Obviously, I am not a medical doctor, so if you decide to read beyond this point it is assumed that you agree with my disclaimer that I am not offering you medical advice.

Intro

I have to admit, I have had a very, very tough time writing this article.  People have been asking me to get data about the COVID-19 vaccine up on my website for quite some time, but frankly accurate data on vaccine experiences is very hard to come by in the chronically ill population and equally hard to quantify in the Fluoroquinolone community.   

Also, I don’t want this article to take on a certain ‘tone.’  Although I am a person who was severely damaged by Fluoroquinolones and I have solidly made my own decision about the vaccine, I don’t want my personal decision to influence others. I have ingested enough science about the current vaccines and I doubt anything would come out in the foreseeable future that will change my personal decision or opinion. 

Having said all that, the best I can do is to give you my opinion on the limited data I have accumulated, and more so on who I believe, in the Fluoroquinolone community, may want to exercise extreme caution when getting the vaccine. Ultimately If you have any medical questions regarding the COVID-19 vaccine and whether taking the jab is an appropriate choice for your body you should get input from a trusted medical professional that is familiar with your health.

One more thing, getting the vaccine is an intensely personal and private for most people. Due to everything that surrounds this unique vaccine, I recommend that each person gathers as much data as possible in order to make an informed decision.  Please, do not allow yourself to be pressured into doing anything until you are ready.

Finally, I do not fault people either way for either receiving the vaccination or for declining the vaccination, what I am against is overt discrimination and prejudice that plagues all sides in this argument. Although I do believe there are those who are using COVID-19, the mask, and vaccine to cause division in society, I think we must resist these divisive influences.

For those of you that want to skip all of my in-depth bloviating and go directly to the data, just click here.

The Difficulty in Gathering Information

Most all of you reading this article know that getting accurate unbiased data about COVID-19 and the subsequent vaccines is proving very difficult. Depending on the metrics you use, both the vaccination and the COVID itself are fraught with many unknowns, especially in the long term. Since the subject of this article is the vaccination itself, I will stay focused on it.  I do know that when you look ‘under the hood’ so to speak, the vaccines are not as safe as the media portrays it to be. I believe in some instances there is clear evidence that the statistics are being ‘cooked’ to show a more favorable adverse event profile.

From a social perspective, God forbid if you try to innocently inquire in many of the public social media forums to gather information. Quests for knowledge often are the impetus for firestorms of vitriolic polarization. Online exchanges have become so inflamed, and information has become so controlled that the mere mention of COVID or the vaccine can get a person booted, banned, blocked, accounts suspended, or groups shut down. On the other hand, many forums have had to resort to ‘stealth’ measures by changing their names or telling people to use coded language to avoid triggering the ‘big brother’ censors.

I personally had an incident in the large Facebook group Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Group (FTG), where a person ‘tagged’ me and asked a question about the progress of Fluoroquinolone research. Now to be fair, I never visit FTG unless I am tagged to respond to answer a question, but in a nutshell my answer was quick, very short and simple; it stated that academic research was currently on hold due to COVID, but hopefully will be back soon. That’s it, that was the entire substance of my response. Not to claim ignorance, but since I don’t spend my days scrolling through FTG’s feed, in my naivete I didn’t realize that the mere mentioning of the word ‘COVID’, regardless of the context, was far worse than a F-bomb laced tirade from Samuel Jackson. I evidently had committed an unpardonable sin.

Even though my post had nothing directly to do with inflammatory nature of COVID per say, the post was deleted, and I was warned about even mentioning the word.  Then, like a little kid, I was told to review the posting guidelines.  Well needless to say I have always been a bit of a nonconformist and reviewing FTG’s posting guidelines was not going to happen…ever. No matter, I still had disgraced myself by mentioning the “bad” word.  Welcome to George Orwell’s dystopian world.  Needless to say, I personally don’t have time for being pulled into such revolving nonsense, so I left the group. On a positive note, I belong to too many groups anyway, so things like this help me ‘cull the herd’, so to speak.  Anyway, I digress.  I am not trying to be petulant and narcissistic but to point out that quests for knowledge or even innocent comments regarding COVID, can lead to unpredictable or unwanted inflammatory consequences.

Digging through data on COVID is both surreal, time consuming and often an exercise in futility. Most of the existing material is often propaganda that is slanted in an attempt to shape group think or reinforce a thought process. I even had to switch from the Google search engine when searching for COVID research data to a more ‘unbiased’ engine to avoid the endless stream of biased search returns.  It is quite amazing the differing results between search engines on subjects such as COVID-19.   Even the governmental institutions designed to give citizens unbiased information in reality only accomplish the opposite, both strengthening the social polarization and furthering confusion.

Gathering Data

So, with all the chaos surrounding the vaccine, some people have asked me how I am gathering any accurate data on the vaccination, especially in the chronically ill population?

I belong to a specific set of health-related Facebook groups and Twitter feeds. Most of them are mainly in the realms of Mitochondrial Disease and Chronic Fatigue.  I also belong to several organizations that represent the aforementioned groups. In these groups are subsets of individuals that are suffering from Fluoroquinolone Toxicity, either knowingly or unknowingly.  So first, I monitor social media feeds and participate in online meetings such as Zoom to gather as much data as I can. Next, I also belong to a handful of groups and feeds that are dedicated just to reporting real-world vaccine adverse event instances both from those who are both healthy and those who have chronic illnesses.  I will try to post a few links at the bottom of this article for those who like to do their own research.

Additionally, I look at the current science. Unfortunately, peer reviewed science has become corrupted by nefarious science experts. These PhD’s often sell their credentials to the highest bidder, let their own bias and prejudice guide their science, or succumb to governmental and/or pharmaceutical pressure. The result is that many of the papers now released on COVID-19 masquerade as science but in reality they are designed to editorialize and propagandize. Despite this, there is still some good science coming out on COVID and the vaccines, you just must dig for it.

Finally, my favorite type of information is the real-world stories and information volunteered to me from floxies who have had first-hand experienced with the vaccine. I combine all this with the limited research data that is being released and then use it to formulate my opinion. This is the best that I can do and is results in the most accurate results, at least for now.

There one fundamental aspect however that is missing from the whole COVID-19 and subsequent vaccine debate, and that is a deep data pool. Unfortunately, there is no large pool of robust data from which we can draw accurate conclusions from. If someone tells you otherwise, they are lying. All data pools on COVID are shallow and it can be proven that statistics on adverse events are not reliably being captured or reported to the public.

Example of New Data

On April 30th, 2021 some additional data was released on the Coronavirus by the prestigious Salk institute _(source). This data examples why we need to proceed with caution in regard to a vaccine and how this virus and vaccine can impact those suffering from Fluoroquinolone Toxicity. Salk researchers and collaborators released studies showing how COVID’s spike protein damages cells, confirming COVID-19 as a primarily vascular disease despite the fact that it’s predominant mode of spread is via the airborne route. It is not a respiratory virus and because of this I believe could pose a greater threat for some people suffering from Fluoroquinolone toxicity.

If you remove the replicating capabilities of the virus, it still has a major damaging effect on the vascular cells, simply by virtue of its ability to bind to this ACE2 receptor and the S protein receptor. The S protein of the virus, the spike that forms the crown, attacks the receptor ACE2, damaging the mitochondria that generate the energy of the cells, thus damaging the endothelium, which lines the blood vessel.

The main vaccines that are widely in use today force the body to produce the spike protein so that our bodies will create antibodies to it. They do this so that when an actual virus covered with spike proteins interacts with a vaccinated person, the body will recognize it as a foreign invader attacking and neutralizing it.

However, what if the spike protein is part of the problem? For chronically ill people, let alone healthy people, what is the long-term implication of having this mitochondria damaging spike protein circulating in our bodies?  Obviously, we won’t have the answer to this speculative question for quite some time until more data comes in.  This is a novel complex virus and as time goes on we will learn more about it. 

Since the Salk institute found out that the spike proteins are uniquely damaging the mitochondria that are in the vascular system, this is overlapping in a metabolic sphere of influence that is impacted by the Fluoroquinolones. Although I won’t go into tall the nuts and bolts of why I believe this is crucial (this article is already way too long as it is), I believe this information further confirms that certain groups within the Fluoroquinolone community need to use caution, especially in the long term.

How Safe is the Vaccine for Those Suffering from Fluoroquinolone Toxicity?

Again, you have to remember that the data on the vaccine’s long-term impact is very limited, especially in the chronically ill population and that the Fluoroquinolone community is very diverse or heterogenous in nature. So, coming up with a one size fits all recommendation on whether people should get the vaccine is impossible.

For me to tell you whether the vaccine is safe for your body, is about as accurate as me predicting the exact date for the end of the world as we know it, and in all seriousness the latter would probably be easier, given the daily newsfeed.

Seriously, I do know some severely chronically floxed people that have taken the vaccine and have surprisingly fared pretty well with little or no negative symptoms to show for it, at least in the short term. While I know this is very encouraging for those who wish to take the vaccine, at the same time I need to warn you that on the flip side I know some floxies who greatly regretted getting the vaccine. 

Also, how do you define ‘toleration’ of the vaccine.  Some people have had no symptoms at all, whole others got their ‘butt kicked’ for several days.  Again, suffering is subjective, as is what people consider ‘worth it’ or not.  So, for the sake of clarification, I am including those who had a tough time with the vaccine but recovered in the ‘Yes’ category. 

The following graphics are based on my observational data so far. 

The first two circle graphs show the overall trend of toleration of ALL vaccines combined and then averaged from the data I have received so far.  I realize that there are different vaccines that use different mechanisms of action but for now,  until more deeper data comes in and I have time to tabulate it, this is the best I can do.  I do not have enough data to extrapolate if one type of vaccine is safer than the other. 

The second group of pie charts attempts to capture observational toleration of the vaccine based on the ‘type’ of floxed person who received the vaccine.  Please note that I have separate Fluoroquinolone toxicity into two camps: FQTS (acute) and FQAD (chronic).

The third group is a crude attempt to correlate observational data according to predominant FQ based symptoms.  It seems, on the very surface, that those who complain only of musculoskeletal symptoms (no neurological, mitochondrial, psychological, etc…) seem to fair better with the vaccine.   

Although my non-medical advice would be to think real hard about getting a COVID vaccine if you are in the throes of a severe acute FQ adverse event, those that are recovering or have significantly recovered from FQTS, seem to overall tolerate the vaccine better than those chronically impacted. Toleration of the vaccine in the FQAD camp appears to be lower than the FQTS.  I believe this has to do with the long term impact on mitochondrial mechanisms, which are hit hard by both COVID and/or the vaccines.  

General COVID-19 Overall Vaccine Toleration

Toleration
COVID-19 Vaccine

Non-toleration
COVID-19 Vaccination

 COVID-19 Vaccine Toleration Among FQTS & FQAD

Yes = Tolerated | No = Did Not Tolerate

 COVID-19 Vaccine Toleration According to FQ Symptom Type

Participant numbers are currently between 75-100,  numbers and data changes frequently, so please consider these as observational trends only, they are definitely not set in stone.  Also, they definitely do not encompass all variables or possibilities, which means that you may not personally fall into any of these categories.  Mark Twain said, “Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable.”  Trying to categorize floxed people is very ‘pliable’ and tenuous indeed. 

In some ways I believe that it is easier to list groups of people who I believe should exercise caution in getting the vaccine than it is to try and correlate vaccine response to varying levels of Fluoroquinolone toxicity due to its heterogeneity.  Because of this I have listed below groups of people that I think should exercise caution when receiving the vaccine.  Before we look at those, let’s see an example of bad advice. 

Bad Advice

The various social media groups that are gathering points for those suffering from Fluoroquinolone toxicity is a melting pot of advice.  Some of this advice is good, and some of it is frankly, terrible.

I happened to visit one of the larger groups where I act as a back-up admin.  The first post I saw was in relation to the COVID vaccine. A man was telling people in a comment, “a year ago I couldn’t walk because of Levaquin.  Now I am almost recovered.  I had the vaccine, and I am fine.” He went on to encourage a young woman, who supposedly was dealing with a recent adverse event to Cipro, to get the vaccine.  I had to face palm, 

Obviously, this man’s opinion is based on his lived reality, but it is both myopic and frankly…wrong. Flippant remarks like can be dangerous, unfortunately policing remarks such as this in a large forum takes a small army.  

His is a common mistake that I see people make all the time; they extrapolate their own experience as being universal.  Remember, the level of suffering is subjective and true comparisons are difficult to make. One thing that I have learned by studying Fluoroquinolone toxicity for the last fourteen years is that floxing, again, is very, very diverse, and so is each person’s response to drugs, supplements, vaccines, etc…

Who Should Use Caution in Receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine?

Whether you decide to get the vaccine or not make sure your decision is not based on someone’s misguided comments. You can’t undo the injection once it is done, but you can always do it later after more data comes in and after you have had time to research. One more thing, I would ask you, “what is your gut telling you?” You know your body better than anyone else.

In general, those whose adverse events to the Fluoroquinolones were mild, and limited to mild or moderate musculoskeletal symptoms, seem to be tolerating the vaccine the best.  However, those who had severe neurological, immunological, and mitochondrial pathologies do not seem to be tolerating the vaccine as good.   There are always exceptions to any rule.  

Like I mentioned earlier, coming up with a one-size-fits-all universal statement is both irresponsible and difficult, so instead I will list my opinion on those who I believe should exercise caution in taking the vaccine.

It is my opinion that anyone…

…who is still suffering from an acute adverse event to the Fluoroquinolones should use extreme caution. These would be people that are newer active cases with rapidly changing symptoms. These individuals don’t fully know what body systems are going to be impacted by floxing in the long term.   

…who has a confirmed mitochondrial pathology post Fluoroquinolones should use extreme caution. Fluoroquinolone’s can initiate mitochondrial disease and COVID-19 and the vaccines hit the mitochondria hard.

…who has myopathy, muscle weakness, chronic fatigue, or severe energy issues post Fluoroquinolones should use extreme caution. Many individuals suffering these symptoms again, have moderate to severe mitochondrial involvement.  Some floxies have reported new, worsening or long-term fatigue and weakness after receiving the vaccine.

…who has vascular problems post Fluoroquinolones, especially those who have been floxed and have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome should use caution. We do know that the FQ’s can impact connective tissues long term, however at this time we do not know the long-term impact of the spike protein on endothelial and connective tissues.

…who has developed a blood pathology, such as a clotting disorder, post Fluoroquinolones should use extreme caution. Many of the fatalities with the vaccines have to do with blood clots.

…who has moderate to severe neurological problems post Fluoroquinolones, especially severe peripheral or sensory neuropathy should use extreme. Many people who have these issues especially severe ganglionopathies are sensitive souls and I have received reports of increases in sensory neuropathy symptoms from the vaccines.

…who has immune mediated inflammatory conditions post Fluoroquinolones should use caution. This virus and the vaccines do initiate a body-wide inflammatory state.

…who have a known allergy to any of the vaccine ingredients such as polyethylene glycol (PEG). Strangely enough, I have seen several people develop an intolerance to PEG post Fluoroquinolones and when they take it, it exacerbates neurological symptoms.

Obviously this is not an all inclusive list of cautions.  I will update this as more data comes out.

My Decision

I am not taking the vaccine.  Why?  My primary care physician, who is pro vaccine in general, who is very familiar with my health history, has adamantly advised me against getting the vaccine. I have a confirmed mitochondrial pathology that involves muscle myopathy and muscle weakness that was initiated by the Fluoroquinolones. My doctor believes that the vaccine poses a risk that is equal to me as the virus and told me that exercising safety measures would be more effective. I agree with him 100%. I want to make it clear that I do not live in fear of the virus, I simply keep my vitamin levels optimized and take responsible precautions and do not violate the four D’s. 

Conclusion

Data is slowly trickling on COVID-19 vaccine use in the chronically ill, however most of it is still short-term data.   To help you understand this let me tell you this analogy: 

My largest demographic of readers and followers are those who have been impacted long-term by the Fluoroquinolones.  Many, if not all,  of these individuals did not know years ago that they were going to by impacted long-term by the Fluoroquinolones.  Many, if not most, thought they would only be impacted short-term and some even thought they would heal quickly and completely. It wasn’t until several years later they realized Fluoroquinolone Toxicity had become a chronic health problem, plus it contributed to other health issues as well. 

This same issue applies to COVID-19 and the subsequent vaccines.  We do not know the long-term impact of the vaccines on floxed individuals.  We do know that COVID-19 is causing a ‘long-haul’ pathology in many people and in those there are a large subset of people who have  Fluoroquinolone toxicity intricately woven into their long-haul case. Unfortunately, I have seen both a re-emergence of floxing symptoms and long haul health issues from the vaccine in a limited number of people.  

Only time will tell us the true long-term impact the vaccines have on the floxed.  I understand that living under the thumb of COVID-19 is not pleasant and causes a great deal of stress.  However, there is no going back if you regret taking the vaccine, so make sure you make the best-informed decision you can.    

Again, as more data comes in, I will refine this article to reflect that data.