bump_conn's Profile

My Side Effect Posts

Levaquin January 18,2007 I took my first of a seven day dosage of 500 mg. of Leviquin as a 2nd tier anti biotic. By the second day I couldn't get out of bed to get to the bathroom without help from my wife. When I did finally get there I had severe diahria for the first couple of days. Like a fool I trusted my doctor and stayed the course for the full seven day dosage. I finally called my doctor after I couldn't walk and scheduled another appointment that following week. He probed and prodded me , ordered some blood tests and scheduled an appointment with a rhuemotologist. In the mean time my wife Googled -"adverse reaction Leviquin". Well the fear of the unknown was solved BUT now I realise I'm stuck with something I might never get rid of , much less walk normally again.Well we armed with this information that was ALL over the internet and headed to see the Rheumatoligist. Some of you probably see where this is going. I was diagnosed with rheumotoid athritis. I insisted it was leviquin poisoning which he replied that he never heard of it. TOTAL DENIAL ! I was hoping for a cure, some answers, some hope that I would be normal again ---- but no , I get total denial from a professional. I'm guessing if there was ever a conspiracy in the medical profession , this was definately one. Well I needed a second opinion so I scheduled with a different clinic. I wound up getting more blood tests that only showed severe inflammation. All my joints in my hands, feet, knees,elbows, & shoulder were swollen. I love modern medicine. Anyway the diagnosis was that he was 95% sure it was "severe rheumotoid athritis" but ---- he would not rule out Leviquin because of experience with some of his other patients. At Last! Some ray of hope, not much, but enough to know I wasn't crazy for thinking that Leviquin was involved. Not that it mattered except for peace of mind because I was stilled treated for SRA. Its three months now and my kitchen counter looks like a drug store btween the meds and the vitamins. I've been on 25 mg's of methotrexate once a week, 10 mgs of prednisone 6 days a week with folic acid. For the first two months I was also taking 2400 mgs of Ibuprofin to help with the swelling. The last month I have cut that in less than half. Now I'm walking again although always having been a long strider my pace is quite a bit slower but nonetheless encouraging. But the intriguing part of all of this healing was I had also changed my diet drastically. I took (still taking) any vitamin, mineral, antioxident,(fresh from a juicer) that in any way shape or form was advertised in alleviating SRA. A two week vacation to Roatan was also squeased in where I partook in fresh fruit, fresh noni & fresh seafood . I combined this with daily snorkeling excursions. To make sense of this, I was being pushed around the Miami airport in a wheel chair (thanks American Airlines) on the way down. On the way back I was walking a decent pace while pulling my carry on luggage. So the big question is , was it the lifestyle change, the meds, or just time that has gotten me to this point. Don't really know and only kind of care. I'm just happy to be able to walk again , crumble crackers in my soup, take the cap off of a milk carton & open a beer can (I own a bar & resort). I have a ways to go yet but I'm encouraged by my progress. I had no idea three months ago how I was going to run my business when the season started. I hope everyone has as good of a spouse and friends as I have to help me when I was down for the 9 count. I hope this helps all the victims out there. I've also talked to nurse friend's and my pharmiscist and it's amazing how much of this drug is prescribed without adverse reactions. We're just in the minority, luck of the draw. Good Luck!