My name is Ralph and my heart goes out to anyone who is suffering from a delayed fluoroqinolone reaction! I know because i am living the nightmare for over nineteen months now.
My story is too long and horrifying to give all the details so I will make it as short as possible.
In March Of 08 I was a healthy 34 year old in great shape. I worked six days as a week as a welder/maintenance mechanic for a waste water treatment plant, scuba dived, played paint ball and could never sit still.
On march 14 of 08 I decided to have a vasectomy done in a outpatient hospital, that’s were my insurance and doctor wanted to do the procedure. It only took about forty five minutes and they put me to sleep which is odd for a vasectomy, but i figured the less i know the better off I am!

Anyway I awoke and everything seem to go well, there was very little pain or swelling and i returned home and rested for about three days. Around the fourth day a started to resume my daily walks, Which was about three and a half miles every other day and weight lifting three times a week. So around the second week I started all my normal work habits, as well as my exercise regiments. I recall on the weekends playing paintball and hiking, All seem well!
Around three months later things out of the thin blue air started to change.
I started not to feel so well, like strange fatigue and mild weakness on and off. this went on for a couple of weeks. next I stated getting pains in my testicles and developed cystitis of the bladder.
After about three weeks of this I thought maybe i have an infection, so i went back to the urologist who did my vasectomy and figured something’s wrong. He did some tests and said everything looks fine maybe I have a yeast infection or Candida. I didn’t quite understand that at the time But as i walked out he said one thing to me that if i knew then what I knew now It would Of saved me some of the doctor trips, bankruptcy, And all the hell I been through searching for answers.
He said(maybe you have some yeast problems BECAUSE WE DID USE ALOT OF ANTIBIOTICS ON YOU DURING YOUR PROCEEDURE) so try eating some cultures with probiotics.
I left his office with a strange feeling but took his advice. Needless to say it did nothing.
About another week later I remember not feeling well but me and my girlfriend went for a four mile walk on a local boardwalk by the beach, aside the annoying bladder problems, on and off testicle pains and mild fatigue I was functional and ok!
I went to bed that night And awoke in the morning with all kinds of problems, It was like a BOMB went off inside me, I had sweats chills, fatigue, pain in my lower back, both knees, pain in both eyes, pain in my bladder, rectal pain, ect… Something is not right, What the hell is going on!!!
So from there I started my journey from doctor to doctor, dozens of hours on the internet.
My symptoms kept emerging with new ones, muscle twitches in my eye lids, then all over my body.
I had all kinds of tests. One of the first doctors I went to was a walk in clinic they figured I had a infection, So they gave me 500mg 10 days of Levaquin. I took them, by the first pill, whatever was wrong with me It made everything worse, I now had pains all over, Burning That started in my legs and spread all over my body, Insomnia, heart palpitation, elbow pains, ringing in both ears, pressure in both ears ,eye floaters, severe headaches, over thirty symptoms in under a month. I been to the hospital so many times, I have been to every doctor, specialist, clinic, holistic and went bankrupt. I was on disability for six months and just returned to work on light duty which is still hard for me.
It has been over nineteen months, I have been told and treated for Lyme’s disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, Lupus etc. I have taken over forty types of medicines including pain killers, sleep, antibiotics (NON FLOUROQUINOLONE) as I put the pieces together later. Anti maarials, ECT ECT.
Around twelve months of unbelievable pain suffering and over forty plus symptoms I started to be my own doctor and after much research I found the FLOX report as well as many other resources and know knew I was FLOXED, Not one but twice, I requested my medical records from the hospital where I had the surgery and shore as hell my worse fear was found, I was given LEVIQUIN IV during My procedure. It all makes sense NOW!
To wrap things Up I have a lot of ups and down, I developed fibromyalgia and myofacial pain syndrome, I have Tendonopthy all over my body as well as eye floaters, ringing in both ears and burning in my legs that comes and goes as well as many other problems. I am on a lot of supplements which I think has helped as well as time but I do suffer everyday and have days of un imaginable pain as well as days of mild pain. I hope I get better as time passes but I guess only time will tell and prayer. I would like to go on but I guess this wraps it up in a nut shell1 If anybody has any comments or questions you can email me at diver1002@hotmail.com. thanks and for all who is suffering please don’t give up the fight!