May 15th
2008
3:15 AM
I was recently prescribed Cipro for a UTI. I've been on it for 6 days now. The first night was crazy. I felt excitable and when I finally did fall asleep I had the most intricate, amazing dream, almost lucid. The next day I felt a boost of energy and was running circles around my husband while doing yard work. The third day was when the pain hit, soreness in my elbows, knees, feet and hands. I attributed it to my previous day of insane energy. Right now I'm feeling quite bloated and I have this dull pain that feels like it's in the marrow of my bones. I have a tingly sensation in my muscles and my mind is a foggy, yet racing haze. Two more days of this and I'm hoping for the best. I didn't even know I had a UTI. I just know I was feeling very lethargic and had horrible pains in my left side and bad back aches, which now leads me to believe I had a kidney infection. Hate to say it, but I think I am experiencing the lesser of two evils. What's worse, raging, possibly life-threatening bacteria, or anti-biotic over kill with severely inconvenient side-effects?
-- By jewelergirl | Reply | (2) replies | Private Message me
March 27th
2008
7:17 PM
My beautiful 11 year old daughter was on Adderall XR 20 mg per day for 4 years. After about 2 years she started to develop some minor facial tics. After 3 years the facial tics were worse along with severe head shaking and she also started to develop trichotillomania (obsessive compulsive hair pulling). The hair pulling continued until she was almost bald. Her grades began to drop and she withdrew herself from her friends and family. Finally, we took her off the medication in October 2007 at age 12 and she immediately stopped the tics and hair pulling. We have found 3 other families whose daughters have developed these same symptoms after being on this medication for at least 2 years. We have filed a report with the FDA as our own doctor had no idea that this medication was causing the hair pulling. Now 5 months later her hair is growing and the tics are approximately 97% gone. We have taken her to a homeopathic doctor and she is doing absolutely great now. Marks have gone up and she is smiling and socializing. I am so happy we have our daughter back. The side effects of this drug was definitely not work it.
-- By rhondap | Reply | (10) replies | Private Message me
January 29th
2008
3:34 AM
The Advate administration can cause a FXII diminution?
Our patient 42 years old male in 9/09/07 presented a CNS bleeding (major). The BW=145Kg,. He treated with 10.000 unit daily with pump (continuously). During this time the level of FVIII remained between 80-125%. No appearance of an inhibitor. But he has a platelet count 63.000/μl and FXII=30%.
January 2th
2008
5:56 AM
I went to my doctor on Monday December 17, 2007, because I was experiencing a fever, chest congestion, with an extremely painful cough. He gave me 7 sample blister packs of Levaquin 500mg, and a sample Pulmicort Flexhaler 180mcg. He also prescribed a cough medicine for night time if I needed it. He said I had bronchitis or a possible pneumonia he couldn’t hear. I also used a nebulizer with Abutrual.
On December 23, 2007 I awoke with the most intense pain I have ever experienced. My wrists, finger, toe, elbows, knees and ankle joints all hurt. My muscles in my legs and back burned. My hands, fingers, feet, toes, and shins felt like they were “asleep” or the worst pins and needles ever.
My husband went online and found out that is was most likely caused by the Levaquin. And thankful I was taking TWO steroids! So when I called the company that makes Levaquin they told me to stay in bed! When I asked them how long this could last they said 1 week to two months.
As of today, the pain in my fingers, toes, wrists, elbows, ankles and knees, which is like tendinitis is mild to moderate. The burning in my muscles in my legs and back is still intense. The “pins and needles” is affecting mostly my hands and feet and my left leg from the knee down. I also still have a deep pain under booth knees. I have also experienced a periodic facial twitch on the left side, below the eye about 1.5 inches.
I am weak, and completely unable to get around do to the pain in my legs and feet. I am furious that my doctor prescribed a medication that could cause these problems without warning me, as samples do not come with warnings. I feel disabled, angry, and would like to know what I am supposed to do now!! Has anyone found anything that helps with the pain?
-- By queensoccermom | Reply | (3) replies | Private Message me
November 25th
2007
12:27 AM
side effect: bleeding at urethra
For a long-term sinus infection that has drained my energy, I took my first pill in the Leva-pak about noon today with a large glass of water. Ate lunch. Planned to vacuum, but it was difficult to get into and around in our garage (we made a space for a car to go in now that mornings bring frost outside.) So I ended up moving things around in the garage. Major moving around, some stuff heavy. I was thrilled to have energy and strength to actually do something at last and to think of how long I had been listlessly surviving and at times even bedridden before this magical pill.
About 8:30 I came in to pee and found my undies bloody. Bravo, I said to myself, 10 years post menopause and I got my period again. This is the drug of youthfulness: energy and menstruation. Fortunately I still have a few sanitary items around for female friends who visit, so I got to be one of my friends.
But it seems that the blood is coming from the urethra, not from the vagina. And I have some discomfort there. So I recalled that the drug pakage said to drink plenty of water and realized that I hadn't had any more drinks since about noon or 1. I drank another glass of water and headed back to the garage.
I finished up the garage (who said I'm obsessive?) about 9:30 and came in to find out more about the new drug. I saw that the pack said right on it that drinking plenty of liquids PREVENTS THE FORMATION OF CRYSTALS IN THE URINE. So I drank 2 more glasses of water, thinking maybe crystals have formed in my urine and are cutting into the tissues of my bladder and urethra making them bleed. Guess these crystals must be softer than kidney stones or maybe much much smaller, because I've seen the pain folks get with kidney stones, and I would not be sitting here reading your experiences and now typing up my own to share with y'all if I had as much pain as kidney stones cause!
Anyway, with those two more glasses of water, I came online to see the deal with urethral bleeding caused by Leva-pak, and what do I see. Well, the first website I went to said about reading the pharmacist's paper that came with the L-pak. (My doc calls it L-pak, and I hope it's not gonna be L for me as it has been for most of y'all.) Now I wondered if the pharmacist had even put one in. Went and looked and sure enough, there it was, and it said to drink plenty of water "to prevent the formation of crystals in the urine." No further info about those crystals or their side effects. Some words about bleeding but totally vague, like does drinking water cure bleeding?? Who knows?
That paper the pharmacist put in my bag also said that one of the side effects can be "excitement". I thought, that's my side effect, and I am very happy about that. Garage is too. Hubby is too. Life is good. Leva-pack is good for me, for us for the world.
Anyway, back at the puter, eventually I found y'all and your many stories of pain and suffering caused by Levaquil. But, lo and behold, NOT A ONE OF YOU HAS MENTIONED MY BLOODY SIDE EFFECT. That goes to show what drinking plenty of liquids can spare you. Save ya a quarter wasted on sanitary pads you coulda given your female guests. Save ya from washing blood out of your undies again. Save ya from worrying about whether to call the doc (pharmacist is home in bed by now and tomorrow is Sunday. It figures.) And whether to take another pill.
Sheesh, it's a slow business trying to type up my story for ya, now 11 and time for more water, I figure. Be right back again...ok. I see the bleeding continues but it's a LIGHT DAY.
Well, now I've read this whole webpage top to bottom, and I feel pretty worried about taking enough of this Levaquil stuff to get exploding tendons and total nerve damage and pain and suffering and crippling and insanity and death by anaphylactic shock if I take another one.
I probably will take another one, just being sure to drink plenty a water too. Excuse me a sec while I go get another, as it is now after 10....okay I'm back now.We'll see as time goes along about taking any more. And if I am a good scout, I should come back and provide the REST OF MY STORY in a few days.
I saw that someone here said that Cipro is a fluoxosomethingorother too. I don't know why the doc didn't pick Cipro for me today instead of the Leva-pak. Maybe the last drug rep in his office gave him some good lines about the advantages of L as opposed to C, who knows? Anyway, if Cip and Lev are in the same family, I must say that as a postal employee, I am ready to take Cipro at the drop of a hat if our new machines spot anthrax in the air where we work. Sounds like those postal employees who died would have survived if the docs had recognized what was wrong with them and given them the Cipro early on. At least, other people who showed up sick afterwards with anthrax exposure got Cipro, and most of them survived, I heard.
The upshot is that I hope we don't take away the fluoxisomethingorothers until we find somthing better. Law suit perhaps, but not to deny the life-saving drug from EVERYBODY because some folks have bad side effects. Instead, we should find out how to test each person for having trouble taking it. You know, put a little drug in with some of their hair and a little in some of their blood and a little in some of their pee and see if it curdles or grows sprouts or something to show how each patient will react to it. Then tell each one what to expect from the various drugs available for that person's ailment. Then the patient can decide which side effects he wants to sign up for or if he just wants to stick with his original ailment.
I have not decided whether I will take any more of these pills. I will observe my crochety side effect and watch for any new ones that may pop up before I make my decision each day. I am very very concerned about long lasting muscle and tendon pains. I have not been able to hike now for about 3 months due to loss of energy, strength, and confidence. And I sure don't want to miss 3 more months trying to get over exploded achilles, burning knees, seizures, or nerve damage etc.
As a postal employee, I never do any research into cures for ailments. I am fairly experienced with ailments. I cannot provide you with any good excuses for not seeking to find cures for our health troubles.
I feel lucky to have been born when and where I was. I waited until central heat, air conditioning, cushioned seats in heated, air-conditioned autos(spare me from buckboards on unpaved "roads"), and penicillan. That penicillan brought me through pneumonia in 1947. Had I arrived 5 years sooner, I doubt it would have been available to me. Hmmm, I wouldn't a been available to share my story with you folks this evening either. So I must say a blessing for all those who try to improve my health when I go to them for help with my various complaints. Sure, money may be highly motivating for some of them, but Donald Trump and Bill Gates found ways to make money without going into medicine or research and drug development or doctoring.
So far, that's my story, my red flag today.
May THE FORCE be with each of you as you search for the best solutions for your ever-new mind and body problems. May we seek wisdom widely and recognize that what used to work for us often won't work any more because our bodies keep changing. We are along for the ride and hope to make it as pleasurable as possible as we round each curve and surmount each hill.
God bless us all, each and every one.
Christmas is coming...Tiny Tim's words echo through the years.
October 28th
2007
7:41 PM
I am a physician and have prescribed levaquin to many people. I have had some of them complain of what they thought were serious and variable side effects but mostly I attributed their problems to anxiety and hypochondiasis. I now know differently. I took levaquin, and for over a year I have had serious CNS anxiety, insomnia, joint and tendon pain, and widespread peripheral neuropathy. It has been an awful time and since realizing that the effects are often long term I have been able to identify many other patients who have developed serious long term problems with anxiety, depression, arthropathy and tendonopathy, neuropathy and possibly endocrine effects like gonadal failure and worsening of diabetes. There are no long term studies done post marketing to identify these effects and to unify all of these problems into one syndrom of fluoroquinolone toxicity. This is a big problem and I believe thousands of patients have been adversely affected by the use and misuse of levaquin and probably the other fluoroquinolone antibiotics. I have other colleagues who are beginning to recognize the long term consequences of levaquin and the fluoroquinolones. More research and study needs to be done. In the mean time I am sure that Johnson and Johnson, Ortho- Mcneil, will continue to refute that the incidence of serious adverse reactions is much higher than they report.
-- By reynolds | Reply | (4) replies | Private Message me
August 11th
2006
1:11 PM
I am extremely sensitive to SSRIs and most drugs that affect the CNS. However, Paxil always seemed to be a miracle drug to cure depression, at least until I have to taper off of the medication. I've been on and off for about 4 years now, because it always seems to make me too high to function, no matter how low the dose is. This time I came off of a low dose of Paxil after a couple of weeks (my body simply can't handle it).
The side effects seem to be that I never really went off of the drug. My thoughts are not as complex as they were, my libido is almost non-existant, I pay little attention to detail, and I can't get stressed about anything (not even to get my work done). My memory is bad and I don't fantasize or daydream about anything. It's almost as if I'm stuck in the present constantly, not thinking about the past or the future, thus causing little thought before I speak or act (thought about the consequences).
I don't know when this will end. It's been months and I feel slightly braindead, but happy. I need to bring myself back to normal so that I can do well at my job (I have a fairly high level job in higher ed), and plan for the future... back to grad school.
Oh, one last side affect is that if I do get pushed into anger or annoyance, about a second later I can't even remember what I what the outburst was about, while the other person is still recovering from the outburst. Not a good thing at all. I wonder if anyone has any suggestion or similar experience? I can't wait for this to be over, if it ever will be.
June 23th
2006
2:10 PM
I took Levaquin for a sinus infection about 8 months ago. While taking the course I began having heart palpatations, tremors, restlessness, muscle spasms, pain in my neck/throat and seriously strange hallucinations. I called my doctor and asked if this was a common reaction to the antibiotic and he said no but thought it may be a thyroid condition. I spent time exploring metabolic possibilities etc. and the blood work came up normal. Most of the side effects disappeared but my eye sight never recovered (I became super sensitive to light) and I occasionally suffer from heart palpatations, tremors, migraines... all of which I never had prior to treatment. Recently I had a sinusitus flare up and was prescribed Levaquin again... after the FIRST dose my tongue swelled, tremors, heart palpatations, hallucinations PLUS the entire left side of my body went numb. I knew immediately to discontinue when I researched it myself and found most of the CNS complaints/side effects were mine as well. It has been over 6 weeks since the last exposure and I still am suffering from heart arhythmia, head aches and my sight is a major concern. I would love to know if there was some way to treat these symptoms/effects efficiently since it seems most last for quite some time?
-- By yoga_emma | Reply | Private Message me
January 3th
2004
7:00 AM
birth defects including,
seizure disorder (uncontrolled at times)
microcephaly (musculoskeletal system disorder)
partial agenesis of the Corpus Collosum(CNS/ Corpus Collosum partially
absent)
cerebral palsy(gross motor delay)
milk allergy & constipation(both trigger seizures)
urogenital malformation
Levaquin (4) PredniSONE (1) Floxin (1) Paxil (1) Advate (1) Cipro (1) Adderall XR (1)
July 11th
2008
11:17 AM
I went through a horrible withdrawal from ativan two and half years ago. It sent my CNS into overdrive. But I eventually got better. I have been extremely well and able to teach full time this past year. Then I got a very bad case of poison oak and was put on prednisone for 9 days, starting at 40mg. and then coming off at 10mg. I am so very sick again. It took me a year and half to recover from the benzos. How long does this horrible diarrhea, nauseousness, inner vibrating last???
-- By vibrating | Reply | Private Message me