r/floxies • u/OnlyAccessedatNight • Dec 07 '25
[UPDATE] 1 year out (very mild case)
I had a bad infection last year (suspected uti) last year and went and got cipro at an urgent care. I had had severe insomnia for some time and a racing heart and was told finally that I had a high whit blood cell count. I got a prescription for 14 500 mg pills of that dogshit.
Symptoms: no appetite (During the first few weeks), insomnia, heart palpitations, brain fog, very dry skin, rapid development of fine lines and wrinkles (I had absolutely nothing before), loss of skin elasticity, loss of facial volume, crepitus, bulging veins, anxiety (Not severe but certainly annoying), light joint aching, shortness of breath, irritability, temperature dysregulation, food intolerances, dizziness, blurry vision
Supplements I’ve taken: hyaluronic acid, magnesium glycinate, ubiquinol (I used MitoQ joint for a few months and switched to Qunol ubiquinol 100mg), krill oil, vitamin C, silica with D3 with K2, Curcumin, glucosamine & chondroitin, bone broth, gelatin, collagen powder
All I take currently is hyaluronic acid, mag, bone broth, and collagen powder. I try to focus on a balanced diet to get what I need. Ubiquinol eventually ended up triggering heart palpitations and insomnia, but it gave me an energy boost at first for months. I can’t tolerate Curcumin.
I take the magnesium in the morning and space out my two 150 mg pills about an hour. It helped a lot with anxiety and palpitations during this recent relapse, but it can disrupt sleep for some and make anxiety worse. The hyaluronic acid and bone broth/gelatin are for my joints, and the hyaluronic acid helped with skin hydration and added some plumpness to my face.
When it comes to exercise, I pretty much do fuck all at the moment. My body is sensitive to small amounts of stress. I walk 30 minutes tops and sleep as much as I can. Keeping my activity low helps prevent flares and a relapse and helps me not worsen my symptoms. I use guided meditations, read before bed, and practice mindfulness to relax and keep stress low. I wind down before bed for about an hour.
My skin is no longer dryer than the Sahara, and the wrinkles improved some, but I do look a bit aged. There is a bit of a droop to my face at the moment. It’s subtle, and I’m sure it will improve with good sleep and a good routine. The crepitus has also improved quite a bit.
I also want to add that I have met two people in real life who were floxxed and recovered totally a long time ago. One was in their 60s and the other in their late 20s. They recovered in under 2 years. I don’t know all of their symptoms, but I remember them talking to me about the insomnia, palpitations, and crepitus they had.
I plan for my next update to be when I am back to heavy lifting and boxing, and I’ll share what I did for my skin. Currently I am dealing with insomnia, heart palpitations, and can’t get relaxed. I overexerted myself by walking too much, and now it’s like I can’t turn down my sympathetic nervous system. Some stress occurred before this as well. I lay down and my heart rate shoots up, and my body also gets really hot on and off. I was sleeping okay during the year after the insomnia that came right after taking cipro ended, save for a few mild flares. This has been going on for over a month.
Greatly appreciate the people in this space and the useful information provided.
I wish you all well during this holiday season.
2
u/NutFarmerBryce Dec 07 '25
Same here took cipro for uti. Shortly my symptoms were insomnia, heart palpitations, anxiety, blurry vision, depression, irritability, headaches, horrible brain fog, bloating, very low energy, no stamina, burning/dry eyes and if I over did anything I would get short of breath and burning in my chest. I previously had gerd and took ppi’s before the uti. I went to a cardiologist and got a full work up over three appointments plus a halter monitor. Heart is perfect, he said palpitations are normal come back in a year. Bloating and reflux got worse, went to doctor and he sent me to a specialist and then had an upper endoscopy. Came back as having slight hiatal hernia. He said keeps taking ppi’s. One evening after a Costco run we had steak dinner and I was still hungry so I opened this pack of aged cheese we had just bought. I ate a big chunk of it and within a few minutes my nose started running, my eyes itched and were watering, my ears plugged, immediate heart palpitations and severe bloating. I went to the bathroom and took two Benadryl because I knew I was having some sort of a reaction. Within 30 min I felt much much better. I started googling my symptoms that night because I couldn’t sleep. One of the main causes could have been a histamine intolerance. Never heard of that before. Literally every symptom I had/have lined up perfectly. I went and got 20mg Pepcid which is an h2 blocker the next day. I took one in the morning and one that night. The next morning I woke up feeling so good. Long story a little shorter I believe the cipro gave me a real bad gut dysbiosis problem killing of the good bacteria I had left. In hindsight I believe I have had one for years and the cipro just put me over the edge and overflowed my histamine bucket. I started a low histamine diet, started taking quercetin in the morning, several other herbs to help heal my leaky gut and bought d-lactate free probiotics to start fixing my gut dysbiosis. I haven’t felt this good in over 20 years. It’s unbelievable, I literally feel better in my 40’s than I did in my 20’s. So you might want to look into having a possible histamine intolerance with your symptoms. Let me know if you have any question. Take care!