Bicep tendon symptoms and conditions

My son (14 years old) was given levaquin for a sinus and ear infection
2 weeks ago. Around the same time he began practices for his high school baseball team. He complained about his legs being stiff and aching. We assumed it was the intense practices causing his muscles to ache. After a week on the drug, he could barely walk and his knees were swollen. We were very concerned and looked up the side effects of levaquin on the internet. We were shocked and angry when we found out that levaquin should not be given to children under the age of 18 because on the possibility of joint and tendon problems. Today we went to the orthopedist and he drained a lot of fluid off of both knees (it looked like about a 1/2 cup from each).The doctor thinks it has to be a side effect of the drug, because the symptoms began at the same time. He doesn't
think after examining the knee and having him perform certain tasks that he has damaged any tendons. He has all the symptoms of rheumatiod arthritis. He is very athletic and plays competitive sports and we are praying that his knees are not permanently damaged by this drug. Parents please research all drugs and there side effects before giving them to your children! Doctor's DO make mistakes!! The pharmacist failed us too.

It has been almost two years since I took one tablet of 500 mg levaquin for a throat infection. I immediately felt lightheaded, then came the hot prickly skin, rapid heartbeat, insomnia and just a feeling of doom. I did not take another pill. Right after this my ankles started to hurt and podiatrist said had a torn posterier tibial tendon. To this day, I cannot walk without a limp, and can only wear athletic shoes with orthotics. If I stand for or walk for a small period of time I am in a lot of pain and have to sit. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis from the inflammatory markers in blood tests and rf factor, even though mri of my hands and wrists are normal. My right shoulder and arm hurt, my wrists and fingers hurt, my knees, neck. It is better, but I will never be the same as I was - no more running, walking my dog, going camping with my daughters girl scout troop - can't go hiking. I am 50 and I feel like I am 90. Would like to sue someone.

The doctor prescribed Levaquin for an infection that I had. After taking one pill I awoke with a heaviness on my chest, shortness of breath and tingling down my left arm. I have never had any of these things happen to me before so I suspected a reaction to the Levaquin, but the doctor told me to go to ER, from there they admitted me to the hospital but found nothing wrong with my heart or lungs....I continued with the Levaquin and after 6 days I had a pain just behind my left knee. On the 7th day it went to pain behind my right knee. I could not straighten out my leg without having pain. It was like the tendon was very tight and hurt....tendinitis???? On the 8th day we discovered Levaquin could cause tendinitis so stopped taking it. That has been over a week ago and I can hardly walk and if I straighten out my leg it produces excruciating pain. It has effected my shoulder and wrist also....Also found out that this tendinitis can come back in the future just from this medication. Is there a suit going on about this? Please reply if anyone knows of one. I think we need to take action with all the problems this drug is causing.

As I have stated here before, I had a terrible time with side effects from Levaquin. Everything from extreme fatigue to a ruptured distal bicep tendon. The damage this stuff causes is not to be taken lightly. It is poison! For more info: ****** While a wiki might not represent a professional opinion, it sure does show that others are having similar problems. How long will the medical community continue to deny the reality of this stuff?

I took 4 500 mg doses of Levaquin for a sinus infection on Aug 19-22 2008. I am now almost 5 months out. I suffered multiple adverse reactions and have been waiting to post to see how things resolved. I am 39 years old and in excellent health. I rarely see doctors and have never had anything chronic. This is what I experienced: extreme fatigue, all over muscle soreness/stiffness, severe headaches, tingling/numbness in hands/feets, serious shoulder problems requiring ortho, physical therapy and chiropractor, irregular heart rhythm, irregular kidney function, constant ringing in my ears, impaired vision. Currently most of these are resolved except irregular kidney function (although this has improved), shoulder issues (not normal yet) and ringing in my ears.

You can't judge the full scope of your reaction by your body's initial reaction. As time unfolds you will get the big picture of how this drug harms the various systems of the body.

I can not begin to explain how taking this drug has impacted my life and my family. I have 3 children to take care of. I thank God that I am healing and have now resumed almost all of my daily activities. I pray that I will soon be back to full health. This is absolute madness. I am so sorry that so many of us have been injury in such a way.

OH MY GOD!!!! I thought I might be imagining things. I was prescribed Levaquin and clyndamycin on December 15 2008 for a urinary tract infection that appeared to have gone systemic. After 2 days my right knee swelled up. I went back to the Dr the next day and he looked up both antibiotics in his little book and said the clyndamycin could cause joint swelling and pain. He told me to stop taking the clyndamycin and take 600 mg of ibuprofen for the joint paig. His little book said nothing about levaquin. Well I kept taking the levaquin and the pain spread literally to every joint in my body. I could not walk and had trouble even holding a coffee cup. The pain was unreal. I completed the 10 day course of the levequin as instructed. The joint pain was getting worse. I called the Dr. again and they did blood work to rule out arthritis and stuff like that. He put me on prednisone which has significantly helped with the pain. He said it may be a coincidence that I have developed arthritis and that it had nothing to do with the UTI. Well as I was watching TV last night I saw a lawyers commercial for a law suit against levaquin and cipro. Then today got on the internet and found this site. I am going to call the Dr. and tell him to update his little book he looked up the levaquin in. My fear is how long after you stop taking this poison does the joint pain end? I wish I would have known all of this sooner. I will never take this drug again.

I've been on Levaquin for only 2 days, combined with Prednisone... Taking them due to a nasty sinus infection. One of these two meds is making every joint in my body hurts, as well as me having lost almost every bit of my sense of taste. I ate general tso's chicken today for lunch and could not taste anything, so as an experiment I ate one of those little red Chinese peppers that I normally throw out because they are WAY too hot - I couldn't taste a thing. Last night I had to drop the air condition down to 68 degrees as one of these two meds made me sweat very heavily and uncomfortably hot.

I have just finished taking Levaquin for a 10day treatment for pneumonia. In the last 5 days or so I have noticed stiffness in my achilles tendon (no pain) until I get moving. I have also notice a tremor in my hands and no muscle weakness and shaking in my triceps and quads. Of course I hadn't read the precautions to this drug before noticing these symptoms. I contacted both my pharmacist and physician and neither seemed concerned and told me if I was really worried to go to the emergency room. I am wondering if these symptoms will disappear since I am no longer on the drug, how long it will take, and how long I should worry about tendon damage----is the possibility of rupture forever???

Question for you all. I have been on levaquin for 6 days 750 mg. For the last 3 to 4 days my hands have been killing me and it is getting worse, my knees, and shoulders hurt now. After reading your remarks I am calling doc first thing in the morning. Please let me know if you have any advice for me.

I have been taking Levaquin for sinus infection after Augmentin didn't keep it from coming back. All I can say is that I am completely exhausted. I wonder if it is the drug or something else. No muscle pain. I don't know if I should stop taking it or continue. Tonight I was walking for exercise and couldn't finish because I thought I might faint. My heart was beating and I was shaking. Do you think it is the drug? HELP!

It saddens me to read all the horrible effects this drug has caused. My husband took Levaquin back in August 2007and after 2 days starting have aching muscles, joints, drenching night sweats, high fever, rash. He took this poison drug for days(for a swollen lymph node in groin) and the side effects would not go away. He too was a very healthy 43 year old who worked out 4-5 times a week and very physically fit. This went on for months. He was tested for TB, AIDS, Lyme disease, I think every infectious disease and lymphoma, all came back negative. In Oct. 2007 he was hospitalized for 6 days and we were told that he had a very rare disease called Still's Disease. (google it and read about it please) I with all my heart and soul feel that LEVAQUIN brought this disease on. There is very little known about Still's but it's scary to think that doctors are giving this poison to patients. My husband has been on daily injections of Kineret, Methotrexate and Predisone since October and thank God these meds have given him relief. PLEASE DO NOT TAKE LEVAQUIN and tell all you family, friends and co-workers about it!

Prescribed 500mg of Levaquin for sinus infection, along w Medrol Pak steroids. Although steroids can cause restlessness, they do NOT cause COMPLETE anxiety, nightmares insomnia and aphasia. I took only 4 pills, 1 each day, and it's like i boarded THE CRAZY TRAIN. Fluoroquinolones are apparently known for their intense and dangerous side effects, and if it is true that this is also an antidote for anthrax poisoning, it's probably something that should not be prescribed for sinus infections. SEVERE side effects, chest tightness, etc. No wonder they will not rx it for teenagers-I am a healthy 42 yr old woman and would NEVER take it AGAIN,.

PLEASE READ:

I have posted my side effects here before. Was floxed at least twice but didn't put 2 and 2 together because the side effects came well after I had taken the medication. I caught it this time because I was on a higher dose. I was on Leva-Pac 750mg for 9 days. I have had 2 distal bicep tendon ruptures and surgery each time.

It's nuts that there is no treatment for the person who is floxed and how many doctors and hospitals are telling us this is all in our head. This needs some coverage. I had thought about Sonja Gupta on CNN but every other commercial is from a drug company.

Then I thought of Helmet Oz on Oprah. He is into alternative medicine and if he did a segment on Oprah I think it would raise awareness. I am writing and urging you to do the same. I am telling him my story and the lawsuit that Public Citizen with the Office of the Illinois Attorney General against the FDA to blackbox this medication.

Please follow my suit and submit a letter and also spread the word to other floxed web sites. The link to Oprah is
http://www.oprah.com/email/reach/email_showideas.jhtml

Crapshot, thanks for the info on your thoughts. But in my case as well as others I do not believe this is at all related to Candidiasis. If you scroll down and read my post you will see that I have snapped two biceps from Levaquin. This in not the first time I was Floxed But the other times I was on lower doses and the symptoms didn't appear until well after I had finished my prescriptions. Not only did I have to have 2 surgeries but I was also having heart palpations and severe joint pain that went away after months of my body cleansing itself. This time I figured it out because they put me on a higher dose for a longer period. This time around the symptoms started before I finished my course. I quit taking the Leva-pak and googled the side effects. And they were spot on. Not only do I take probiotics and vitamins daily but I work out and do cardio 4 to 5 times a week, and eat a healthy diet. At the ripe ol age of 41 the doctors were amazed that I have torn each bicep tendon from the bone in a 2 year time period. I AM blaming the pill. Also Public Citizen along with the Attorney General from Illinois is suing the FDA to get this Black Boxed. They are also suing the FDA because they haven't been updating the newer cases of tendon ruptures. It's easy to blame the consumer, but do you think I would have taken this after my history with this medication. If they had the proper warnings and black boxed the tendon rupture I wouldn't have even allowed this drug to be in my house. I'm glad you didn't come away with the serious side effects but please don't blame the patients.

I have been on Levaquin over 6 times in the past 2 years for upper respiratory infections. I just came off another levapak 750mg for 10 days and my biceps were feeling really tight. I mentioned this to my doctor but he said it was a common side effect. After researching this today I am shocked about the tendon damage. I have had distal bicep tendon surgery on each arm on separate occasions in the past two years. Now I am terrified this is going to happen again. None of the surgeons could figure out why someone my age (41) could do this twice in under 2 years. Has anyone found a way to reverse this? I am terrified to go back to the gym or even lift anything. My biceps are so sore and I have been off the Levapak for 3 days and my biceps seem to be getting more tight and sore each day. I can't face having another surgery. This drug should be taken off the market.

Well, I am not posting a side effect. I actually stumbled upon this website while trying to look up whether hypoglycemia is a side effect of Levaquin. I am a physician assistant and routinely prescribe this medication. Unfortunately ALL medications have the potential for causing many many many different side effects. Obviously one has to weigh the benefits of using the medication with the risk of side effects. And certain side effects are obviously more common than others. While I appreciate the point of a website like this, it is very frustrating for me, as a clinician, to read someone posting things that are absolutely untrue which can potentially cause undue distress or worry for everyone who may read it. I am referring to the person who wanted "to let everyone know of the relationship between levaquin and vancomycin." Her only source for this WRONG information is a nurse who told her daughter. Did she ever think that the nurse could be wrong and that maybe before posting something like that she should ask a pharmacist or a physician. Vancomycin and floroquinolones are not related pharmacologically!!!!

As we all read the messages posted on this board I'm sure we are all wondering how long will the pain associated with this drug ( that I myself have after just 4, 500mg pills ) will last under normal conditions. The pain I mean is muscle related, does it go away with time.

Took leviquin 500 for 8 days before I realized what was happening to me. Side effects included: severe panic, altered mental state, constant sleep, loss of appetite, pounding heart rate. After 2 trips to the ER no help was provided. I stoped the Leviquin early (was supposed to take it for 3 wks) and immediately started feeling better. The anxiety is much less but still present and I still sleep all the time.

Has anyone had similar experiences and, more importantly, how long does this last?

Please help!