5 Weird Vision Problems You Can Get From Antibiotics

Can you really get Vision Problems from your antibiotics? The Fluoroquinolones are a class of antibiotics that have been linked to serious problems such as tendon rupture, DNA Damage, Aortic Aneurysm, and much more. They include Ciprofloxacin (Cipro), Levofloxacin (Levaquin), and Moxifloxacin (Avelox), some of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics in the United States. While their predisposition for tendon rupture has been noted extensively and has been the subject of multiple lawsuits; less noted by the medical community is its tendency to cause sensory problems that not only include vision problems, but can lead to Permanent Hearing Loss as well.
Unfortunately, many of these eye conditions occur for the same reason that Tendonitis and Aortic Aneurysms occur, because of their predisposition to damage collagen and connective tissue 1. That means that the eye could be permanently damaged from these antibiotics. Additionally, even pets put on Fluoroquinolone drugs can have their vision impacted. See our page on Levaquin for Dogs, even though it’s the vision of cats that are most impacted by these drugs.
There are at least 5 weird eye problems that can occur with the use of the Fluoroquinolones.
Retinal Detachment
Retinal detachment occurs almost 5 times as often in those taking Ciprofloxacin, one of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics. Retinal detachment is a condition where the retina pulls away from the layer of blood vessels that provides it with oxygen and nourishment leaving the retinal without oxygen. It’s an emergency that will almost always require surgery and in which many experience some degree of permanent vision loss 2 .
Tendonitis of the Eye Tendons
Orbital Tendonitis, also called Trochleitis for the trochlear tendon in the eye, is a surprisingly common problem of those with complications after taking the Fluoroquinolone antibiotics. Tendonitis and even tendon rupture are some of the most common complications of these drugs. While Achilles tendonitis and rupture are some of the most widely recognized problems, any tendon can be affected, including the tendons of the eyes. This painful condition often goes away on its own, but not always, and some people end up suffering with severe eye pain for many years, just because they took an antibiotic!
Eye Inflammation
Uveitis is a condition where the middle part of the eye, known as the uvea, becomes reddened and inflamed. This can occur due to infection, drugs, injury, and other causes. Moxifloxacin and Ciprofloxacin appeared to have the greatest risk of this eye problem that can lead to vision loss if left untreated 3 . Interestingly, while corneal deposits only occurred when using Fluoroquinolone eye drops, uveitis occurred even when pills were taken by moe uth for a problem unrelated to the eyes. Again, this is probably due to the destructive effects of these drugs.
Retinal Damage from Sunlight
The Fluoroquinolones, as a class, have been known to have toxic effects on the body after sunlight exposure. In fact, at least one of the Fluoroquinolones have been removed from the market because of toxic skin reactions upon exposure to sunlight. The retina of the eye is no different, and in human cell cultures, Sparfloxin, one of the Fluoroquinolone antibiotics, caused damage to retina cell DNA upon exposure to sunlight 4.
Interestingly, this study was done in order to determine why retinal impairment is so common in the elderly. Why did they choose to use a Fluoroquinolone in this study? Are they suggesting that the use of some of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics might be a contributor in late life retinal damage. Well, we know that at some of the quinolone drugs have an affinity for and have been found at high concentrations in retinal tissue 5, so this theory may not be so far-fetched.
Vision Loss
Neuropathy, a painful nerve condition, is a common and well-known Adverse Drug Reaction of the Fluoroquinolones. It most commonly occurs in the feet and legs, but the eyes have nerves too, and the drugs sometimes affect the optic nerves of the eyes resulting in vision loss, and sometimes severe pain6 7. Vision loss has occurred for unknown reasons after taking the Fluoroquinolones as well 8. Fortunately, most of the cases of vision loss attributed to this class of drugs has been temporary, but sudden vision loss is a frightening and costly problem that no one expects to have after being given an antibiotic.
We encourage doctors and patients to educate themselves about these drugs and to understand the reasons why Dr. Beatrice Golomb, et al from the study ‘Fluoroquinolone-induced serious, persistent, multisymptom adverse effects’ states,
Fluoroquinolone use should be restricted to situations in which there is no safe and effective alternative to treat an infection caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria or to provide oral therapy when parenteral therapy is not feasible and no other effective oral agent is available.
If you are interested in learning more about the Fluoroquinolones and how to recover from these damaging drugs, we recommend getting The Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Solution. We have worked closely with the authors and were helped immensely by this book and the personal attention we received from them. After spending over $25,000 on doctors and treatments that did not work, we began following the protocol and recovered function more than doing anything else we tried.
We do receive a small commission for each book that sells through the links on our site, and we hope that, if you do choose to purchase this book, you’ll purchase it through our link to help us keep this site running and support our efforts at continuing to educate about the Fluoroquinolones, and help those who were damaged by them. We recommend the book because it worked for us and many others we’ve spoken to, and we highly value the information it contains.
- In Vitro Effects of Fluoroquinolone and Aminoglycoside Antibiotics on Human Keratocytes ↩
- Oral Fluoroquinolones and the Risk of Retinal Detachment ↩
- Risk for uveitis with oral moxifloxacin: a comparative safety study ↩
- UVA-induced oxidative damage in retinal pigment epithelial cells after H2O2 or sparfloxacin exposure ↩
- Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine Toxicity ↩
- Ciprofloxacin-induced toxic optic neuropathy ↩
- Oral levofloxacin-induced optic neuritis progressing in loss of vision ↩
- Reversible visual loss in a patient receiving high-dose ciprofloxacin hydrochloride ↩
Please, can you tell me why vision would be suddenly blurry, after a reaction to Cipro? I had ONE pill, and 48 hours later I developed a tight feeling behind the eyes, light sensitivity, lack of eye mobility, and pain when lightly rubbing the eye. The tightness has let up a little, but the blurriness is still there. I am terrified, and the eye doctor is clueless. After examination they can only say the optical nerve and retina appear to be healthy. Is residual swelling possibly causing the blurriness? I am desperate for answers, and doctors seem to understand very little about complications from Cipro.
There are also tendons in the eyes, and the Fluoroquinolones are well-known for damaging or causing swelling to tendons. The tendons in the eyes can also be effected by the fluoroquinolones, as well as the other connective tissues in the eyes.
Thanks for replying to me. The blurry vision resolved after one week. However, I still have random bouts of extreme light sensitivity, and random aching behind the eyes. Also, worth noting, one eye now has a bag under neath of it which indicates swelling or even worse, the fat pad popped out. Supposedly, uveitis would be detectable because the eye would appear red.
Would nerve irritation in the eye cause the one eye to be puffy? Would nerve irritation cause swelling or buckling of the fat pad under the eye?
Are tendon issues of the eye dangerous?
I am still searching for answers, and deeply disturbed by these side effects.
Thankfully, my vision returned to normal, and pain left my eyes. However, I still have a swollen bulge in the under eye muscle. I don’t want the muscle to scar, so I am considering oral steroid to chase the swelling away (it has been 3 months since my eye reaction to Cipro) – Do you know if steroids, months after being floxed, pose any risky interactions or relapses?
Yes, steroids at any time in your life after you have been floxxed are a horrible idea and should only be done as an absolute last resort. I’ve heard there are some retrospective studies in effect now looking at this.
Thank you again for your helpful response. an Trochleitis and orbital mystosis cause permanent damage to the eye muscle if not treated? Most people require a steroid for this immune disorder. If not treated, could the muscle under the harden, scar, or turn fibrous? Can these types of immune responses go away on their own? It seems these disorders normally require steroids, but maybe Floxy inflammation is a different form.
You’re getting into the realm of ‘medical questions’ and not just friendly internet advice. Sorry, I really can’t help with what the long term consequences could be for treating with the typical treatments or taking an alternative tactic. Others are welcome to chime in with their opinions, but I can’t help you decide your choice of treatments and their consequences. Sorry.