I am a 62 year old healthy male. About two months ago I was prescribed 500 mg. Levaquin by my urologist for a suspected prostate infection. Within the first 24 hours I experienced strange visual effects and extreme fatigue. By the third day on the medication I began to notice motor coordination problems. On the fourth day I awoke with chills, major hand tremors, and extreme motor coordination difficulties in my hands (I was unable to pick up a coffee cup with only one hand). I stopped taking it at this point, of course, and the symptoms gradually declined. It was a terrifying experience.
About one month later I had a relapse of the original symptoms and immediately arranged an appointment with my regular physician, who ordered a brain MRI and a prescription for a beta blocker to relieve the tremors. The MRI was negative. My symptoms improved markedly, almost immediately, and have not returned, even though I am no longer taking the beta blocker (after one month of regular dosage). I have my fingers crossed for the future.
I learned that my sister had similar reactions to Levaqui, suggesting that there might be a genetic predisposition to such an extreme reaction. From now on I will indicate to medical personnel that I cannot tolerate any member of the fluoroquinalone family of antibiotics.
As a side note, it turned out that I did not have a prostate infection after all but rather that a sudden upward jump in a PSA reading led the urologist to suspect the infection. A retest showed that the reading was anomalous, completely out of line with my history of lab tests for PSA. The worrisome part of this experience is the physician's willingness to prescribe such a powerful drug without clear indication of an infection.