Peripheral Neuropathy Unknown Cause

[Sandy48152]

I am a 64 year old female that had never been sick in my life. Had never taken any meds  All of my family has now died & I'm completely alone (2 friends moved to warmer climates).  On 12/1/07 at 63 I had to have my gallbladder removed (of 3 attacks in one month).  Normally you are discharged the following day as soon as you can tolerate food.  Well, I couldn't.  I was never so nauseous in my life and hospital kept me for 5 days on clear liquid diet, & bag after bag of IV Flagyl. Sent home still on clear liquid diet & meds for pain.  I didn't take - stuck it out with tylenol.  Back to ER 6 days later so sick I couldn't hold my head up.  Dingbat ER doc tried to tell me I had a stomach virus, gave me Zofran & sent me home.  I was still very sick for a few more days & trying to force down liquids to keep from being dehydrated.  On the 4th day back home, I heard a couple clunking sounds of something hitting the porcelin of the toilet when I had a bowel movement.  I believe I passed a couple gallstones that had been missed or were in the ducts as I immedicately started to feel better and got some soft food down.  By Xmas,  5 incisions were healing nicely. On 1/15/08, my appetite came back with a vengeance & I was starved. I was cooking when all of a sudden I had the worst vertigo & had to slump to the floor as my legs gave out, had a horrible pain on right cheekbone between eye/ear, & had awful chills. I did reach up & turned the stove off. I crawled to the couch & laid down thinking it might go away (I didn't want to go back to ER). Turned on heating pad & fleece blanket over me & laid there with my teeth chattering I was so cold. Fell asleep & woke up with anxiety, heart palpitating, throat closing, etc.  Called EMS.  Saw this awful doc in ER for about 3 minutes.  Gave me Rx for 7 days of xanax, sent in a social worked who gave me numbers of psychiatric places in awful areas of downtown Detroit, and discharged me to see my PCP.  Nurse came in with an Rx that had nothing to do to stop my shaking.  Yelled at her to have doc check my chart & give me the correct RX.  As an aside, same thing happened to elderly woman in the next curtained area.  Thank goodness she had family with her as daughter screamed at this same doc that she had prescribed a med that was clearly noted on her chart she was allergic to. Took several days to finally find a PCP that would accept a new patient w/o insurance.  By the time I was able to get in I couldn't walk, legs felt like jelly.  PCP gave me an Rx for Xanax & just said to walk & come back in a month.  He kept blowing me off at my next appt. that I couldn't walk.  Switched me to Klonopin 5 mg twice a day. In March, I overdid it & Klonopin suppresses your breathing.  Called EMS as I couldn't get my breath & Albuterol didn't work.  Another bad experience at ER.  In fact, this time I got C-Diff Colitis from touching something dirty in ER.  Gave me EKG & said I was fine & to go home.  A few days later the C-Diff literally exploded.  I was hospitalized for 9 days on Flagyl & sent home with more Flagyl.  25 days later I was no better and back in hospital for another 9 days on combination of Flagyl & Vancocin.  (PCP sent in a psychiatrist against my will as I had already tried Paxil CR he gave me that that is supposed to help general anxiety, but made anxiety 10 times as bad - took for 3 days, laid on couch shaking so bad could hardly make myself a cup of tea -  flushed down toilet).  PCP got mad when I wouldn't take Zyprexa psch ordered)  Discharged on 2 weeks of Flagyl along with 6 weeks of tapering Vancocin. (Looked up Zyprexa on internet as soon as got home & found 38 State Attorney Generals have lawsuits against it as it causes diabetes & 2 other serious illnesses ).  Feel as sick today, 11/4, as I did in April and have wasted away to 102 lbs. and I'm tall, 5''7".  Between Gallbladder, ER's and 2 nine day hospital stays & cost of Vancocin, this had cost me $70,000. In May, finally took the last of my IRA and went on my own to the Michigan Institute for Neurological Disorders and they did MRI's and nerve conduction tests and said I had Peripheral Neurology & there's no cure.  I had no illnesses that cause it, and the only med I had taken was all that Flagyl which cause PN.  No hospital doc had told me this could be a side effect - just kept pumping it into me. I still can't walk (other than a little in my apt. where I can hold on to things).  My car is still in parking lot as can't drive.  Can't even get down extemely long hallways in wheelchair to get downstairs to lobby to get my mail or outside to dumpster.  Have to hire a woman to get my groceries, take me to doctors, run errands, and getting very depressed and very frustrated as still don't have any answers to this 24/7 anxiety that came on overnight. After C-Diff, PCP said I needed to start going to GI that had done colonoscopy in hospital.  Called for appt., but would not see me as I did not have insurance - wouldn't take cash.  Finally found a GI that would take me, kept me waiting for 2 hours, saw for 3 minutes & said "since you don't have insurance, I can't help you - take some Metamucil & gave me Rx for Reglan for nausea which I couldn't take.  Called head of hospital about GI that had done colonoscopy that wouldn't see me.  Got a call back the next day to call him to make an appt.  Hospital administrator must have shamed him.  Went Sept 1st.  So disappointed, saw me for less than 4 minutes (told him I didn't feel a bit better since April C-Diff, wake up feeling like been hit by a truck, stomach constantly aches, and constant nausea.  He wasn't even concerned at the massive weight loss.  Gave me Ultract MT 18 (really strong even though told him I can hardly take meds, if there's a side effect I'll get it).  Took ione dose and had severe dizziness (normally that's under normal side effects, but for this med it was listed as a severe allergfic reaction.  Called office.  Took 14 days for nurse to call back & then weeks to call in another prescription for Viokase on 10/11.  Pharmacy said same type of medicine, just a different name and a little less strong.  Called GI and wanted to know why he was prescribing Pancreatic enzymes when hasn't done any test to see if I'm producing them on my own & what does this have to do with not recovering from C-Diff.  Nov. 4th & still no response!

Thanks for any assistance since I'm at the end of my rope.

PS - Latest blood test showed very low protein.  

[ichelsea]

I know exactly how you are feeling with the walking stability problems as I was only put on flagyl for 4 days and had to stop it, it made me so sick and I am still trying to recover 10 days later. I stopped it and took a bunch of herbs to cleanse my system. It helps and I am still taking the herbs and vitamens. I take aloe vera, garlic, a good colon cleanser you can get at your local pharmacy, acidiphillus with probiotics,chlorophyll, I eat yogurt.and try to cut back on sugars(That is a tuffy) I was told by my doctor that flagyl is a really hard medicine to handle and alot of people have trouble with it as everybodys bodys are different.I hope I helped you and you really should try the body cleansing.

[happymom2]

your extreme anxiety is caused by the flagyl. You had a severe CNS reaction to
the flagyl. I know because I also have had it. I had severe insomnia, secvere anxiety
and depression along with muscle spasms.It has been a year and have heard it can take 2
years for anxiety to resolve, you nervous system was damaged.Anxiety is part of the Central Nervous system and can be a long lasting symptom of flagyl, along with nausea.Spoke
to one girl who had nausea 6 months from flagyl.Try probiotics and cut out sugar
and get on protien, eat veggie's. Do what helps for the anxiety.there is a website
called ask a patient flagyl where you will find others who had your symptoms.
You were put on it repeatedly and it poisoned you nuerologicaaly. There is a Dr.
David Flockhart at University of Indianna who is a professor of pharmacology and has
seen these types of reactions from antibiotics. You might try to contact his office.
the psychiatric symptoms are du to the flagyl and you need to do everything possible
to help your nervous system heal.