Has anyone out there had experience with taking Cipro and then having seizures? My mother is on tegretol (for brain mets from lung cancer) and has not had a seizure in 6 months. She was put on Cipro for a urinary tract infection (she is allergic to pencillin and sulfa drugs). The third day into the Cipro she experienced 2 seizures during the night. The doctors say there is no corrolation but if you read information on Cipro it states your doctor should be told if you have seizures or convulsions and it can increase the pressure in the brain. Am I missing something or are the docs missing something?

Docs can't know every interaction between meds, not to mention the individual effects between people....if she had trouble with Cipro, she should be heard, and given a different antibiotic....docs give antibiotics based on culture (type of bug) reports, AND which rep was in their office that week.

And some docs graduated bottom of the class= lol...go with your gut- if she seems to be worse on the Cipro, call and tell them (don't ask) that you want another med.

Hi lorri,

First, sorry to hear of your mother's condition; it sounds like the last thing she needed was to be exposed to the class of drugs that Cipro belongs to.

Yes, despite what your doctor said, Cipro (and the other fluoroquinolones like Levaquin, Tequin, Avelox, Floxin, etc...) can cause seizures, even in people who do not have a history of them. I have actually read a story of a man who had continuous seizures to the point where they had to put him in a pharmaceutical-induced coma to stop them as a result of one of these drugs.

The list of other possible side-effects to look out for is too long to really post here, but includes tendonitis/tendon rupture, peripheral neuropathy (parathesias such as numbness, tingling, etc...), cognitive disfunction (most notably brain fog and memory loss), mood disturbances, fatigue, and muscle fasciculations (twitching). Side-effects can appear weeks and sometimes months after treatment is discontinued, and tend to manifest in groups of symptoms, so the health of anyone who has been put on these drugs should be closely monitored for at least six months following treatment. Given that she is showing signs of a reaction, I would strongly suggest that she not be given them again, or else she could risk serious long-term damage.

I strongly recommend that you do some research into this class of drugs, as there is a lot of information out there. They are not safe by any stretch of the imagination, but unfortunately doctors are not being educated properly regarding the risks.

Please take care.

Hi Floxed:
I'm new to this site, but totally appreciate you trying to spread the word. After puzzling for almost 2 years about the source of my fasciculations and losing lots of sleep (my sister died from ALS), it suddenly dawned on me that CIPRO must be the cause. Some doctor suggested to me in September 2005 to take a long course of CIPRO to clear up some GI pathogens. Well, I took it for OVER 3 MONTHS! at his direction. Lo and behold, when I look back, the fasciculations started in November 2005 and have been going strong ever since.
Have you had ANY luck with treatments? Klonopin seems to help, and from my research, Baclofen and Namenda may also be helpful, as this seems to be related to excess glutamate. I think there is a doctor in San Diego who truly believes in the neurologic dangers of FQ's
Best wishes.
Snipper

I was just put on an antibiotic; CLEOCIN is the brand name, a hydrochoride based. Of course, they gave me generic to save money.

Mine is due to a lovely dental problem that I thought was fixed a few months ago.

I guess know your system and what you can and can't take is my best advice.

Over all my years on Teg (even tabs) I never had problems with other meds from the doc when I was sick.

Depending on the dossage and times per day; you COULD try spacing it apart from the meds (hour, hour and a half) to avoid interaction as much. Thats one thing to try if Cipro must remain.

Cipro & penicillin both caused seizures for me. I tried lowering dosage on both & still had seizure. If we can't trust our dr, who can we trust!

I had brain surgery due to an AVM 12 years ago. 11 years ago I had a medication related seizure(tegretol level in my system was too low). Since then I have been fine. Never a problem. a week ago I was put on Cipro for a UT infection. I took it for 7 days. On the last day of that prescription ,I had a nasty seizure--scared the heck out of the family. Ended up in the hospital. CATs were good.Med levels were perfect. Now, after reading these posts,I am wondering. I totally forgot about the Cipro when in the ER and of course didn't mention it.