I am on Levaquin 500 now for what I was told was a respirtory inf...

WOW, this sounds so similar to my symptoms. My ailment started out as a sore throat, then progressed to a headache then an awful nagging cough. I went to my doctor and he checked me out, my blood pressure was a bit elevated but my urine and my lungs were clear. I was running a low grade fever but nothing serious. He said it was probably just from post-nasal drip. He gave me Levaquin anyway in case I did have some kind of infection. The first day I took it...3 days ago....I felt like I had literally been beaten to death, it hurt to walk and I felt numb allover, that night I couldn't sleep, I kept having crazy thoughts and my legs were going wild and throbbing with pain. I finally managed to get to sleep but woke up drenched in sweat, my clothes and my side of the bed was as if someone had poured water on me. I have never in all my 40 years ever sweated like that. I am overwhelmed with hot flashes, even when I'm in an air conditioned place I feel like I'm on fire. I tried to go out shopping yesterday and it wore me out just walking from the car to the store. I mean I am a normal otherwise healthy 40 yr old woman here and shopping to me is the best fun in the world, but I was just too weak to even walk around in the store without leaning on the cart. I had my husband rub me down with Ben Gay last night and when he went over a spot in the middle of my back towards the right side...right under my bra strap it felt like I had been either shot or stabbed there...I actually screamed out when he just rubbed over it . I began feeling nauseas yesterday Still am today, even threw up this morning. I am taking myself off of this drug right now...too bad I did not read these posts until after I had already taken my dose today. No more for me.
~*Dee

I was prescribed Levaquin 750 for 5 days. It was the 4th antibiotic for a stubborn & very debilitating bronchial infection which prevented me from breathing sufficiently to walk 20 feet. I was careful to read everything I could find on quinolones after having a bad experience with a macrolide, azithromycin. I was not, however, warned to stay away from steroids & began Advair the next day. It was Day 3 that I began to notice I was in unusual pain - knee, neck, shoulder, etc. I had just moved my home & wondered if that was the cause. By Day 4, I was convinced it was the Levaquin. It did eliminate 1 specific bronchial infection, but the pain & sense of "illness" was alarming. It's 2 weeks since I completed the Levaquin & I pray I don't have to do it again. I still have joint pain, difficulty sleeping, agitation & malaise, along with thrush (which may be from the Advair). Hope none of us has to do this again. CMelder1