We are having a Nor'easter! No snow, but lashing winds and torrential rain. With temps only in the 50's, this makes for misery. But, I am coming to believe that if I open a fortune cookie, the slip will be blank...
Yesterday went as I expected upon returning home. First off, I accidentally sabotaged myself from taking my new antibiotic right away. I was feeling so horribly bloated and toxic due to, well being bloated and toxic, that I made one of my magnesium citrate/stevia/diet coke ramrodders. Actually, I made two. While drinking these, I decided to research my new prescription and the first bit of information that hits my eye is that you cannot take the compound 2 hours before or 2 hours after any supplement, etc. with magnesium! So, I had some waiting to do...
This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, though, as it gave me more time to research the medication. I was prescribed Levaquin. My previous antibiotic was good ol' Amoxocillin. It did squat diddly against the invading beasts. Levaquin is another caliber of antibiotic. It is a quinolone antibiotic. That's the group in which you find Cipro, that people went nuts to get hold of during the Anthrax scare. This class of antibiotic works a bit differently than others, so they are often used when other things don't work or for certain bacterial strains that only they can remedy. The first bits of info I read were basically the generic descriptions and form-letter list of side effects. Normal stuff there. However, I then stumbled upon the rest of the story.
Levaquin and its siblings are widely hated due to the seemingly high incidence of severe side effects they can produce. I had read that about 40% of people on Levaquin do experience adverse effects, but those were mild-moderate. About 7-10% experience nasty ones, though, and I wonder if that number is actually a low estimate. There is even an organized group trying to get consumer protection for these drugs. On the positive side, many people do receive substantial benefit from the quinolones, as always it is an individual issue. But it does make one wonder...
Levaquin Side Effects
Ratings for Levaquin
Levaquin Message Board
With my luck, I'll be a suicidal paranoid with insomnia and ruptured tendons in a few days. Took my first dose and did feel somewhat hyper and mucous-rich. Sleep was marginal, but that is nothing atypical. Dose 2 will be this afternoon...
My research did not lighten my mood and it was further blackened by the tremendous bloating produced by the rapidly decreasing atmospheric pressure. This situation was far worse than normal for two reasons. First, the pressure was dipping very, very low due to this current storm system. Second, I was FILLED with fluid. Fluid expands with sinking pressures, and I am carrying around far more fluid than usual. Oh, the sheer torture! My legs, stomach, butt, face - all round and puffy. My level of discomfort was extreme. The nice thing was that if we experienced a flood, I was already my own personal flotation device.
Today is more evil weather into which I must venture for my GI work at the hospital. How fun. And, I can eat nothing until the test, which is at 10:30. That is not happy-making. I like my breakfast! That is usually my day's largest meal, so its absence definitely impacts my day. As I move more into a raw diet, breakfast will become lighter - I'm shooting for fruit, nuts and perhaps some soaked/sprouted grains. I am doing pretty well handling fruit, and that is a joyful thing. I think the raw plan, which pushes tons of fresh veggies and fruits and tons of nuts, seeds and avocado might work for me. At least for this stage in my life.
So, onward into more testing. Onward into the storm. Onward into life. Always onward...always onward....
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