Why Me?

Author’s note:  This is a an old out-dated post that is kept around for posterity’s sake.  

One of the mysteries that have plagued those that have had an adverse drug event (AE) to fluoroquinolones (FQ’s) is, why me?  I have asked this question over and over again.  For clarification, the “why me” question I am asking here is not the philosophical question but the physiological question.

There are many individuals who have taken much larger doses of theFQ’s and have not had an AE.  Many assume that you had an AE because you had a built-in flaw; you were sick or had some underlying medical problem, but that is not the case for most.  Many who have had an AE to FQ’s were perfectly healthy, me included.  How do I know this?  I know this because of the way I was before the reaction and the amount of tests I have had after my reaction.  I can tell you the names of at least 150 major diseases and conditions that I know for a fact that I don’t have, all thanks to the myriad of medical tests that have been run.

No, I was not a professional athlete before the AE, but I was in excellent physical shape.  I had a resting heart rate of 49 bpm and an average BP of 117/77. So my question is, why?  What in my physiology triggered and toxic response to this medicine?  I, through my research, have learned of those that were very sick and took large doses of FQ’s and never had an AE, that they know about.  I do not think it was my immune system, although I could be wrong.  I say this because doctors have tested me for virtually every inflammatory condition known to man and I have always tested negative.  My rheumatologist told me that I had no inflammation in my body whatsoever.  If that is the case then the response is clearly toxic in nature.

Then if the AE is toxic in nature, why are the toxins not being purged from the body?  Every doctor, or at least most of them, looks at you like you have three heads when you tell them you are having a toxic reaction to a drug that you took a long time ago. Most will tell you that it is impossible because the drug would have cleared your body by now.  That is the ignorance of the medical community. Why? Because some basic research will lead you to find out that the FQ’s are derived from previous medications that were notorious for staying in the system for along time.  I will write about this later on in more detail.  Even so, if they do stay in the system for a long time why do some individuals have ADRs while others have no effects whatsoever?  This is the mystery that needs to be figured out.

If you are reading this blog for the first time and think that not very many people have reactions to these medications, think again.  Do some research with the links listed on my site; especially the discussion forums and you will most likely rethink your position.  Also it is theorized that there are many more out there in the world that have had a reaction to FQ’s but have never put two and two together, or have been given an incorrect diagnosis.