What is Floxing?

Strange name with serious implications.

“Floxing” is a colloquial term that was coined to describe adverse events that can occur during or after taking an antibiotic from the Fluoroquinolone (FQ) class of pharmaceuticals. Floxing is also commonly referred to as Fluoroquinolone Toxicity, FQ Toxicity, or FQTS in it’s acute sense, and FQAD for those affected with chronic, long-lasting disability. The antibiotics, which include drugs with the well known brand names such as Avelox, Cipro, Floxin and Levaquin, are capable of setting into motion an idiopathic syndrome that causes numerous symptoms that can literally number into the several hundred. These symptoms are categorized as adverse events. They are not caused by anaphylaxis or allergic reactions, or your basic class of understood side effects that go away when the drug is stopped.

Adverse events are unintended pharmacologic effects that occur when a medication is administered as prescribed, while a side effect is a secondary unwanted effect that occurs due to drug therapy.

It is a common misconception that adverse events and side effects are the same thing. Even some doctors confuse the difference between the two.

Fluoroquinolone Toxicity in susceptible individuals, and it is not known who is susceptible [fusion_highlight color=”” rounded=”yes” class=”” id=””]until after the fact[/fusion_highlight], can cause a long term, sometimes permanent, sometimes progressive, multi-system syndrome that can be severely disabling.

Systems Involved

This syndrome usually encompasses two or more of the following broad physiological systems:

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Connective tissue: Not just tendons but cartilage, ligaments, other collagenous tissue. All tendons are susceptible, from the Achilles to the delicate chordae tendineae (heart strings). Collagen includes connective tissues, skin, and collagen of the eyes.

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Neuropathy: Peripheral, poly and autonomic neuropathies. These include neuromuscular weakness (mysthenia gravis- like) and peripheral ganglionopathy pathologies. Autonomic dysfunction (dysautonomia) affecting the functioning of the heart, bladder, intestines, sweat glands, pupils, blood vessels and gastrointestinal tract. For some, these neuropathies can be permanent, progressive, and very debilitating.

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Central Nervous System: Neuropsychiatric manifestations including anxiety, depression, paranoia, and suicidal ideation.

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A detailed list of symptoms is listed below.

Delayed Adverse Events

The Fluoroquinolones have the unique capabilities of causing delayed adverse events. These are adverse events that, unfortunately for many individuals, do not appear right immediately but instead manifest themselves days, weeks, or months after completion of drug therapy. The mechanisms remain poorly understood but researchers suspect they involve the mitochondria (a). Because of this unique presentation, the patients and often the doctors do not suspect Fluoroquinolone antibiotic involvement. The delay in manifestation of symptoms, which can be significant for some individuals, separates cause and effect confounding diagnosis. Delayed adverse events contributes to the mistaken view that the Fluoroquinolones are benign pharmaceuticals with a good safety profile. Often, patients and doctors are puzzled by the syndrome of symptoms in regards to their onset and presentation and often do not suspect that an antibiotic could cause such damage.

Chemotherapy

A majority of patients and many doctors are uninformed on the method of action of the Fluoroquinolones. This also has led to a false sense of security in regards to safety. It is vitally important for patients and doctors to understand that, the Fluoroquinolones are fundamentally different than any other class of antibiotics. Our culture’s mindset often associates all antibiotics together as benign substances (penicillin and the pink liquid syndrome). Again, the Fluoroquinolones method of action is different from other, safer antibiotics. They are Topoisomerase Inhibitors and are considered chemotherapy, as in anti-cancer style medication! As preposterous as this may sound, a quick google scholar search will provide irrefutable proof. The only other Topoisomerase inhibitors that exist in the medical realm are chemotherapy (Anti-tumor/anti-cancer) drugs. Their chemotherapeutic method of action makes them very toxic against eukaryotic mitochondria, which also accounts for their ability to cause delayed adverse events as mentioned above. For more information on their chemotherapeutic method of action, see the following documentation:

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Levaquin used against breast cancer