I was precribed 1000mg of Cipro a day for 7 days. I only took 500 mg a day for 7 days instead. Not sure why, perhaps my instincts told me it was too much for a female of 5ft 4" tall but I finished the course of the drug. I did notice that the side of my tongue during the week of taking it felt uncerated and that both back wisdom teeth and the gums around them felt like a piece of popcorn was in them. That was the only odd thing. I continued with taking my vitamins ..E, A, Multi Vit. Fish Oil, and Calcium as well as meds for a preexisting condition of which were Xanax, Buspar and Lunesta... there was no unusual drug interactions. I also drank a very small amount of coffee during those 7 days. Exactly 8 days later after taking the last pill I started noticing anxiety attacks the likes of which I had never had before. I was a little concerned because I could not figure out what was going on. since I was taking anti-anxiety meds already.Then about 4 days later, I started to feel really sick like I had a horrible flu and was weak all over. I was very fuzzy headed and words kept getting jumbled in my mouth when I started to speak. I knew something was wrong yet had not connected it to the Cipro. My doctor had prescribed Diflucan as a precaution for any yeast as the Cipro was a broad spectrum antibiotic and she routinely prescribed it along w/Cipro. I remember trying to take Activia instead because I was leary of taking the Diflucan. So I ate a couple cartons of the Activia (small servings) and had an immediate lightheaded feeling which I found to be odd as well as an increase in anxiety. So I opted out of  eating the remaining Activia. I ended up taking the Diflucan exactly 2 weeks post Cipro and that was when all hell broke loose. All night I was shaking from having chills, sweats, a slight rash, and horrible burning neuropathy all over my body but primarily on my arms and head. The following  morning my voice was hoarse. The Diflucan leaflet said not to take with any benzos or sleep aids since it raised the levels in the blood if I did take them. I had been on my meds and sleep aid for years so to go cold turkey was rough. I ended up taking a tiny bit of Xanax to sleep except I had insomnia. For a good week or two, my meds did not work. The CNS symptoms won out over the very meds to try to treat them. All of my anxiolitic meds no longer worked and caused an electrical prickling feeling at the back of my head around the crown area every time I tried to take them. Panic set in because it dawned on me that the very meds I had taken for years were no longer going to work. Eventually, because I am stubborn I persisted in taking them and they eventually kicked in and started to work a little. The Lunesta gave me about 3 hours of sleep instead of  6. I needed more Xanax to keep the anxiety down. My doctor tried another sleep aid but it did absolutely nothing for me and I was awake the whole night wired and tired. I had taken that sleep aid prior and had great results with it but it did not work so I figured 3 hours on Lunesta was better than none on Restoril. The next month was just exhausting and filled with dread and fear. I had found info on the web once my meds quit working and I knew it had to have been the Cipro. I thought it was the Diflucan at first but realized that the Cipro made me sensitive to all meds and caused me to have the reaction to the Diflucan (which I did not think I even needed but my doctor insisted I take even though she did not examine me to see if I needed it).

Eating the foods I had before had to change too because I would get the chills after eating. My gastrointestinal tract also was affected with gurgling in my gut and not having much of any appetite at all. I lost close to 17 pounds. I was constantly thirsty and urinating frquently which puzzled me too. I was not perspiring either which alarmed me and having light headaches for days. This was all within the first two months. I had no real drug reaction that was alarming the first week of taking the drug. It all started to escalate in the 4 weeks that followed so after researching the web I found that there were others having these horrible ADR's. I called poison control and a local toxicologist and neither of them had heard of fluoroquinolone toxicity. Later after a couple of months went by I found another toxicologist who had heard of the FQ's and their side effects. However, he said they were excellent antibiotics and usually had a good track record.... he told me to stay out of the sun and to monitor my joints and be careful of exerting them. He still felt that they were useful drugs  and had no other comment because I was coming down hard on him. I think he got a little defensive.

I will never take another one of these drugs in this class ever again...a horrid experience.