Favc 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.

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.

I took Levaquin 750 for 10 days for a sinus infection. I took first 5 doses, went to see my doctor again 6 days later because I was still sick. She prescribed again 5 does of Levanquin 750. I am still coughing and I feel very tired. It did not help at all. I am still sick and I have muscle pains in my two calves and stress Achille tendon. I am a runner and I have sometimes problems with my calf: I have been not running too much recently and I was wondering how come suddenly I had those muscle pains in both my calves. I am not sure if it is related to Levaquin, but when I read all those comments, I am worried. Why I have been prescribed this antibiotics if it is obviously dangerous?

I'm on day 3 of 750mg of Levaquin for walking pneumonia, and I feel awful. I've been so nauseous that I feel like I have the flu now. It started yesterday, but is definitely much worse today. I'm not taking any more of this medication. I'm calling my Dr. in the morning. I feel lucky after reading all these other posts.

I too have been on a regimen of 750mg of Levaquin for an infection on my leg. On day 2 I could not figure out why my upper keft arm was hurting me so much. I as so many others, wrote it off to hanging drapes and cleaning out my pantry. Four days later the pain started in my right arm and again, I was trying to figure out what in the world was going on. It's an intense pain like I've never had before. I have Crohn's disease so I wrote some of it off to that as well. I saw my Doctor today and didn't even think about telling her about the Levaquin (different Doctor prescribed it). As I lay in bed this evening unable to sleep I decided to do some research on Levaquin as it was the only thing I could think of that was causing problems. Boy, did I discover something. Thank you all for posting your issues on this website. I will be seeing the prescribing doctor tomorrow and will let her know the outcome of the drug and will make sure that I will never be taking Levaquin again. Too bad we can't get this word out to everyone being prescribed this drug. It's dangerous and hardly worth it. There has to be something else out there that we can take. .

2 yrs. ago my husband had been on Vancomycin for an infection from a hip operation. He had an allergic reaction and was given Levaquin in the ER. Not long after the dose was given, he was not able to walk at all his fever spiked and he said he was blind at one point. It did not last but since then he had been slowly declining. He has trouble with his inner ear balance and he can hardly lift his right foot to clear the floor. He bearly feels anything from the knee down on both legs. We have been to many specialists/neuros, MRIs, nerve conduction test and there is nothing to show what is the cause. Can anyone tell me how we could find out for sure if Levaquin may be the culprit.

Sue