Lonilu,

I am way behind on my digests but here is my anecdotal experience with Cipro.
Last January I took Cipro for a severe staph infection that I had.  My left
leg still has dark spots from the initial infection that nearly spread to my
whole leg.   I ended up in the ER with severe chest pains, sudden tendinitis
in my left arm and numbness in my right arm from my shoulder to my
fingertips.  All symptoms came on suddenly after being on Cipro for nearly a
week.  The chest pain and tendinitis resolved quickly after stopping the
Cipro but the numbness continued and got worse.  Many doc visits (including
many tests and visits to a Neurologist later) no one can find a reason for my
numbness.  It is much better now than it was, but I never had any problems
whatsoever until I took the Cipro.  Although two different books document my
symptoms, no Dr. seems to believe me when I blame the drug for my problems.
Most worrisome is that My then 2 1/2 year old daughter suffered extreme colic
like symptoms and severe headaches while I took the Cipro and nursed her.
She alternated from screaming to lethargic during the time I took the drug.
She would hold her head and tell me that it hurt.  These symptoms continued
for several days after I stopped the drug.  She had no fever or other visible
signs of illness during that time.  There are  many other antibiotics that
are much safer than Cipro.  My research on the drug showed that sudden
tendinitis is a documented side effect of this drug, even resulting in sudden
tendon rupture.  In my case, my staph infection continued recurring, I was on
Erythromyacin for a long time and finally after a more thorough Dr. cultured
me for the staph ,Keflex was prescribed as the culture showed that the
particular strain that I had was resistant to Keflex, which I had mentioned
to the original HMO Dr. as being one that I usually did well with, and I knew
it was compatible with breastfeeding.  ARRRRGGHH!   Many physicians hand out
Cipro like candy, and after researching the floroquinolone family of drugs(
of which Cipro is part of) I can say very emphatically that it would be a
cold day in h*ll for me to ever take one of those drugs again!    This drug
family has many documented side effects, many of them serious.  Every Doctor
I have encountered does not believe me, even when I bring the books that
document my symptoms.  I think most of them think I am crazy.  Still have
some recurring numbness in my right arm.  I keep telling the Doctors that it
feels like a circulation problem as it is always worse when I hold my arm in
certain positions,(like talking on the phone, typing on the computer, sigh) .
 Cipro has been documented to cause circulatory collapse.  It is my opinion,
seconded by what I have read, that Cipro is a very limited use drug and
should be used with extreme caution. There are many other drugs with a much
better track record IMHO.   Lisa Papas

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