An Antibiotic that is Worrisome for Thyroid Patients

Since a significant number of Afibbers have thyroid issues, this report is worth noting and the warning has been mentioned in the past.



An Antibiotic that is Worrisome for Thyroid Patients

By Ronald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., D.A.C.B.N., M.S.


When it comes to life-threatening infections, antibiotics have been a God Send, however for minor infections the following antibiotics are troublesome and are known to cause some nasty side effects.

The antibiotic family I am referring to are fluoroquinolones. You may also see it referred to as quinolones. The following make up the quinolones: Ciprofloxacin, Cipro, Ciloxan eye drops, Levofloxacin, Levaquin, Quixin, Moxifloxacin, Avelox, Vigamox eye drops, Norfloxacin, Noroxin, Ofloxacin, Ocuflox, Floxin, Floxin Otic, Floxacin, Trovafloxacin, Trovan and alatrofloxacin.

Side effects include sudden severe insomnia, hypnic jerks, tendon and cartilage tears, brain fog, weird sensations like bugs crawling on you, headaches, buzzing, pain, tinnitus (ear ringing), face-down fatigue, moving abdominal pain and every thyroid symptom possible.

For people with thyroid disease, these antibiotics are especially worrisome because the quinolone antibiotics are built with a fluoride backbone. It is important to note that fluoride is extremely toxic to your thyroid.

Combining quinolone antibiotics with Levothyroxine (a T4 drug) may lead to reduced absorption of thyroid medicine and cause changes in TSH.

From a functional medicine perspective, fluoride competes with iodine which is necessary to make T4.
I don't like fluoride, or fluorine, or anything related to fluoride coming anywhere near your thyroid gland.

Four medications have been pulled off the market, and the remaining drugs have a "Black Box" warning on them from the FDA.

If you are taking an antibiotic, check with your pharmacist to see if it is in the fluoroquinolone family. If so, you would be wise to ask your physician for another type of antibiotic. Again this plays an even more significant role if you are suffering with thyroid disease.


Reference:
Cohen, S. Thyroid Healthy. 2014
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There is actually a quinolone vigilance foundation out there trying to inform docs about the dangers of these drugs. Their website is saferpills.org

Thanks, Lynn - that's good to know.

From their website:

In the fall of 2009 a small group of committed professionals, suffering from quinolone toxicity syndrome, began working together to understand the mechanisms involved in this misunderstood syndrome. Working in relative anonymity, they began reviewing past and current science, recruiting and networking medical researchers, and stimulating new research projects. After time, it became apparent that a national non-profit was necessary to establish professional credibility and become a vehicle to raise funds, through grants, private, and public donations, that are needed to drive new research.

The Quinolone Vigilance Foundation is being formed to fill that niche in the quinolone victim community. More specifically the niche is to stimulate and fund university level peer reviewed research that will inform and educate the medical community. Our goal is not to compete or replace any existing organization, website, or social network but to work in concert with these entities to fulfill our mission to understand and minimize/reduce quinolone toxicity as a cause of human suffering in the world. Once created, the foundation will be made up of professionals and volunteers within the quinolone community who have been directly impacted by the negative aspects of these medications.