The fluoroquinolone poisoning occurs due to antibiotics and can lead to severe side effects such as nausea vomiting, diarrhea depression, muscle pain and psychosis. This is also referred to as Floxing.

Fluoroquinolones should be avoided by people who have had dangerous side effects from quinolone antibiotics or fluoroquinolones in the past. Patients suffering from kidney disease, the elderly and those who have had organ donations should be considered.

The fluoroquinolones make up the majority of the quinolone antibacterials. These antibiotics contain one atom of fluorine, making them efficient against Gram negative as well as Gram positive bacteria.

Fluoroquinolones “kill bacteria” by blocking enzymes which normaly break up DNA during cell replication. These enzymes cut DNA’s double-helix before passing another section through the gap to finish the cut.

However, they bind to enzymes and block the repair process from taking place. Researchers introduced fluorine atoms in the 1980s to the structure of the quinolones. This allowed antibiotics to penetrate tissue throughout the body, including the central nervous system. Additionally, it increased their efficacy against a range of bacterial infections.

Fluoroquinolones can be beneficial when other antibiotics do not provide enough effectiveness.

But, they are also over-used in the same way as antibiotics are. There have been serious side effects linked to them over the years, and numerous cautions from the FDA limit their use. A number of label changes are required as well as some fluoroquinolones come with black-box warnings.

Which antibiotics are called fluoroquinolones?

The medicines are ciprofloxacin (Cipro) gemifloxacin (Factive) as well as Levofloxacin (Levaquin), moxifloxacin (Avelox) norfloxacin (Noroxin) and ofloxacin (Floxin).

What is Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome?

The signs and symptoms

Fluoroquinolone-based drugs have been associated with potential serious, long-term and permanently debilitating negative effects, including the central nervous system, cardiovascular system and the musculoskeletal system. Other indications of Ciprotoxicity are:

– Damage to DNA and mitochondrial dysfunction

– Brain fog

– Peripheral Neuropathy

– Blurry Vision

– DNA Damage

– Anxiety and depression related to Gaba, Gut Damage and the result

– Tendonitis

– Muscle Atrophy

– Reflexes are heightened

Early indications of Cipro Toxicity include lower back pain, tendonitis tendon rupture, arthralgia and pain in the extremities. gait disorders, neuropathies that are associated with depression, paraesthesia, fatigue and memory impairment. They can also cause sleep disorders, and impaired hearing, vision, taste, and smell. Fluoroquinolones increase the likelihood of developing peripheral neuropathy 47% over time.

Ciprofloxacin has been demonstrated to alter the topology of the mtDNA and inhibit normal maintenance and transcription mitochondrial DNA. Tendinitis and tendon rupture could be the result of the damage caused by mitochondria to tenocytes following fluoroquinolone treatment. It may also cause an increase in fatigue and inflammation.

For more information, click fluoroquinolone toxicity treatment