-11/18 and 11...

2 REPLIES

## what is this? ## WHAT DOES THIS DRUG DO TO ME.......... ## There are several brands with this active chemical; Please...

5 REPLIES