When the doctor of Mateo Ramirez gave him antibiotics to treat his slight stomach bug, he had no idea of the effects of life that it would have.
The New England was paralyzed and partially blind by a drug that millions of Americans are prescribed without informing its extreme side effects.
Mr. Ramirez was prescribed from ciprofloxacin, or “cipro”, for a suspected infection of urinary tract (UTI) linked to an insect of food intoxication which he captured in Panama in 2017.
His infection quickly dissipated, but the second week on the drug It was as if a “bomb had died” inside his body: BUMP broke out on his arms and he was destroyed by extreme pain that passed from his shoulders to his feet.
As it got worse, he partially loses the loss in his legs, letting him need a wheelchair. He also underwent a partial vision loss, making him legally blind.
It is one of the tens of thousands of Americans who have injuries that change their life that leads to damage to nerves and tendons after having taken a group of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones, which includes Cipro.
Patients call it “Floxé”.
However, despite the fact that patients make public experiences public, doctors still prescribe the drug at least 2 million people each year.
Mateo Ramirez is illustrated over a week before taking the antibiotic (left) and after taking the medication in 2019, illustrated to use a wheelchair and legs of legs
With hindsight, Mr. Ramirez told Dailymail.com that the medication had been prescribed for a suspected UTI, but laboratory tests have never proven that he had an infection.
He said that his medical notes indicate that the UTI was “suspected”, which means that doctors thought he had the infection but could not confirm it.
Mr. Ramirez said to this website: “I was fundamentally disabled for nothing. I had no urinary tract infection at all.
For some people suffering, the reactions of being “floxed” are immediate – occurring in the days after a first dose – but for others, like Mr. Ramirez, it can take a week or two to undergo a reaction.
CIPRO is a broad spectrum antibiotic used to treat a wide range of diseases, including infelle infections, chest infections and conjunctivitis.
Current side effects include diarrhea, nausea, discomfort in the eyes and a bad taste in the mouth – although they are calm normally after a few days at weeks.
In some cases, the FDA claims that patients taking the drug suffered from “disabling and potentially permanent side effects” of tendons, muscles, joints, nerves and the central nervous system.
The FDA approved ciprofloxacin in October 1987 for the treatment of bacterial infections, but in 2016, the drug should only be used for cases of acute sinusitis, bronchitis and uncomplicated urinary tract infections because in Other cases, the risk of serious side effects generally prevails over the advantages. ‘
Since 2008, the FDA has added three black box warning labels – the agency’s most serious warning – to the drug prescription label after it has received 60,000 relationships from patients with drug damage.
Mr. Ramirez aware of the risks posed by ciprofloxacin. It is represented above with Talia Smith, who also suffered from a severe reaction to antibiotic
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Cipro is not the only antibiotic to treat a urinary tract infection. Others include trimethoprime, sold under the Primsol brand, and doxycycline, known as vibramycin or periostat.
Mr. Ramirez initially suffered from tendonitis, the inflammation of the fibrous strings that attach the muscles to the bones, causing the bumps of his skin.
Shortly after, he started to feel pain that felt like a “burning machine” in his legs and arms. At one point, it was so bad that he couldn’t use his right arm.
In the coming weeks, he started to find it difficult to use his legs or stand -ups – letting him need devices and a wheelchair.
Ramirez, who had just finished his college studies at the top of his class, said that his debilitating state led him to have to ask for disability services to take care of himself.
He tried to work after losing the use of his legs as an advisor for other disabled people, but after having exceeded his $ 80 income allowance, he said that he had been sentenced to all advantages that he had received – about $ 21,000.
He also caught Covid in 2020, saying that it had caused a serious infection that left him fearing to lose his life. He was transported urgently to hospital in an ambulance and was unemployed for four months.
Still in 2020, he lost his house and was forced to move to sustained life. He does not expect to be able to move.
Mr. Ramirez tried to continue the hospital which prescribed antibiotics to him.
Mateo regularly publishes photos of himself smiling on social networks, although he does not expect to get back to the point where he was before taking the antibiotic
A law firm resumed the case, but after a hidden blow, he dropped it – citing the effusion of public support for the health care staff, said Mr. Ramirez on this site.
He has now exceeded the deadline for three years that his condition requires for complaints to be provided against complications in medical care.
Today, Mr. Ramirez says he still needs a wheelchair because he has trouble using his legs and can not see anything in the areas of the center or the corner of his vision.
He works in a home by helping other disabled people, but the number of hours he can work is still limited so that he can qualify for disability benefits. He still has to reimburse the $ 21,000.
Ciprofloxacin is suspected of having such a serious impact on patients because it can damage mitochondria or energy factories in cells, reducing the energy available for body cells for everything to work properly.
In addition to concerns about side effects, some doctors no longer prescribe ciprofloxacin because the drug can be ineffective, some studies now suggest approximately one in five bacterial infection with the medication.