Ligament symptoms and conditions

I was put into the hospital in March '06 after using a carpet protectant that I purchased at the pet store. The chemicals in the product burned my lungs and I spent about 3 weeks in the hospital and was given prednisone for 10 -12 days. I remained in the hospital after my lung function increased because of the sever pain in my knees. My husband was going nuts trying to tell the doctors that he read on the internet that prednisone causes problems with knees and joints but they didn't believe him and kept running tests. They eventually switched the steroid to solumedrol and the pain decreased. I was sent home with less pain which eventually went away....but not for long. 7 months later, I began to have knee pain, which continued to get worse each day. The 1st Ortho told me that I tore a ligament and that the dead bone on the MRI will grow back. I didn't like that answer and eventually went back to an orthopedic surgeon I saw a few years prior for an injury I had while doing gymnastics. He took one look at my MRI and diagnosed me with AVN in my right knee. I got my 1st total knee replacement in August '07, a manipulation in October '07. While recovering, I noticed that my left knee was hurting and thought it was from using it so much and compensating for the right one......but I was wrong. I got an MRI on my left knee and once again, I have AVN. I got my 2nd knee replacement in January '08, a manipulation in February '08 and a 2nd manipulation in March '08. I'm now 29 years old, with asthma (from the carpet spray) 2 fake knees and have had the worst 3 years ever while going through all of this. I now have pain in my 1st replaced knee......under my knee and toward the inside. I go back to my surgeon tomorrow and am dreading another surgery.

If anyone has any questions, I'll try to help you as much as I can.

J.

I was put on Lipitor 10 mg. last Spring about 8 mos. ago. I have never taken medications/drugs other than aspirin or Motrin or antihistamines. Since that time I have had a strange combination of unexplained symptoms arise throughout the months. These sx's included: Headaches, stiff neck and severe neck pain, acute shoulder pain, hip pains, joint pains, severe knee pain (tendon or Ligament problems?) and loss of movement, hair loss, jaw pain and some memory confusion. Initially, I had severe HA's for several months, but attributed them to stress, however, I had never experienced HA's as a common occurrence. Then we went away to our Maui house to get away from stress, HA's continued, along with leg and shoulder pains. At the same time, I started noticing several strands of hair falling out if lightly touched my hair to move it out of my face. The pains seemed to move around my body at different times, for no apparent reason. I am used to daily exercise, living in CO in the mountains @ high altitude, not usually having muscle soreness. Now, given my leg and knee pains have gotten so bad, I cannot hike and have difficulty climbing my stairs. Skiing is out. Snorkeling caused leg cramps. No explained reason for having muscle tenderness or soreness without my usual exercise at present time. When the pain leaves one area it tends to arise in a different part of my body. At the present time, my hair loss has subsided, as also my jaw pain and headaches. However, my leg pains and knee pains are so acute (for no apparent reason) it is impossible to exercise and difficult to walk that I looked up adverse reactions to Lipitor, finding all my sx's most probably might be attributed to this drug. Partially my fault for not looking up RX information prior, especially being a medical professional for many years. My husband kept throwing away the info when purchasing the RX. Too many unexplained symptoms, I decided to obtain the drug info. myself. I tended to make excuses for months, such as: I am getting older, under stress, must be an old injury, not exercising properly, need PT therapy etc.... I am dc/ing the drug immediately and have an appt. with my MD on 1/5/09 to discuss.

I commenced Lipitor 14 years ago at age 47. At that time I was a regular tennis player, walker and generally fit for my age. No problem with Lipitor for the first couple of years until I began to experience hip and low back pain. My GP diagnosed arthritis. Gradually became worse and I started to gather injuries (over stretched ligament in right knee which refused to heal, plantar fasciitis twice) My back pain became far worse, I persevered with tennis believing that exercise would help. I began to "trip" on the carpet and going up stairs (foot drop). I was sent for a CT scan in 2002 which showed spondylolisthesis and root canal stenosisss. On advice from doctor I stopped tennis. Referred to a neurosurgeon who after several months carried out a laminectomy in July 03. Cleared to recommence exercise in December 03 which is when my nightmare commenced. I developed bursitis in one hip, stopped walking until it settled, then excruciating pain in feet, and then bursitis in the other hip and continuing foot pain. I developed rib/back pain, again diagnosed as arthritis even though I felt the pain was muscular. I had one session of aqua aerobics and woke the next morning with plantar fasciitis which continued for 3 months even with doctor, physio and acupuncture treatment. I was then referred to a Spots Medicine Dr who ordered bone scans/x-rays which revealed a stress fracture in my foot. In 2006 I began to notice that my right arm had a tense feeling all the time, I had a loss of dexterity in my right hand which assumed a claw like appearance and my normally neat handwriting became practically illegible. My physio recommended I see a Rheumatologist who said I had "no more arthritis than I would see in any 62 yo", he sent me to a Neurologist who after 5 mins diagnosed Parkinson's Disease. Within 7 weeks of commencing the PD medication I was experiencing Restless Leg Syndrome every night. The neurologist said that my condition had "progressed" and increased the medication - twice. I was then getting RLS DAY AND NIGHT and getting no relief OR SLEEP!!! Finally after 12 months misery my GP suggested that I try coming off Lipitor to see if that was causing my body pain. Within 6 days I felt better, my muscles became less stiff and relax. I went back to my Neurologist who refused to accept my claims, he insists I still have atypical PD (because I do not have tremors). I told him the cure is worse than the complaint and against his advice I weaned myself off PD medication and Lipitor. It was hard going but I NO LONGER SUFFER FROM RLS AND MY DEXTERITY IS SLOWLY IMPROVING. I still have dexterity problems with my right fingers but the tense feeling in my right arm has gone and my "claw" hand is starting to relax My muscles feel bruised all the time. I am still taking my blood pressure tablets and 150mg of Co-Q10 a day. I have been off Lipitor 9 months. It has been a painful journed for the last 8 years and a nightmare for 12 months. My GP has marked my records as "allergy to statins" but says she just doesn't know if I have Parkinson's. I know that I will never take this awful drug again. My cholesterol has skyrocketed but I will have to try and lower it naturally and take the risk. I constantly feel like I have worked too long and hard in the garden, all my muscles are so sore. I really need to know if this damage is permanent and if this drug has caused Parkinson's Disease itself or just PD like symptoms. I guess I will just have to wait and see. I don't think doctor's believe us when we say Lipitor is doing damage to thousands of people. They love it!! When we are aging we are not surprised to get diagnosed with arthritis and this is why we take this medication unwittingly for so long.

They deleted my prior post. Apparently I included too much information that might be helpful to someone. I took Cipro and it's in the same class of drugs as Levaquin. If you want to know about herbal remedies that may help you, type in my name on this forum followed by dot com. That's the closest I can get to giving information without being censored. Sorry.

I've been taking Levaquin for about 3 weeks. Last week, suddenly, every joint in my body started aching. I mean from my neck, hands, hips, knees, ankles, feet, everything. For the past week, when I wake up, I can't even make a fist without experiencing excruciating pain. I've always been very active, running, basketball, soccer, skiing, you name it, so this is scaring the heck out of me. I'm 47 years old, and up until a week ago, I was hiking with my family, running everyday with my dog. Now I feel like I'm 100 years old. It hurts to walk, stand up, etc! I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow! I'm ticked about this!

I am 43 yr old woman and have been on simvastatin on and off for the past 3yrs, it's only since coming across this website that I have actually managed to find a connection between this awful drug and a whole heap of medical problems. The most recent course made me so ill that I thought I had an incurable illness that no one could diagnose, at times I have been in so much pain I thought I was going to die. It started with severe knee pain, I have a little arthritis in the knee but doctors were baffled at why it would hurt so much as x-rays on knees and hips were ok. I ended up having an operation to cut a ligament, that was over a year ago and had been in crippling pain ever-since. Also; foggy head, headaches everyday lasting all day, pain in jaw, shoulders, neck, swollen throat, incredible limb swelling, numbness all down right side, kidney problems, weakness in muscles, aching hips and legs, itching, insomnia, to name a few. I complained to my doctor when I was prescribed 50mg of this poison because as soon as I took it, I immediately felt ill and collapsed from terrible weakness, couldn't even lift a feather. They reduced it to 20mg, and I blindly kept taking it, in the meantime, my leg function was worsening, my back was killing me, I couldn't sleep because of the unbelievable burning in my shoulders, hip, neck and legs, everything hurt so much. I have been in tears from the pain and frustration of not knowing what was happening to me, painkillers, even high potency prescriptions just didn't work. I was a healthy gym-going person with a slightly high cholesterol reading, and suddenly, I was almost crippled, unable to function or look after my family, couldn't even handle simple chores that I had done a thousand times before, couldn't think, speak well, do crosswords, it was unbelievable. I have had ECG's, heart stress tests, been to and fro to doctors, hospitals, specialists, even seen an osteopath with these pains, they must have thought I was a hypochondriac! Finally, I insisted on an MRI on my thigh as it had changed shape as there was a lot of muscle wasting in both my right arm and thigh, and so much pain. A lump had also appeared and was really worrying me. The doctor tried to fob me off and said it was a fat lump, I argued that if it was fat it wouldn't hurt so damn much, so the result of the MRI is that I have a tumor which is getting bigger. If I find out that this is a result of the medication, the gates of hell will open.
I took myself off this lethal stuff immediately as soon as I realized there was a connection between it and my debilitating condition, though it's too late to save my 12 yr relationship, that went down the tubes because I just couldn't function well, oh, and my job. and any chance of working after being ill for so long.
I have been off it just a few days but already I feel almost human again. I know it'll be a while before I can see a marked difference and do some of the things I used to be able to do like walk the dog!! but I am furious with my doctor's and have written a letter of complaint, and have told them that I would rather take my chances with god and be a happy person than ever trust them again. I am in no doubt whatsoever that this drug has ruined the last 3 years of my life and probably caused irreversible damage to my leg muscles. Why take a pill because the doctor said so??NEVER AGAIN from now on everything will be checked via websites like this, I am so disgusted that instead of helping me, my own doctor just prescribed other medications I need not have had because of this pill when all he had to do was take me off it. I find it hard to believe that they don't know of these side effects, or pretend not to, how can they not make the connection?? Absolutely furious. I am in worse health now than I ever was, there should be a serious health warning before this is given to anyone, and the first port of call for any complaints should be the doctors who prescribe them instead of offering alternative solutions. This is a time bomb waiting to explode.

Also had baddddd viral infection of lungs/pneumonia...was put on Levaquin...hadn't connected the body/joint aches I've had ever since with the medication until now...
Feeding and grooming the horses last Saturday caused me intense pain the next day....
My rt ankle's tendon/ligament? on outside has a burning pain at times now....
I've never really been one to have much joint pain....

Knee pain. I was on Prednisone for a headache, as I have New Daily Persistent Headache, a rare, chronic headache condition, to try and break it. I have never had knee pain constantly before. I was a 10 day course of it. 80 mg for 2 days, 60 for 2, 40 for 2, 20 for 2, then 10 for 10. It's been 3 weeks or so since i've been done, and I still have knee pain. I'm very scared that I have avascular necrosis, even though I know it's rare, but I've been off the drug know for awhile but the pain is still around. Does anyone know if it is possible to get AVN after only being on the drug for 10 days??

I was prescribed Levaquin for recurring prostatitis by my urologist. I am a 33 year-old male and a moderate runner, about 15-20 miles per week and do half-marathons without much difficulty.

I started taking the pills in early August in the middle of the week. I ran two 7-mile routes over that weekend and felt more worn out than usual. I thought I was just burning out a little and did not run again until that following Saturday. I ran my usual 7-mile route but it was a living hell. I experienced weakness in my leg muscles, shortness of breath, and just a general, chronic fatigue. I was mad at myself--I was worried that since I had skipped by mid-week run that I had lost my "wind".

The next day I felt as if I had been hit by a truck. I could not get down the stairs in my home. I had severe pain in my Achilles heels and knee joints. My wife's good friend is a pharma rep and she explained to me that ligament tightening (with high potential for rupture) is one of the side effects. Great, I thought, my doctor gave me these pills without discussing any of this and now I have put myself at significant risk for rupturing a tendon and being on crutches for months.

I got off the pills but the pain in my knees was nearly crippling. I walked with a significant limp for three weeks after getting off the meds. Sitting for more than 30 minutes and then getting up would cause my right knee to not be able to bend and I needed to take several steps before it would loosen.

Of course, my running stopped for a month. I had to stop training for the Chicago half and full marathons.

Sitting here today as of October 22, I still have significant pain in my right knee. I am running regularly, but with about 50% the strength and stamina as before I got on the meds.

If you are a runner I would not consider taking this medication for any reason. The risk of a materially negative impact to your training and your lifestyle is significant.

I dont think these are new but I would like others to know before they take this medicine.I took levaquin for a prostate infection for 16 days -was supposed to take it for 30. I had many side effects including poor sleep,vivid dreams,muscle and joint pains,ringing in the ears,dizzines,fatigue,and most of all an overall nasty feeling-everything looked ugly.The medicine seemed to be working so I stuck with it in spite of these side effects.On the 16th day doing nothing more than just normal walking in my house I tore a muscle-ligament in my right calf.Now I am walking with a limp and severe pain and my urologist told me to immediately see an orthopedist as torn tendons are a possible side effect of this medicine.I wish I was told earlier.Take my advice dont take this medicine! You are just going to trade one problem for another.

In July 2002 I was prescribed Levaquin 500 for a 3 week period for a deep sinus infection to try to avoid surgery. After a few days I started having joint pain that continually got worse. The day after I took my last pill the day was so bad that I could hardly get up and down. The left leg and knee was worse. That night when I undressed to shower I noticed my left knee and entire leg were at least twice the size of the other one and there was a huge bulge in the back of my knee. I began trying to figure out if there was anything different I had done or taken and the only thing I could come up with is the Levaquin. I went online and found that one of the side effects was joint, ligament, tendon and muscle pain and that it could blow out the tendons in the joint. I have told three different doctors about this and they have all said they had not heard of this before. I am still having problems with my left leg especially. The bulge is still there and gets bigger if I have to be on my feet very long. I dont know what kind of doctor I need to see. Could someone please tell me the type of doctor I need to see...Thanks