Levaquin and care physician

My husband was having gastrointestinal problems for about a week. The PA at his primary care physician's office prescribed Levaquin for 7 days. Blood taken ½ hr after Levaquin started showed liver levels to be a little high. By the 3rd or 4th day my husband was jaundiced. Blood taken on the 6th day revealed liver levels dramatically higher. He is still jaundiced and liver levels are still at the higher level. Had ERCP procedure, CT scan of abdomen and MRCP, but no conclusions other than stricture of bile duct and possibly pancreatic cancer, although a mass has not been seen on any film. Has this happened to anyone else on Levaquin? Doctors want to try ERCP again and if that does not work then the Whipple Procedure which is major surgery to remove a possible pancreatic cancer that they have not seen.

I was prescribed Levaquin 1000 mg. for 5 days for pneumonia the last week of December 2006. I was also prescribed Prednisone. Everything I ate tasted like metal. A couple of days after I started taking the Levaquin I started experiencing muscle cramps in my rib cage which are so severe it makes me double over in pain. After more than a year I still have the muscle cramps which now include not only my rib cage, but the arch of my feet and sometimes legs. I have a torn tendon in my left arm which didn't happen until about a month ago, but I am sure it is caused from muscle damage from the Levaquin. I am also on Advair Discus 250 which I didn't take before using the Levaquin. I didn't require inhalers or other medication before the pneumonia. My doctor now says I have COPD caused from asthma and chronic bronchitis. I used an Albuterol inhaler when I first got sick because the pneumonia was so bad. I thought after taking the Levaquin I would get back to normal. But even after the infection was cleared up I would get out of breath, so I returned to my doctor. She did an x-ray and said I had COPD and prescribed the inhalant. What I don't understand is that I didn't have breathing problems before the Pneumonia. I didn't have joint pain and muscle cramps either. I have had to quit working this past year because of it. I cannot go without the Advair, I can no longer walk long distances without pain. I have constant muscle pain just trying to do normal housework. How long do the effects last? Must be a lifetime.

On June 4, 2007 my husband had achilles tendon surgery on his left leg. He will be in a cast until July 19th at which point it will be determined if he has to be cast again. He took Levaquin 750 mg for 10 days beginning April 10 - 19th. On the early morning of April 21st he was CONVINCED that someone was trying to break into our home, he called 911 TWICE and the police came to our home to find nothing. I forgot to mention that he was also taking 500mg of Lortab for the extreme pain in his legs. Just after the police left for the 2nd time he took 2 steps and fell, rupturing the left achilles and tearing the right. I took him to the emergenceny room and he was so dehydrated that his kidney function had pretty much subsided. After 2 more visits to the emergency room he was hospitalized with Kidney failure. After a different round of antibiotics and fluids he was released after 4 days in the hospital. During his stay the swelling is his legs was terrible and the pain with the ruputures and tears of tendons was unbearable. After a vist to a rheumatologist she immediately diagnosed his injuries as a result of taking Levaquin. So currently he has a cast on his left leg and a boot on his right in hopes the right will heal without surgery. His primary care physician apologized because he didn't know about this drug. Surely there is something that can be done.

I was just given 750 mg 5 day pack of Levaquin over a week ago for acute bacterial sinusitis. I have have never taken this antibiotic before and since I am allergic to penicillin, the Dr. (who I have never met before) felt that it was a good option. Let me say that I am a physically fit woman with 3 small children and exercise everyday. I fortunately enjoy good health and rarely complain about anything.
Once I began taking this medication, I could barely function. The fatigue was incredible and I suffered from dizziness. The Dr. failed to tell me to stay out of the sun, and as a result I have blisters all over my legs due to the photosensitivity from the drug. I also had neck and jaw pain and still have knee pain. I do feel much better know, but still suffer from slight dizziness and fatigue. I would never take this medication again, and I hope that there will be no long term effects from such a short period of time. By the way, my Primary care physician who was not available the day I needed the antibiotics saw me for a follow up last week and told me that I am entirely too tiny for this drug, and it is generally prescribed to grown men. She also felt that all of my aches and pains were from a direct result of the Levaquin.

I am 61 years old, very fit and I exercise rather vigorously 2-3 times a week. I was given a free sample and a 7-day prescription for Levaquin by an urgent care physician. By the third day I was unable to pick up my coffee mug with one hand and had difficulty even using two hands due to weakness, muscle pain and joint stiffness. Since my PCP was out of town, I cut the pills in half. By the 6th day my heart was skipping every 4th or 5th beat and I had mild chest pain and gout-like symptoms in both big toes. I did not complete the last dose, as I was afraid it would kill me. Two weeks later, I continue to experience difficulty going from lying to standing and from sit to stand. I have to stand for a moment and then as I begin to walk, I am so bent and stiff that I look like something out of a nursing home. Once I begin walking, the pain and stiffness dissipates considerably, but the weakness is intermittent. I walked through Lowe's yesterday and wasn't sure I was going to make it to the other end of the store. I am having difficulty opening jars and bottles and even lifting pillows to make beds seems to be difficult. My hands are hot and swollen for a considerable time after getting out of bed. I am a medical transcriptionist, so this interferes with my typing. The pain, stiffness and weakness appear to be worsening and I am very concerned.

Caveat emptor! Apparently, big pharmacies make billions and then find it more profitable to pay a few law suits than to pull such poison off the market.

Levauin was prescribed for me as an anti-diarrheal when I received my yellow fever vacinnation for a trip to Nigera. On my third day in Abuja I took one 500mg tablet because I was experiencing gas. Within a few hours I experienced such extreme heart arythmia and tachtycardia that I thought I might die. This has continued for three weeks, in addition to severe lower back pains. There was absolutely no need for me to have received such a powerful and potentially fatal medication when an over the counter would have been sufficient. I have made an appointment with my primary care physician because my distress continues.

My 86 year old mother was given levaquin for a respiratory infection and immediately began to exhibit the following side effects: diarrhea, confusion, sleeplessness, hallucinations, weakness (cannot stand up or walk at this time). We discontinued the meds today (after we got her home from the hospital with her primary care physician's consent).