Cipro and bacteria

Dear Medications.com:
I cannot thank you enough for this site. Just yesterday I was prescribed Cipro for a nagging UTI which seemed to only partially get better with Doxycycline HYC. After only 3 Cipro pills I am stopping!! And will never take Cipro again. I take responsibility for rushing back to my doctor at the emergency care clinic and asking 'now what' after the Doxycycline was finished--we Americans are so quick to want the next candy pill with more strength! So even though my initial urinalysis showed no dangerous / STD bacteria present, because I was still urinating too frequently my doc suggested Cipro. I trusted him and took the first pill last night--I got a terrible headache, woke up promptly at 3:30 AM and had trouble returning to sleep. Got up this morning, took the 2nd pill and by early afternoon, was so tired and aching I had to lay down for 1.5 hrs..I felt miserable. Then this afternoon, after taking my 3rd pill, that's when I began to feel occasional tingling in my joints, hot pain in my knee capsules, continuing low-grade ache to my head, the feeling that my esophagus was shrinking, etc..... EVERYTHING you guys all have reported.

I got on the internet and thank God I found your site. After 2 hrs of my own research and the testimony of so many people, including tons of once-healthy, athletic persons whose lives have been destroyed irreparably by Cipro, I took my healthcare into my own hands, called my pharmacist and said 'I'm finished touching Cipro...never again will I take it.'.

This drug is more toxic than anything I've ever taken, and the way my body has begun to react in only 24 hrs, it is obvious that the drug co's are playing with fire on this compound. We as people must stand up and take action, and educate our doctors. I am taking some info. into him tomorrow, telling him i will be on a strict cranberry juice and kidney/liver tea detox program for the next few weeks to see if these 'natural' methods might help me rid my system of the bacteria.

In any case, I refuse to use Cipro ever again and hope that many more people will read these pages before ingesting any or too much of this dangerous drug.

d. r.
48-yr old sporty, and very healthy guy who wants to stay that way!

I have taken cipro before with no obvious problems and am now starting on it again for 2 weeks (1pill a day). This drug is one of a few that people who are allergic to penicillin and sulfa drugs can take to kill bacteria that penicillin normally does. This is considered a 'last resort' drug for us also. I've had a sinus infection as a complication from a dental surgery that refuses to go away for long enough for my mouth to heal - since July 10 (it is now 19Dec). I was prescribed Avelox for the first time yesterday which led me to this website while trying to find pricing info. $168 for 12 pills? at a Walmart? absurd. So I had the doc switched to cipro. They want me to try this 'type' of drug since the others haven't been able to completely eliminate the infection. I will keep in mind everyone here's side effects but I definitely have plans to do a heavy duty DETOX the minute my mouth is healed and I am off the drugs whether I have problems or not. I concur with the constipation though, all antibiotics seem to give me that problem while taking them. Another good reason to do a detox.

I was recently prescribed Cipro for a UTI. I've been on it for 6 days now. The first night was crazy. I felt excitable and when I finally did fall asleep I had the most intricate, amazing dream, almost lucid. The next day I felt a boost of energy and was running circles around my husband while doing yard work. The third day was when the pain hit, soreness in my elbows, knees, feet and hands. I attributed it to my previous day of insane energy. Right now I'm feeling quite bloated and I have this dull pain that feels like it's in the marrow of my bones. I have a tingly sensation in my muscles and my mind is a foggy, yet racing haze. Two more days of this and I'm hoping for the best. I didn't even know I had a UTI. I just know I was feeling very lethargic and had horrible pains in my left side and bad back aches, which now leads me to believe I had a kidney infection. Hate to say it, but I think I am experiencing the lesser of two evils. What's worse, raging, possibly life-threatening bacteria, or anti-biotic over kill with severely inconvenient side-effects?

In April 2006, I began urinating blood every time I did something strenuous. After seeing many specialists and receiving CT scans and Ultrasounds on abdominal area and testicals my Dr. wrote the symptoms off as a urinary tract infection. He prescribed Cipro, I took the drug for 2.5 days and have not been the same since(was supposed to take the drug for ten days). Now December, I have had severe gut-wrenching pain in my left side, stomach and back. This pain is that of passing kidney stones every day, still peeing blood and waking up with so much pain that I can barely move. I was very much into weightlifting, now I can barely lift my kids, (55, 40 and 35 lbs.) I have had every test known to man and the Dr.'s have no idea what is wrong with me. Just coincidence that this all started after taking Cipro? I have no choice after reading the testimonies on this drug, that this has added to the health problems in my own life. I too will tell all my Dr.'s from this point on that I'm allergic to Cipro and Levaquin. Do yourself a favor and stop taking this drug before you have similar or worse health issues.

I was prescribed Cipro several months ago and took it for 6 days, when I began having stomach problems. I felt as if someone had kicked me in the stomach--no acute pain, but slightly nauseous. Doctor told me to stop Cipro, but I am still having the problem. I am fairly certain it can't possibly still be from the Cipro, but is that possible?
I would like to feel good again.
Thank you