Lee & Charlie

In 2016, Lee Ford’s daughter Charlie, a 13-year-old competitive swimmer in Canada, was given Levaquin, a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, to treat athlete’s foot. When the Levaquin was prescribed, Lee was not advised of the black box warning recently put on the drug or the serious risk of permanent multisystem side effects associated with it. Had she been warned or been asked to give informed consent, she would not have let Charlie, only 13 at the time, receive the IV dose or six additional days of oral doses.

Within a week of taking the Levaquin, Charlie experienced a multitude of symptoms that included extreme joint and nerve pain, severe headaches, cardiac issues, gastrointestinal problems, insomnia, and unexplained anxiety. A healthy, fit competitive athlete, she was barely able to move her arms or legs due to extreme pain. The headaches and fatigue were so debilitating she often couldn’t attend school.

Charlie and Lee spent months attending medical appointments that were often futile because, despite the Health Canada and FDA black box warnings, most medical professionals were not familiar with fluoroquinolone side effects or how to treat them.

Frustrated, Lee used her background in health care to research scientific articles on fluoroquinolones and their adverse effects, contacting many of the authors to obtain further knowledge and advice. This led her down a path of helping Charlie with a more holistic approach.

Charlie’s improvement took years and had a huge emotional impact on both her and her family. It also incurred a large financial burden. Unfortunately, Charlie was never able to return to competitive swimming and her teenage years were impacted by fatigue and other symptoms. Despite this Charlie considers herself one of the few fortunate ones, as the majority of people harmed from fluroquinolones suffer a lifetime of permanent symptoms and disabilities.

During Charlie’s journey, Lee found huge support in a large online community of others suffering fluoroquinolone toxicity. She found it heartbreaking to learn how others were suffering and how their lives had been permanently affected, and initially shielded Charlie from these stories of suffering in hopes of keeping Charlie positive and focused on healing. Eventually, though, Charlie did her own research and found her own community. Through social media she connected with other people her age who were suffering similar adverse reactions and provided her support. This inspired Charlie to commit her life to helping others. She is currently studying medicine in Australia and plans to enter the field of functional medicine where she can promote a healthy lifestyle and preventative medicine.