A woman who found herself confined to a wheelchair and battling for her life after taking a commonly prescribed antibiotic is now raising awareness about its potential side effects.

Kiley Woodland, a devoted vegan and former musician, was given the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, known as Cipro, in July 2019 following hospitalization for stomach pain.

At 28 years old, Woodland received Cipro intravenously and initially experienced no adverse effects. However, in the subsequent days, she began to suffer from muscle spasms, insomnia, and overwhelming fatigue.

Despite frequent visits to doctors, her tests consistently came back normal, leading some medical professionals to dismiss her symptoms as psychological.

Her health issues lingered for three years, appearing sporadically, though she didn’t connect them to the antibiotic. In the summer of 2022, after taking the over-the-counter pain reliever naproxen sodium, her condition dramatically worsened.

Woodland’s muscles became excruciatingly stiff, her skin felt as if it were burning, and any movement resulted in such intense pain that she would lose consciousness.

She became completely bed-bound and relied on her partner for everything. At times, the pain was so severe she would have to have water poured into her mouth to avoid dehydration.

‘It was like a bomb went off in my body,’ Woodland, now 34 years old and living in Boulder, Colorado, said. ‘I became bed-bound and wheelchair-bound. I had searing tendon and nerve pain, joint swelling and neurological symptoms like hallucinations.’

Kiley Woodland, now 34 years old, said she suffered a severe reaction after taking the common antibiotic Cipro and then a common painkiller

‘It was like being trapped in a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from – a torture chamber for the body and mind. It felt like my entire world was collapsing.’

She added that her partner became her full-time caregiver ‘during the worst of it… helping me eat, drink water and get to and from the bathroom.’

Woodland believes she suffered from what victims call being ‘floxed,’ a rare adverse reaction to fluoroquinolone antibiotics, such as Cipro, where patients suffer damage to nerves and tendons.

Symptoms include tingling or burning sensations in the arms or legs, joint pain and muscle spasms.

She believes the painkiller triggered a more severe reaction to the damage caused by Cipro.

Woodland said she did not make the connection between her earlier symptoms and Cipro until she suffered the severe reaction from the OTC painkiller and then started to carry out her own research online.

In the first few weeks after taking the naproxen sodium, Woodland said her symptoms eased slightly, but that she frantically searched for a cause.

It was then that she saw posts on social media from people talking about being floxed.

After the severe symptoms, Woodland said she was left reliant on a wheelchair and bed-bound. 

She is now battling to rebuild her strength and gain the ability to walk again 

Woodland came to the conclusion that this was what she was experiencing.

Seeking treatment, she reached out to a doctor in Los Angeles in the fall who specializes in assisting patients who have been floxed.

‘The doctor explained that it wasn’t an allergic reaction, but a severe adverse response to the antibiotics,’ she said. ‘They are designed to kill bacteria, but, in some cases, can damage human cells in the process.’

She spent a month undergoing intensive regenerative medical treatment – including IVs, peptide therapy and stem cell transplants – at the clinic before being discharged.

When Woodland finally went home, she felt ‘stabilized,’ although far from her normal self, and has since been working to rebuild her strength.

She has spent more than two years undergoing physical rehabilitation to help her move her body again, and is finally able to spend time away from her wheelchair for simple tasks such as walking around a grocery store by herself.

Woodland has also been able to return to making music as a singer and songwriter, which she said was among her biggest passions. She used to open shows for major artists, including KISS, whose shows she would open with her band.

Now in her mid-30s, she said the belief that her illness was all caused by a commonly prescribed medication is ‘surreal.’

Woodland said she had been ‘floxed,’ a term used to describe a severe reaction after taking fluoroquinolones

Woodland is pictured above. She is now able to stand again and is on her way to being back on stage

‘It’s devastating, frustrating and overwhelming all at once,’ she said. ‘I’m not anti-medicine – I believe these drugs have a time and a place – but I also believe patients deserve informed consent, and to be taken seriously when something feels wrong.

‘I never imagined a commonly prescribed antibiotic could alter my life so profoundly, but it did.’ 

Doctors warn that Cipro can cause peripheral neuropathy, or damage to the nervous system that triggers symptoms such as muscle spasms and tingling in the limbs.

There have been several case reports in medical literature linking the drug to these conditions, including a paper from 2023, which found a 42-year-old man in Texas had developed peripheral neuropathy after completing a 10-day course of cipro, that was being used to treat a stomach bug.

The damage can last for months, years or be permanent, physicians warn, even if the person stops taking the drug. 

Some research suggests that painkillers from the Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID) family, such as naproxen sodium, which can also act on the nervous system, may worsen symptoms or any lingering side effects from the antibiotic. 

‘I was shocked by how many people described the same pattern: being dismissed or misdiagnosed, or told they were imagining it,’ Woodland said. 

‘I’ve now heard from hundreds of healthcare professionals who have admitted they weren’t aware just how severe these reactions can be, which is terrifying when medications like Cipro are prescribed so commonly.’

A growing number of Americans are now coming forward to reveal their harrowing experiences on Cipro, including a young man from New England who said the antibiotic had left him disabled and struggling with his vision.

Woodland was a vegan and is an avid musician. She is now creating her own music again and says she is hoping to one day be able to return to the stage

Yet the drug continues to be prescribed to about 2 million Americans every year without many doctors’ warning over its links to devastating conditions that cause irreparable nerve damage.

The FDA first approved fluoroquinolones in the 1980s, but is now warning doctors to use the antibiotics as a last resort – and only when other medications are not available.

The agency said it had received about 60,000 reports of patients suffering harm while on Cipro since the 1980s, and has added three black box warnings – its highest level warning that appears in a bold, black-bordered notice on prescribing information – to the prescription label since 2008. A black box warning alerts healthcare professionals to serious, life-threatening or permanently disabling risks associated with a drug or medication.

‘I’m holding the vision of being back on stage, performing the music that I wrote while trying to survive,’ Woodland said. ‘I can walk again and function independently for the most part, and only need a wheelchair occasionally, like for big stores or airports.

‘When I was at my lowest, sharing my story helped me find support and community, and it changed everything for my healing.

‘I want people who feel alone to know that they deserve support. There are good people out there who are willing to help – even if it takes time to find them.’