Cipro User: "Your Life Is Miserable"

Land O' Lakes, FLMichelle A. says she was only on Cipro for a few days when she developed Cipro side effects. The side effects she suffered, however, were not the Cipro effects that are receiving the most attention—Cipro tendonitis or Cipro tendon rupture. Instead, Michelle suffered from cartilage degeneration that has ultimately resulted in her being in a wheelchair.

"I was being treated for cellulitis [a bacterial skin infection] and that is why I was given Cipro," Michelle says. "I was having home health come to help me with the cellulitis wound. They saw me walk during my first days on Cipro and I was fine. A few days later, I was unable to walk at all. I couldn't put my foot down. This is how my problems started.

"This happened between December and January, two years ago. I had to change doctors because of insurance, and the doctor gave me over 20 mgs of prednisone [a corticosteroid used to treat inflammation]. My knee didn't feel any different after I was given the prednisone, but an MRI showed cartilage degeneration and osteonecrosis—degeneration of the bone in my knee, caused by the prednisone.

"Right now, I'm confined to a wheelchair. It's my right knee. I can move sideways but can't put pressure on it to walk forward. The pain is excruciating. It's definitely affected my life. Luckily, I can still drive because I have responsibilities with my daughter, in addition to my 8-year-old grandchild who is in and out of hospital. It's very difficult being in a wheelchair.

"It wasn't very long between the time I started Cipro and the time I felt the pain—maybe about a week. No drug that can cause this much damage to a person should be on the market. As we can see, I'm not the only one who's been affected by this.

"Your life is miserable. You're not the same person when you can't get around—it's very limiting. You've got things to do but it becomes extremely difficult to live from a wheelchair."

Cipro is in a class of drugs called fluoroquinolones. According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA; 04/30/09), studies have shown that young dogs, when given ciprofloxacin (the generic name of Cipro) have developed permanent cartilage erosion in weight-bearing joints. Furthermore, similar drugs in the quinolone class have been shown to result in erosion of cartilage in weight-bearing joints in other animal studies, as well.