I was given a Rx for Levaquin on Dec 17th (5 day dose). I started it on the 17th. By Saturday the 20th, I wasn't feeling good at all, my ankles, knees, hips, elbows, wrists and finger joints hurt. I only had one dose left so stupid me, I took it.
I have had pain ever since. I had read the sheet you get from the drugstore when I had the Rx filled. I remembered something about possible joint pain but didn't think much about it until the pain didn't go away after I stopped taking the drug.
Wednesday the 24th, I looked Levaquin up on an internet drug site and looked at the side effect list again. That is when I realized that the pain I was having was under the "notify your doctor" category. Their office was closed until the 29th. I tried to call the 29th but the phone was always busy. I finally got through today and told them my symptoms and told them to put in my chart to not give me that drug again. The nurse called back to say that they put it in my chart and to take otc stuff for the pain.
I have been taking Advil and a combination pill of glucosamine and condroitin (those are probably not spelled correctly - sorry). I am better but still not 100%.
Today is the 31st and my last dose of Levaquin was Dec 21. I am down to knee pain and a puffy feeling (not really swollen externally but feels swollen internally), left shoulder pain (worse in the morning when I wake up), my hips hurt off and on and my ankles hurt off and on. I am concerned about one of my ankles because I already have a haglund deformaty there so there is already damage to the area.
When I try to get out of a chair, I feel like I am 90 (I am only 49). I really hope this gets better soon. I haven't heard anything about a law suit or anyone who has a way to speed the recovery. Please, let me know if anyone knows how to help this get better faster.
Faster? There are many of us who would like th know the key to getting better faster. The only problem is that "faster" is a relative term. Some people I have talked to are 5 to 8 years out. To them, my improvement at 2 years would be faster. Still, it is a daily thing I live with and it has been 2 years. At 6 months I thought I had done well and then the real problems started as my tendon damage became apparent and my bicep ruptured. After that, many tendon problems occured. So faster is a very individual thing.
As far as the lawsuits go, just do a search. MANY law firms are jumping on the Levaquin bandwagon now that the boxed warning was recommended by the FDA. Good luck collecting though, big Pharma has big resources.
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