‘I feel like I’ve been poisoned’: Adelaide mum’s warning after suffering side effects of antibiotic

Last year, a doctor prescribed Allison* medication for a skin rash over the phone. Now, she says she suffers “unimaginable pain” every day.

Last year, a doctor prescribed Allison* medication for a skin rash over the phone. Now, she says she suffers “unimaginable pain” every day. Picture Mark Brake

An Adelaide woman who was prescribed a “last resort” antibiotic says she has suffered constant “unimaginable pain” after her doctor failed to warn her of the adverse side effects associated with the drug.

Mother of two, Allison* says she constantly experiences severe anxiety, depression, insomnia and “burning sensations” in her hands and feet, a condition known as Peripheral neuropathy, as a result of consuming Ciprofloxacin.

The 35-year-old, who did not want her real name published, told The Advertiser a doctor prescribed her the antibiotic “over the phone” in November last year for a self-limiting skin rash and only advised that she “stay out of the sun”.

Allison took an antibiotic in November for a skin rash and has suffered severe adverse effects everyday since. Picture Mark Brake

“I can't explain to you the torture it will put your body through for a very, very long time,” she said.

“Every night I go to bed, my whole body is alive with tingling sensations and there’s no medication that takes it away.

“At one point, I was waking up about 10 times a night with burning hands, like, they were on fire and it would only stop if I moved my hands.

“It’s been torture and the only other people that really understand are others going through the same thing where there’s no medication to take that feeling away. I feel like I’ve been poisoned.”

After taking five pills of the antibiotic over the course of two days, Allison said she started feeling sick and had not gone a day since without feeling the adverse effects.

She said her doctor did not return her calls after she tried to explain what happened to her and had since consulted with multiple other doctors to get a better understanding of her condition.

Finally, in May, an internationally renowned doctor who has diagnosed more than 500 people with long-term fluoroquinolone-associated disability (FQAD), gave her the same diagnoses as well as treatment tips.

FQAD can happen to people as a result of taking a fluoroquinolone antibiotic such as Ciprofloxacin.

Allison was prescribed the antibitoc C-Flox (Ciprofloxacin) for a self-limiting skin rash in November, and has suffered severe adverse effects every day since. Picture Mark Brake

The same box Allison was given by a doctor in November for a skin rash, with a sticker on the box warning patients against "excessive skin exposure to sunlight".

Allison said the only warning she received about the adverse effects of Ciprofloxacin was from a sticker label on the medication box that warned people to “avoid excessive skin exposure to sunlight and sunlamps while being treated”.

The Advertiser has contacted the medical practice that prescribed Allison Ciprofloxacin.

Ciprofloxacin was developed by German pharmaceutical company Bayer Pharma AG in 1987 and approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the same year.

A spokesperson from Bayer said the company sympathised with Allison but they no longer supplied Ciprofloxacin in Australia, despite a number of other manufacturers who did.

The Advertiser sent questions to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) asking why stronger warnings were not given to patients about the adverse effects of taking Ciprofloxacin.

A spokesperson for the TGA said it was not responsible for regulating the practice of medical professionals and that they were entrusted to be transparent when prescribing medications to patients.

“It is important to understand that the TGA does not regulate the clinical practice of health professionals,” they said.

“The treating clinician is responsible for obtaining informed consent from their patients following discussion of the benefits and risks, including consideration of any other treatment options available.

“All medicines, including fluoroquinolone antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin and moxifloxacin), carry potential risks.

“Most of these are minor, but sometimes they can be serious.

“If the TGA identifies a safety concern relating to a medicine, we can take regulatory action to address it.”