I had a stomach flu about a month ago which they think moved into my inner ear. I have had extreme dizziness ever since...about 2 weeks. Also my ususual mild twitching has increased to a dramatic level as I just went on Ketek about a week ago. I also have been really foggy. I am scared. Any thoughts? Thanks so much.
Posts: 298 | From los angeles | Registered: Mar 2006
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Yes, I had severe twitches, spasms, almost convulsion-like behaviors, almost like seizures. My whole body shook including my voice. It was when I was taking ketek. it also made me so sick to my stomach I lay in bed for weeks. I shook and had chills. I still have a very mild tremor that comes and goes -- this is three months later! I also had unusual fits of despair. Perhaps it is because ketek, for some of us, is so powerful (in vitro it is one of the most powerful, according to my LLMD). But I had to switch. My local dr. told me to discontinue when there were those three cases of liver failure, including a death, in January because of ketek. His opinion was that it was too dangerous to continue long term until the liver-failure incidents were investigated and explained scientifically.
I was too sick to have the wits and common sense to call me doctor and to stop taking it. I would advise putting in a call to your doctor and letting him/her know. When my doc finally saw me in early January he was shocked. He referred me to a neurologist, and called me every other day for a couple of weeks. He said he had never seen anything like this before, and neither had my ILADS LLMD in NJ, Dr. G. who also recommended stopping the medication.
Anyway, that's my story.
-------------------- Jeff Posts: 533 | From CA | Registered: Mar 2006
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Thanks so much Jeff. Forgive me for sounding dumd, but do you mean that you think it was actually the Ketek causing all of those muscle symptoms? And what meds did he put you on after?
Posts: 298 | From los angeles | Registered: Mar 2006
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I think it was a herx. I think for me the ketek was so powerful that it killed so many spirochetes, that their toxins overloaded my system and in particular caused inflammation in parts of the brain that caused the twitching and malaise and nausea. It does not do this with everyone but it did with me. It started four weeks into taking the ketek and ceftin.
It is hard for me to tell if the bouts of despair and panic attacks were because of the drug itself or part of the herx. People on this site have talked about flagyl causing serioius depression and crying fits. This did not happen to me on flagyl. So everyone is different.
I took a two-three week break from abx and then my doctor started me on ceftin and zithromax. Those also caused a major herx -- nausea, fatigue, malaise, joint and muscle pain -- but no neurological symptoms.
Like I have told others on this site -- after my experience in December with the herxs from ketek, I got prepared for the next round of herxs by lining up pain meds, antidepressants, antianxiety -- to treat any symptoms that might arise. Although this last herx has lasted 6 weeks, I am more comfortable and can tolerate it better and the symptoms haven't scared the hell out of me like before.
-------------------- Jeff Posts: 533 | From CA | Registered: Mar 2006
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AZURE WISH
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 804
posted
I am also on ketek....
my fingers twitch when I herx....
years ago my whole body used to twitch when I slept...
I spent the majority of my time sleeping back then....
and I was not on ketek back then.
For me the herxes have become much shorter than they were when I first started taking ketek.
I have not been dx yet and am waiting for test results...I have had muscle twitching now for about 2 years. At times its like fire works going off in my body!!
Lesley
Posts: 120 | From NB Canada | Registered: Jan 2006
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