My almost one year recovery.
As I approach almost a year since being “floxed,” I wanted to make a post for the people who are brand new to this and absolutely terrified the way I was.
I took 3 pills of moxifloxacin, and in the beginning it felt like my entire life had been ripped away from me overnight.
I would wake up every single morning in full panic with my heart pounding so hard I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I had constant anxiety and was convinced I would never feel normal again.
Physically, my symptoms moved around constantly. I had neuropathy and sharp shooting zings in my feet, my ankles would hurt from even small amounts of exercise, my hamstrings burned, my knees and elbows felt “hollow,” and every new sensation convinced me something permanent was happening to my body.
The first few months were honestly the darkest and scariest period of my life.
But slowly… very slowly… things started improving.
Recovery was not linear for me at all. I would have good weeks and bad weeks, and every setback felt devastating at the time. But over the months, the good days slowly started outnumbering the bad ones.
Now, approaching a year later, I consider myself about 90% recovered.
I’ve gone on vacations again. I’ve gotten back into working out. I can do Pilates at full capacity again after taking a 6 month break. I recently even got Botox with no reaction after being terrified to do it for months.
I still mostly eat very clean because it makes me feel my best, but I tolerate caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and THC completely fine now. I’m still personally too nervous to take an NSAID/anti-inflammatory, but that’s more fear-based than because my body seems unable to tolerate things.
Do I feel 100% mentally recovered from the experience? Honestly, probably not. I think this will always be something that stays in the back of my mind in some way because it was genuinely traumatic. And I also want to acknowledge that I consider myself a milder case compared to some people in this group, and I know everyone’s experience and severity level is different.
But if you are new to this and spiraling the way I was, please know that many people do improve. Many people do recover and reach a new baseline and eventually get pieces of their life back. In the beginning I truly thought my life was over, and now I’m back to living it again.
Try not to lose hope, even when it feels impossible 🤍