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smeartactics
Jul 9, 2008, 1:39 PM
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Heard on the news last night that the class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones, which includes the popular antibiotic Cipro can increase the risk of tendinitis and tendon rupture. The problem has apparently happened often enough to lead the FDA to issue a "black box" warning, the FDA's sternest warning. I'm no doctor but considering the amount of stress we climbers place on our tendons these seem like drugs to avoid. I was wondering if anyone with more knowledge on the subject could shed some light.
(This post was edited by smeartactics on Jul 18, 2008, 2:24 PM)
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dylan1
Jul 9, 2008, 2:05 PM
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I just completed 10 days of Cipro...so far no problems. I took it to prevent any problems / infections due to a rattlesnake bite on my finger.
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rob6118
Jul 9, 2008, 2:08 PM
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It's definitely an interesting release. In my motorcycle accident I had a spiral compound fracture of the lower half of my left femur. Got a severe bone infection and had to have antibiotics of that nature injected and surgically implanted in the leg around the bone for a couple of months.
Post all the operations when I got into climbing I was amazed at how easy it was to literally dislocate multiple joints. It felt like all my tendons were like putty. I could dislocated my wrist, elbow, and shoulder quite easily just climbing 5.6s.
My g/f also got a cut about a month ago which got infected. Of course cipro was prescribed, and sure enough within a week of taking it she developed tendon pain in her elbows as well.
Of course it could all be coincidence for my g/f and the multiple injuries I sustained in the accident and other sports. But it makes you wonder when the FDA releases a statement like this.
By the same token, in my accident if I didn't get the antibiotics they would have cut off at least one leg, if not both. Given that alternative I think I would rather have to take it easy climbing for a while, while I build back up my tendons. At least I can walk...
I think the moral of the story is you don't want to let flesh eating bacteria go without treatment, but at the same time you probably want to take it easy on stressful activities while on these medications.
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esoteric1
Jul 9, 2008, 2:16 PM
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ive taken it to combat some funk i picked up in peru, i didnt notice any more tendonitis than i usualy have.
oh, and dude, im not gona ask how you get bit in the finger by a rattlesnake......
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doktor_g
Jul 9, 2008, 2:19 PM
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This has been widely known for nearly a decade, but you make a good point.
Fluoroquinolones (Levaquin, Cipro, Moxifloxicin etc) are most described in the literature as causing Achilles Tendon rupture. See the package insert. This is most likely because it's the most used tendon and also takes the most stress the most often. Think about it. Theoretically they can also interfere with bone development in you youngsters who are still growing (those spring chickens whose bony growth plates have not yet closed).
Climbers like many athletes are slight hypochondriacs, always looking for a supplement, drug or device to give them an athletic edge or help them heal or recover faster when in reality, adequate rest, over-the-counter NSAIDs and a healthy diet and lifestyle are what is most required for the majority of our injuries.
Be safe. Don't believe the press, drug companies or your local natural food store. You'll often get hype and poisons for your naivete. "Less" is often "more." Practice forbearance and rest with injuries.
As Hippocrates said, "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food."
doktor_g
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rob6118
Jul 9, 2008, 2:19 PM
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lol
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wonderwoman
Jul 9, 2008, 2:20 PM
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psst... There's already a thread on this subject... 
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smeartactics
Jul 9, 2008, 2:28 PM
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psst..I did a search and didn't find anything so I did the post. thanks for your help
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lena_chita
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Jul 9, 2008, 3:26 PM
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Funny, just yesterday morning I was in PT's office, having a conversation with a guy who messed up his Achileus tendon while on Cipro.
He said he didn't do anything special, just walking, and something popped, completely without warning. He never had any tendon issues before. He was taking Cipro for some infection when that happened, but he never connected the two things until doctor told him later that the cipro was probably a contributing factor to his tendonitis -- and the guy has been in PT for 10 weeks since then.
Take that for what it is worth-- a 'case study' lol.
I haven't had any problems with tendonitis while taking Cipro, but I think when i was taking it I was too sick to climb...
(This post was edited by lena_chita on Jul 9, 2008, 3:29 PM)
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iching
Jul 12, 2008, 5:59 PM
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I just finished a weeks prescription of Cipro for my toe injury. I also started hearing and reading about the possible effects once I was in the middle. My question now is how long do the potential effects take place and what can I do to lessen the potential effects of this drug? Is there a length of time I should wait before going back to my workouts?
I started looking on the web to see if I couldn't find some direction and what I see is not good. For anyone who also has similar questions I recommend the following link:
http://www.fluoroquinolones.org/PART%20VI.htm
The beginning maybe more technical than you would like but skim through it until you get to about the middle where it begins to summarize results of studies. There is a lot of info here but the quote below may peak your interest:
..."In any case, the result is the same: muscles, skin, nerves, heart, brain and other organs are deprived of adequate blood flow (ischemia), and owerwhelmed by toxic intermetiate compounds and they die or do not work properly. For the sake of simplicity, in this report we call quinolone-vasculitis the degradation of the extracellular matrix plus an alteration of the microvessel walls with vascular damage or attendant tissue injury."...
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mushroom
Jul 12, 2008, 9:11 PM
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so when you say Cipro that's the same as Ciproflaxin, right? the drug you take to clear up diarrhea and stomach aches?
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jt512
Jul 13, 2008, 4:53 AM
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iching wrote: I just finished a weeks prescription of Cipro for my toe injury. I also started hearing and reading about the possible effects once I was in the middle. My question now is how long do the potential effects take place and what can I do to lessen the potential effects of this drug? Is there a length of time I should wait before going back to my workouts? I started looking on the web to see if I couldn't find some direction and what I see is not good. For anyone who also has similar questions I recommend the following link: http://www.fluoroquinolones.org/PART%20VI.htm The beginning maybe more technical than you would like but skim through it until you get to about the middle where it begins to summarize results of studies. There is a lot of info here but the quote below may peak your interest: ..."In any case, the result is the same: muscles, skin, nerves, heart, brain and other organs are deprived of adequate blood flow (ischemia), and owerwhelmed by toxic intermetiate compounds and they die or do not work properly. For the sake of simplicity, in this report we call quinolone-vasculitis the degradation of the extracellular matrix plus an alteration of the microvessel walls with vascular damage or attendant tissue injury."...
That certainly looks like a reputable source of information. :roll:
Jay
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iching
Jul 13, 2008, 6:12 AM
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I'm talking about an antibiotic.
The bottle says Cephalexin generic for Keflex.
I'm glad you asked though.
I did some more browsing and Cephalexin is a synthetic form of penicillin. So I'm breathing easier.
Sounds like the one you need to watch out for is Fluoroquinolones which someone above says is perscibed under the names "Levaquin, Cipro, Moxifloxicin etc". Check out the site I list above if you are interested in more information. It will scare you big time.
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