Side effect
Like all antibiotics, fluoroquinolones cause side effects, mainly due to their desired effect (killing bacteria). Treatment with fluoroquinolones not only kills the disease-causing bacteria, but also the bacteria in the digestive tract and on the skin that naturally occur in the body can be inhibited and killed by fluoroquinolones. As a result, there are mainly side effects in the digestive tract such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain.
On the skin, killing the bacteria causes problems, especially for people with a weakened immune system. Instead of the protective bacteria, other pathogens such as fungi settle on the skin. If the immune system cannot fight them sufficiently, a fungal infection occurs.
Other side effects of fluoroquinolones are, for example, disturbances of nerve functions. This becomes noticeable in the form of memory disorders or disorders of the senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch). In connection with the therapy with fluoroquinolones, joint and muscle pain is also more frequent, and tendon injuries are also more frequent.Other types of tissue such as vessel walls can also be affected, so that norfloxacin, for example, increases the risk of severe bleeding in aortic aneurysm (bagging of the aorta).
The heart rhythm can also be affected by fluoroquinolones such as ciprofloxacin. As a side effect, the so-called QT time can be prolonged. If the liver is already damaged, the fluoroquinolones can also cause severe liver failure. Acute liver failure in liver healthy individuals has rarely been reported.
Interaction
Fluoroquinolones can interact with a variety of drugs. Special attention should be paid to drugs that have similar side effects to fluoroquinolones. For example, they may interact with drugs used for cardiac arrhythmia.
Metabolic pathways also play a major role in interactions. Ciclosporin and fluoroquinolones, for example, are both partially excreted via the kidneys. Simultaneous therapy with both drugs can damage the kidneys.
In the liver, on the other hand, an interaction with blood thinners such as Marcumar® can occur. Since there are several classes of fluoroquinolones, the interactions cannot be fully explained. For each person taking several drugs, the specialist information should be checked for possible interactions with fluoroquinolones.
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