This is an update about my son who took Levaquin 16 months ago wh...

This is an update about my son who took Levaquin 16 months ago when he was 16 years old (he is now 17). My son was given Levaquin September, 2007, to prevent an infection after minor sinus surgery. His symptoms were severe muscle weakness (he would get exhausted walking from the parking lot to a store and back, severe joint pain (in thumbs, wrists, elbows, knees, and ankles), dizziness (he felt like the room was moving away from him and would lose balance), and headaches (a severe pressure in the back of his head that was constant and then shooting pains in his head that would come and go for no reason). He then developed IBS a few months after taking Levaquin. He was an athlete at the time and in very good shape. Prior to Levaquin, he was rarely sick and headaches were equally as rare. He was a junior at the time and as a result of the Levaquin, missed most of his junior year. He kept up through home instruction and maintained 2 honors classes, but had to drop his AP class. In the first 4 months, his muscle weakness, dizziness, and joint pain (except for his knees) went away. As a parent, it is very painful to have your son hold his head in his hands and ask you to make the pain go away…but you can’t. It took 9 months for his 24x7 headaches to go away. His IBS recently went away after giving him enteric coated peppermint pills twice a day. All that is left now is his knees hurt when he plays sports, so he can't. The knee issue is pretty minor compared to where he used to be. Here are some things we learned: 1) We tried giving him magnesium, potassium, selenium, calcium, and B-complex after the Levaquin...but it didn't make him better; 2) We took him to over 20 doctors; most couldn't believe it was Levaquin, but some did; 3) Ortho-McNeill will admit that Levaquin can cause these symptoms (I called them); 4) There is no magic pill, once you have ingested Levaquin and develop symptoms, you can only treat the symptoms; 5) Numerous tests of all types over several months never came up positive for any disease or illness; 6) Filing a Medwatch report with the FDA is important since every report helps; 7) Levaquin is not FDA approved for anyone under the age of 18, but is still allowed to be prescribed; 8) Doctors get most of their information on drugs from the pharmaceutical representatives, so BEWARE and do your own research before taking medication; 9) Most drugs have side effects, but beware of the ones that have long lasting effects like the fluoroquinolone family; 10) Never ever lose hope or the belief that one day you will be better. The power of faith does wonders for your health. I don't know if this post will help anyone. People are affected by this drug differently and recover at various rates. Most people do recover and you need to believe you are one of them. Fortunately for my son, it looks like he is okay now, but it has been an extremely long, difficult road. Keep your faith as my son did, and I'll pray that you all recover. If you haven’t taken this drug yet, then don’t. If you are taking it, then stop. If you have already taken it and have developed symptoms, then be strong and keep the faith.