Featured Image Credit: Credit: Instagram/finding_vulneraries
Topics: Health, News, Social media
Britt Jones
Topics: Health, News, Social media
When you have a minor health condition, going to your local GP surgery is the go-to method to treat your illness.
But what if the treatment plan provided by your doctor nearly kills you in the process?
As women, we tend to get urinary tract infections - or UTIs - at some point, and some are even prone to getting them often.
It’s a painful condition which can lead to kidney infections if left untreated, so being prescribed antibiotics is the normal process.
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However, one woman’s experience left her unable to walk after a rare reaction to the antibiotic.
Talia Smith, from Norwood, Massachusetts took three tablets of ciprofloxacin, also known as cipro, to treat her UTI in April 2021 when it all went horribly wrong.
The 44-year-old described it as feeling as though a ‘bomb went off’ inside of her body, which left her barely able to lift her own arms after five months of deterioration.
Although it has nearly been three years since the incident, Talia is wheelchair bound and only able to drink pureed food due to trouble swallowing.
As a former healthcare worker and full-time carer for her disabled veteran husband, Talia was struck down by a class of fluoroquinolones antibiotics, which the FDA labels as a medicine which could result in death or injury.
But when Talia initially went to her doctor for treatment of a simple UTI, she claimed to have been told that it was ‘safe’.
She told 25 Investigates that she had asked: “This is a pretty strong antibiotic, is this the right one I should be taking? And is there anything I need to know?'”
But the doctor allegedly responded: “There’s nothing you need to be aware of. This is a very safe and effective antibiotic for UTIs.”
It was only a couple of days after that meeting that her whole life would change.
She said: “The third day I had stabbing pains, like in my heels, up my legs, like shooting pains, like I was getting electrocuted. And I was like ‘What the heck is this?’
“The next [week], I was sitting in a chair showering myself. The next I couldn’t get my hands above my head.”
Just five months after her symptoms began, Talia was taken to hospice care weighing just 60 pounds and unable to move.
Reminiscing about her life before being left disabled by the pill, she said: “I worked out all the time. I ate well, I was healthy, I worked, I took care of my husband. I never got sick.”
She also explained to News10: “Both of our lives were stolen from this, not just mine, his, my children, my stepchildren.
“I’m sitting right next to him in a wheelchair because of three pills. Three pills. I can’t take care of him. I can’t take care of myself. We both require 24/7 care now.”
After being left unable to care for herself due to being uninformed. She is now sharing her story online and raising awareness.
She said: “It makes me angry because the first black box warning came out in 2008 for tendons. And then 2013 was irreversible peripheral neuropathy and 2016 was the permanent and disabling side effects.
“I took Cipro all the way in 2021. I think that would be plenty of time for doctors to get on board and to be able to convey these warnings to their patients.”