Flipped

Once released from the hospital January 6th, I began taking a 1,000 milligram Tequin pill twice a day, together with Flagyl. Unfortunately, it took only 24 hours for a few adverse events to start manifesting themselves. Per standard pharmacy regimen, common side effects were already acknowledged and published in the toxicology handout for this specific antibiotic – Tequin, but I was so overpowered by the mounting side effects that I had not read the handout carefully, but Diana had and subsequently may have been the reason I’m alive today, and able to write this memoir. Almost to the published word as she described to me, I experienced all of the side effects and more; however, some of the not so common ones that came on later may have been caused by other medicines prescribed to counter the Tequin’s initial deleterious affects. Either way it made little difference; I was screwed coming and going. And incredibly, this was only the first week of my illness and those published side effects started to materialize right before me, and disabled me physically and mentally in the coming days, weeks and months. With being home for only 24 hours, late Friday night as I was trying to sleep what seemed like a powerful jackhammer hit me in the center of the chest. I sprang out of bed frightened out of my wits and immediately assumed that I was in the midst of a heart attack. Another power thump startled me, and I grew enormously anxious. I called to my wife who was asleep, woke her up and briefed her; she dressed immediately, and we were back to Emergency. I now had hard heart palpitations, a very fast pulse rate, mounting anxiety over this new condition along with pain, which was still my Coleridge’s albatross - diverticulitis. Water fountains and bottled water were everywhere, but I couldn’t drink a damn drop. The pain in my lower left abdomen mounted while high anxiety - I was sweating with an overwhelming feeling that I was about to “pack it in” – was making me jump out of my skin while trying to paralyze me. My blood pressure was surely over the top at that moment. Describing my immediate health state to the attending nurse, I was checked in swiftly without waiting, as I was now considered a heart patient, not unusual for a man my age. Had I experienced a heart attack with maybe another on its way? A laundry-list of heart tests were started including blood enzymes to determine if the heart enzymes were elevated, a positive test confirming a heart attack. My attending emergency doctor, an attractive woman with curly, blond hair, medium build who wore blue, plastic crocs vivid in my mind, and another assistant doctor reviewed the blood tests with me. My wife was sitting next to me as my advocate. She suspected that I was too confused by this time in my illness to make a lot of sense. Without question she was right. I was mad, too, now believing I had experienced a heart attack for whatever reasons I wasn’t sure, but I had a major suspicion. The possibility that the medicine being prescribed might be at fault entered my mind. I desperately hoped it wasn’t my heart or a blood clot traveling through my blood stream. The attending doctor confirmed that my blood enzymes were normal. A relief, but my blood pressure was still an extremely high 186/100 with a pulse rate of over a 100. My ECG was normal, so no apparent heart attack had occurred. But what was causing these adverse side effects? I thought this all through while the doctors were conferring. What I concluded and then articulated to them came out as if I were viewing every one from the ceiling. I said, “This chest condition started with taking Tequin in pill form. My blood pressure and pulse have always been on the low side, and my wife will confirm that.” She looked over to the doctor and nodded in agreement. I went on, “In fact a month ago after being on Lipitor® for six months, a blood test confirmed that my liver enzymes were normal. My blood pressure was 120/68 and pulse rate 65. Those are good numbers for someone in his early sixties. I’m not going to take the damn Tequin anymore. It’s got to be causing these horrific side effects. I’m not on anything else, except Lipitor!” The doctor countered without wavering, “You need to stay on Tequin. I’ll treat your side effects. We know how to treat them.” I didn’t know at the time that “There are no known antidotes to quickly reverse a quinolone reaction”, according to Medication Sense, by Jay S. Cohen, M.D. Somehow I had a feeling that the ER doctor was lying or hadn’t known what she was saying. I was beginning to believe that she thought I was some inconsequential dilettante when it came to health and medicine. Well, it was true to a certain point. Yet, I knew something she didn’t: my body and mind. In all my years of visiting doctors for whatever ailment, I had never felt coerced to take a drug like I had with this ER doctor. Even though the air was heavy with the scent of hexachlorophene, it was going to be a lot heavier with the scent of conflict coming on, and I dug in my heels. Staring her in the face and thinking bullshit you’ll control the side effects I said, “You didn’t hear me. I’m not taking Tequin anymore.” I couldn’t believe this. I lay there guarded and mystified why she thought she could treat my side effects not even comprehending what they were or how they occurred. Was I really in a hospital or was I dreaming? Sitting there and taking this all in, my wife spoke up and said, “Bob’s not had much sleep. He’s been sick now for over a week, and feeling really bad. He may be a little off the radar of conscious perception.” In simpler words, they thought I was a little out of it. I rolled my eyes in obvious disagreement but decided to hold my tongue for I was still with the program, then said, “Diana read the Tequin side effects published on the Internet and she agrees with the Tequin Pharmaceutical handout that these new conditions are a direct result of the antibiotic. Especially my heart palpitations, very high blood pressure and unbelievable anxiety.”