Young mother is left unable to walk after taking just three ANTIBIOTIC pills to treat a UTI: Disabled vet husband she previously cared for is also in a wheelchair

A woman was left in excruciating pain and unable to walk after she suffered a rare reaction to a common antibiotic prescribed to treat her urinary tract infection.

Talia Smith, 44, of Norwood, Massachusetts, was hospitalized in April 2021 after taking three pills of ciproflocaxine, also known as Cipro, from the fluoroquinolone class.

She said it felt like a ‘bomb’ went off in her body and five months later her condition had worsened until she could not even lift her arms above her head and was transferred to a hospice weighing just 25 kilos.

Three years later, she says she is wheelchair-bound, forced to puree all her meals and unable to care for her veteran husband, who is also in a wheelchair.

The FDA puts a black box warning on fluoroquinolones, meaning they can cause death or serious injury, but Smith says she was unaware of the risks and was told it was a “safe and effective was medicine.

Smith shares videos about her experiences with her chronic illness to raise awareness

Smith says she now has to puree all her food because she has severe difficulty swallowing

Smith went to the doctor in April 2021 for treatment of a common urinary tract infection and was prescribed Cipro.

She told 25 studies she asked the doctor at the time, ‘This is a pretty strong antibiotic, is this the right antibiotic for me to take? And is there anything I should know?’

But she said the doctor reassured her: “There’s nothing you need to be aware of.” This is a very safe and effective antibiotic for urinary tract infections.’

Days later, she said it felt like a “bomb went off” in her body.

She said: ‘The third day I had shooting pains, like in my heels, in my legs, like shooting pains, like I was being electrocuted. And I thought, what the hell is this?

‘The next week I sat in a chair showering myself. The next moment I couldn’t get my hands above my head.’

Over the next five months, she continued to deteriorate and ended up in hospice care weighing just 50 pounds.

A year after taking the pills, she was transferred to palliative care.

Even today, almost three years later, she says she still relies on a wheelchair and a 24-hour assistive device.

The former fitness fanatic is now wheelchair-bound and has to puree all her food

It’s a far cry from the life she lived before taking Cipro, where she worked in healthcare as a product manager and as a full-time caregiver for her disabled veteran husband and their children and stepchildren.

She said: ‘I trained all the time. I ate well, I was healthy, I worked, I took care of my husband. I never got sick.’

She told News10, “Our lives were stolen from this, not just mine, his, my children and my stepchildren.

‘I’m sitting next to him in a wheelchair because of three pills. Three pills. I can’t take care of him. I can’t take care of myself. We both need 24/7 care now.’

Last year, she started sharing her story on TikTok and Instagram, with some of her videos racking up 200,000 views.

She raises awareness for other people who are ‘floxed’, the name given to people who experience extreme side effects after taking fluoroquinolones.

There are currently eight major brand fluoroquinolones on the market, and 14.8 million people will be prescribed it by 2022, according to figures provided to 25 Investigates by the CDC.

She says she is determined to get better and is campaigning for better warnings on the range of antibiotics and for doctors to be held accountable

Recommended uses include: anthrax, gonorrhea, typhoid fever and complicated bacterial infections.

It should only be prescribed for urinary tract infections when other treatments have failed.

The black box warns that it “may cause disabling and potentially irreversible serious side effects.”

Smith said: ‘It makes me angry because the first black box warning came out in 2008 for tendons. And then in 2013 there was irreversible peripheral neuropathy and in 2016 there were the permanent and debilitating side effects.

‘I followed Cipro all the way through 2021. I think this would be enough time for physicians to get involved and convey these warnings to their patients.”