Anxiety-Antibiotics

I believe I have been experiencing severe panic attacks/ anxiety as a result of a combination of antibiotics I was on for an UTI.

I have stopped the antibiotics, abou 36 hours ago, and am wondering how long before they are out of my system? and when they are out, will the anxiety go away?

My GP prescribed a mild anti-anxiety drug and it has helped but not completely.. My heart is pounding and anytime I think of leaving the house I get sick to my stomach... Is there any way to fight these feelings without upping the dose of my medication.. and how long will this last?

Thank you for any help.

[looking4answers40]

I too am on an antibiotic for UTI but i'm not so sure the "antibiotic" itself will cause the anxiety. This would be something you should talk to your GP about. I have anxiety that comes and goes and i too start feeling really sick when i go to leave my house, shaking, nausea, lightheaded, ect...i've had anxiety on and off since my teens but never this bad so i too am looking for some advice and talking to my dr about it. which btw i have a drs appointment monday and i'm already getting nervous about going for fear that i will get lightheaded while i'm gone and laying down makes me feel better and i know that i cant just "lay down" while away from home. This anxiety thing can be very scary, I hope you find the answers your looking for. God Bless

[Jimbo49]

What type of antibiotics were you on? There are some that do cause anxiety. I was on Biaxin and amoxicillin this summer and developed an anxiety problem from them.

Jimbo49

[catori]

I was on Cipro for two weeks... then I switched to Bactrim for two days. (it really messed me up) and then back to the Cipro for three more days... I have had anxiety (minor) in the past... but never anything like this.

Jimbo49 How long did it take for the anxiety of yours to wear off? did your GP prescribe you anything? And did you do anything that made you feel better.

I don't get sick very often.. so this is all very scary to me. THank you for taking time out to answer my questions.

[Jimbo49]

My anxiety has not gone away. Unfortunately is has gotten worse, I have tried several SSRI's and took Buspar for awhile. I am now try fluoxetine. What has worked the best is lorazapam which is addictive, but if it relieves the anxiety and allows you to live life so what. Diabetics need insulin what is the difference. I am going to give the fluoxetine another week with the lorazapam if it does not work I am just going to stick with the lorazapam. Good Luck to you. Try to learn now how to control it so it does not get out of control like mine did.

Jimbo 49

[KD108]

Hi - and yes you are pretty definitely experiencing anxiety as a result of the use of antibiotics. This is a syndrome that is not well known or explored. I started getting
this same reaction - to any antibiotic - when I was about 36 years old. I have found
that by avoiding the use of antibiotics for a number of years - that when the need
for me to take them came up again - my body had adjusted and the reaction was
not so severe. But that was only for a period of about 10 days. Having to take
antibiotics for a prolonged period of 3 - 7 weeks will have the same disasterous
effects. Taking a good live acidopholis supplement and other probiotics can
decrease the adverse affects of the antibiotics. If you can get through it without the
use of tranquilizers - you will get through the cycle sooner. Taking Valium and such will mean that you will end up going through Valium withdrawal afterwards and that is really tough. I've been there.

[tostressed]

Cipro is a quinolone antibiotic and they are known for giving extreme anxiety. I should know Cipro and Levaquin messed me up for a long time.  Look them up on line, you will see. I also got extreme joint and muscle pain from them. Something that I never had until I first took these antibiotics. They are now under adverse reactions in my med chart an are no longer given to me.

[Atilla]

I have been on Levaquin for 15 days for a sinus infection.  I just hate it.  Anxiety, lightheadness, thrush.  I first was put on Avelox for  7 days prior for the infection and it also gave me the anxiety, plus hyperventiation.  It was a mess.  My doctor wanted me to tough it out with the Avelox by taking xanax to counteract the anxiety/hypervention.  I stopped it at 7 days and got on Levaquin.  No hyperventilation with that, but yes with the anxiety. etc.   I cannot take Biaxin because of other side effects such as naseous, irregular heartbeat, etc.   I have been taking Lorazepam for anxiety and it helps alot; it even helps me sleep pretty well.

[kariec]

you seem to know some info on anxiety & antibiotics- i'm going through complete torment on rocephin injections right now for lyme disease.  i've gone through a few different oral ones that weren't doing the trick, and now the shots.  i've tried the IV's too, and it's sooo much worse.  i feel like howard huges craziness is overcoming me with the OCD, feelings of terror, panic attacks etc etc.  i don't know what to do.  i'll be on this stuff indefinitely, until the lyme is gone.  every anti-anxiety med i've tried makes it even worse and even the dr has no ideas left to offer.  help???

[Prisoner]

I was put on Levaquin  and I started to really feel sick. so, after four days the doc switched me to amoxicillin and that didn't help either, so I just quit taking them. Turns out, I really didn't need them anyway as my tests showed up negative. Shortly thereafter I had a panic attack and ended up in the hospital emergency room not knowing what it was. Ever since then I have had severe anxiety and all kinds of nasty symptoms that have had me scared out of my mind. My doctor put me on xanax and I felt like I was getting addicted to it so he put me on busparin and that made me feel worse, he tried several different things, but the only one that was effective was the xanax. I had test after test to see if there was anything physically wrong with me and they all came back negative. I didn't want to get hooked on the xanax so just quit taking it cold turkey, now I find out that you are supposed to be weened off the drug (something my doctor didn't tell me) and I'm having some issues dealing with the withdrawel and side effects, or mabey it's all due to the anxiety? I thought I was losing my mind for a while there and it has been a living hell for the last three months, but I've found some things that help me cope. Excersize, eating right, no alcohol or drugs, message, accupuncture and keeping my mind occupied with something productive and positve. I don't know how long this anxiety will last, but hopefully not too much longer, it has been really tough, good luck with yours and just know your not alone out there.

[worthy42]

I am going through the same thing.  I took Cipro for 10 days and I have had the worst anxiety and depression.  

My question for anyone is...does anyone feel back to normal yet?

thanks

[djkyosti]

This is an interesting discussion.  My current bout with anxiety started during a 5 day course of levaquin.  That was about one month ago.  Can this side effect last so long?

[Dan16720]

It truly amazes me that when I inform my Dr. about my belief that antibiotics seem to trigger anxiety they, in a very courteous manner, discount my belief.  For awhile I believed them. Not anymore.  I recently took Levaquin for a sinus infection and experienced what can only be attributed to that medicine. I had very violent thoughts, couldn't sleep and am now experiencing anxiety.  I looked up the side effects of Levaquin and it said to discontinue or call your Dr. if you experience "bad thoughts".  Of course, nowhere can i find what type of bad thoughts can be caused by this drug and my Dr. said he never heard of anything like this.  Now, 2 1/2 days later  I'm left with the anxiety.  This is simply ridiculous.  I can't stand it.  I'm scared, nervous and want this to pass......any thoughts? Dan16720

[liv4now25]

I just started Cipro yesterday for a UTI, which I have never had before.  This morning I started feeling all kinds of anxious almost bordering on a panic attack.  I've licked these panic attacks away with my lovely dose of 12.5mg of Paxil by the way.  I started to think I'll have to up my dose of Paxil but I Googled Cipro and anxiety and there it was.  Then I found this thread on this here one of my favorite sites.  I ended up taking a lorezapam and if I need to I will take another.  I only have 3 more pills to take (250mg twice a day) and I am willing to live with the anxiety because this was one stinker of a UTI!  This too shall pass.
Anxiety still sucks, though.

[girlychic]

I was on flagyl for 12 days.  It caused me severe panic and anxiety like nothing I had experienced before.  It finally started to fade at around six months. Whilst I was suffering I tried ssris, but it just made it worse.  I had NEVER had a problem with any other medication before.  Since then I became hypersensitive to other antibiotics that I previously had no problems with.  I know other people have experienced the same on the flagyl.  Yes its awful but I think for most of us it does pass.

[kris2526]

I was fighting a sinus infection for about 12 weeks while trying to work at the same time. I took a week off work towards the end and i am feeling much better. Over the 12 weeks i was on quite large dosages of (amoxicillin) antibiotics for about 5 weeks and within the first few weeks I experienced shaking and very slight nervouseness and a little depression. I first throught this was from the sickness but after comming back to work from a week off i got very servere anxiety attacks. I am still not sure what the trigger was but i feel the long time of being sick and pressure from work to continue working and definatly the amoxicillin antibiotics didint help at all.
I am not a doctor but i know antibiotics kill all the good and bad bacteria in your body and who knows what else it distroys, probably a long food chain line in that too. but if i use some iniatitave with this i think if i go and buy some probiotics and take them a long with vitamine B and some calcium (known to have a calming effect on the nervous system) i should be right in a few weeks.

[kris2526]

I think it is also important to know what type of sickness you were suffereing from.

It is known that Flu, sinus and other types of infections that require antibiotics are sometimes the cause of some type of stress already excistant in your life.

There is a book i have just brought and i cannot wait to read it is called "Deadly Emotions" it is about your emotions causing your body to become sick, lowering your immune system and thus allowing all types of nasty things to hurt you.

My plan to get over this it is the following,
- Carry some Serapax medication with me to take when things are so god damn difficult (it also  ralaxing to know that they are there if i need so thus reducing thr anxiety)
- Cycling
- Gym (Weight training)
- Yoga classes 2 minimum 2 times a week (Hatha Yoga was recomended to me from my counsellor who was an instructor for many years)
- Hypnotheropy (This pretty much cured me last time I have anxiety attacks, and i definatly recomend trying it)
- Find a positive mentor in your life, somone i can talk to and obtain guidance from (this will be the hard part)
- Developing better relationships with family and friends. (as long as they are a positive influence on you)

[sbasler]

I experienced the "darkest" hour of my life from taking antibiotics.  It was the first and only time I ever experienced that kind of fear, dread, hypersensitivity to emotion, and sense of impending doom. Never had a problem before until then.  My doctor insisted it was not the antibiotic, and I believed him even though it meant I was going nuts and about to lose it all.  I did more research, and began to understand what antibiotics do to your digestive system.  I, having never taken supplements before, began to take probiotics, calcium, magnesium, B vitamins, and even kava (for the calming effect).  I only took a total of three "Zpac" and two weeks later I finally began to feel a bit more normal.  It took awhile longer before I felt 100%, about 3-4 months, but the worst was definately passing after the first two weeks.  The rest of the 3-4 months, I was always able to talk myself out of any bad feelings and relax with Magnesium and kava.  It has been three years with no reoccurance and I feel very much myself again without any supplements to help.  If you are experiencing this and need to talk, please feel free to email me at ***@****. I did not have anyone to turn to, and would be happy to answer any questions.

[TheAnxiousOne]

Three years ago I took an indefinite course (at least 3 weeks had gone by) of tetracycline for acne and despite the warnings on the bottle to stop taking the medication if I got headaches, I didn't stop taking it on account of my REALLY wanting to get rid of the acne which had been bothering me my whole life.

Well, I ended up with terrible enxiety and depression; one day I couldn't get off the couch, was extremely panicy, promtly quit my job (!) because I felt what others here have described as an "impending sense of doom".  Words hardly describe how bad it was.

Three years later I'm still on Ativan and Klonopin for the anxiety. Prescribed 2mg of each every day, but I'm taking 5mg of the benzos right now while weaning myself back to the 4 mg a day.  I'm also taking Lamictal 300 mg a day.

After three years now, I can't imagine that I'll ever get off the benzos for the anxiety or the depression meds.  Depression has been mostly eliminated with the Lamital, but that seems to have possibly highlighted my anxiety. Hard to tell.  Ssri's havent worked for me for a variety of reasons (allergic reaction to Celexa, inability to properly metabolize Prozac, and so forth).  Wellbutrin almost put me over the edge with the anxiety.

My family has a history of depression, so I may be an uncommon case, but there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the tetracycline made the depression and anxiety present when it did -when I was 35 years old.  

[SandieRC]

I know this is an old post but I am experiencing anxiety after taking several rounds of antibiotics for bronchitis. Does anyone know how long it will last? Did you have to go on anti anxiety meds?

[TammyLee477]

wished some docs would read this. I thought I was going out of my mind 3 years ago. My problem has been chronic recurring bladder infections. I think being on the antibiotics does mess with your natural flora and this results in anxiety and depression because you can't figure out what's wrong and the docs think your crazy. I found drastic diet changes and regular exercise speeds up getting out of this feeling. With me the feelings like someone is scraping their nails down the chalkboard and I can feel it going down my spine.I think too when you feel so unsure of your body you have desperate anxieties about going into public. I now use yogurt internally and cranberry pills. I have heard slippery elm bark helps too but haven't found it.Also found sweet potatoes help,I eat them with garlic they do something with your estragen hormone so maybe these antibiotics are affecting hormones I don't know but this really should be looked at with so many people on nerve pills today

[lisabethisebela]

Thank you for this wonderful post.  I knew when I started taking the antibiotic that the anxiety would kick in, but when it did, I thought how can an antibiotic actually do such a thing.  My symptoms are like many above and helps just seeing others fighting the same thing.  Reading others going thru it gives me a tiny bit of calmness and gives me the strength to let it run its course and do natural ways of fighting the anxiety- exercise, yoga and such.  

[red3000]

Hi all,

Well long story short, I developed severe depression, anxiety etc really badly and now 3 years later I know that it was caused by the antibiotic Minocin/Minocycline which I was on for skin condition. If I knew then what I know now I could have come off it and never have to go through what I did-it was HELL and despite many antidepressants I couldnt get rid of the anxiety, no interest and depression despite my skin being perfect. None of my doctors, pychiatrists, dermatologist ever mentioned that it might be from this antibiotic so I presumed that it was caused by my skin condition and worrying too much about it.......
I hope this helps anyone out there that are feeling down and dont know why!!!!

Doctors and the medical profession need to be more informed of these side effects and not depend on pharmaceutical industry for side effects.

[mhalv5]

I am so glad I found this discussion board. I have also been experiencing anxiety due to antibiotics. I have been dealing with a UTI and was put on Bactrim. 4 days later, I was so anxious and nervous I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest! I would wake in the night shaking and with my teeth chattering. I stopped the Bactrim and went in to the Doctors, they did not think it had anything to do with the med but switched me to Macrobid.
I am still experiencing the anxiety but taking Xanax to help, also Macrobid has a side effect of drowsiness so that helps with calming down my system.
I rarely take antibiotics and I do have an issue with anxiety on a regular basis but it has been intensified since starting antibiotics. There is no other reason or cause that could make me feel this way. We are not crazy! It's real and I am so thankful for the info I found on this page.

[Oxz]

I am so glad I found this forum.  I experienced the same thing and It is rather difficult.  Thanks for all your comments.

[mlmetkit]

Same thing for me.  I took one dose of Levaquin the first day of my Hawaiian vacation for a respiratory infection.  Awoke in the middle of the night (about 10 hours after taken) feeling jittery in a way that defies description.  Took two benadryl and tried to get some sleep.  When I woke up the following morning I had anxiety that was horrific!  I didn't trust myself to be alone with my daughter, I didn't have any interest in speaking to people - it actually felt painful to calm my thoughts down enough to form sentences - crazy, huh?  Didn't know if it was the antibiotic - but thought it was at least possible, so I didn't take another.  Fast forward three months later, another respiratory infection.  Took a levaquin with the exact same reaction so I knew what it was.  My parents had to drive 8 hours home from their vacation because I could not be alone, and I was 38!  What horrible stuff.  What helped me through those first 2-3 weeks was Gaviscon (the antiacid).  It may sound silly, but at least try it.  No other brand will do!!!!  Gaviscon has something different in it.  It did act as a buffering agent, and thus I began to heal ... slowly and painfully.  Now, it's been about three months and occasionally I will get a flare up, but I immediately pop in 4 Gaviscon, and it seems to help some.  Mostly, I think you just have to ride it out.  Unfortunately, I have now been given Macrobid for a UTI, and I cannot take it.  I've had it for two days, and every time I think about putting it in my mouth, I literally start to cry.  I'm very scared, because I don't know if I'd rather get a potentially fatal kidney infection, or go through that again.  It was THAT bad.

[indus134]

Same here, for me it was APO-AMox which triggred the fear, anxiety and OCD thoughts, really scarry! first few weeks i thought i was going insane...every day i was fightng it. Its been 8 weeks now...anxiety and jittery feeling does come and go...but not every day.
Here is what worked in the order of importance:
1. Best- try the anxiety video from selftherapy.org it will work wonders.remember  you can really control it...Acceptance really breaks the cycle. This is better than any pill out there!
2. SUN light - 30 min early morning + 1 hour rest of the day.
3. Do weight training and running.
4. Take Tryptophan - its available in Whey protein shakes (will naturally increase serotonin- the idea is to fight irrational fear or OCD by increasing serotonin naturally).
5. Take Multi-vitamin tablets, Omega3 supplements, and probiotic drinks (Efir, bio-K are the best out there).
If you do these 5 things every day! and meditate...i bet you will get out of this anxiety cycle sooner.
Good luck...
REMEMBER: your health is URS...dont leave it to the doctors...most of them dont know much anyway. do your research!

[indus134]

Dec 29 2010
its week 10 update:
After my severe anxiety/panic attack on Oct 11th (and preceeding 1 week). Think its best to document this online, so that others can benefit.
My Anxiety levels go up and down but so far has remained on a decreasing trend and there are been many days i have wondered where my anxiety went...so thats a good sign, meaning there are completely anxiety days...

Apart from my TIPS posted below: here is something new that worked:
Tip 6: draw a 10 point scale 0 = no anxiety and 10 is your worst nightmare level and then every day put an arrow on it. SOmehow when you detach yourself from your anxiety it actually decreases it. This way you can track how it fluctuates over time.

1. Best- try the anxiety video from selftherapy.org it will work wonders.remember  you can really control it...Acceptance really breaks the cycle. This is better than any pill out there!
2. SUN light - 30 min early morning + 1 hour rest of the day.
3. Do weight training and running.
4. Take Tryptophan - its available in Whey protein shakes (will naturally increase serotonin- the idea is to fight irrational fear or OCD by increasing serotonin naturally).
5. Take Multi-vitamin tablets, Omega3 supplements, and probiotic drinks (Efir, bio-K are the best out there).
If you do these 5 things every day! and meditate...i bet you will get out of this anxiety cycle sooner.

[indus134]

Week 20
Think i have finally figured it out
My anxiety is 1 or 2 max on a scale of 1-10 and on most days i am totally anxiety free.

i got my anxiety after a 2-3x round of antibiotics for sinus about 5 months ago....I watch this video about 1 or 2x a week and helps a lot and i can go about my business as usual for the rest of the week. Recently, i walked into a health store and asked if they had something of anxiety...their reply take B-vitamins. So i did....OMG B-vitamins are the culprit (in my case atleast). I feel almost normal again - right after the first b-complex

Antibiotics kill good bacteria in the stomach, that helps process nutrients and vitamins. B-vitamins control or gate adrenal gland response, thus when B-vitamin processing bacteria die, the threshold for anxiety / stress lowers...or you become more sensitive. Very simple logic! Go get your B-vitamin (super potency bottle)...works wonders! and then practice with this video! Lemme know how it goes....

[indus134]

I mean Lack of B-Vitamins are one of the main causes for my anxiety response!

[pennylane68]

Ok reading this settles my anxiety a little already.  I have been thinking I was crazy for the last year and a half.  Antibiotics have ruined the last year and a half of my life!! Somehow, they have screwed up my body so bad and given me the worst anxiety/depression/brain fog ever!!  Impending doom is the PERFECT way to describe it.  The DR won't do anything!!!  Everyone thinks it's in my head, the doctors and my famiily.  I had to go to the ER the last time I took antibiotics because of a complete panic attack.  I felt sooo out of it the couple days before and then just flipped out in a panic attack thinking it was my liver.  Fluoxetine didn't help and I'm afraid to take xanax.  I work out all the time, I even went on a strict no sugar, or wheat or flour diet.  Well I finally decided colonics might help me get better and I don't know what happened, but I have had 2 now and my anxiety is getting to the point of what it was the last time I took antibiotics.  I don't know if it was stirring up that bad bacteria that has been stuck in my body and driving me crazy or what.  I'm going to keep going on the colonics and taking probiotics and I just hope to heck I get back to normal.  Life is too short to be this miserable.  Thank you all so much for posting here

[DWWW]

Hi all,

I'm 40 and had a bout of anxiety back during the high tech crisis while I was living in Boston and went through the whole Celexa, Effexor, Paxil, Trazadone regiment. I found that after 10 months of the anti-depressants that it overcame the anxiety but added another realm of difficulties like feeling disconnected, brain sparks (when you feel something like a shock in your head).

Anyway, I felt that after 10 months things weren't getting much better and decided to go the natural route and did accupuncture, massage therapy, homeopathy and eventually visited a naturalpath. All these avenues are a little costly, but the naturalpath introduced me to two concepts..... better eating and exercise. My diet was really horrible as I like pizza, burgers and espresso as much as the next person. She also, prescribed some magnesium in liquid form (equiv to about 150mg/day) and told me to drink distilled water to help clean my body.

Anyway, after about 4 months I felt better and was felt good for about 3 years ..... til I ended up with bronchitus (bronchitis) (I have young kids and things tend to come home with them). Tried to fight it, but ended up on Cipro (Ciproflaxicin) for 8 days, then Biaxin (Clarithromycin) for 5 days. I switched from Cipro to Biaxin as I was experiencing a severe shaking feeling inside...especially at night. I guess Biaxin was not better and simply prolonged my exposure.

My thinking is my underlying anxiety was brought back through the use of Cirpo and Biaxin. Somehow they threw out my brain chemical balance again. A real pain in the ***...... but at least I know that (fingers crossed) I can get back again by taking care of myself. Sometimes it feels so hopeless as you lay there in bed and get get a decent nights rest. I took gravol and sometimes two aspirens before bed which helped a little. Gravol seems to leave me  with the feeling that I was hit by a truck and spent the night in a ditch somewhere..... but it's the best I could come up with at the time. I was looking like a walking zombie for a while; but it gets better.

Diet, exercise, distilled water, magnesium, lower my life stress and hope for the best.

derek

[traveller2011]

Probiotics!!!  Those silly antibiotics kill off all of your intestinal flora and leave your gut depleted.  Try it and see how you feel :)

[sarah174]

I was put on Doxcicylin for a cyst for 10 days. At first I experienced panic attacks before bedtime then after a week on it I experienced full on severe depression. I feel listless have no interest in anything but to stay in bed. I have feelings of severe worthlessness. My stomach feels weak. I thought at first symptoms were hormonal I am female and initial symptoms were headaches and anxiety. I realized yesterday my behaviour and feelings are just too extreme. I could cry at a drop of a hat I just want to stay in bed and have no energy for anything. I am usually at the gym working out 1 to 2 hours a day running around doing errands have a zest for life. I have no interest or energy or interest now. To do a meinial task like make my stepson dinner drains me.  I just would rather be in bed.This is not normal so those who are experiencing these symptoms you are not alone. I am stopping the pill and going on a probiotic as Id rather feel better then have clear skin. The medical community is doing a diservice to the public if they do not recognize depression anxiety as a side effect for taking these drugs and state or state so on literature.

[pennylane68]

Sarah, that sounds exactly like what happened to me!!!  I was on birth control at the time and I all of a sudden had this terrible depression hit me.  I thought they had caused me to have a severe hormonal imbalance.. It took me MONTHS to put 2 & 2 together to realize I was also on antibiotics at the time the depression hit me.  Meanwhile, I had all these other symptoms and the doctor kept giving me more and more antibiotics.  I think I did 5 or 6 in a little over a year.  Well anyway.. I finally realized that I have candida from all the antibiotics and birth control.  I have been getting colonics and you would not believe the amount of stuff that was inside my body!!  I think it was a mixture of my liver being overtaxed and the candida getting so severe.  I encourage all of you to get colonics.  Please don't take any more antidepressants and anti anxiety meds that the dr's give you.  They do not recognize candida as a condition.

[drybone]

Hi. I had two experience like this with antiobiotics.
First back in 2006 I was pescribed doxyciline for 10 days and then cataflam for a week. I got healed out of my infection of ureaplasma, but as a side effect of cataflam I got helicobacter piroli infection. For the helicbacter I was prescribed amoxicillin-fagyl-doxyciklin combination therapy for a week. Altough I got healed out of the infection I got anxiety, which was very bad, could not think straight, couldt sleep, felt desperate. These things wore out in two moths after I stopped taking the the antiobiotics!

Then now inthe june of 2011 I got pelvic inflammatory desease. I was prescribed fagyil and doxyciklin for ten days. I did not heal well so I got fagyl again. Then I got diflucan becouse my doctor said he thinks I was healed, there was only candida left. A week later my pelvic imflammation started again, I want back and got Azithromycin. I helped a bit but did not heal me. At this point the doctor took a smear test from me. A few days later the result showed E.coli. So he prescribed me Doxyciklin again for then days. At this time doxyciklin helped my infdection but I could not take it only for two days! After I took the third pill I went to bed, and woke up in the night with terrible feelings, flet like my head was burning, and I could not think straight, I was confused! I slept back, and in the morning I thought it was something that I was too tired or something. In the morning I felt well again, so after breakfast I took my doxy again. Than after 20 minutes I started to feel very weak, I got confused, I had to go to my bed, fell asleep and when I woke up it was like I was in a fog.  I had terrible headaches also. The first two weeks I woke up at nights shaking, feeling dizzy, and very weak. I had sometimes strange feelings on my skin, like it was hot and cold running on my legs. I stopped takin doxy exactly three weeks ago and I still feel bad. I dont know how long it will last this time.

[UniversalHealthcare]

I am currently taking Minocin for an eye infection, and I am experiencing the anxiety symptoms that are so helpfully described on this forum.  For me, the anxiety is far worse if you take the medication on an empty stomach.  This causes nausea, and will send you over the edge into panic unless you are aware what is happening.  The best solution is to eat something bready and wait it out.  The anxiety comes in waves, with the heaviest emotion right after taking the pills, and then slowly subsiding until the next dose.  

I really want to solve this eye infection, and it's too bad that I need to withstand such severe side effects in order to do so.

[sooni]

i have an on going UTI and have been on cefelexin  on and of  for 3yrs i am now on nitrofurantion the anxiety i feel is so bad stupid thoughts  fear realy scared dont know what to do i feel that its not all me and that  theses meds have done a lot to me to feel as i do any answers please

[feelbetter420]

I dont ever write on forums but this issue really bothered me and is obviously bothering you. I had the same symptoms as most people have mentioned above. OCD thoughts, anxiety, moods and emotions jumping all over the place. I am a 19 year old male, and was recently prescribed penicillin vk for a throat infection(2 in the morning and 2 at night). I finished the antibiotics and still had weird symptoms and emotions/feelings mentally. I can now say i am thoroughly feeling better after taking the vitamins/supplements that indus134 had mentioned. I am still slowly recovering from sleep insomnia waking up early in the morning.. and not being able to fall back asleep. Overall i am feeling much better and feel as if most my symptoms are slowly deteriorating. I aslo feel that the cause of my issues could be result of seasonal change disorder. I live in northern ontario(canada).

[hank644]

Thanks so much for your invitation to email you. I was always a happy and positive guy but on a vacation recently I contracted a stomach parasite (Blasto H) and started loosing weight and couldn't eat much.  When I got home I went to my doctor and he put me on Septra, 2 pills per day ev 12 hours. On the third morning after only 5 pills I became so depressed and anxious I was considering suicide. I was camping with my family and was hiding in my RV.  I stopped the pills immediately but 2 weeks later I was still in danger of doing harm to myself. It would come and go. I finally ended up in emergency and they put me on an anti depressant which is now causing acid reflux, probably because I have not even recovered from the parasite infection, who knows.  My doctor just says he has never heard of depression caused by septra so I can't seem to get any help. He wanted me to back on it (????).  Anyways, I am trying to cope with the side affects of the Cymbalta (anti depressant) and eating anti parasitic foods, taking probiotics, trying to get a lot of rest and exercise, taking mood enhancement classes. I would love to go off the anti depressants but not sure at what point I should risk doing that. Has anyone been through this nightmare? I am trying to remain positive but its difficult and I have no one to talk to who has been through something like this, including any doctors and psychiatrists I have been in contact with. I think it is best to treat the infection in a natural way but a lot of the vitamins or anti parasitic herbs can't be taken with the cymbalta so this is a dilemma.
Anyways, I would love to hear from anyone who has some helpful advice.

[eliaso91]

Hello Hank,

I may know exactly how you feel, I may not... But let me tell you a little about my story thus far. I have had decently bad acne for a while, and now that I am 20 years old I thought it would be a great idea to see a dermatologist and get some kind of medication. Well I did, I went in and during the visit they prescribed me Minocycline. My experience with this antibiotic has been so bad I shiver at the sight of just the word itself. I started taking it in what I believe was April. I went back on my phone to that date a few weeks ago to double check my story and it's true. Just a few days after starting to take the antibiotics, I started getting dizzy, and feeling very detached and weird from my friends and family. Almost like I had no emotional investment in anything, like I was just watching everything happen and I felt like I could "read people" better but I'm thinking now that I was "reading" people like a sociopath might. The weekend I started taking them, I dropped my new iPhone and broke it, I slammed my finger in a car door, and the biggest thing was that when I drank coffee I started having major anxiety attacks. I was at university at the time and I would have to go outside and just sit for maybe an hour to calm myself down. So pretty soon, I dropped out of school... I could not handle being there. I moved in with my mom over the summer. During this summer I kept getting the feeling like I was "high." Well it turns out that feeling I was getting was because of Depersonalization and De-realization. It turns out that it is relatively common to get these side effects from cannabis. The side effects make you feel like your in this dream state and that you are kind of detached from your surroundings. Well this persisted all the way through the summer, I had to quit my job and I decided to then move in with my dad because I still hadn't made the connection to the antibiotics for some reason. I was still taking 200 mg of minocycline a day (this was for 2.5 whole months!). I moved in with my dad and thats when things got terrible. I stopped being able to go outside, I was VERY detached from my family and it felt like I hardly knew them, I couldn't watch a movie because it all looked fake and I had lost the ability of suspension of disbelief. I literally thought I was going to end up in the looney bin! Lordy what a horrible time that was. Well, suddenly I read online that Depersonalization is a rare side effect of minocycline... CLICK! The lightbulb went on and I haven't taken one since. Well after 2.5 months of taking that stuff I was sure I had done some serious damage to my body. And it was actually the weeks following the last pill that were the absolutely worst weeks of possibly my life. This was this past month btw. I didn't want to talk to anyone, I didn't want to go outside, I felt like everything was a stage, I had terrible anxiety about how my eyes were seeing things, I had terrible anxiety about how I felt about other people, and even the tiniest things would cause a horrible anxiety attack sometimes making me want to vomit. Well - Thats when I kicked it into high gear reading things online. I found this thread and it possibly saved my life! I hope at least. Well What I did was stop eating anything but celery and almonds... Yes that may be unhealthy but I was in such a terrible place I wanted to be dead rather than live life like I was... I literally cut out everything except celery almonds, and vitamins. I also took probiotics. I took these: Magnesium, calcium, zinc, b12, b100 complex, inositol, acidophilus (until I can afford a better probiotic), multivitamin for men, fish oil, and maybe a few other healthy things. I noticed literally the very SECOND my body returned to a normal state. I could feel the weight of my body kick in again. I remember, I was reading the steve jobs book shortly after taking b12, magnesium, calcium, zinc, and fish oil... I was already on the crazy diet... it hit me like BOOM, my vision was mostly back to normal, I was able to emotionally invest into things again. I was so amazed I woke up my dad at 3 am. Well, it wasn't the end of the anxiety completely but it made a huge difference. I take a large dose of b12 because I think that may be a big part of the culprit. OH, and I believe I was eating yogurt for the probiotics too... I've been eating lots of greek yogurt lately. Well... After doing research I found that B vitamins control some kind of adrenal gland, and that having the anxiety was bringing on all those feelings of depersonalization and derealization because when you have anxiety and your adrenal glands are pumping, your body goes into a fight or flight response and your brain works differently. the antibiotics caused an overgrowth of certain bacteria and killed my other bacteria so that the bacteria that is supposed to process and digest b vitamins or at least help bring it out of food were not in my gut (and still may not be). So after I starved the part of my gut that was overpowering the rest, took some probiotics and ate yogurt, then took b vitamins after eating and along with fish oil, magnesium, zinc, and calcium, it was like a big dose straight to my brain of something i was missing for the last several months! As of now, I've gotten off the diet since it's so damn hard to keep on it when you feel better, but now that I'm off of it the symptoms are coming back! Not nearly as strong but they are still there. IT's either 1 my body is in the process of healing and it's not quite there yet, 2 my overgrowth bacteria is becoming dominant again (may be candida), or 3 my body is just permanently screwed up from these silly antibiotics. Regardless of what it is I am extremely happy to say that this diet and taking those supplements works in bringing me back to feeling normal again. I hope to heal better than I already have, and then again I did take antibiotics for 2.5 months which is quite long.

I'm aware my post is very long and just pray that I can help someone else out that is in a similar situation. I want them to know that there is someone else out there that has felt they way they do and that it does and can pass. Its a VERY dark place and i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemies.

Peace, and love...

Stay strong!

Elias

[eliaso91]

(Posting again and dividing up the paragraphs)
(HOW IVE DEALT WITH THE ANXIETY AND DEPERSONALIZATION/DEREALIZATION)

Hello Hank,

I may know exactly how you feel, I may not... But let me tell you a little about my story thus far. I have had decently bad acne for a while, and now that I am 20 years old I thought it would be a great idea to see a dermatologist and get some kind of medication. Well I did, I went in and during the visit they prescribed me Minocycline. My experience with this antibiotic has been so bad I shiver at the sight of just the word itself.

I started taking it in what I believe was April. I went back on my phone to that date a few weeks ago to double check my story and it's true. Just a few days after starting to take the antibiotics, I started getting dizzy, and feeling very detached and weird from my friends and family. Almost like I had no emotional investment in anything, like I was just watching everything happen and I felt like I could "read people" better but I'm thinking now that I was "reading" people like a sociopath might. The weekend I started taking them, I dropped my new iPhone and broke it, I slammed my finger in a car door, and the biggest thing was that when I drank coffee I started having major anxiety attacks. I was at university at the time and I would have to go outside and just sit for maybe an hour to calm myself down. So pretty soon, I dropped out of school... I could not handle being there.

I moved in with my mom over the summer. During this summer I kept getting the feeling like I was "high." Well it turns out that feeling I was getting was because of Depersonalization and De-realization. It turns out that it is relatively common to get these side effects from cannabis. The side effects make you feel like your in this dream state and that you are kind of detached from your surroundings. Well this persisted all the way through the summer, I had to quit my job and I decided to then move in with my dad because I still hadn't made the connection to the antibiotics for some reason. I was still taking 200 mg of minocycline a day (this was for 2.5 whole months!).

I moved in with my dad and thats when things got terrible. I stopped being able to go outside, I was VERY detached from my family and it felt like I hardly knew them, I couldn't watch a movie because it all looked fake and I had lost the ability of suspension of disbelief. I literally thought I was going to end up in the looney bin! Lordy what a horrible time that was. Well, suddenly I read online that Depersonalization is a rare side effect of minocycline... CLICK! The lightbulb went on and I haven't taken one since.

Well after 2.5 months of taking that stuff I was sure I had done some serious damage to my body. And it was actually the weeks following the last pill that were the absolutely worst weeks of possibly my life. This was this past month btw. I didn't want to talk to anyone, I didn't want to go outside, I felt like everything was a stage, I had terrible anxiety about how my eyes were seeing things, I had terrible anxiety about how I felt about other people, and even the tiniest things would cause a horrible anxiety attack sometimes making me want to vomit. Well - Thats when I kicked it into high gear reading things online. I found this thread and it possibly saved my life! I hope at least. Well What I did was stop eating anything but celery and almonds...
Yes that may be unhealthy but I was in such a terrible place I wanted to be dead rather than live life like I was...

I literally cut out everything except celery almonds, and vitamins. I also took probiotics.

I took these: Magnesium, calcium, zinc, b12, b100 complex, inositol, acidophilus (until I can afford a better probiotic), multivitamin for men, fish oil, and maybe a few other healthy things.

I noticed literally the very SECOND my body returned to a normal state. I could feel the weight of my body kick in again. I remember, I was reading the steve jobs book shortly after taking b12, magnesium, calcium, zinc, and fish oil... I was already on the crazy diet... it hit me like BOOM, my vision was mostly back to normal, I was able to emotionally invest into things again. I was so amazed I woke up my dad at 3 am. Well, it wasn't the end of the anxiety completely but it made a huge difference. I take a large dose of b12 because I think that may be a big part of the culprit. OH, and I believe I was eating yogurt for the probiotics too... I've been eating lots of greek yogurt lately. Well... After doing research I found that B vitamins control some kind of adrenal gland, and that having the anxiety was bringing on all those feelings of depersonalization and derealization because when you have anxiety and your adrenal glands are pumping, your body goes into a fight or flight response and your brain works differently. the antibiotics caused an overgrowth of certain bacteria and killed my other bacteria so that the bacteria that is supposed to process and digest b vitamins or at least help bring it out of food were not in my gut (and still may not be). So after I starved the part of my gut that was overpowering the rest, took some probiotics and ate yogurt, then took b vitamins after eating and along with fish oil, magnesium, zinc, and calcium, it was like a big dose straight to my brain of something i was missing for the last several months! As of now, I've gotten off the diet since it's so damn hard to keep on it when you feel better, but now that I'm off of it the symptoms are coming back! Not nearly as strong but they are still there.

IT's either 1 my body is in the process of healing and it's not quite there yet, 2 my overgrowth bacteria is becoming dominant again (may be candida), or 3 my body is just permanently screwed up from these silly antibiotics. Regardless of what it is I am extremely happy to say that this diet and taking those supplements works in bringing me back to feeling normal again. I hope to heal better than I already have, and then again I did take antibiotics for 2.5 months which is quite long.

I'm aware my post is very long and just pray that I can help someone else out that is in a similar situation. I want them to know that there is someone else out there that has felt they way they do and that it does and can pass. Its a VERY dark place and i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemies.

Peace, and love...

Stay strong!

Elias

[red3000]

Elias,

Just wanted to thank you for your story as i went through such a horrible time too for few years, but didn't realise until about 3 years ago that it was caused by the minocin. What a nightmare I went through and I do think it takes a good while for things to return to normal and fish oil and vitamins would definitely help.
I am glad you are feeling better again and I know when I tell my story, people probably think "Oh an antibiotic couldnt have caused Depression" but we know it can..............I too went on it for a skin condition and would rather have acne/rosacea than deal with Depression from the antibiotic...never once in the few years that I had depression did any of the doctors suggest it could be the Minocin-it was only from my own research....
Thanks again and hope you will continue to improve.....

[JLee100]

I know this post was 3 years ago, but I was so interested in reading about your terrible reaction to antibiotics. I had no idea what a high dose of antibiotic could do to you until I began taking 2000 mg of Amoxicillin for two weeks (just stopped treatment about 10 days ago). I experienced the worse fear of my life as well. The anxiety and panic attacks were horrible and I imagined that I was doomed and probably had acquired some horrible disease.

I am a nurse and had no idea that high doses of antibiotics could do this to people. I know that the pharmaceutical companies play this down and only mention the side effects that are the milder ones. If you read further, you will see that neuro effects are just as prevalent.  I stopped taking 10 days ago and still have some shakiness, and the anxiety is starting to improve. It also caused very, very uncomfortable upper right quadrant (biliary) pain that is just now starting to decrease. I am going to write the FDA and report this. I don't think people have reported enough of these symptoms to the FDA. It's like most drugs......you hear what the Pharma companies want you to hear so you'll keep taking and buying it. My heart goes out to you and anyone having to deal with the dark and fear that these antibiotics can cause.

[123xyz098]

My doctor gave me a trick to get out of a severe antibiotic anxiety attack. Use a bicarbonate buffering agent (NOT baking soda though) that has calcium, magnesium, & a little potassium in it. It reduces the effect of the antibiotic, and that can help bring you out of anxiety almost immediatly. The anxiety will return when the antibiotic builds up in your blood again.

[faisalbangash]

Faisal :-
            I am from Islamabad Pakistan.Hi to every one out there , let me tell you about my self and the problem i faced many years ago , i have studied in london when i was about 23/24 years old , i went there all alone and studied there , i also did job to bear my expensive, my elder brother was also supporting me financially , i was very happy , after some time i changed my friends the ones which i came with from pakistan, i lived alone in east ham london in a rented room , after few days i felt home sick , each and every monment i remember my home and about my loved ones back home, my happiness want me to be all alone in my room , most of the time i felt sleepy and at that time i always come back to my room, more than three to four times i got admitted in an hospital , eben one time for malaria disease which was not present in england , docters asked me that if i had travelled to another country but my answer was no not at all, then they said that it might be possible that malaria may reoccured after many years i didnt understand that , well my father came and told me to return back to my country that is pakistan, i was very happy and after comimng back to pakistan i felt sick again and ended again back in hospital where doctors told me that i have a depression/anxiety problem and that makes me very sick and some times iregular heart beat , shortness of breath, loss motions , diarea (diarrhea) ...... after few weeks of medication prothadien i was ok , i completed my graduation and did a job to support my self , i got married and i have now four kids , and wife, in 2009 one of my office friend died in a tragic accident , which made my very said and after  4 days i started feeling the same old sickness of depression and anxiety , i rushed to the hospital and the same docter told me that this accdent has awoked your depression problem after nearly nine years , i got the same protaiden course and i was ok again , the docter told me that please be aware that this depression may rose at any time of your lif e so be happy , as i often get throat problem and the doctor prescribed me antibiotics course which often rose this depression problem.

there was my life story and now i need some guideness from all of guys out there , please help me out , please tell me how to have distance from anxity and depression as its very painful for me.......

Faisal
From pakistan

[ZOMBully]

Just like others this thread has been a very big help. I have probably read thru it more then a few times.

I took amoxicillin 500mg three times daily for about two days before the anxiety kicked it. 7 pills actually. So the doctor who prescribed it put me on z pack. Only two 500mg pills and instantly after I went into panic attack mode. Since the ear infection wasn't gone I was then put on cefdinir. I don't think the last one added to my anxiety but the first to sure did.

I tried xanac but quite as to avoid addiction. Its been barely over two weeks and the anxiety is still bad. Last doctor I saw told me to tale Benadryl. Its helped but not much.

Its been very rough and I just keep telling myself it will get better. Im still having stomach problems so im going to try probiotics. I was eating yogurt daily but it doesnt seem to be enough. If that doesnt work ill keep looking.

I know this post is old and has continuously been brought back, but I feel its important that it does so people out there can find help. If anyone from this post still comes by, please tell us if your okay now. We could use the good news and hope.

[freelysurrendering]

Wow same here  my anxiety went away within a week I was also put on a mild med to help aleviate some anxiety..drink a lot of water clean out your system easy lots of water melon and drink fresh coconut water...try to exercise and keep your self busy...keeping a positive mind that it will pass helps ....keep me posted ..I hope you start to feel better soon....:)

[freelysurrendering]

My last post was to u sorry  :)

[ZOMBully]

So far it's touch and go. Ive definitely been drinking lots of water. I just started my probiotic increase regimen so im not sure if thats helping or not.

I did have a few hours of peace earlier but out if nowhere I became very anxious. I have anti anxiety meds but out of fear I will or was getting addicted I stopped. Right now I've been trying Benadryl as recommended by a doctor. It can help with sleeping, a little, but its only mildly affective.

What antibiotics did you take? I believe the first two definitely caused the anxiety and the third just help to keep my body chemistry off. And how severe was you anxiety? Mine was practically a 10 at first now I fluctuate from highs like 9 or 8 to mostly lows like 5 and below. Rarely any 0s but I've had a few.

[sher331]

I know the post is old but thought I'd try contacting you... I couldn't see ur email... Mine is ***@****... Would love to talk to someone about my anxiety!

[peetr]

Hi Prisoner, Hell, your letter touched me deeply.
I have also been in a depression hell for many years, was on anti-depressants, weaned myself off them and found a good website whilst I was doing research.
I am not a doctor, so I do this for free.
Through trial and error and much research, I have found what works and what is a waste of money.
There are a few supplements that you can take, it will get rid of the depression and also get rid of anxiety.
Please let me know if you need the name of the supplements.

[peetr]

Hi Kris, you are on the right track. Anxiety and depression can be cured with supplements.
I have weaned off anti-depression drugs and have been taking natural supplements for the depression for the last 6 years at least.
If you are interested I can let you know what to take.
I am not a doctor, but I have experimented and knows what works.

[paige124]

I took Bactrim DS for 10 days for a urinary tract infection. While I was taking it and the 5 weeks since, it's given me severe internal shaking/anxiety and rapid heartbeats.  The anxiety starts in the morning when I wake up.  When the anxiety lessens in the afternoons the rapid heartbeats start and continue throughout the night.

I am going through menopause and those are classic symptoms of menopause.   However, I never had those symtpoms UNTIL I took the Bactrim.   It's like the antibiotic set off some terrible hormonal storm in my body.

For those reading this, if you don't want to take prescription meds for the  anxiety, I have found that L-theanine (the relaxing amino acid that's in green tea) helps to lessen the anxiety.  It can be found in most health food stores.  I take 1 or 2 100mg tabs per day.The calming effect seems to last about 8 hours.  I pray that the daily anxiety and weird heartbeats ends soon because some days it's felt like I'm going insane.   It's the worst I've ever felt in my life.
  

[paige124]

Updating that I'm trying the suggestion of taking a super complex B-vitamin suggested in a post above, it seems to be helping after just a few days.

I had already been taking fish oil, D, inositol, a multivitamin/mineral and a probiotic to help get over this nightmare.  It might be just a fluke, but after adding the super B complex for just a few days, I've started to get entire days of being symptom-free!    

On the site chiro (dot org) there's a chart that tells what nutrients various types of drugs deplete, so I am trying to replace as many of those as I can.

I've also researched that feeling jittery and getting weird heartbeats, sweating, etc can be a symptom of hyperthyroidism.  Maybe antibiotics mess up our thyroids too?