You’re right. Flouroquinolones (FQ) are dangerous. They serve a purpose but only as a last resort when nothing else has worked and the risk to the patient outweighs the risk of the side effects. Unfortunately many doctors don’t know the full extent of FQ risks or the FDAs updated prescribing guidelines. Simple UTIs or in my case, an ear piercing infection, should not warrant FQ use. It’s like using a sledgehammer to kill an ant.
The damage they can cause can be extensive and irreversible. The multiple black box warnings are real. Most pharmacies don’t call these warnings to our attention beyond the insert which as you said we’re taught to ignore.
Tendons don’t snap because they’re tight. FQs actually cause them to deteriorate. They also cause aortic aneurysms and retinal tears for the same reason. The damage they can do is devastating . As a result, there is now an official diagnosis called FQAD, or Flouroquinolone Associated Disability.
I’ve had FQ induced neuropathy among other issues for 2.5 years. There is no fix. There are things that might help symptoms over time but that’s it. You’re 100% correct in that the symptoms might not present until weeks or even months after you finish the drug. For me it was 2 weeks. By that time the damage was done. Most people are unaware what FQs can do so they never make the connection between the script and the symptoms. Sadly, Physicians don’t either. They miss or dismiss the connection and just call your condition idiopathic and prescribe more medication. One doctor knowledgeable in FQ toxicity said to me, “If you take a drug proven to cause a, b and c and then you develop a, b and c there’s no mystery.”

There’s plenty of factual information about FQs out there. I implore everyone to read about the risks and trust that they are very real.