RUNNER's BEWARE!!

So now that my wedding is over, you would think that I would have some time to be relaxed and settle down. WRONG!

The Monday after my wedding, getting back into the swing of things was harder then I thought it would be fitness wise. My first two workouts were HORRIBLE...stiff joints and my sinus infection was slowly creeping back into me. Wednesday I went back to the doctor and he prescribed me with some stronger antibiotics. If I could take back this day, I would. I explained to him that I am just getting back into the working out again after a two week layoff due to the flu, he said that I should be fine with working out, as long as I don't have a fever. He put me on a 5 day does of Levaquin. I asked about the side effects and he said that I would have nothing to worry about, and that the only major side effect are tendon issues, but since I was not 60 years old or older, I should have nothing to worry about. So I popped the pill thinking nothing.

On Thursday, I started my second dose and by Friday (my third dose) I felt as if my body had been hit by a train. I started to notice extreme pain in my Achilles...a complete flare up again, as if I had been running on it for days, but in reality I had had no physical activity to make it flare up. My calf muscles throbbed, I had trouble laying still. I figured I would google search the side effects and oh my gosh, I started freaking out!! The tendon issues were not just common in the elderly, but any age. Now, I know the Internet can say some crazy things...but usually such side effects are not noted in the Runner World's Forum. How did I not know this!! I threw the meds out and Friday was my last pill (three doses). Friday night and Saturday night, I woke up with extreme calf pain and a throbbing toe (weird.) By Sunday, I was able to hit the pool and all of the pain in my muscles had subsided except for my Achilles. Today is Tuesday, and I am still icing it. The heel lifts hurt it more so I am avoiding those until it is stronger.

Well now, here is the crazier thing I discovered last night. After thinking about the last time I took antibiotics...it was right after my Costa Rica trip in the summer. I contacted Traveler's Diarrhea. Well three days after taking those antibiotics, I hopped on the Treadmill and strained my Achilles and it has never been the same since. I have never, ever had joint problems in my life before this. I have worked out my entire life and the only injury I had ever had was a minor issue with plantar. So I called my Doctor's office and requested the name of antibiotics that they put me on....Ciproflaxin (from the same family of Levaquin)! I could not believe it!! This summer the doctor told me nothing of any sort to be careful when running, or any side effects of a tendon rupturing.

Ciproflaxin is an antibiotic used to treat many serious infections or even moderate sinus infections. The FDA has put a black box warning on these medications (the family of fluoroquniolone) because of the tendon ruptures. Evidence has shown that the possibility of pulling a tendon is 1 in 100,000 but new studies are popping up right and left. There are law suits all over the country regarding these antibiotics. The problem is that know one really knows how long these side effects can last, it can be up to 6 months!

I am beside myself right now. I can't believe that doctors throw this medicine out with out really laying out the side effects, epically when they are made very clear that their patient is highly active.

As I ice my Achilles at the moment, I have made the sound decision that from now on, unless I am deathy ill I am staying away from antibiotics. Has anyone else heard of these antibiotics and their side effects?

I am MARRIED!!

So I have been MIA for the past week or two...but I have some good excuses. I got married!! These last two weeks have been the craziest weeks of my life. Not only did I get hit with the flu and had been recovering, well that turned into a bad sinus infection so while finishing up planning for the wedding, I dealt with rounds of antibiotics. On top of that, it was parent-teacher conferences last week so I worked three fourteen hour days. By Thursday I was a little unsure how if I would actually make it to my wedding weekend. I pulled it together, took loads of vitamin C and rested when I could, and by Saturday I was 100%.

I have never been happier and Craig and I can't stop smiling. We actually can't take our hands off of each other. It was stressful getting there, but we would have never done it any other way. I have so much to look forward to with our life together.

The honeymoon will wait till the summer, and I have today and tomorrow off of work. We are working on getting my name changed and applying four our first home loan so we can purchase our first house.

Here are some wedding pictures to enjoy, and of course there will be more professional pictures to come later down the road. Enjoy and I am so happy for life to be back to normal (I had my first workout this morning after two weeks, it kicked my butt...but I finally feel healthy again!)

Longest 5 Days

It has been the LONGEST five days of my life, hence the reason why I have signed off from the blogging world for the past week. I have been hit by the FLU! Last week starting on Monday I noticed that I was just overly exhausted. I was taking extra rest days, but my muscles were not recovering (staying sore for days) and I was barely making it through my day without feeling like I was going to fall over with exhaustion. Friday, I had plans on taking an extra rest day because I was so zonked out and I woke up not feeling right...dizzy and a little shaky. I made it to school and ate my oatmeal thinking that it might help, it did not at all. As soon as the kids walked into the classroom for the morning, I knew I was not going to be able to make it through the day. I called the Secretary and got a sub for the day. A good call it was, the moment I arrived home my head was in the toilet about every hour. Between sleeping all day and throwing up, I tried eating whatever I could but it would come right back up. My whole body ached from head to toe, I felt like death. Craig came home and bought me lots of Pedalyte for me to drink and some soup. By later in the evening I was able to choke down some food.

Saturday and Sunday were spent eating, drinking fluids, popping vitamins and sleeping all day and all night. By Monday, I was a feeling a little better but man was I weak. Today was the first day I woke up and felt about 100%, besides the small lingering headache I have not been able to kick.

I did well and waited this flu out before returning to exercise. Today, after school I figured I would give it a shot and did a light workout on the spin bike for thirty minutes followed by 15 minutes of light stretching and hand weights. It felt so good to get my legs moving again. I have plans on taking tomorrow as another rest day and Friday return to my normal workouts before school.

All I can say is that THANK GOD this came this past weekend and not next weekend. Now that I have been sick, all I can think about is staying healthy for next weekend when I get married. I tend to over analyze everything, so of course I want to be 100% on this day. I am scared to death that this flu is going to render itself back into me days before my wedding...I am really stressing. I have been popping Vitamin C, drinking vitamin water, eating tons of citrus fruits, consuming so much water, eating all my calories, popping other vitamins and taking Airborn like candy just to ward off whatever might be in me. I don't know about you guys, but I hate it when I have a big event coming up, I just can't relax. I just can't allow myself to go through my normal motions of life without thinking that this or that might happen that will effect that big day. So yes I am so excited to be married, but I will be so glad when this is over with!!

Ever had the flu?? How long did it take you to recover?

How are you with big social events?