Neuropathy due to Flagyl and Cocaine ?
 

Hi,

I’m a 23 years women and I’ve been suffering from Peripheral Neuropathy for a year.

Last year I was treated twice with a 2g single dose of Metronidazole (Flagyl), with 3-4 months apart each treatment.

Now I can’t really remember when my neuropathic symptoms started exactly but I’m pretty sure it started after taking these antibiotics.

At first, the symptoms were mild, but overtime they got worse until they became quite constant and severe :
• constant tingling, sharp/shooting pains, slight numbness in arms, legs, hands and feets and muscle twitching all over my body.

I have been using recreational drugs for around 8 years, especially cocaine and ecstasy.
I’d say I was doing coke more or less 4 times a month around the time I was given the antibiotics. (I stopped completely very recently)

I remember the symptoms becoming constant after a party loaded with cocaine and ecstasy and it never stopped since.

When I went to the doctor to investigate, all they could find was a Folate and Ferritin deficiency which are now being treated... they don’t suspect these being the cause but they can’t really do anything else so they referred me to a specialist that I’m seeing in September.
I hope this will be gone by September hence why I’m investigating myself.

So I’ve been searching and even thought I know that Flagyl can cause my symptoms, I’ve read that it takes a certain amount of the medication consumed over an extended period of time for the neuropathy to develop.
I don’t feel like I took “enough” of the Metronidazole for it to be the cause of the neuropathy. I took 4g all together and some websites states that it starts around 13g...
Can someone back this up? Could 4g be enough to cause it or should I drop it ?

Now I’m aware that cocaine is neurotoxic, so my best hypothesis is that the cocaine possibly started damaging my nerves a long time ago and then when Flagyl came into the mix, it caused deeper damages that caused my symptoms to appear. The neuropathy then got worse because I kept on taking cocaine, resulting my Neuropathy to becoming constant and severe...

I’m not a doctor, but my doctor wasn’t able to tell me much about the cause so I just looking out for myself... Does my hypothesis make any sense at all?

How does toxic neuropathy develop? I read that it stops when you stop taking the toxic substances that cause nerve damages and the healing start from there. Anyone can testify?
How did your toxic neuropathy symptoms progress ? Was it sudden of gradual ?

I started treating myself with vitamins and natural supplements, and I take Epsom salts bath when it gets too much... that’s all I got for now. Any supplements that I could benefits from ?

Anything that could be helpful to know?

Thanks !!

Hi Theworldisyours

Welcome to NeuroTalk :). I hope that you will find the community both knowledgeable and supportive.

I am sorry to read about your peripheral neuropathy.

PN is listed as a "rare" side-effect of Flagyl and its only reported interaction with a recreational drug is a "Major" one with alcohol.

The information here may help you with this.

Flagyl Uses, Dosage & Side Effects - Drugs.com

Best wishes.

OP: Medications/drugs of many types can cause neuroipathy.

There is a lot of great support in the PN group here and good to see you are changing a lot in your life and getting with supplements and I'd sure seek out other friends.

My grandgirl is your age and I'm so proud that she avoids recreational drugs.

Hi kiwi33,

According to your link, “burning, numbness, tingling, or painful sensations in the hands or feet” is classified as a common side effects.

It’s different in a lot of websites but I’m convinced that’s it’s more common that we think

Hi The worldisyours,

I can't offer any specific advice but generally I would say that I would cease using any known neuro-toxins such as alcohol and drugs and eat and live as healthily as you can. ( Common Sense) A diet rich in fruit, vegetables, beans nuts, grains, berries and seeds would be good. Avoid all processed meat and processed foods in general.

You may also wish to view the Alcohol Induced Peripheral Neuropathy thread too.

Supplements I would take daily are:-

1. B12 crucial in nerve healing, you can't overdose on this.
2. Benfotiamine: A fat soluble version of Thiamine- B1. 300mg a day
3. Folate
4. Multivitamin
5. Turmeric, an anti inflammatory and analgesic.
6. Fish Oil Omega 3 very important as an anti inflammatory 3000mg
7. Alpha Lipoic Acid 600mg
8. Acetyl L-Carnitine up to 3g
9. Flax-seed 1 tablespoon a day. It must be milled or ground. Full of Omega 3.

Best of luck.

I would certainly keep exploring the nutritional issues especially since your tests show a folate and iron issues. Drugs deplete nutrients and if your nutritional status was suspect when you started the Flagyl, then it doesn't take much to push things over the edge. I would also assume that there are other nutritional insufficiencies contributing to it. Most docs don't consider a low normal reading of a nutrient an issue but should. Make sure to get copies of all your lab work. You'd be surprised at what they miss or don't tell you.

Flagyl can deplete B12 and K. What was your B12 level? A low normal reading on this should not be considered OK. Also, all nutrients should be stopped prior to testing in order to get a better reading.

What are you taking now? Key PN nutrients are the B vitamins( especially B12, folate, B1 and B6), Omega 3, magnesium and D. R-lipoic acid, Acetyl-carnitine, and NAC can be helpful to heal damage from drugs. Healing nerves can take a long time but at least you are on the right path.

I’ve been exploring it for a while to be honest.
But there’snt much info on folate deficiency and neuropathy. Ferritin seems to be unrelated. I don’t know when I started being folate deficient so I wouldn’t know... all I know is at the time I had vitamin D deficiency which I corrected but it’s now back on the borderline low. Bloody depression keeps me locked indoors...
I’m taking liquid B12, folic acid, (might go for the folate form soon), Ferritin, algea oil for omega 3 , liquid turmeric capsules, vit D/zinc/magnesium tablets, and some cheap vitamin C. I also got b6 but I’m scared to take them because I don’t know how much b6 I have in my blood and I’ve been told that too much b6 cause neuropathy. I also take CBD oil. I’m attending to buy all the other ones you mentioned and better quality vitamins when my salary reaches my bank.
I guess I’m on the right path yes’

Hi!
That’s a solid list thanks, I have about half of these so I’ll get the rest when my salary reaches my bank!

Just a couple of thoughts.....

I would definitely go for the methyl form of folate and B12. Jarrow makes a good B complex using the bio-available forms. They also have a sublingual with B12, folate and B6. The p-5-p form of B6 is the better option and going with a low dose should be ok. Blood serum testing of vitamins is probably the least effective way to measure nutritional status. Unfortunately, many of the the other tests are not covered by insurance and can be quite expensive. My husband got more insights from an organic acid test and hair analysis from a highly qualified nutritional doctor but that too was out of pocket expenses.

With the B vitamins, B12 serum levels should be 400 and above. Also, they should have check your copper levels. There's a delicate balance of iron/zinc/copper. Low copper serum is associated with nerve damage and anemia.

How is your digestive system? There are links between gut health and nerves. H.pylori bacteria which causes ulcers can also contrite to problems outside of the GI track. Many have the bacteria without ulcers. Also, any medicines for acid reflux/GERD will impact your ability to absorb nutrients. The other GI issue that can wreak havoc on the nerves is Celiac/gluten intolerance.

Take care,
Marlene

Can a “low” dose of Metronidazole/Flagyl cause P. Neuropathy ?
 

Hi!
I took 2 single doses of Metronidazole about 2 months apart for bacterial infections both times. It was 2g (4x500mg pills) both times. That’s it.

Could this been the cause of my Peripheral Neuropathy ?
I can’t remember when the symptoms started exactly but i know that it started after taking these antibiotics.
I was a chronic cocaine user at the time, and also had low folate and ferritin, all the rest normal.

Online they keep saying that Flagyl induced Neuropathy start at about 13g and/or usually happen after a prolonged use, which wasn’t my case. I also asked my GP but he says that neuropathy only happens when Flagyl is given by IV, which is wrong.

So yeah... I just wanna know if 4g of Flagyl could have destroyed my nerves or is it likely to be something else ?

Thanks !