Quinolones are Scary. So what Antibiotics can you take that are highly effective?
February 24, 2019
by Russell Johnston
Quinolones (also known as fluoroquinolones) are dangerous, especially if you have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS or hEDS). If you have EDS ANY of the quinolones can cause big problems, as they easily interfere with collagen formation, which is already a problem for you. (There’s an older article about the dangers with more references here.)
How do you know whether an antibiotic is one of the quinolones? A good list of quinolone antibiotics is here.
Doctors are still using quinolones — because they can be very effective at their job — so if you can’t have them, keep looking over your doctor’s shoulder in case he’s forgotten you shouldn’t have them.
Below is a list of selected non-quinolone antibiotics. It is not exhaustive or recent.
In general antibiotics are not well tolerated by many patients with allergic conditions such as mast cell disorders, and of course your results may well vary! Still, this is a list of antibiotics that masto (mostly systemic mastocytosis rather than MCAS patients, I gather) reported to cause them the fewest problems, in their experience, over the years. It originally appeared on the Mastocytosis Canada site but has since vanished. This is not an endorsement of any of these drugs; by them or by me. It is several years old as of 2019, I just haven’t found something better.
My doctor looked over this list a few years ago and said, “That’s a nice list but it has nothing on it that’s very effective for gastro or urinary infections.” So be aware that none of the antibiotics on this list may suffice for your situation. If you know of a better list, look me up on Facebook, Russell Irvin Johnston, and let me know. Thanks!
Clindamycin
(But Clindamycin poses an increased risk for C diff.)
Cephamandole
Azithromycin (Z-pak)
Keflex
Omnicef
Beconase AQ
Biaxin (eg. Clarithromycin)
Zithromycin
Rhinocort
Eosinophilic conditions
I can’t leave the topic of antibiotics without mentioning one more thing. Antibiotics are often wasted on patients with MCAS or Ehlers-Danlos, fibromyalgia, etc. We present with an infection, but we don’t have an infection, since we have an eosinophilic condition (white cells gone wild) instead, and there’s a very effective alternative drug: albuterol. Please do read my next (short) post on that topic:
When Antibiotics are useless: eosinophilic conditions
or this journal article:
Eosinophilic esophagitis: New insights in pathogenesis and therapy (2016)
Previous article:
“True Allergy” (vs “Intolerance”)
Next article:
When Antibiotics are useless: eosinophilic conditions
And another of mine:
Understanding why MCAS (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome) triggers do what they do:
Full list of my health articles:
https://medium.com/@russjj
