I have taken three 500mg doses of Levaquin since Saturday. They ...

Please don't take the cipro. This poison accumulates in your body. If you had a reaction to levaquin you will have one on cipro. pleae stay away from this class of drugs. Have your Dr. note your record that you had an adverse reaction and should not be given any fluroquinolone again.

As noted by the above respondent some writers on this topic have reported that the adverse effects from injesting flouroquinolones are cumulative. Adverse reactions appear to the result of some hurtle level having been attained, e.g., adverse reactions occur after a certain unspecified cumulative amount of flouroquinolones have been injested. And, yes, cipro and levaquin are both in the flouroquinolone family. You'll have to take most of the comments in these columns with a grain of salt. Most of us are lay people without formal medical training, but who are motivated by a curiosity to find out what ails us.

I have taken both Cipro and Avelox with no problem. But the Levaquin gave me tendinitis in the knee, severe chest pains, insomnia, anxiety and blurred vision. The chest pain was so awful, I was sure it was a heart attack at first, but it subsided within 5-10 minutes. While I had no problems with the Cipro and Avelox in the past, my doctor now says I should avoid the entire group. He is not the same doc that gave me the Levaquin.

Hi there!

I also have only had trouble with Levaquin, to a lesser degree, Avelox. But Cipro no side effects. I took Levaquin one year ago for a post surgical infection. I had not had any of the fluoroquinolones before. It worked quickly on my infection, but I had the side effects of tinnitus, anxiety, dizziness. They were bothersome, but not bad enough to stop the drug. Then 4 days into the drug, I got arthritis in my fingers. I stopped taking it then, and the joint pain cleared within two weeks.

In the past year, I took Avelox once. dr. said it would have less propensity for "serum sickness". I still had some dizziness/headache, but not the joint pain. But I stopped it and switched to another anyway.

Then a month ago, I was given Cipro. I had no side effects with the cipro. Then a week ago, Levaquin again. Mentioned the joint pain, was told, yeah, that can happen. After fourth dose, I was having serious adverse effects. I now have widespread aching/pain like the flu. Dr. drew blood to test for "serum sickness". I was also told NO fluoroquinolones even tho Cipro didn't give me side effects. I am getting a medic alert bracelet because I don't want this rat poison again.