[MightyB]

I am a 23 year old male, in very good physical shape until around 6 month ago.

I self prescribed Levofloxacin because i thought i had a chest infection, i took 1 tablet a day for 5 days. On the 4th day of the course (saturday) i planned to go out drinking. I checked if the anti-biotic reacted with alcohol, it does'nt, so i embarked on the night out.

I took that days anti-biotic at around 7pm, the same time i had taken the previous three days dose. Throughout the evening i drank heavily until around 11pm when i was offered 1 ecstasy/MDMA tablet. Foolishly i accepted, without so much of a thought that it may react with the anti-biotic. Between 11pm and around 2am i would hazard a guess and say i took 4 more ecstasy tablets, 5 in total.

I returned home at around 6am feeling all the usual effects of ecstasy.(increased heart rate, jaw clenching, inability to urinate etc.) I started to worry when i started to feel sick, my heart rate would not lower and my muscles were aching from head to toe. I was unable to sleep and had no appertite, i managed to eat a sandwich and two yoghurts. At around 4pm on the sunday i finally started to feel better and fell asleep for an hour or so, when i awoke my pinky and ring fingers on both hands were numb, feeling returned straight away after straightening my arms.

Since that evening if i sleep with arms bent i will always suffer numbness in my fourth and fifth fingers in both hands, also in my thumbs, forearms and somtimes upper arms.

Other symptoms that i have started feeling since the event six month ago include, tingling in both feet when crossing legs, electric shock pains in hands and feet when over stretching, slight burning sensations in both hands and feet, elbow soreness, sporadic muscle twitching, slight blurred vision in right eye.

Only recently i have developed pressure headaches, stomach cramps, constipation and diarreah ( undigested food in stool)

Any information on Toxic Neuropathys would be greatly appreciated??

[mrsD]

Hello, MightyB, welcome to PN forum.

I have a question for you: How often have you used Levaquin in the past 5 years?

[MightyB]

Originally Posted by mrsD

Hello, MightyB, welcome to PN forum.

I have a question for you: How often have you used Levaquin in the past 5 years?

As far as I'm aware mrs d I have never previously used levofloxacin, I have taken other antibiotics before such as erythromycin and amoxicillin with no adverse effects. I have read on the Internet that levofloxacin is a inhibitor of the enzyme that metabolises MDMA but I cannot find any information of side effects of the interaction?!?

Let me also state mrs d that I am by no means a regular illegal drug user, I would probably say that since the age of 18 I have taken recreational drugs 10 times without experiencing any adverse effects to my health.

[mrsD]

Well, Levofloxacin has some neurotoxic effects of its own.

The family it belongs to, all share this characteristic.
Here is a monograph with more information:
http://www.drugs.com/ppa/levofloxacin.html

This drug can cause neuropathy. If you Google it with the
keywords--- Levofloxacin neuropathy--- you will see various
reports.

This antibiotic can disrupt the GI flora and cause diarrhea.
In patients who use other antibiotics often, this may lead to
infection with C. difficle, or other forms of colitis. (diarrhea)
This may need special treatment and should be evaluated by a doctor.

Levofloxacin prolongs QT interval of the heart, and therefore can be additive to other drugs, be dangerous if you are dehydrated and low in potassium and magnesium, or have a genetic tendency for this. There are isolated reports of MDMA affecting the heart, but not much else is available that I can find now.
Levaquin itself is a major drug and has potential for causing long term reactions. One of these is tendon ruptures, which may occur up to a year after use of this drug.
Some people have visited on this forum after one course of this antibiotic with neuropathy as a side effect.

CNS effects are also possible, but depend on age and dose.
Elderly taking high dose may develop confusion, seizures and other CNS effects. This is less likely in younger patients.
This drug can damage the liver and in fact two other fluoroquinolones have been taken off the market in the US for this. In fact Floxin oral has fallen also into disuse because of seizures it caused. The book Bitter Pills deals with it.
http://www.stephenfried.com/bitter-pills/

This site discusses the side effects of fluroquinolones from a medical perspective:
http://www.medicationsense.com/artic...cs_052205.html

[MightyB]

thank you mrs d for the hasty replies.

from trawling the internet i was aware that fluoroquiniline antibiotics have, in rare cases caused nerve damage along with other medical complications.
I am convinced though that the symptoms i am feeling now are the result of an interaction with MDMA.

I have had a number of tests done in the previous 5 months. i have had a resting ECG, a exercise ECG and a echocardiogram done and heart bloods taken, because of sporadic palpitations and chest area aches all of which came back normal.

i have also had a cervical MRI taken which came back normal.

I have had my eyes tested (because of the slight blurred vision in one eye) the optician said i am slightly short sighted in one eye but that it was so minor no prescription was needed and that the overall health of my eyes was fine.

With all of the above tests i choose not to mention the incident which preceded the onset of symptoms mainly out of shame but also the fact that i did not want to believe that it could have caused these symtoms.

None of the symptoms that i am experiencing have had any real negative effect on my overall health in terms of being able to do my job etc. but mentally i have been agonising over whats happening to my body and the progression it may take So maybe this is playing a part somewhat in my symptoms????

Any information or advice on what course these types of symptoms are likely to take would be greatly appreciated, is it a case of ignoring them and sooner or later they will improve or do i need to seek professional help??

I appreciate that everybody is different therefore prognosis is difficult but i have ceased exposure to the anti- biotic and lead a healthy lifestyle, exercising everyday. Needless to say exposure to recreational drugs has stopped as has drinking alcohol.

As you can probably tell im clutching at straws with what might be happening to me so i appreciate all opinions on the matter.

[mrsD]

Based on what I have seen about MDMA so far (one researcher is in my area and was on cable with his studies)..Dr. Galloway

Conclusion:
These data show that acute MDMA alters both serotonergic and glutamatergic signaling in the medial
prefrontal cortex and GABAergic signaling in the amygdala. The MDMA-induced increase in prefrontal
glutamate turnover is consistent with the well-known ability of 5HT (via 5HT2a receptors) to facilitate
excitatory tone in the prefrontal cortex. Neurotoxic effects of MDMA in the hippocampus are
accompanied by deficits in both GABA and glutamate levels, which may be associated with the cognitive
deficits of MDMA abuse.......
and......
Conclusion from second paper:
These data are consistent with the notion that MDMA disrupts the metabolic homeostasis of
energy regulation in cardiac tissue. The enduring effects of MDMA on cardiotoxicity as well as
the attendant MR-visible biochemical profile remain to be determined.

both papers abstracts here:
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:...&ct=clnk&gl=us



The effects of MDMA are mostly immediate. If you survive an overdose or heavy use without a seizure or hyperthermia, there is not much to worry about. The only thing I have seen so far is the suggestion that MDMA affects serotonin functions and may cause depression or some permanent damage to the brain and its neurotransmitter systems of dopamine and serotonin.

The effects of Levaquin however, are not rare. Many people are on the net about that drug, some with neuropathies that do not resolve.
example:
http://www.fqresearch.org/ftrf_common_adrs.htm
http://www.fqresearch.org/cns_1.htm
Fluroquinolone antibiotics should not be used first line for minor infections. They are to be used when the risk/benefit ratio determines other agents are not effective.

This link is to one of the abstracts on PubMed.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...m&ordinalpos=1
It has an email to one of the authors (Dr. Perrine).
I suggest you contact this researcher for more data on the drug.

The net has many sites about MDMA...like this one:
http://www.mdma.net/#mdmatox

[JohnSmith]

Mighty B,

SWIM has been experiencing some similar symptoms. SWIM is an 18 yr old Male. Healthy up until this incident.

Over the new years SWIM took a high dose of E. The next day SWIM started a prescription of Augmentin (amoxicillin & clavulin). SWIM did not think there would be any adverse effects. SWIM noted that SWIM felt like SWIM was still being affected by the E for up to a week after, and even felt the foggyness for almost a month and still some what today.

Symptoms SWIM experiences:

Pressure headaches - feels like the right side of SWIM's head/eye are about 10 ft in front of the left side of SWIM's head.

Severe sense of unbalance.

Numbness in the right portion of SWIM's R side of head, R arm, and 4th and 5th fingers.

Weakness in SWIM's right leg and arm.

Burning in SWIM's R fore arm.

Odd pain/weak sensation in R wrist and R groin and R knee.

Odd pain in neck/ lymph nodes area in R groin and R neck.

Blurred vision out of SWIM's R eye.

Slight lower back discomfort and pain.

R shoulder discomfort.

Also SWIM's R eye is a little bit more dilated than the left.

On top of that SWIM's overall vision has been affected for lights and shadows really bother SWIM. (street lights have a star like aura and it is hard for SWIM to focus on computer screens).

SWIM symptoms have been somewhat bell shaped or parabolic for SWIM has been noting that SWIM has been feeling a lot better as every day comes along, except for the vision and newly developed back discomfort.

SWIM used to habitually smoke MJ. That has now stopped considering probably just like you SWIM fears for SWIM's life.

SWIM met with an optometrist who can come to no conclusions and says SWIM's eyes look perfectly normal.

SWIM has met with a Neuro who has requested an MR of SWIM’s head, however SWIM is located in Canada and is American and is doing SWIM’s best to expedite the process by hopefully going back to the states in two weeks. All blood tests for liver function, white blood cell count, and HIV came back normal... along with a couple others I just cannot remember the name of the tests.

SWIM has a meeting with an Internist tmrw morning.

SWIM is not a regular MDMA or E user SWIM has probably used it 5 times maximum before this incident.

I am curious if you have found anything out for SWIM is sh*tting SWIM’s pants, and is looking for as much help as possible. I am very concerned for SWIM, he is a very good friend.

I hope that your symptoms are slowly improving like his. SWIM has learned SWIM’s lesson and is doing SWIM’s best to take care of SWIM’s body.

I wish you the best of luck, I know how hard, scary, and stressful this is watching SWIM go through it.

Please reply.

[mrsD]

Hello, there, JohnSmith...

Did you read this whole thread? I have put up some links to
what X does in the brain on here.

Your situation is somewhat different in that your antibiotic use is more benign.

But from what is known about X, it is capable of damaging your brain.

I don't think much has been investigated about peripheral effects, but what you feel may be coming completely from your brain misfiring. It is sadly a tough situation, because you don't know what was really in the X you took. It could have had anything else in it including "toxins". So it is not only X to worry about but contaminants. I don't think at this time there is treatment for your condition. Some psychiatrists may treat the resulting depression with drugs they think may help.
But damaging your brain with illegal substances is a real phenomenon.

Dr. Amen has spent 20 yrs doing SPECT scans of peoples' brains. This link shows one scan of a person abusing drugs:

http://www.amenclinics.com/brain-sci...?img=da_CS.gif

You can view the others there on that link as well.
This is what a healthy brain should look like:
http://www.amenclinics.com/brain-sci...healthy_CS.gif

Posting here on the PN board, you will not find many posters with your experience. Most of us have other problems however.

[nide44]

Mrs D,
That imagery of the two brains is enough to scare anyone off drugs.
What was the drug that caused so much damage?

[mrsD]

Originally Posted by nide44

Mrs D,
That imagery of the two brains is enough to scare anyone off drugs.
What was the drug that caused so much damage?

Dr. Amen has a show on PBS when they do the "pledge drives".
He said on TV that drug abuse including many things make a brain with holes in it.
The pictures he had on TV were more dramatic, and he even said he made thousands of posters and donated them to schools, for anti-drug use educational purposes.

His books go into more detail. But long term or high dose opiates was one I do remember. MJ was included...and even nicotine!

The picture he used on TV showed huge and many areas of no activity! Like Swiss Cheese.
You might find his book in the library, like I did.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Cha...ange+your+life

This is really really an eye opening book .. it even goes into couples counseling when spouses have different brain maps and react to things in ways to make conflict.

The biological things of course, are the real eye openers!