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Comment by Madmallard | Hacker News Reader

If you were damaged enough for long term side-effects it is likely to an extent an irreversible process, as it trends to be for many diseases.

That's not to say you can't have some recovery and adapt, just that what you were before is never coming back.

I developed diastolic dysfunction and severe sensitivities and food intolerances after Cipro and other antibiotics in 2014. The only way there could be a persistent diastolic dysfunction is if there has been permanent damage to the cells of the heart.

If he has input as to things which helped him I'd love to see, but as far as I understand, if the mechanism is indeed mtdna depletion and mutagenesis from excessive ROS then I don't really see how you actually cure that.

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Would you mind sharing how you were diagnosed?

I know that aortic aneurysms is a common side effect.

There is variety of supplements one can take.

There is a physician in Germany Dr. Stefan Piper who published a book on it. He goes over possible therapies. Tendonitis usually gets manageable. Neurological symptoms are the ones that are more difficult to treat.

Some people report success with high dose thiamine, but high dose thiamine has been helpful in fibro and small fiber neuropathy along with alpha lipoic acid. Anti depressants can be also used to manage symptoms.

Some people reported resolution with pirenzepine. There is a drug company putting pirenzepine in a cream to treat nerve damage. That is currently in trials. I think the company is called WinSanTor.

My condition has improved but I still cycle. I’m taking antioxidants and other supplements that support mitochondria.

There is a sticky thread on reddit r/floxies, that discuss some of the supplements used and reasoning behind them.

I was never diagnosed with fluoroquinolone toxicity. Doctors don't really acknowledge it. The best you'd be able to do is a muscle biopsy, if you were able to convince.

With my heart we have echocardiograms from before and after the antibiotics and it went from normal with good parameters to abnormal with questionable parameters. Things like E/A reversal, a large increase in deceleration time, and a significant decrease in mitral valve bloodflow velocities. These are tell-tale signs that your heart is starting to struggle that usually aren't seen until like middle aged diabetics or later on for non-diabetics. But I'm 32, and previously above average fitness.

Likewise the food sensitivity reactions are mostly diagnosis by symptoms. I've had a mild elevation in tryptase during a reaction but everything else has largely been normal.

I used to take supplements but they never really seemed to do much. When I took things I needed because of malnutrition there were improvements but that was about it. Subjectively I would say I felt more energetic while on B complex and L-Carnitine but I eventually developed a sensitivity to those medications, as I do with anything I continually intake, because my immune system's mechanism of tolerance has been disrupted by the antibiotics (and maybe something genetic who knows).

Have you tried going on anti-histamine regimen?

I actually have spoken with a guy who got extremely sick after flouroquinolones and after taking antihistamines for a few weeks he went completely back to normal.

Your tryptase could be a sign of mcas. I would definitely explore if it seems like you are getting an allergic reactions to foods and things.

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