Are either of you tendon sufferers taking antibiotics? Specifically, have you taken, within the last
year, Cipro or Avelox for, say, a sinus infection? How about, ofloxacin, norfloxacin?
These (Quinalone, I think they are called) antibiotics are commonly used to treat sinus and
bronchial infections.
Unfortunately, a large number of people who take these (a small percentage, but a large number)
suffer some very nasty damage to tendons, usually achilles, but also knee and shoulder and others.
I found out about this when I was recently prescribed Avelox for a sinus infection. After one dose,
my knee swelled up like a balloon. The doctor switched me to an older type of antibiotic, but I had
to stay home on the couch whimpering all day. (I had barely bumped the knee at the tendon a few days
earlier, and had had no pain, but apparently something in the Avelox reacted very aversely with the
minor tendon rebuilding that was going on there.)
Bored, I began looking up info on this phenomenon. Bayer, the maker of the drug, said in its own
white papers that, during testing, the stuff had crippled the beagles they tested it on. There are
other studies in medical journals documenting damaged, including catastrophic tendon damage, after
as little as one dose of this (my experience, I hope not) and sometimes as long as 6 months after
stopping the course of treatment.
You may be able to find the PDF with this info at www.avelox.com. The link was down when I last
checked. A google search on "avelox tendon damage" will yield lots of links, some more alarmist
than others.
This is scary stuff, and if I were a rider, (as we are) I would never accept any of these drugs
again unless the doctor thought there was no other antibiotic that could do the trick. What good are
clear sinuses if you can't walk?
