Metronidazole Lasting Side Effects (Page 2)
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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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Re: Galina (# 1419)

Well, it has been an interesting journey for sure. After taking cipro for about 5 days for a UTI, I experienced major fatigue and dizziness issues. After being told I was having Anxiety and should take antidepressants and see a therapist.... and having tests done on my heart and lungs, etc. because I was out of breath so much... and getting no where with PT as finally recommended by the neurologist and ENT, I finally figured something out. I had been telling all these doctors that my legs felt cold all the time and felt like I was having to drag them and this was why I got out of breath after 30 steps. One night about 4 weeks ago I woke middle of night with the bed warm and my legs frigid from the knee down. I went to bathroom and noticed my ankles felt tight. Then I remembered my chiropractor said that I had bad circulation in my calves as evidenced by dark blood, almost black, when he pricked me doing some dry needling. It is supposed to be bright red. I asked him what caused that and he said it was normally genetic. So next day I did my homework and searched on issues, symptoms, etc for bad circulation in the legs. WELL, I had the symptoms and one of the suggested treatments was compression stockings. I had some TEDS in my sock drawer, put them on and the next day had a great improvement in my energy, etc. So I started searching for compression stockings and talked with someone at a medical supply place who said I shouldn't buy any without seeing a vein doctor. She gave me a business card for RIA Endovascular. I set an appointment and the ultrasound showed large veins in each leg that allowed blood to puddle in the legs rather than going back to the heart. So we had a procedure done July 2 and 3rd on my legs. Immediately I felt better and my legs not so heavy! Tomorrow I'm to go back for a "cleanup" procedure to shut down other varicose veins that are an issue. I'll let you know the results but.... I've been walking a LOT lately, almost made 10000 steps yesterday!! I'm so thrilled!

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Re: Betty (# 1418)

Hi Betty, It is so great to hear from you. How are you boing now? Is fatigue and low energy went away. I’ve been thinking about you and hoping that your health has improved.

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Re: Galina (# 1415)

It's awfully quiet on this forum.. does this mean everyone is getting way better?

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Re: Dennis (# 1416)

Hello Dennis, It makes me so sad to hear that you are not feeling well, but I am glad that you have a new team of doctors and hope that they can help you. I agree with you that antibiotics can trigger autoimmune response in the body. My doctor actually said that one of his patients developed Lupus after taking Cipro antibiotic and he was trying to help her but I don’t know as it for now if she recovered and healed from Lupus. Dennis, I am also very sensitive to any medications not just antibiotics and now after experiencing metronidazole toxicity I am very cautious about pharmaceuticals and even vitamins. I am not taking anything. Dennis, is there anything your specialists can do to help you? I hope that you will get better soon. Please keep fighting and never lose hope!

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Re: Galina (# 1415)

What can I say other than thanks for reaching out! :-) The truth is I’ve been very, very sick. Clearly I’m among the few who react extremely violently to antibiotic treatments even since childhood. As an adult, my body is extremely vulnerable to toxic poisoning. But when doctors arrogantly ignore their patient's history and administer these meds to susceptible patients like me without concern, they should be held accountable as they condemn them to suffer severely as a result of that ignorance. Turns out my case is extremely complex due to a massive autoimmune involvement response triggered by Metronidazole toxicity. (Look up Autoimmune Neurologic Triggers) In fact it's so complex, the specialists I’m currently seeing are considering to write me up for publication.

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Re: Dennis (# 1396)

Hello Dennis, How are you doing? It is been a few months since you posted here and I wonder if you are doing better by now. I really hope that your health is getting better.

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Re: BAH (# 1413)

BAH, you may have a hypersensitivity or allergy to ginger. I drink a ginger lemon tea but only one mug a day. I don’t want to overdo it either. I think drinking a lemon water with cranberry is a great idea. It is very beneficial for kidneys. BAH, hang in there!!! I know it is not easy but we don’t have any other choice. I don’t think that doctors can help us with metronidazole toxicity. My family doctor immediately diagnosed my with metronidazole/FLAGYL toxicity but she told me that there is no cure for it and I have to wait and hope that my symptoms will go away overtime. Even my neurologist said that with time it should get better but she doesn’t know how much time it will take to recover. I will see her next month and talk more about my condition but do not expect any help from her since she does not believe that metronidazole can cause a neurological symptom. she actually blamed my neuropathy on mysterious virus that she doesn’t know about. She is not a good doctor but I don’t have any other neurologists near by to go to. BAH, try to keep your chin up and do what you can every day. I hope that slowly but surely we make it over the hump!!!!

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Re: Galina (# 1412)

I don't know about the faith part but thanks for the good thoughts and wishes. I can't use ginger, it makes my lips swell... and I don't drink tea any more. was raised on sweet iced tea but in 1983 or so I stopped drinking it altogether. I mostly drink lemon water with a bit of cranberry sometimes other wise just water after I've survived the process of waking up by drinking 2 cups of coffee...LOL. Actually I don't think coffee wakes me up, it's just something to do until I do wake up.

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Re: BAH (# 1411)

BAH, I am so glad that you had an MRI without contrast because the contrast is toxic itself. I know that we want to heal faster but it is not the case with us. Please, just do what you can, keep faith, and take a day at the time. I hope that God will help us and things will get better overtime. Meanwhile, eat healthy, less sugar and more fresh fruits and veggies. BAH, have you tried a ginger tea? Ginger is very beneficial for the health. It cleanses the blood and body and overall good for the immune system. Recently, my husband and I had a very bad case of flu and we started making our own ginger tea and it helped us a lot with the symptoms and the duration of the flu. Now I drink a cup of ginger lemon tea every day just to keep the cold and flu away. I don’t take any supplements at this time because my B1 and B12 vitamins and minerals are normal. I just do my beat to eat healthy and keep hope that things will get better. BAH, please keep faith and hopefully in a few months our health will get somewhat better.

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Re: Galina (# 1410)

Galina, the brain MRI wasn't done with contrast injection. So, I don't know what else to do so continue to struggle through and hope that eventually it will get better. I'm not feeling very hopeful at this point.

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Re: BAH (# 1409)

Hello BAH, I am so glad that your MRI of the brain is normal. Having normal tests’ results are always encouraging. I am glad that you are doing what you love like teaching a watercolor painting and gardening. You are doing your best considering what you went through. Keep pushing and hope that time will heal. I am glad that you have good friends that understand and support you through this hard time!!! I am just like you, doing my best every day and hope that within a year or two I will recover. BAH, I have my follow up appointment with the neurologist in mid May and we will see what she is going to say. It’s been more than 8 months since I’ve seen her. BAH, you said that you had a brain MRI. Was it ordered with Contrast injection?

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Re: Galina (# 1404)

MRI was of brain... the written report says it was normal, actually it said "grossly normal"! Got a laugh out of that. The neurologist was to get the actual DVD but so far they don't seem to have it. I had to call the folks that did the imaging and ask if they sent the DVD and they said they don't send unless the doc requests it and there was no request. So I sent that info to the doc... a week later got a reply from an assistant that they were asking for it. That's been about a week. I really don't expect anything to show other than the normal aging process.

As for exhaustion? I've been recording my steps, etc. and when I get close to 4000 steps I'm nearly nonfunctional the next day, sometimes 2 days. Meanwhile I'm still the same hyperactive person who teaches watercolor painting and gardening techniques and am the lead person preparing for a huge plant sale on May 18th and have my own garden plot to maintain. IF it weren't for my friends in my gardening projects it would never get done. I'm thinking that either I will get better in a year or never. My vital signs are all good. I just have a major issue moving my body through space, if that makes any sense. I can stand still and do a lot of stuff for an hour or more as long as I don't walk more than a few steps. When I do, I get winded and often have to sit down to calm my breathing and rest for a few minutes before I go back to it, which I always do.

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Re: BAH (# 1407)

Hello BAH, I am glad that you are keep walking although it is not easy. I’ve been walking every single day with my painful neuropathy and not giving up. I think I had no choice but walk because I have a big dog and I need to walk her every day otherwise she would raise hell. It’ been almost 13 months for me since I took metronidazole and I feel that I am making progress toward getting my health back. It’ been a very bumpy and slow road but I am getting there. My neuropathy is lessening in the feet and legs and I feel that my nerves are healing as I can do more and feel less pain. I hope that as time goes by my nerves will heal and I will regain my health back. BAH, you will get better. Just take a day at the time and do what you can. May be gentle stretching will be also beneficial to you. I’ve been stretching a lot on my yoga mat and I feel that it makes my body stronger. BAH, hang in there and believe that time will heal, just don’t take any medication because they all have bad side effects.

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Re: Galina (# 1406)

Well, waiting on the MRI, don't expect an issue there.. As for energy level? HA! I got a pedometer on my cell phone to track how far I walk each day. For the past 6-7 days I've been able to add a couple of steps each day and they are growing but I'm only getting tired-er... as in more tired than before. Still waiting for that second wind. HA!

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Re: BAH (# 1405)

Good morning BAH, I am so glad that you are negative for myasthenia gravis! That is a great news and I am sure that the MRI will be normal. Did you have a brain or spine MRI? How is your balance and energy level?

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Re: Galina (# 1402)

Well, it was a bust. They did rule our mathenias gravis (or however you spell that) but basically said they had no idea!!! but decided to do another MRI and more bloodwoork. bloodwork came back normal. haven't heard anything about the MRI results yet.. that was done last Friday so assume I should hear something this week.

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Re: BAH (# 1403)

BAH, I hope that your upcoming appointment with a neurologist goes well. May be he or she can order some tests to check for myasthenia gravis to rule it out. My neurologist is very non cooperative but I don’t have any other ones that any better in my locations. I will go to see her in May and hopefully she can order some blood work. BAH, I think that in our situation we have to do what we can every day without pushing ourselves to much so won’t feel seek afterwards. It is hard for me to limit my activities because I was very active person before taking metronidazole, but i’ve learned to be patient and not to overdo myself and treat my body well. I have no choice but to be more conscious nowadays about how much activities I do. All I know that one day I will be healthy again! It may take a lot of patience and time but I will get there. Please take care yourself and never give up hope. We will get there step by step! Please let us know how your appointment on March 15th goes.

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Re: Galina (# 1402)

This was an ENT that I'd reported I was to see this month. She sent a message to the neurologist to do the tests. We did an EMG test which showed I have some nerve damage from an old lower back injury. So I'm to see the neurologist again on March 15th. We'll see what he says. The ENT said the neuropathy was definitely from the Metronidazole back in 2016. She doesn't see any benefit or reason for her to treat me, just reports to the other doctor. She said my tests for balance, etc, eyes and brain show that all is good there, in fact better than most people she tests so it's not brain or eyes that are the problem.

As for how I feel, no, about the same. I got a pedometer to see if I could gradually increase my activity levels. Today, after I got it installed on my phone I did some 1400 steps. Not impressive but I managed to do a bit more and tomorrow will be the proof, whether or not I'm too exhausted to do much then as usually happens. Since I also have issues with osteoarthritis and bad knees I'm also working my way through a book on how to treat your knees yourself. Following its advice, so have to get up again even if I don't walk far. I'll be back with any more info I get that might help.

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Re: BAH (# 1401)

Hello BAH, I am glad that you visited a new doctor for your symptoms. Is she a new neurologist or general practitioner? I think she is a good doctor that looks deeper into your symptoms and simply care about your wellbeing. Did she order more tests to check for myasthenia gravis. I learned that this condition can be autoimmune or can be caused by certain medications. I hope that you dont have it. I was recently seen my primary physician and she ordered ANA comprehensive test to check for autoimmune disorders. Thank to God the test results were normal. I know doctors order several tests to check for antibodies associated with myasthenia gravis. I supposed to have my follow up appointment with the neurologist today but they pushed my visit to May. So I have to wait, but when I go, I will definitely ask her to order some tests that I want. Meantime, I just hanging in there with my painful neuropathy and hope that with time it gets less painful. BAH, how is your symptoms? Any improvements?

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Galina (# 1397) --

Well, it was interesting. I did like the lady..maybe because of her reaction to what the neurologist said. Background: When I met with the neurologist the first time, he spent at least 2 hrs talking at me, telling me about the placebo effect of drugs, need for me to push through the fatigue to get a second wind, etc and commented on my movements as "evidence of dementia". The ENT's response was, "bulls***". I nearly fell off the chair!

But after all her tests she said that the issue with my balance is the neuropathy which was caused by Metronidazole for sure. She said that neuropathy causes problems with balance because of loss of feeling in the feet and legs which we use to help us balance. Most people are not aware that we use eyes, brain, hands AND FEET to help us balance and when we can't feel the ground we have difficulty with balance and this uses masses more energy and creates exhaustion. She also said that the results of the test for antibodies....showing positive for calcium channel binding antibodies is NOT proof that I have myasthenia gravis but other tests should be run before I'm treated for this. I did some research and the EMG test is one way to determine this but there is a blood test for certain antibodies (not the ones he tested for) which prove whether or not you have myasthenia gravis and that this should be done before any "treatment of symptoms". Meanwhile she put through an order for more PT to help strengthen my legs and ankles so I can balance better and have more energy. So, do I have an answer? Not sure yet. Will keep you all informed. So one thing she said was that when we get older and have a fall or other issues we get more cautious and then lose muscle tone which makes things worse. Hmm. More later folks.

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