Didnt work symptoms and conditions

Thank you for this site...although it is too late being I already poisoned myself with my 1st dosage - I know better now to STOP TAKING THIS DRUG IMMEDIATELY.
31 y/o male - non smoker - In good overall health.

What happened...(brief history of what got me to the point of being prescribed this horrid drug)
I caught a cold a few days after drinking quite heavily at a wedding (Aprox 1 month ago). It was severe enough for me to take a trip to this new doctor that is in my network and nearby (how I wish I could use my old family doctor that is out of network).
Symptoms then were congestion in my head and upper chest, cold sweats, runny nose. The doctor told me to take some over the counter stuff and try to fight it off w/ Mucinex, and Zyrtec - and lots of liquids. If that didn't work, he asked me to return.
It took about 5 days, and I seemed to kick the cold.
Approximately 2 weeks went by where I was feeling fine, then it seemed as if I was coming down with something again. (Last Thursday was when I started feeling ill)
I think what brought it on this time was breathing in excess dust at work opening some skids of paper in our warehouse.
Anyhow, this time around I had a pretty serious cough, felt feverish, and fatigued.
Sunday morning I woke up and took two Mucinex to break up the cough (which work great by the way)...and I hacked up something awful enough to call my doctors emergency line and have him paged. I was ready to go to the ER. It wasn't just phlegm or mucas - it was a soild mass of lord knows what containing blood. It look like an organ from a small critter.
Doctor said to keep taking the Mucinex and if I didn't feel better to come see him.
The coughing got worse on Monday, and the mucus I was spitting up wasn't pretty.
I went to see him yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) and he said its time to start you on an antibiotic and diagonsed me with an Upper Respiratory Infection.
He gave me Avelox, and Advair, and I asked for some of the good cough syrup w/ the codeine. He also sent me for a chest X-ray.
I got home around 4pm, made some food, then took some syrup and tried the advair.
I waited to take the Avelox til later on in the evening so I could set up a routine as I work nights and 9pm would be good.
I took the Avelox, around then, along with another dose of the cough syrup.
Around 1 hour later I felt extremely nauseous. I would burp, and feel almost ready to vomit...it was my body rejecting this horrible drug. The nausea came and went, came and went - then I got tired.

I laid down around 11pm and then the REAL trouble started. I must have fell asleep for about 30 mins, then woke up suddenly gasping for air...It felt like my heart was about to stop. I sat up in the bed panicked. I then got a little nervous, but calmed myself down, drank another glass of water and tried to fall back asleep. Sure enough just as I was about to drift off, the same sudden feeling of my breathing or heartbeat was interrupted and I sat up again. I had tingling in my chin area and in my arms. Walking to the bathroom I felt slightly disoriented and dizzy, and my legs and whole body felt weak. I also started getting itchy in my legs and groin area. Now I'm scared to go to sleep so I come to the computer and started researching this Avelox. It's 3:30 am now as I'm writing this. I looked at this site and http://www.fluoroquinolones.org/ before decided to post my experience.
I am still very itchy, slight nauseous, and feel disoriented. I'm scared to lay down to sleep now, but hopefully that will wear off soon - but I feel very nervous, uncontrollably. I almost want to induce vomiting to maybe get out any of the drug that is left in my stomach, but hate vomiting.
I will not take another dosage of this Avelox, no matter what this doctor tells me...and will give him a piece of my mind for prescribing this instead of something like ammoxocillin or just penicillin.

I was given Levaquin after a post surgical Staph infection was confirmed. I too had the side effects described by so many others. Extreme muscle aches, joint pain even in my fingers, insomnia, nausea, vomiting, dizziness. My Dr. said to try to fight through it because the Staph infection needed thia particular antibiotic to cure it. I am 5 days into my 10 day dose and I can't keep taking the pills. I am scared and don't want to end up in the hospital again. He tried to give me a prescription for Bactrim but I said no because i can't take it. I have worse side effects with it than I have the Levaquin. I can't stay wake for more then 1 hour and I dose off but wake up with 15 minutes feeling drained. I can't walk very far without my legs feeling like jello. My WHOLE BODY HURTS!!