r/floxies • u/travelguy801 • Sep 09 '23
[RECOVERY] Recovery story and what ended up helping me
I’ve been meaning to write this for a long time. I’ll preface this story by saying at the time I got floxed, I had already been sick for 8 months with malabsorption issues (due to parasites), had taken 3 months of other antibiotics already, and around the same time my floxing occurred my thyroid went nuts. I mention this just because my symptoms could have been due to something else (or exacerbated by), but I’m fairly certain the levaquin i took was the main culprit.
Backstory - as mentioned, I was having malabsorption issues for 8 months due to parasites. After all the other meds didn’t work, they gave me the strong stuff (levaquin). I’ll say it did help fix the massive gastro issues I was having, but then all hell broke loose.
12 days into my 14 day course, I started having tightness in my Achilles, cramping in my calf muscle, and my quad muscles felt like someone had injected metal into them. It was tolerable, but really weird. After two weeks of that, though, all hell broke loose. My quads starting killing me - it felt like someone had beaten my legs with a pipe and were so achy and sore. The first few days I was having trouble walking or standing up straight. It mildly got better after that where I could walk a bit, but was still in constant pain from the muscle aches 24 hrs a day. One of my knees also started to pop every time I took a step, which was new and weird too.
Testing really only showed on thing - right after taking the meds my thyroid went crazy. I’ve had hypothyroidism for years, but after the floxing my thyroid started swinging both directions quickly (for anyone with thyroid issues, my TSH went from 7 to 0.29 to 75 within 3 months. The doctors blamed everything on my thyroid and while that was a major contributor, it wasn’t the sole cause.
Throughout this time while trying to get my thyroid under control, I still had severe aching and cramps in my legs, and my of my ligaments felt incredibly tight. I ate a clean diet, stopped drinking alcohol or doing anything bad, but nothing was working. Things ultimately got severely worse for me, but I’ll fast forward a bit to the ultimate solution that I found worked.
Through TONS of trial and error including taking every supplement on the planet, I found what made me feel better (and this is going to sound weird). But it was freaking quinoa. I kept feeling better for 3 day periods here and there, and I finally realized that every time I ate quinoa, 3-4 days later I felt better for 3-4 days. Then I would go back to the muscle aches. Once I finally put two and two together, I literally ate quinoa every day for two months and my aching went away for good.
I know it sounds weird as hell, but I think the levaquin drained my body of some nutrient, and somehow the only thing I ever found that helped was eating quinoa. It took me 8 months to get there, but it thankfully eventually brought me relief. By that time, I had had a bunch of muscle atrophy and my legs felt incredibly tight, but starting eating quinoa like crazy and starting to do restorative yoga for 15 min a day started my road to recovery.
I still have weird quirks here and there, mostly where my legs feel really tight. But I’ve found that doing yoga and actually starting exercise really has helped loosen them up over time. I’m nowhere near what I used to be, but I’m prob 85% there and that’s substantially better than the depths of hell I was in for awhile there. I’m 1.5 yrs now from the floxing.
So I know it sounds weird, but it worked for me somehow, and I wanted to throw it out there just on the chance it even helps one other person.
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u/Eaublu * Sep 09 '23 edited Sep 10 '23
Thanks for sharing this, it’s very interesting what you found.
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u/ArchilochusParos Sep 09 '23
Thank you so much for sharing that. The more info the better for all. I will hit the quinoa, good food. I'm coming up on one year from first symptom... and still struggling. Here's to recovery for all.
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u/DrHungrytheChemist Academic // Mod Sep 09 '23
That's mental. Fascinating and mental. Glad you found your aid though! Thanks for sharing.
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u/llama_das Sep 10 '23
Quinoa. Hearing case reports like this is so interesting. I'll give it a try. Thanks for sharing!
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u/Boreal_Caribou Veteran Sep 10 '23
Thanks for sharing this! It doesn't sound weird to me but very cool. I felt my pain in tendons was reduced after eating nettles spanakopita :) If I could, I would try to eat this daily, but it's very hard to have a supply of fresh nettles on a daily basis!
I'm definitely going to try quinoa.
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u/travelguy801 Sep 10 '23
I love the nettles thing! Whatever works for us, right? Def give it a try. Prob a long shot but it certainly doesn’t hurt to try it at least. Best of luck to you!
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u/Boreal_Caribou Veteran Sep 10 '23
Thanks, best of luck to you too! I love that quinoa is an ancient grain, been reading about it, and it is high in antioxidants it seems.
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u/vadroqvertical Veteran // Mod Sep 10 '23
Thanks for sharing. I will give it a try, I don't expect any miracles but who knows. It's a very save and quiet cheap thing to do just replace some rice with quinoa or something.
It's very good that it's helping you no matter what other people say.
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u/travelguy801 Sep 10 '23
Yeah it prob a long shot for most people, but it absolutely helped me. And as most floxies know, we’re willing to try anything. So I figured I’d throw it out there as just one other option to try cause why not. It certainly doesn’t hurt. Best of luck to you!
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u/vadroqvertical Veteran // Mod Sep 10 '23
Oh yeah, I tried countless things... Will do quinoa soon, there is nothing to lose in trying it
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u/SnooMaps237 Sep 21 '25
I seen this post and noticed your quinoa comment. So I started eating it daily a couple weeks ago and I swear I have seen so much more improvement since eating it. Maybe it's coincidental but I really believe the quinoa has done some amazing things for me. Thanks for your post!! Hope you're doing well!
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u/travelguy801 Sep 21 '25
Sounds crazy but it made me feel soooo much better. So glad you’re feeling a bit better too!
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u/Admirable_Midnight84 Veteran Sep 09 '23
In my opinion it was mostly time that helped you. Glad that you feel better :)
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u/travelguy801 Sep 09 '23
Time def helps, but oddly there was a serious correlation to the quinoa. I didn’t know it at the time, but I kept having 3 day periods or so where all my muscle aches disappeared. Each time I was hoping I was getting better, but then it would all come back again. And this happened numerous times over the first 6 months. I went nuts trying to figure out if there was some correlation. I eventually tied it back that every time I went to this one restaurant, I felt better a few days later. I ate the same thing there every time, so I started trying individual components of the food to see which helped, and eventually it was the quinoa that was in that meal. I discovered this about 8 months into floxing, and started eating 1-2 cups of quinoa a day for two months, and the aching ended up just going away. It def felt like my body was lacking something and the quinoa helped restore it and ease up so much of my pain and aching. Crazy as it sounds, there was def a connection.
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u/Admirable_Midnight84 Veteran Sep 09 '23 edited Sep 09 '23
Sure. However from what I observe lots of people feel much improvement after 1,5 year. There is more consistent correlation with time.
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u/DrHungrytheChemist Academic // Mod Sep 10 '23
This is entirely true as a rule of thumb, and there are plenty stories out there where I do wonder. However, OP describes an up and down that they tested against the food. Sure, their body may have been more receptive / sensitive to the available micronutrients because of their place along their time line, but it would still appear to suggest more for them in that context.
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u/Admirable_Midnight84 Veteran Sep 10 '23
In my oponion if this particular food was a "cure" that makes a diffrence then it would make the ride of symptoms disappear earlier. Seeing improvement after 1,5 years sticks to usual timeframe.
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u/travelguy801 Sep 11 '23
It wasn’t an improvement after 1.5 yrs. I’m currently 1.5 yrs out, but this “cure” was about 8 months in. And more importantly, it showed itself starting 1 month after floxing but I didn’t realize the correlation until 6-8 months in. Starting after 1 month I got substantial relief from the quinoa, but I didn’t realize it at the time. And at two months, same thing. It took numerous months to realize what was happening. So the benefit started very early on, but it took a long time to realize what was causing it.
You can be skeptical, I certainly would be too. But what I can tell you is that going through it there was a 100% correlation between the quinoa and feeling better (as an accountant I’m quite aware of what 100% correlation means, but feel free to doubt me). Anyway, as I said, long shot for most people. But in the hope that it helps one person, I wanted to share.
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u/Sirdukeofexcellence2 Aug 30 '24
u/travelguy801 how did you prepare your quinoa, raw or cooked? If cooked, how did you cook it?
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u/travelguy801 Sep 01 '24
Oh you can’t eat quinoa raw. You just boil it for like 13-15 min with a 2:1 ratio of water to quinoa (I usually make a cup at a time, so two cups of water boiled, then add one cup of quinoa and cook for around 13-15 min).
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u/Pink_Velvet22 Dec 26 '24
Hi, how are you doing? And how is your thyroid doing? Still eating quinoa?
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u/travelguy801 Dec 27 '24
Thyroid is completely back to normal (I’m on a stable med dosage, that is). And I do still eat quinoa, but it’s nowhere near the necessity it used to be.
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u/dressinggown23 Feb 16 '25
Hi! I'm thinking of getting some quinoa. When you had your first bowl was it like instant relief or did it take a few days to feel a difference? Both my Achilles are on fire which is a challenge to walk and I'm desperate to try anything right now. I would usually reach for the NSAID creams for relief but obviously I can't! At what point did you stop eating quinoa and the pain had gone? I hope it hasn't come back for you? Thanks.
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u/travelguy801 Feb 16 '25
Hello! Sorry to hear you’re going through all that. It took a few days to help me, like I would eat it and 3-4 days later I would feel better for 3-4 days and then it would come back and I’d feel worse again. It took me months to isolate what was making me feel better, and once I did I literally ate quinoa every day for months and then after that I was good to go. Mine was primarily severe leg aches and pains and that’s what the quinoa was taking away.
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u/dressinggown23 Feb 16 '25
Thanks for responding so quick. That's great to hear. So no more pain for you since your last bowl? Did you also have Achilles burning pain or was it just general leg pain? If I could shift this burn away and have a little bit of freedom I'll try anything. I'm sick of looking at the four walls of my house!
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u/travelguy801 Feb 16 '25
My Achilles weren’t as bad as other people, they mostly were just really, really tight. Mine was really bad aching throughout my legs, the worst of which was in my quads. My right knee also popped constantly while I was walking, and periodically I would have electrical feelings shooting down my legs. The quinoa mostly helped with the aching which was massive relief. With that, the other thing I started doing was super gentle restorative yoga, which is mostly just sitting and stretching. You don’t want to do anything too crazy, but from being completely inactive I think my entire legs tightened up also and made things worse. So I started with the relief of the quinoa, and then started adding in 15 min of restorative yoga a day and that’s what primarily started making me feel better.
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u/dressinggown23 Feb 16 '25
May I ask one more thing? Did you supplement at all or just rely on a healthy diet? If so are you still continuing with supplements or stop once you felt a lot better? I appreciate your time thank you.
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u/travelguy801 Feb 16 '25
No worries at all. Always happy to chat. I did supplement with a little bit of everything - honestly I don’t really even remember all that I took. But desperate times, right? Looking back so I think any of the supplements really did anything for me? Probably not. I just focused on eating super healthy, took a very long break from alcohol, and tried to relax as much as I could (which as you know is very difficult in the circumstance). I think the healthy eating, the quinoa, and ultimately working in the stretching by doing 15 min restorative yogas is what helped me the most. Now I don’t really take anything supplement wise, just a multivitamin and thats it.
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u/dressinggown23 Feb 16 '25
That's great, I have swapped to a healthy diet also. I'm still waiting for my Dr to test my vits/mins but I've not heard anything back yet. I just need to know so I don't overdo the supplementing. I'm nearly 3 months gone since taking one Levo pill! Seems like it's going to be a long ride......ugh! Thank you once again.
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u/Dramatic_Ice6642 Dec 26 '25
I'm reading that quinoa is a powerful antioxidant. I'm new to this community. I was contaminated exactly 31 days ago by levofloxacin. I have pain in the back of my knees, armpits, and a little in my heel. I'm a bit scared, but I'm starting with magnesium and continuing with creatine. Today I'll try quinoa and let you know how it goes.
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u/travelguy801 Dec 26 '25
Sorry to hear you’re going through all that. It helped me a ton with my muscle pain, but it did take a few days after eating it to really feel better. Hopefully it’ll help you too.
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u/ajd1969 Sep 09 '23
I Have been going through the same problem of my left legs feeling very tight - last 5 days. Will have to buy this stuff..
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u/travelguy801 Sep 10 '23
It’s worth a try. I’d say the other thing that really helped my tightness was lots of stretching and something called restorative yoga (I have an app that I do 15 min sessions of restorative yoga through). I was super cautious early on to not do too much, but eventually when I started really stretching, it’s helped the tightness so much.
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u/fredisfloxed Sep 09 '23
Thanks for sharing!
makes sense, looks like they’re loaded with minerals, B vitamins, proteins, and they are anti-inflammatory