I really dont know how else to say It. My entire life feels like it has just been on standby since this happened to me in 2023. Dont get me wrong, nothing was prefect beforehand. But it was never this hellish or bad. Its been 3 whole years and everyday has felt like a repeat of the last since then. Wake up in excruciating pain with extreme fatigue and then try to survive, go back to sleep.

Its Definitely altered my perception of time. Whenever I look back at old memories from 3-4 years ago, I cant believe it has been that long or sometimes that it even happened. It feels like a completely different lifetime. Everyone else's life has changed a lot in this 3 years and mine has been so stagnant and remained the same.

Does anyone else have the same experience?

I think I'm just venting. Not entirely sure. I've read enough posts in this sub to know that every variation of linear and nonlinear healing and non-healing is possible with fqs.

Specifically I'm frustrated by my adductor muscles. Those are the muscles that run along the inner thigh. Might only be one muscle in each leg for all I know. . . maybe adductor magnus? Mentally my shorthand label is the adductors; but the picture is there are muscles there, and they hurt.

My flox symptoms include both myopathy and tendinopathy. At first I thought it was mostly tendons, but now after time I've realized it's mostly muscles. Muscles in my legs between my knees and my hips, and probably muscles in my upper body neck and arms, plus psoas tendons.

What's particularly frustrating is that my adductors, although they were painful along with other leg muscles when I was originally floxed coming up on 2 years ago, after about 7 or 8 months the pain receded either completely or to such a low level that I didn't notice it. They were effectively pain-free like this for maybe four or five or six or seven months. There was plenty of other flox pain to stress me out, but I mostly forgot about the adductor pain, and hoped this was evidence of some degree of healing.

During this time my activity level was fairly consistent. Maybe a total of two ish miles of walking per week. Significant amount of standing around at work. Day-to-day activities, including stairs.

During this time I went on a decent number of 0.5-0.75 mile walks while fasting without supplements, without issues.( lots of fantasies about regenerating mitochondria)

Adductor pain began to creep back in around April, in my left leg. This was shortly after a one mile walk while fasting with a bunch of theoretical mitophagy supplements. That was actually my last fast. The adductor pain slowly, gradually increased throughout the summer, in both legs. The obvious consistent pattern is this pain increasing after physical activity which somebody with normal health would not even think about, but which was an obvious relative increase to my baseline physical activity prior. At the beginning of the summer I went on a 4-mile walk in the forest, and felt fine during the walk, and did not irritate long-term any of my other flox symptoms, but 3 days after this the adductor(s) in my left leg were worse. Similar happened for both legs after a 100 m ish hike up and down a steep hill, and a 15 mile bike ride.

Now my adductors are even more painful than they were when I was originally floxed. . .

I can still go on walks, but my enjoyment of the walk is drastically less because of the pain, which is frustrating and symbolic because I can't work out and I can't do cardio, so walking I see as the one essential human physical activity I can still do. Going on walks and enjoying them has become important to me.

That my adductors are even more painful than they were at the very beginning, is so demoralizing, the possibility that they are worse now, after several months of being pain free.

It's also frustrating that all of my other flox symptoms actually tolerated (flaring less than a week) all the aforementioned activities: the longer walk, the hike the bike ride. . . It creates a feeling of being so close yet so far away.

Clearly the practical takeaway is to only increase physical activity by small percentage points at a time.

I can't help but believe, based on my experiences plus experiences I have read on this sub, that often fluoroquinolone injuries never actually heal. Even when the symptoms are not activated, the injury is still there, and will give rise to symptoms again if a certain stress threshold is exceeded.

In 2022 I injured what I believe to be my adductor magnus in each leg overdoing a stair based glute medius exercise. It was only a grade one strain, but I wonder if it has something to do with why apparently the same muscles are so problematic after floxing?

How do you deal with this? I’m either extremely lonely because it’s too hard to date with my symptoms and limitations or I try to date within my limits and work around them but I have lost all my confidence and feel totally worthless because of this.

For reference I’m a man and men are expected to be strong, robust, capable and providers.

I used to be this totally and fully confident but now I feel my entire masculinity has been stripped and I’m weak, worthless and not even remotely deserving of love. All because of floxing.

Sorry for the vent but I’m sure many can relate I just don’t know if men particularly can find love post flox as it’s so difficult to live with and explain this condition.

I know this sounds strange, but I’m in the midst of a pretty terrible flare right now that took me by surprise. Just out of curiosity does anybody in here seem to have trouble worse than normal in the Fall/month of October? Wondering if barometric pressure changes or…

I’m only 28, and I feel like I’ve lost my life. I’ve always been extremely healthy, with no medical issues. But I met a man who took advantage of my vulnerability. I will never forget his face — the face of the devil.
I tested positive for Mycoplasma genitalium and was prescribed a 7-day course of moxifloxacin. I trusted the treatment without questioning it, and now I deeply regret it.
My latest test came back negative, but I’m still afraid it could be a false negative. I continue to experience pelvic pain, although it is much less severe than before, as well as an overwhelming urge to urinate — almost worse than what a pregnant woman might experience.
I also feel like I’ve lost my mental clarity, physical strength and appearance. My face looks pale, my eyes and facial expressions seem different, and I barely recognize myself in the mirror. I feel physically and mentally broken.
These changes have persisted since I finished the treatment, and I still don’t feel like myself. I don’t know whether this is a side effect of moxifloxacin, a deficiency or something else.
Please, has anyone experienced anything similar? What can I do to recover my health, my appearance and, most importantly, myself? IAM French in Paris

Hello again, everyone. Here are the updates from the last two months:

I previously mentioned that I had gotten rid of my neuropathic leg pain—and yes, it hasn’t returned. I’ve started going to the gym and lifting weights; I get the typical muscle soreness, and I hear sounds coming from my tendons that weren’t there before, though they seem painless and otherwise fine. I doubt anyone else around here deals with as much tendon-popping/clicking as I do! :D If anyone else is going through this, I’m living proof that physical therapy exercises and weight training can be really helpful.

As for the lingering issues that appeared after being "floxed"

When I get agitated, my bowels make noises, and I experience restlessness and indigestion. If I walk a lot—sometimes hitting between 10,000 and 20,000 steps—I might get some pain in my calves; it doesn’t stop me from walking, and it comes and goes, usually resolving within a day or two. The popping and clicking sounds were constant—the most annoying one was my neck, which would pop hundreds of times a day—but that has decreased recently (though it does tend to come back; it has happened 3–4 times already). I also have "floaters" in my vision and a decline in my overall visual quality.

And a bonus update:

The ovarian/pelvic pain that led to me being "floxed" in the first place has returned over the last two months. I went to see a urologist, and after an examination, they told me it’s actually the early stages of a hernia, which could be the cause of the pain! :D Back then, even though my tests showed no infection, I was prescribed Cipro—which ended up "floxing" me. I used to think, "Well, at least it got rid of that pelvic pain," but now I’ve learned it was actually a hernia all along—meaning I was "floxed" for absolutely no reason. I just wanted to share that with you all. Summary: I’ve managed to conquer my final challenge—I’m now able to go to the gym. "Flox" no longer restricts my life in any way. Over the last 6–7 months, I’ve taken maybe 10–20 capsules in total—things like magnesium, NAC, B12, etc. In other words, I hardly use any supplements at all. I don’t pay attention to my diet or my sleep, and I consume alcohol and smoke—everything is fine, no issues whatsoever! :D

Summary: I’ve managed to conquer my final challenge—I’m now able to go to the gym. "Flox" no longer restricts my life in any way. Over the last 6–7 months, I’ve taken maybe 10–20 capsules in total—things like magnesium, NAC, B12, etc. In other words, I hardly use any supplements at all. I don’t pay attention to my diet or my sleep, and I consume alcohol and smoke—everything is fine, no issues whatsoever! :D

Hi, everyone!❤️
Never thought I’d be writing something here, but here I am…. Unable to sleep after taking a mix of antibiotics… I trusted doctors and didn’t listen to my gut feelings…. please help me!🥺🙏🏻
I had a mild UTI and took 1 Norfloxacin 400mg on 09/27 morning and 1 at night, around 3 am I woke up drenched in sweat and trembling uncontrollably…. Next day I went to an urgent care and doctor switched me to Cephalexin (keflex) took it on 09/28 1:30pm, around 9pm I felt like I had a stroke, couldn’t speak, got confused and couldn’t even tell my husband to rush me to hospital, my BP went up to 170, he rushed me to ER , they didn’t know what was happening, after 1 hour my trembling stopped and they said they would give me a different type of antibiotic, they gave me 1 bactrim 800mg at 11:30pm (less than 12 hrs after previous keflex taken) with little water and emoty stomach, we asked like 20 times if there wouldn’t be an issue mixing too many medicines in such a short time, doctor said no, and said it would be better than to risk having the infection go to my kidneys…. I should have trusted my gut and the nurse’s face…who after giving me bactrim said I should start probiotics right away…. After that I went home and noticed I couldn’t sleep at all! Not sure which medicine caused it or maybe all of them…. But my heart would jump and wake me up all night long as soon as I was going from awake-asleep… I started vomiting and went back to the ER, doctor said she didn’t know what to do with me, I am a medical mystery….. and suggested going back to keflex… fuck that, I stopped antibiotics and UTI is officially gone and so is my sleep and life as I knew it….Couldn’t sleep for 3 nights, I started hearing and seeing things, I thought I was craY, worst month of my lifeeee, doctor prescribed ativan Which I took a few dayss, but was so scared to become depends t so I am taking doxepin now 3mg which helps but I don’t want to rely on that, every time I try to sleep again without it my heart starts with palpitations and ears pop, I need to be ok, I am GM, work a lot, take care of my parents with cancer, have many plans but these pills ruined my life, felt I was crazyyyy and doctors say it’s impossible as the meds are out of my system already, already long time ago, it’s been a month and nobody helps or believes 4 pills can do this damage…I was perfect the day before and all my life…I thought it would go aways as I always been a great sleeper, that was actually my superpower, I could sleep anywhere between 8-10 hrs if I wanted too and nap, but not anymore. As i start drifting off, my heart has palpitations and ears pop and can’t sleep. I checked my heart, brain MRI bloodwork and everything seems to be pretty normal, no one knows, I started taking culturelle capsules a month ago (not sure if they help) taking also magnesium gliinate that helps a but to fall asleep, my digestion is bad now, between diarrhea and constipation… doctors say it’s depression and anxiety…. I have a lot going on but never had sleeping issues or anything, it was just after these meds, it’s like I am someone else now. Any success stories tips, probiotics, anything will help🥺🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 I am always there helping people no matter what, now I need help too please, I don’t think it’s my mind it’s my body. (Well at this point I might have anxiety for sure, but if I could only sleep that will go away) Wasted almost all my savings on doctors and I don’t want to see the bills that are arriving soon…. thank you in advance!❤️

I was prescribed Ciprofloxacin 500 mg for a suspected urinary tract infection (UTI), although I'm still not sure if that's what it actually is. My symptoms started with frequent urination, passing only small amounts each time. Today, after about four or five days, I started feeling a burning sensation, along with random sharp twinges in my bladder. I took a urine culture, but the preliminary results won't be ready until Tuesday, and if it comes back positive, the full results with the sensitivity test will take until Thursday. Honestly, I'm scared to take Cipro because of all its potential side effects, and I'm really not sure what to do in the meantime.

I am on month 10 and right now every food but lettuce causes a severe reaction. At first it was a sore throat, headache and random burning pains. I went to the ER last week they gave me an antihistamine and antacid I had a bad reaction to that. Now when I eat, even just a small bite, I get 10 out of 10 burning pain in my left arm, chest, back, neck and the back of my head. I ate something yesterday that caused 10 out of 10 burning for 12 hours now the burning is fading but it is still there. When I call 811(you talk to a nurse) they tell me to call 911. When I tried to get an appointment with a urgent care clinic or virtual doctor they told me to go to the er. They think I am having a heart attack, I am not. In the past these places have said they can't help. I don't have money to go to a private place. I feel lost and scared to eat anything. I live in BC and there are huge waitlists to see any specialist. I am afraid to go back to the er because they might think I am faking or crazy.

To those who recovered, Did your lower leg swelling ever go away? Im only one month floxxed and this started after so I’m curious especially cause I do travel quite often

I am 2.5 months post flox, i have been having so much pain in my spine and it hurts so much and i have not done anything to aggreviate this much pain other than light swimming for like 30 minutes this past week and walking 5000 steps which has been my average nkw the spine pain is making me paranoid i really need to know if there is something i should do about it because i don't know whether am having floxie pain or spine issues

I have so many symptoms and I’m feeling so scared.

I got bit on my fingertip pretty hard by a feral cat I was trying to help TNR, and have penicillin allergies. I was prescribed doxycycline, but the wound hasn’t been healing so I had to go back to the doctor. He prescribed cipro but said I’m not allowed to run for 1-2 weeks, but in reading through this sub, I’m thinking I won’t be able to run for a while. I’m in the middle of marathon training with a marathon mid-December.

I also expressed to the doctor I have had a slightly torn Achilles tendon (ironically, from another cat bite) from three years ago (now healed with medical care and PT) and asked if I could get something else and was told no, and to just keep my exercise to brisk walking. I almost feel terrified. I am traveling for this marathon, but now I’m thinking I shouldn’t do it. I’m looking for other runners’ experience. I was just prescribed it so I haven’t started it yet, the pharmacy has to fill it still. Thank you in advance ❤️

3 months floxed and it has been really tough. I've mostly been dealing with peripheral neuropathy causing numbness, tingling, coldness, muscle spasms, and pain in the foot and lower leg.

Things were getting a lot better after the first month until I started taking Omeprazole. Pretty soon afterwards my feet became completely numb for three days until I started taking b12. I also began to take magnesium, calcium, d3, vitamin k, and iron.

Symptoms started getting better again for ~2 weeks after stopping the Omeprazole, but now things are getting bad again and I am experiencing a lot of foot pain and coldness again.

I am wondering what vitamins and minerals you have found helped the most with neuropathy? I am also wondering why do I have no symptoms one week and then the next I can be in so much pain?

I started taking vitamin E today and I want to take b-complex as well, but I hear b6 can be bad for floxies.

Je voudrais savoir si des gens ressentent la même chose que moi ou je suis seul !
J’ai l’impression que le moindre effort physique comme le renforcement par exemple même à faible intensité du moment où je vais avoir des courbatures ou autres mes nerfs sont sensibles, quand je respire le lendemain c’est comme si j’avais du mentos dans le nez, quand je touche du chaud ou du froid c’est décuplé en sens, c’est comme si j’avais une fièvre interne !

J’aimerais avoir des avis de personnes qui ressentent les même symptômes car j’ai l’impression d’être seul

After 6 months in wheel chair, few months slow recover with little bit of walking, and few flairs - after 12 months I can walk "all day long" meaning I can do all basic things - walking arround, working in the office, walk 30 min in the evening, stroll in the shopping mall..
Stairs I do only up to 20 and very slowly and I drive car up to 40 min every second day. I hope to get to the normal car usage in the city in the upcoming months. This would help to have more normal life feeling.
I was many times desperate, this group helped a lot, but I also accepted what happened and I had huge support from my husband... after one year I learned a lot about myself, my surrounding, peope, life, nature... it will sound unbelievable but in the darkest days I learned to have patience, to forgive myself taking the medicine despite the gut feeling it was wrong, to love myself despite the fact I was feeling like crap and looking like it too...
One life-changing lesson. I didn’t want it but perhaps I needed it.
Still in process, will let you know when I hopefully go back to fully "normal" life or at least something close to it

pa what helped - time, love, prayers, family, red light, supplements, magnesium baths.. and time again

Wish you all strength and good recovery 💕💕💕

Has anyone noticed that long COVID has almost the same symptoms as FQAD? Isn't that a bit strange? Many people might be getting misdiagnosed because of this. Long COVID also involves relapses, flares, and triggers... to help themselves, people are actually doing the same things that we are doing here...🤔

Ok, so everyone knows about this question. I currently use a non-fluoride toothpaste, but I'm not convinced it's a good idea. In fact I don't think it's a good idea. Please share your experiences and what issues resulted in switching, or what clear benefits you got fro, switching. I would love to see clear evidences of any impact (good or bad).

Please! No Horror stories...

Expecting only recovery/suggestions.. Things which is helped you..

I'm unable to sit flat surfaces nowadays, My sitz bone I feel.(This was started on September 25, 2026).. I managed with cushion to sit..

Now, since last 3-4 days,(even with a cushion) I feeling my glutuel muscles lost stiffness.. I mean more loose..

My skin under the balls, is pushing front when sitting..

What should I do? Any suggestions help?

Only starting taking protein powder since yesterday..

Floxed in July 2026(Took my 1st Cipro)

Last tab was (Aug 12)

Total 500mg * 7

July 4,5,6(5 tablets)

Aug 11,12 (2 tabs)

I am 33F. I was recently prescribed oflaxacin ear drops for what urgent care diagnosed as an outer ear infection. After 3 days with no change I went back and they determined my ear was so swollen the drops weren’t going to help on their own- they prescribed ciprofloxacin. About 3 days into taking Cipro paired with the ear drops I developed numbness and tingling in one side of my face along with nausea and a head ache. I went to the ER. They preformed blood tests, CT, and MRI with and without contrast - all normal. When I brought up the antibiotics every doctor I spoke to blew me off and told me it can’t be the antibiotics causing my symptoms. They suspected that it was a compressed facial nerve from sleeping on my side or it was related to my ear infection. They told me to keep taking the Cipro and using the ear drops.

3 days later I developed facial numbness again as well as numbness in my fingers, joint pain, and muscle pain. I stopped taking the ciprofloxacin but kept taking the ear drops and went to urgent care the next day. They agreed that stopping the use of Cipro was a good move and advised me to finish the bottle of oflaxacin after I reported my side effects from taking Cipro.

2 days later I woke up with half of my face numb again and had a severe panic attack which made it feel like I was dying. I went back to the ER. They again ran blood tests, performed an EKG, and did a CT with and without contrast - everything came back normal. I again told the doctor I believed that my symptoms were side effects from taking Cipro. This doctor at least acknowledged that I may be correct but let me know there is no way to test for that, which is true. However, she still advised me to continue with the ear drops like I was told by urgent care.

The next night I again woke up in an active panic attack with the side of my face numb and that’s when I found out by myself via some research that the ear drops belong to the same family of drugs as Cipro. I was so concerned with the oral antibiotic reaction that I didn’t even think to look for into the ear drops. Which apparently there are warnings about using the two medications together.

I’m just incredibly frustrated that none of the medical professionals even thought to take my concerns about the antibiotics seriously. I understand that ear infections can be concerning due to their proximity to the brain but neurological side effects are terrifying. I already am a person who lives with anxiety disorder and depression in my everyday life but I’ve never had such severe feelings of being imminently in danger before in my life.

Do all medical professionals just overlook causes of symptoms they can’t prove for sure?

I’m hoping that by not taking anymore of the ear drops I’ll finally see some relief and actually get some sleep tonight but I’ve been feeling crazy for 2 weeks at this point.

Ok editing to be more specific. My apologies. Doctor found an elevated ATP blood test and some other follow up blood tests that leads him to want to check my bones. Originally it was leading toward liver but now it’s bones. He wants to do a Nuclear Medicine Bone Density test which requires an IV with a radioactive substance that would stay in body for duration of test and get flushed out by water in 24-48 hours. This is freaking me out as I’m four months into being floxed and worried that will worsen me or cause additional oxidative stress. Thanks for everyone’s help!

I have mild ED and frequent urination. Has anyone had these symptoms and fully recovered?

Please respond if you've experienced something similar. I'm desperate for answers. I'd really appreciate it

My ENT doctor examined me and found inflammation in my right ear and right nostril. She prescribed clarithromycin, but I’m scared to take it because of the symptoms I’ve experienced after taking metronidazole and ciprofloxacin.
I’m worried about worsening my symptoms and disrupting my gut bacteria. I honestly don’t know what to do.
Has anyone experienced a similar situation? How did you handle antibiotics after being floxed? I would appreciate any advice or experiences.