how zyvox fucked my life

I have now had MRSA infections in my blood, tissue, and skin. I can say without (much) hesitation that I'd rather  risk any one of those infections again than ever take another dose of Zyvox.

While I was in the third week of my stay at Select Specialty (an LTAC - long term acute care facility, that from my understanding specializes in making sure that anyone who is ever a patient there will never live a normal life again) - I developed a second MRSA infection from a PICC line they had put in to administer IV medication. They treated this with a week of Vanco. After that my cultures were clear, but they decided to put me on oral Zyvox for a week to be sure the infection was gone. They started me on it while I was in the hospital, and once I was discharged we couldn't get the prescription due to insurance reasons. I got home and for about two weeks, began to improve steadily. I was getting stronger every day, more alert, able to walk farther and faster etc. Once the Zyvox prescription actually was filled, my condition began to decline immediately. My legs became severely swollen, and I was suddenly too weak to get out of bed or to walk without a lot of difficulty. At the time I didn't attribute these problems with Zyvox and just figured I had MRSA again, or was detoxing from all the morphine. I slowly began to recover from this set back, but in two months, still wasn't back to where I was a week after leaving the hospital. Then, in october I was hospitalized again for MRSA in the tissue, once again I was treated with Zyvox, and once again my legs became severely swollen. I was released a week a later, the swelling gradually subsided, but the numbness, incredible weakness (couldn't even stand for two weeks), tingling, and pain persisted. At first I thought it was a circulation problem, but after months it had not gotten any better - and a little research uncovered the truth - it was was the Zyvox. Zyvox has been known to cause nerve damage, some people who take it are afflicted with peripheral neuropathy - many even go blind.

This nerve damage may or may not be permanent. At the very least, it will be a long term recovery. I don't have a lot of feeling in my feet, and what I do feel is pain, like I'm being shocked. This has also damaged the musculature of my feet, and all together has made learning how to walk again harder than I ever imagined. I also have incredible weakness in my whole lower body - it has been 7 months since I have been able to stand unaided from a normal sitting position. To make a long story short - if at all possible, please investigate any and all alternatives before taking Zyvox!