Antibiotic treatment symptoms and conditions

I took Levaquin for a sinus infection March 26th... 5 doses of 750 mg. I felt slightly better initially but that lasted only a day. I think it was prescribed wrongly, I had a virus and was getting over it... not a bacterial infection. The problems started about a week after the 5 day course ended. I ended up in the ER feeling like I was going to die, some strangeness in my breathing and feeling as if I was having a stroke... like I was going to pass out. They found nothing wrong except an elevated blood pressure and did a d-dimer to see if it could be an embolism (at my insistence, I had no idea this could be from levaquin and thought I was having a stroke. After the ER visit, I just felt like I had the flu, but I didn't... weak, extremely tired with some muscle aches ... two weeks out I had a lot of pain in both legs, like charlie horses that didn't go away... that lasted several days to a week... the weird depersonalization and the anxiety has been intense throughout. Constipation (never ever had it before this drug) started about a month out from taking it. I still feel pain in my legs from time to time and a feeling like there is a tight band across the top of my left foot... like when you tie your shoe too tight and need to loosen the shoe strings, but I am not wearing shoes.

I have been taking this Leviquin for 4 days. I have had severe cramps in my calves and feet in the middle of the night. So bad that I get up and try to step em' off but to no avail. My muscles hurt so bad in my legs arms and I have been very sick to my stomach. Do these things go away? I am not taking one more of those pills. I would rather have sinus and bronchitis problems than deal with these horrific side effects!! Any feed back?

I have had pain in my knees and legs after taking levaquin for pneumonia for 10 days. I am weak. It is hard to get up and down and very painful with steps of any kind. I am very depressed from the pain and inability to find anything that will help. I have been to an orthopedic doctor and had X-RAYS. Just given anti-inflammatory. No tendon or obvious reasons for pain. What do you do now? Who do you go to for help? In
the mean time, my breathing at night has gotten worse again.

They had me on a 600mg dose to begin with, which I cut way down to 200mg daily.I have high blood pressure and tachycardia and it does lower all that quite well. However, I am scared to go to bed at night, because I wake up shaking like I'm having seizures, I feel like my whole body is twitchy. Leg cramps, ringing in my ears, vomiting, nausea, dizziness, hot sweats, cold sweats, dark spots on the wall, (my blood pressure was normal), thirst, panic and anxiety, not caring about life or the house or bills, and horrible dreams, no appetite, then increased appetite, insomnia,and this all started about 3 days into the meds. Let your body adjust to it, yeah, it's getting worse so we'll see.

I was hospitalized with a severe kidney infection, later to be told it was e-coli. After several days of intravenous antibiotics along with prednisone in my IV to help manage terrific arthritis pain, I came home from the hospital with a prescription of levaquin, prednisone and something for my stomach that I could have gotten over the counter. I have progressively gotten sicker on my stomach, had severe attacks 3 to 5 times a day, headaches, extreme fatigue and weakness. Worst of all were the crazy thoughts when I woke up partly due to nightmares and partly to just not feeling myself and having a feeling of loss of control of all my emotions. I told my husband I believe I was going into a depression. After stumbling onto this site, I threw the 5 remaining levaquin in the trash and thank God that I found all the information I have today on this POISON. I agree with many that the side effects far outweigh any good this antibiotic has done for me. I continue to be very sick and weak. I just hope when I wake tomorrow this mess is out of my system for good.

I am a 57 year old male, who is in very good shape and active playing sports. I had a bad cold and had just finished a 3 day "burst" of prednisone per my asthma specialist. I am supposed to keep it on hand and take it if my usual meds and "rescue" inhaler are not working, and I feel that I am going into an infection (asthmatic bronchitis). The steroid treatment did not work, so I saw a doctor who prescribed Levaquin (with a coupon for $15 off) - for 10 days. The pharmacist remarked that they had seen a LOT of these coupons and that the drug reps must be doing their jobs. I read the warnings which noted that "in rare instances, ...". after I got home. Since I was leaving town immediately and did not have time to change meds, I took the Levaquin. I have suffered leg cramps for over three weeks now and don't know when or if they will disappear. The cramps appear in my hamstrings, groin, thighs, and calf muscles. They are debilitating. Sometimes I can barely walk. I am no longer able to play racquetball. I try to stretch out and warm up thoroughly before physical activity, but the cramps still appear in one muscle group or more - then I stop immediately.

Update: I took Levaquin 2 months ago, stopping after 7 daily doses of 500mg for an upper and lower RI. I did not have the extreme reaction to it that others here suffered. I had general fatigue, brain fog, loss of appetite, dizziness and tight joints. I had always exercised regularly prior to Levaquin. I also had a sudden onset of bloating and inability to digest food. Doc said Levaquin wouldn't cause those symptoms. It's hard to tell if it was the Levaquin, but...

Now 2 months after my last Levaquin dose, my joints seem OK, I can exercise, although I don't push it too hard since that can aggravate any joint damage done by L, the brain fog is better, and the digestion is still a problem sometimes.

Levaquin symptoms can appear months after the last dose, so I am being vigilant.

God bless everyone here who has had horrible experiences with Levaquin and I hope that your bodies will heal as the months go by. I will be posting updates in the future.

after about a week on my methadone my feet and ankles swell they diagnosed it as cellulitis but cellulitis doesnt go away w/out antibiotic treatment so the next 2x it happened i didnt get antibiotic treatment i just put my feet up and stayed off them and the methadone and the swelling went down! also after about a week i start to do random episodes of passing out once with my face in bowl of cereal and once doing dishes and this was at prescribed dosage!!! be very careful i am on blood thinners and i think the dosage builds up quicker in my system perhaps. i didn't tell doctor because they work for my pain better than anything else he has given me and its hard enough to get something that even takes the edge off my pain i have so many medical problems that three very reputable neurosurgeons refused to operate on me due to my risk of stroke and i am only 49! i have deg disk deg joint rheumatoid arthritis, bilateral neuroforaminal stenosis in lower back l4-5 and s-1 several disks that are dehydrated and dessicated , many bone spurs poking in spinal canal in cervical spine every disk in cervical spin either bulging herniated or previously operated on severe arthritis in feet toes and severe nerve damage in right foot where big toe and baby no longer can lift up neuropathy in right arm radiculopathy in left missing protein s in blood which is the protein that keeps your blood from overclotting so i have been on blood thinners since 29 yrs old and have had several pulmonary embolisms b4 age 29 and proper diagnosis and the list goes on! and yet even though i got my soc sec disability by myself w/out lawyer assistance due to list of medical problems which spoke for itself i still cannot find a doctor who will try to work with me realistically on a pain management program that even manages to take the edge off to enjoy the quality of life enough to be able to spend time with my 4 yr old granddaughter doing things like fishing and playing with her in ways that i would like such as camping amusement park rides (which they have forbidden!!!) can anybody out ther help me find a doctor who will not be afraid to prescribe something that will really work enough to put me back in the game off life ? did i mention that i need right hip replacement it is bone on bone and left isn't far behind and lower back was listed as severe bilateral neuroforaminal stenosis needing surgery also as of 2 yrs ago and also need several cervical surgeries and that i have a benign tumor in thoracic spine that cant be operated on but does still cause pain! so please if you can be of help to me/as winter is upon me now ,which as we all know multiplies most of our pain problems so speed of the essence!!!!xoxoxoxo please e-mail me if you know of any doctor who can be of real help managing pain no surgeon will touch me due to risk of stroke , i stayed awake for last major surgery it had to be done risk outweighed stroke risk if it didn't get done. i am currently on methadone 10mg 4x daily and it barely takes edge off and causes too many side effects which i wont tell dr. because it is the closest thing ive had to pain relief and have been on same dose for 4 yrs ,and my pain has no hope of improving but only the certain knowledge that it is going to get increasingly worse every day and my granddaughter only has me her grand papa and her uncle, my son, that she can depend on being ther in a good role model form as well as being her only consistent source of love ,affection and proper parenting! I love my daughter but her and her boyfriend ,my granddaughters father of course, are 2 of the most self centered people on earth and unfortunately they put their needs b4 thier own daughters on every level and in way to much detail for me to put here i need only say this combine 2 totally self centered individuals with a pretty big cocaine addiction and you will get enough with that to know my dilemma! they buy her many clothes n toys n moviiiies to keep her busy while they play but never enough food or mmeds or real needs such as affection, love ,food, drinks etc!! they both work in a hosp making great money but i have to provide my sweetie(grand baby) with food meds affection love and all the things they should be doing! this is why it is even more urgent i am able to function well w/out as much pain as possible she needs to be here with me and her pa pa in a healthy ,wholesome loving and affectionate home she loves to bake and read and learn with us she never wants to leave and it tears my heart out when i drop her home with her daddy and she cries hysterically because she doesn't want me to go and she wants to stay with me and i cant! so please help me find a good doctor who can help me function at highest level w/out pain but also as coherently and safely as possible!!??? i would be forever indebted to you for your kindness and help! e-mail is ******* please send referrals or recommendations of any and all sorts tysvm, i live in the area of erie county new york tysvm,xxxooo tysvm for all your time ,much love, pained and troubled grandma in n.y who needs your help to be able to help my sweet grandbabyxxxooo