Avelox and arms and legs

My wife has been ill and was recently diagnosed with a sinus infection, upper respiratory infection, and middle ear infection. She was prescribed Avelox, along with a combination of corticosteroids, a NSAID, and another medication.

Today was her third day, and LAST day of taking Avelox. The adverse reactions began yesterday when she began complaining of body aches and dry mouth. After waking this morning, she found that her entire neck was swollen, stiff, and sore to touch. We believed that this problem was probably glandular, caused by the sinus drainage, and we expected it to subside through the day.

As the day went on, she began to feel fatigued and the soreness continued to increase, escalating to tenderness and a physical pain response to touching her neck.

She took her third dose of Avelox at 9 p.m. and the reactions escalated from that point. Within an hour she felt her lips began to tingle with a numbing sensation, and believed that her tongue was swelling. She also began to feel the soreness and pain spread across her body, extending to her abdomen, arms, and legs.

Luckily, I have a significant amount of medical and emergency response training based on my career, and was previously a pharmacy technician. On top of that, I'm blessed with a father who is a DoctorPh. and has spent over 20 years in hospital pharmacy. I recognized the signs of these reactions and called my dad. We agreed that the Avelox was the problem and gave my wife 50mg of Benadryl.

It is now 1:40 a.m., and the effects are still ongoing, however they appear to be subsiding. In total, my wife experienced: muscle and joint pain, stiffness, numbness and tingling of the entire body, swelling of the tongue and neck, gastrointestinal pain, nausea, body chills including uncontrollable chattering of the teeth, an epidermal pain response to any physical stimulus (even the slightest touch), and also another reaction that I have not seen listed anywhere else -- her entire lyphatic system seems swollen and tender. You can actually feel the swollen nodes across her body (neck, arms, legs, etc.).

I am very thankful to have found this sight. I am sorry that so many people have experienced similar effects, however their stories have assisted me and my wife extremely. Our physicians office will definitely be receiving a complete and detailed account of the experience with this drug. Thank you again!

I took this after landing in the hospital with mono, strep and pneumonia. It seemed to work well to treat all of those (combined with another antibiotic) but it has bad side effects--dizziness, nausea, rash all over (arms and legs especially...and it gets worse in the sun), and i've also noticed little bumps all over my lips. I'm not sure if this was caused by the avelox or the famciclovir they gave me...has anyone experienced any of these side effects with avelox? I'm especially interested in anyone who has experienced bumps on their lips...

I have bronchitis and my doctor prescribed Avelox. I have never been allergic to anything so I thought that I would be fine. So, took it for the first time yesterday and by 7pm I was having tingling all in my arms. I really didn't know which meds would have caused it. I am also on Prednisone and Hydro -PC for cough. Went to the doctor this morning they wanted to see me....he assumed that it was the cough medicine and took me off of it. Took my antibiotic this afternoon and guess who has tingling in arms and legs...Yeah, I am coming off of this. I have been talking my self through a panic attack, can't sleep and my eyes are kinda droopy. My face feels weird.....I will never take this again.

I took Avelox for the 1st time 3 days ago for a sinus infection. After the 1st pill I began sneezing uncontrollably. I didn't sleep a wink that night. I took my 2nd and 3rd dose the next few days and literally had not slept for 3 days straight-total INSOMNIA. My hands and legs felt so tingly I had no idea what was happening. I felt faint. Then my mouth became so dry. I couldn't breathe-all I kept thinking was my throat was closing up. It was horrible. My teeth hurt, my lips were swollen and dry,my vision was blurry,vomiting,loose stool.... My eyes were sore and swollen and I had no idea I was having an allergic reaction to the Avelox. Today is the 1st day I haven't taken a dose and I'm still feeling funky. Tight chest and blurred vision bad.I am severely fatigued. I just wonder how long this medicine stays in your system.

I am a 43 year old female who, until I found this site, thought I was dying of bone cancer - I am not even kidding. I just finished the last of my 10 day prescription for Avelox (for bronchitis and sinusitis). And I feel like I have been beaten about the head and body. Honestly, every part of my body aches and I can barely walk. I have absolutely no energy; throbbing and shooting pains up and down my arms and legs. Not to mention sharp pains in my chest area periodically. I have very clouded and unclear thinking abilities; and my neck and head hurt so bad not even an 800 mg ibuprofen helps. Oh and let's not forget the chills which are right down to the bone - I cannot get warm and I have yucky night sweats to boot. I would most certainly be interested in a class action lawsuit. I really hate that I took 10 days worth and wonder when I will start feeling better. PLEASE DO NOT TAKE AVELOX - it is not worth the painful side effects! The prescription flyer I received with the medication did not mention any of the side effects I encountered.

Let me just start off by saying that I have not had any allergic reactions to medications before. I don't have allergies to any foods or external stimuli like dust or pollen. But literally two minutes after taking Avelox, I started sneezing uncontrollably. Then my nose filled with mucus and I started itching all over my body, most notably on my arms, legs, and scalp. Then I felt that my skin was burning. I looked in the mirror and my face and body were bright pink. I called the pharmacist and she told me to take Benadryl and if my throat started to close up I should go to the hospital. Well, I didn't have any Benadryl, because I don't have any allergies, so I had to drive three blocks to the CVS. At this point, my face is starting to swell up: my eyelids, my nose, my lips and my ears are twice their normal size. I have hives all over my arms and legs. I'm shaking because I feel so cold--my body temperature was only 94 degrees. I took two Benadryl but it didn't really work until I took the 2nd dose four hours later. I ended up at the hospital because I felt like there was something stuck in my throat and was unsure whether that meant that my throat was closing up, but they were so busy that I never made it past triage, where my blood pressure was only 80/40 and my heart rate was 120. We waited in the waiting room until I was able to take the second dose of Benadryl and left. All this after only one dose. I would advise extreme caution with Avelox.

My husband was prescribed Avelox 3 weeks ago when he was diagnosed with pneumonia for the 2nd time in 2 years. It seemed to work quickly on the pneumonia, but he has large bumps under the skin, like cysts and the skin above the bumps is red. They seem to be popping up randomly on his arms and legs and some will fade away. The 2nd dr that he saw at the clinic said it wasn't aside effect of the Avelox, but was a bacterial skin infection. She just kind of jumped around from one diagnosis to the next, which leads me to believe that she is clueless! My husband can barely walk now and I fear at least tendonitis or at worst, tendon damage. He has an appointment with another dr tomorrow for a 2nd opinion. After reading some of the horror stories connected with this drug, I have to wonder why this was prescribed when they could have given him the same antibiotic that he responded so well with the last time he had pneumonia. I will post the new doctor's diagnosis tomorrow.
JReynaud