Anxiety after taking antibiotics? See why!
What Causes Someone to Be Floxed?
Ingestion of various volumes of fluoroquinolones can cause once-healthy individuals to become floxed. The US FDA recognizes fluoroquinolone-associated disability (FQAD) as a condition caused by fluoroquinolones present in antibiotics.
A healthy human can become floxed after taking antibiotics that contain fluoroquinolones to remedy common ailments. Antibiotics have been assessed to be safe for many people. But in the case of floxies, a single dose could cause paralysis, tendon rupture, and irreversible nervous system damage.
Symptoms of Being Floxed
Common symptoms after being floxed include:
- DNA damage
- Mitochondrial dysfunction
- Blurry vision
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Tendonitis
- Muscle atrophy, paralysis, or both
Floxies and Anxiety
Symptoms of anxiety are more common in floxies, especially for those at an advanced stage. Anxiety in floxies is largely driven by the autonomic nervous system (ANS).
The autonomic nervous system controls involuntary muscle, heart, and gland actions in humans. It comprises the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
Most body functions like digestion and breathing are controlled by these components of our nervous system. When it comes to floxies, both components of the ANS perform specific acts to either suppress or amplify anxiety symptoms. Check out how they both operate below:
Sympathetic nervous system
The sympathetic nervous system of floxies prepares their body to avoid danger or fight back some symptoms and responses. These responses are commonly referred to as the “fight-or-flight” reaction. Most stages of anxiety in floxies involve the following activity:
- Increase in blood pressure
- Blood flow increase to the muscle, lung and essential areas to facilitate movement from perceived danger
- Decreased blood flow to the reproductive and digestive systems
- Activated stress hormones and neurotransmitters to support physical responses
- Quick-release of glucose to aid necessary processing of energy
The unique nature of some floxies makes it unlikely that every patient will experience all actions in the above format. Some may experience one or two actions, while others may not have to deal with any of them.
Common anxiety symptoms in floxies driven by the sympathetic nervous system response
Actions from the sympathetic nervous system tend to drive the following:
- Accelerated heartbeat,
- Insomnia,
- Jerky movements,
- Tense appearance,
- Uneasiness,
- Stress, etc.
In some cases, floxies might experience few of these symptoms while others may have to grapple with all of them.
Parasympathetic nervous system
The parasympathetic nervous system of floxies runs operations at variance with its sympathetic counterpart. Physical effects of the parasympathetic nervous system drive the following reactions:
- Slowed heart rate
- Stunted respiration
- Drop in blood pressure
- Increased intestinal activity
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