Levaquin and fatigue

I went to the doctor on 9/11/09, having been sick for a couple of weeks w/ nasal congestion and then developing muscle aches, fatigue, and a fever, along with the new symptom of a cough. My doctor was on maternity leave, so saw someone else in the practice, who hastily diagnosed a sinus infection and prescribed penicillin. Got the beginnings of hives on Sunday early in the a.m., called the pharmacy, discontinued the penicillin. Still had a fever and was miserable, called the doctor on Monday to document the hives for my medical chart, and said I thought it was flu, not an infection. Finally was called back, and they called in levaquin, despite my thought it wasn't infection. Fever had broke finally, and I was making some progress, but figured the doctor knows best and took one dose of levaquin before bedtime. Had horribly vivid daymares/hallucinations and kept telling myself, "Its not real!" Woke the next morning, and could barely move. Couldn't get from the couch to the tv a few steps away and knew I was in serious trouble. Called the doctor and the nurse said they wouldn't see me, no appointments, so my husband took me to the ER. ER doctor said it was a reaction to levaquin, discontinue use, and it would take probably a day to pass through my system. Also said I had a virus, not an infection to begin with. (Horribly ironic, huh). It is now Thursday, 9/17, and I move like a snail. I have no stamina, and can barely walk. I went to work (I'm a teacher) and cried after walking my kids down to art. Am I ever going to feel normal again? This is really depressing. I was a healthy, active person before I took a dose of this poison.

I was give Levaquin when I had a Prostate Biopsy and had a reaction to it , Hives, muscle pain oral thrush ,I told the doctor about it so he gave me another anti biotic,CIPRO which made things worse, then I find out they are both from the same family of antibiotics, these doctors don't know what they are giving you and he said all that I should have gotten from them was a little stomach problem, Its two years now and I still have skin
problems, joint pain and pain in my neck amd the doctors say it can't be from the Levaquin, Well how come I was healthy until I took it

I have been on levaquin now for my second round of 5 days of a 28 day does for prostate. I have experienced joint pain, insomnia, irregular and skipped heart beats, fatigue, anxiety and many of the previous mentioned symptoms by others. I had all of these with my first round of this drug but I thought it was because if the severe infection in my prostate, UTI, kidneys and bladder. I was feeling great until 5 days ago when I start taking levaquin again. I think there is something very wrong with this drug and someone should be looking into a class action against the maker of this drug.

My husband took Levaquin for ten days along with Prednisone for a chest infection. On the tenth and last day of the Levaquin, he began having burning in his knees. It then progressed to cramps in his feet, calves, thighs, knees and now his forearms. He has been referred to a neurologist. I plan to go with this information in my hands when I take him tomorrow. He had called the prescribing doctor's nurse and asked if the problems could be caused by the Levaquin since I had read nerve damage as a side effect. He never got a call back about it. He has also had nightmares so bad he kicked my in the middle of the night while having one. He has been in so much pain, he can hardly walk. He has incredible fatigue with other things already. He takes tramadol as a muscle relaxer, but then he can't drive to pulmonary rehab he is supposed to go to three times a week.

Update: I took Levaquin 2 months ago, stopping after 7 daily doses of 500mg for an upper and lower RI. I did not have the extreme reaction to it that others here suffered. I had general fatigue, brain fog, loss of appetite, dizziness and tight joints. I had always exercised regularly prior to Levaquin. I also had a sudden onset of bloating and inability to digest food. Doc said Levaquin wouldn't cause those symptoms. It's hard to tell if it was the Levaquin, but...

Now 2 months after my last Levaquin dose, my joints seem OK, I can exercise, although I don't push it too hard since that can aggravate any joint damage done by L, the brain fog is better, and the digestion is still a problem sometimes.

Levaquin symptoms can appear months after the last dose, so I am being vigilant.

God bless everyone here who has had horrible experiences with Levaquin and I hope that your bodies will heal as the months go by. I will be posting updates in the future.

I am 39-year-old very active healthy female. I can say I am tolerant to most drugs I have taken in my life so far. However, I took Levaquin yesterday and today, 750 mg per day for five days for the sinus infection, I felt so horrible starting 2-3 hours after I first took it. I felt nausea, headache, extremely fatigue, stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting, lose sleep.I also felt painful in my heart area this morning......After checking on the internet today, I know I was poisoned by Levaquin. I felt more horrible that my doctor did not tell my the side effect even when I asked this question specifically when was given the prescription. I am not allergy to other antibiotics, and I had no clue why the doctor would think this medication is necessary to me. I decided to stop Levaquin, and also not to see that doctor again. Please be careful to pick your doctor, some are very dumb and cannot even treat a cold.

I started Levaquin 500mg on Jan 27th for a sinus infection. Two days later I woke up and almost passed out upon standing. My heart was racing and my blood pressure dropped. I had to call my husband home from work to take me to the ER. I also started to get nauseated,chills and weakness in my legs. After being hydrated at the ER I was sent home to finish my meds which was a 10 day course. My symptoms became increasingly worse over the past week. Dizzyness,weakness,fatigue,rapid heart rate with some PVC"s, no appetite,nausea,pain in my back,shoulders and left hip. I also have a red rash on my chest and face. I experienced a heavy sensation in the back of my head, compounded by a crawling sensation. My body will flush upon standing , I get night sweats and difficulty breathing. I have also suffered with some kind of wierd sensations in my eyes that has my sight screwed up in some weird way. I have also been on this side of confusion or forgetfullness and nearly having panic attacks. This is some kind of freaky horrible drug. The day I went to the ER my left leg went numb. I have one pill left and didnt take it today. The doctor I saw today says it could be the Levaquin. HA!!!! I am praying for all on here..

Folks, please stay away from this poison! I started taking Levaquin as prescribed for the thunderbolt-like strike of a prostate infection. The infection hit at around 8 PM on Friday, took the first 500 mg Levaquin Saturday at 10 AM. Later that day, after having taken only one dose, I started having difficult to breathe and my speech became faulty, as I could not naturally coordinate breathing with speaking (later I learned that I was having, and still have, diaphragm spasms.) In addition to that, I suffered for the next couple of days from intense dizziness, extreme difficulty in walking, fatigue, depression, anxiety, and 100% loss of appetite (could not ingest any solid food for two days, period). Still not connecting the dots, I took the second pill from hell on Sunday at 10 AM. By Monday morning I had read enough info on this site to know better and not take the third dose. I realized that, at the rate my breathing was deteriorating, things would get pretty grim very soon. I showed up in my doctor's office unannounced and was told right away to switch to Cipro. One of the problems I see with detecting a medication's side effects is one's ability to distinguish them from the actual symptoms of the disease: a good example are the intense chills and shivering associated with fever, but apparently much more intense and lasting long after the fever is gone when provoked by Levaquin. Please question your doctor if he/she prescribes this poison from hell to you and recommend that friends do the same.

I was diagnosed with 'a "spot" on my chest upper left, after doing an x-ray.I had 100.4 fever really bad chills and sweats, terrible loss of appetite. I am 41 years old. No diagnosis given at initial visit. After 5 days of Levaquin 500, I felt that the dose was too low as I was not improving. When I called my doctor he said, we usually given 750 mil. I thought, well why didn't you do that in the first place? I would be over this thing by then! I was hacking and plenty of phlegm greenish yellow was coming up. He said to use Mucinex DM and Ambien to sleep. Ambien didn't work so I discontinued it. Don't recommend Mucinex at night it keeps you awake, daytime fine. I felt depressed, super fatigue and very anxious, with difficulty sleeping, but thought that is the way everyone feels when sick. I had trouble having my twins jump on the bed to see me, do to the aches, again I thought that is from the illness, now I wonder if these symptoms were exacerbated by the Levaquin . I had the original script that Dr. told me to refill, it was for 500 mil, so he said do another course of that for another 5 days, 1 per day. I did, at that point 10 days total. Still wheezing, I called and said I was still not any better after 10 days of Levaquin 500 and in bed all of the time. Finally I asked him what was wrong, 'bronchitis' he said. I never had it before but I started looking it up before he told me as it had to be that! He said do another 5 days of Levaquin 750. Very hard to get rid of cough still there, however weird wheezing slowly getting better. It is weird though, I have incredible pain on my lower right ribcage from my back radiating to the front. I think it is from being in bed so long, but hope it is not from the tendon issues people are talking about on this forum. My friends who had same symptoms one week before me, (her family and I got bacterial bronchitis from her 4-1/2 son on a play date we had the week before Thanksgiving) was prescribed Amoxicillin 250 per day and was over it in 1 week! My doctor said he didn't like the way Amoxicillin worked over the gastro track. My opinion, stick with the tried and true meds. unless we all become immune to everything, Amoxicillin worked for me with other illnesses in the past and that is what I will be requesting next time! Hopefully there wont be a next time! Good luck everyone. I hope and pray we have not suffered permanent damage from Levaquin!

I've been on Levaquin for three days to clear up severe congestion, possible bronchitis. The doctor at the walk-in clinic didn't like what he heard in my lungs, so prescribed this drug (It was a Friday and I needed something before the weekend due to my asthma). My fever has continued to spike, I have cried at the drop of the hat--exhaustion, fatigue, mood swings, and a cough that persists even after three days. Pain in shoulder joint, raw throat (certain foods seem to burn it), and a REALLY bad headache, and stiffness in my neck. I go to my general doctor tomorrow (Monday), and he will hear about this medicine, trust me. It has been a weekend from hell!

As many here many recognize, I had tremendous problems after taking Levaquin. This included: distal bicep tendon rupture, a full range of psychological symptoms, extreme and long lasting fatigue, etc. Even after going through this ordeal and still dealing with the fallout almost 2 yrs. later I am once again in disbelief at the medical community. My 18 yr. old daughter just visited a nurse practitioner and came home with a prescription for Levaquin. This alone was enough to make me angry but the fact that it was prescribed for a cold sore (no, I'm not kidding) is just beyond belief! And we wonder why we have the problems we do. Trust no one!

I knew it had to be that antibiotic!! My family doctor put me on Levaquin for a urinary tract infection a few days ago and the night before last I woke up in the early a.m. shaking all over and hurting in every joint in my body, and I have a foggy memory of it all too. It was very bad. I could not stand up without holding on to the wall because I was to weak and my legs felt like aching jello. I could barely move my neck and I thought I had meningitis it was that bad. I called 911 and the ambulance came for me. The doctor at the ER took blood work which was all normal and he told me I had a panic attack!, neck pain, and fatigue...I couldn't believe he told me I had a panic attack...I was asleep for goodness sakes. I have been hurting so bad that I was thinking I had something really serious. I hurt all over so bad that I can't even express it. I am so glad that all of you posted these side effects or I would not have known what was causing my problems. I will NEVER take that stupid drug EVER again and I hope they take it off the market. I hope someone will do something about this drug before it hurts more people like it has hurt all of us...I pray that you all will heal from the problems this medication has caused you.

Heres my Levaquin horror story:

In hospital for bowel obstruct. Took LevaQ. at home. 1/2 way through I noticed I wasn't feeling any better but worse while recovering. Starting sleeping for 3 hr intervals, while up I would feel as if I wanted to jump out of my skin. Calf pain. Dizziness. Intermittent instenseTingling around mouth and face. Called my MD.
I was put back in hospital due to a platelet count of 'one million'. My MD who is wonderful, consulted with others, even an oncologist. I refused a bone marrow aspiration, so they came up with a game plan -- possible reaction to the Levaquin???? So... 'flush out the Levaquin'. With each day of continuous mass flushing of IV fluids....my platelets decreased daily.
3 years later...I getting intermittent tingling, flu like symptoms, dizziness, heart palpitations, extreme fatigue-------------still looking for answers to my illness. Just had more blood work - lymphocytic profile was drawn, waiting on results. Definitely am anemic, chronic slight rise in liver enzymes with last sed rate and wbc count in norm range.

I was prescribed an 11 day supply of Levaquin - 500 mg. I'm on day 7 and struggling to make it 4 more days. The first day I took the tablet around 5 pm. I was up all night. Since taking in the morning, I've been fine. Now, I'm suffering from very sore biceps, heels and stiff knees. The fatigue is overwhelming. I also experience extreme dizziness as well. I may call the doctor tomorrow to see if I can stop this. I've taken various antibiotics throughout my lifetime and never have experienced the side effects such as this one.

I just finished taking a prescription for levaquin, 500mg once a day for 7 days. I cannot begin to describe the intense joint pain; hips, knees, hands, feet, it was horrible. I experienced nausea and headaches as well. Plus, I have been so exhausted that it's almost impossible to describe; I've been sleeping 15-17 hrs and still can barely keep my eyes open. I will never take this drug again unless it's a life or death emergency!

I was prescribed Levaquin for a bout of diverticulitis six weeks ago. About a half hour after taking it each morning, I felt completely unwell--dizziness, fatigue, overall weakness, odd sensations of pressure in my head, chest, and bladder, weird bouts of sudden joint pain. The worst side effect was terrible insomnia. I'd go to sleep OK, but wake up after 3 hours and not be able to get back to sleep, sometimes for the rest of the night. Instead of getting the rest I needed to get better, I was getting more and more exhausted. Now, a month after stopping the medication, my sleep hasn't returned to normal. I'm still awake in the middle of the night for two or more hours. Is this a residual side effect from Levaquin? Has anyone else experienced it? When can I expect my sleep to improve? Is there a way to detoxify from this drug?

Most of the "side effects" are die off responses (sometimes referred to as a herxheimer response similar to that which occurs when treating syphillis) from bartonella or borrelia. Levaquin is a potent intracellular antibiotic...where these and other organisms can hide. These can be subclinical infections where (at this time) you are not even aware you are infected. If your "side effects" start around the 3rd day into your prescription...rejoice...and suffer for a while, you are killing something really bad.

The levaquin completely cured my throat, no pain, i can swallow again. But my glands are still swollen. My biggest complaint is the mouth thrush, i have sores all over my mouth, my teeth and gums ache and sometimes i wake up with blood in my mouth because my gums are so sensitive. I finished the 5 day 750 mg yesterday for horrific case of strep throat. I also experienced fatigue, sensitivity to light. Now that im off the pills im interested in eating but i cant because my mouth hurts so bad. If my mouth didn't hurt i would be happy, but im wondering if it will go away now that i am done with the dose.

I was prescribes Levaquin 500mg for 10 days for sinusitis. On the second day, I woke up with a migraine and took Aleve. The headache accompanied by dizziness lasted 10 days or so. As time has passed, I have pain in my right shoulder and bicep and stiff/swollen joints in the back of my neck. It has been 4 months since I took Levaquin and my symptoms have only gotten worse. I have been on bed rest for a week just after a simple 5 minutes on an elliptical machine. Additional problems along the way have been anemia, my vision got extremely worse with retinal degeneration, anxiety, diarrhea, fatigue, irritability, and numbness in my hands and feet. My doctor says he believes me but mentioned fibromyalgia. My symptoms don't even fit that disease. Friends don't believe me either. I am a pharmaceutical rep. The FDA needs to pull this drug off the market. Why won't they do it? Someone has a connection someone. I am almost 31 years old and I don't know how much more my body can take. I miss my friends, tennis, and even normal daily tasks like opening a car door and sitting for an extended period of time. DO NOT TAKE LEZAQUIN EVER.

I not sure that what I am experiencing is related to my 9 month course of 750 mg Levaquin, or my simultaneous 9 month course of 300 mg Rifampin, or my 6 week course of IV Vancomyocin twice a day........You all are talking about days and weeks....I have been on these hardcore meds for substantially longer. I became infected with Staph Epidermidis in the disc space of L 4-5 during surgery to correct degeneration in my spine. I am now left with joint pain from head to toe, Uveitis, a scaly rash all over my trunk and arms, stomach pain, further degeneration in my spine, insomnia, severe fatigue, depression, and what I call "brain fog." I have been told by the team of Doctors caring for me that the only symptom that relates to my medication is possibly the Uveitis. I would like to know how you all are attributing the medications to your ailments? (insomnia, depression, fatigue, joint pain... for example) Are you sure that they are not symptomatic of another disease process? After stopping the medications has your health become normal? I have to remain on this medication for the remainder of the year. I do not have the option of just flushing it down the toilet, as someone previously posted. There are only a few medication that can combat my illness, but I would like to know that they are not harming me in the long run.

I was prescribed Avelox for pneumonia, which I had a severe reaction to. I was driving in my car with my kids and suddenly didn't know where I was. I was so confused and pulled the car over and vomited. I rushed home and was launched into a full-fledged panic attack. I was then given Levaquin and I was fine with it other than some mild malaise and a little dizziness for the 7 days of 750mg, but my symptoms just came back soon after and I developed a sinus infection and was put back on the Levaquin. I took one 250mg pill yesterday and had the same thing happen, severe fatigue, weakness and numbness in my hands and arms, dizziness, confusion, panic attacks, blurred vision and severe diarrhea. I felt floaty and out of it for the rest of the day and night. I woke up this morning and I feel much better, other than some left over anxiety about taking the prescription. THE GOOD NEWS is that my symptoms are gone now that the antibiotic has been metabolized and secreted from my body. I did see some floaters in the shower today, but I believe they were because I strained my eyes when looking to far to the right. I drank 2 glasses of wine to help with the increased heart rate and insomnia that the drug caused--worked well!! I would never, ever take this antibiotic again.

My ENT prescribed Levaquin 500mg per day for 12 days for an unusual bacterial sinus infection. Within four days I was feeling horrible. I have been off the medication for four days now but my symptoms haven't improved much.

My biggest complaint is that I can hardly walk due to terrible ankle and foot pain. All of the joints in my feet hurt but particularly both ankle and big toe joints. I can’t find a pair of shoes or even slippers that are comfortable. Every joint in my entire body aches. My shoulders and my arm muscles are so sore that it hurts to do anything. My wrists and my hands and fingers hurt and feel swollen. I can’t open jars or similar tasks. My knees and hips are sore so walking is painful. My lower back hurts if I walk much. Joints that I've had problems with in the past hurt even worse including my neck (cervical spine). My skin is very sensitive to touch even to my clothes, bed sheets and slippers. I’m miserable. I already had dry eyes but this drug has made them MUCH worse. My eyes are so dry, they both hurt and they are both bloodshot. My eyes are now even more sensitive to light so I wear sunglasses to reduce pain causing glare. Cognitively, I feel like I am in a fog; it’s kind of a spacey, surreal feeling. I feel like jumping out of my skin. I have had chest pain twice. My heart races at times. I have an intermittent, frequent knife like pain in between my shoulder blades (on the left side) and it is worse when I breathe deeply. I have tingling in my hands and they usually feel cold. I feel queasy at times. In general I feel ill and I have no energy. I fatigue easily. I don't know whether to cry or to scream but I feel like doing both. I've always had headaches but they are more frequent now. On top of it all I still have intermittent burning in my sinuses so I don't know if the drug has even cleared up the infection or not. I was re cultured today.

I have taken Cipro (similar to Levaquin) in the past so I did not make the connection between the Levaquin and my symptoms until two days after I had completed the drug. It was Christmas Day. I was too sick to join in the festivities. As I sat alone I started to think about my symptoms and I went online to research my symptoms. To my shock I discovered that there are thousands suffering as I am with similar symptoms due to this drug. I now fear that I may suffer permanent damage as a result of this drug. I was never warned regarding ANY of the dangers. The common adverse problems associated with this drug is NOT common knowledge in the health care setting but it should be. I printed out pages and pages of postings of sufferers and brought them to my ENT. I provided him with a list of sufferers web sites. He sat in stunned silence and it was obvious that he had been painfully unaware of the suffering that this drug was causing.

I blame the pharmaceutical companies and the FDA for allowing this tragedy to continue. I would like the name of a competent, experienced attorney with a proven track record against pharmaceutical companies. If any of you can provide me with the name of an attorney I will be in your debt.

I thank you all for your postings because at least I know that I am not alone. My heart goes out to you all.

Chris

I was prescribed 20 days of Levaquin 500mg for a post surgery leg infection. I quit taking Levaquin after just 6 days. I had horrible hip and joint pain, depression and fatigue. I wanted to sleep all day and night. It worked and the infection was cleared up but the side effects were not worth it.

I took this drug for a kidney infection and now can hardly walk or sit on the toilet. The pain in my knees is excruciating especially at night. I can not turn over in bed without pain and they don"t seem to bend anymore. My doctor thinks I am nuts.I have not slept an entire night since this started. It came on all of a sudden after two weeks on this crap. Please, somebody tell me this is going to go away in a while!!!Marsh

I just got done taking a 10 day dose of 750mg Levaquin and I have had muscle soreness, joint aches, fatigue and it has been 2 days since my last dose! When will these pains stop?!?!

I added a side effect several days ago. I would like to respond to the people who are asking if this ever goes away. I suppose it is an individual thing but I am feeling better every day. I've been off the Levaquin for over a week now and no more pain in feet, elbow is much better, fatigue is lessening. The funny thing is my husband went to the doctor for pink eye yesterday and the doc prescribed Levaquin, as well as eye drops. He has taken it in the past with no side effects so he went ahead and got the prescription filled. He asked the doctor about my reaction to it and he said he'd never heard of such a thing! I find that hard to believe. Anyway, my doctor said she'd heard of it but that it was rare and noted it on my chart as an "allergic reaction". So good luck everyone. You can fill out an adverse reaction form at www.fda.gov/medwatch/report/consumer/consumer.htm Hopefully, if enough people complain they will at least inform patients that such drastic side effects are possible for some people.

Dec. 26, 2006 - I was prescribed Levaquin for severe sinus infection on Dec. 5. The first night I had severe leg pain. Then I had fatigue and severe arthritis reactions., ie., pains in hands, fingers, arms, feet. I felt like I just let it go too long and some infection was entered into my entire system. The sinus infection was not cleared up so I was prescribed another dose on Dec. 22. I just had to painful days of cooking for the family. I feel like a need to move from the cold weather of WI because I hurt everywhere. I get on the internet (curious as to whether the Levaquin could have this side effect) and find this web site. I'm stopping the drugs immediately.

I was prescribed Levaquin,by a dermatologist, 500MG for 10 days for a skin infection. I began to have severe muscle/tendon pain within a few days. I took it for 9 days. I stopped taking it 8 days ago, and still have severe arm pain. I feel like I've been doing more than 100 pull-ups. I find it difficult to carry a bag, as it adds to the pain. I've tried Naproxen, but it doesn't seem to help. The pain is worse earlier in the day. I talked to my primary Dr. 2 days ago. He thinks it is from the leaquin in combination with Crestor", a cholesterol lowing drug I take. I also take Femara and effexor. I'm wondering ifanyone has had drug interaction problems when taking levaquin, or if this pain is just from the one drug.I am also experiencing unusual (for me) fatigue, and wonder if this is related to Levaquin also.

I was taking Levaquin and Medrol Dospak for an upper respiratory infection in the beginning of May 2006. On the fourth day I became violently ill-vomiting and diarhea every twenty minutes, weak pulse, cold clammy skin, low blood pressure, dry mouth difficulty swallowing, muscles spasms and extreme weakness. I was taken to my doctors office where I was given IV fluids as I was dehydrated. All medications were stopped. I went home to try to recover from what I thought was the flu. I had muscle aches and started getting severe joint pain and burning in feet. My mouth was painfully dry ...back to dr. he said I might have Sjorgens Disease (autoimmune disease) and Reactive Arthritis. I have never had anything like that before. He recommended a Rhumatologist...that Dr. said to keep doing what I was doing with first Dr...I was trying despartely to find out what was wrong and get well as my daughter was getting married in June. These symptoms increased and the fatigue was awful. All blood tests were normal except for a slight elevation of CRP which shows inflammation. I still do not know what caused this and what to do about it. I have started to feel better regarding the finger and wrist and shoulder pain as I was prescribed pain medication and more steriods. The pain in the joints of the knees and ankles and toes is lessening. The fatigue is still there. The scary thing is I never thought it could be from a medication and right now I am again on Levaquin and Medrol Dospak for another upper respiratory infection....I am on my second day of meds and after reading this I wonder if I should contiue??

I was prescribed Levaquin for a possible bacterial infection. From the first day, I have experienced severe muscle pain and fatigue, as if I spent the previous day at the gym lifting the heaviest weights possible. It started in my biceps and forearms and has rendered my hands somewhat useless. I can't even open the prescription bottle. Woke up day three to new pains in my legs, quads and calfs. I decided to skip this morning's dose and stop taking this drug altogether. This drug is scary. Hope these problems resolve.

I am an otherwise healthy 38 yr/old male. I was taking Levaquin (500 mg/day) for possible prostatitis. Within 72 hours, began feeling numbness in my left foot, leg, and arm. Was traveling for the holiday, and during air flight my leg felt as if it was developing an internal pressure. As I can nearly describe it, it felt as if someone had connected a bicycle tire pump to my leg and was steadily inflating it. Was nearly convinced that I was having a stroke, until I began to suspect the Levaquin. I was unable to reach my physician, who was also traveling for the holiday. After my 5th dose, I elected to discontinue taking the levaquin. On that day, I developed pain in my left calf. Later, the pain also developed in the hamstring area. After a fitful night, the pain began to subside into a dull fatigue (now ~24 hours since last dose). The fatigue and numbness remained at that level for another 24 hours. Finally, by the 3rd day following my last dose, the fatigue and numbness began to fade. On the fourth day, the fatigue was gone, though a slight numbness persisted, though only in my leg (arm numbness was gone). Travel on that same day went fine (no sensation of pressure). Today (fifth day since last dose), just a slight numbness in my lower left leg.

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 was prescibed levaquin 500mg. 10 days for broncitis, day 3 I had severe leg and muscle pain, also severe swelling in my feet, I feel like I ran a 26 mile marathon!! also severe fatigue. I did not have any symptoms like this before I started levaquin in my life. pharmisist says this not one of the sideaffects!!!! I told him this is a relatively NEW drug so the jury is not in... I think the fda should do more tests on this drug!!!! hopefully leg pain and feet swelling will go away soon,but other people comments is not reassuring!!!

I took levaquin 750mg for UTI and had side effects of painful wrist, aching and fatigue, heart palpations, etc. Now my bladder will not empty and the infection is still here after 1 month. I am thinking the medicine has ruined my bladder response to empty. Anyone else out there with this and does it clear up? I am scheduled for ultrasound on Monday.

I was presribed 750mg Levaquin for 14 days for bronchitis. I have experienced increasing joint pain in my knees, hips and shoulders. I've also developed a severe stiffness in the right side of my neck, with swelling VISIBLE. Fatigue is also very present. I've never had such side effects before; will not take this med again.

Severe fatigue and joint and muscle pain and feel like I've been run over by a truck. Headache. I have never had headaches in my life. Hardly able to move. All three weeks after 5 days at 750 mg.

This is the second time i've been given levaquin for a bronchial infection and possible pneumonia. Much fatigue, but unable to sleep and the most annoying is the "metallic" odor coming from my body. I can't get rid of it unless I pinch my nose shut and breath thru the mouth. When laying down the odor keeps me from sleeping at all. I am asking my Dr. to prescribe something different for me in the morning ~!!

Update to January 2, 2006:

I stopped Levaquin after Sunday (five days on it). Today is Wednesday and still am feeling week, fatigue, muscle ache, no appetite, feelings of high-fever exhaustion. However, this evening I have 101.5 fever which could explain some of my symptoms this evening. Until this evening I have not had a fever to trigger such syptoms...72 hours after beginning to flush my system with water/juice. We'll see what happens after my fever breaks...if I am still having persisting symptoms. I've visiting my chiropractor tomorrow for an adjustment and consultation on how best to continue to purge anything from my tissue. More to come...for anyone monitoring my reaction to Levaquin. Note: The substituting physician I saw yesterday for surgery follow-up said he QUIT prescribing Levaquin after several people complained of knew pain when they ran/jogged and other complaining folks.

I had endoscopic sinus surgery 12/28 and was prescribed Levaquin. A couple days after taking it, I thought I might be getting a flu bug. My throat became sore, fatigue, restlessness, body ache as if I had a fever, but had none. Five nights later I read the potential side effects on the package insert and found five symptoms including drowsiness but unable to sleep well. I find all the similarities on my Google/Levaquin side effect search. I will give progress report in a few days now and I sure won't take another 500mg tablet. No pharmacist or doctor said anything about avoiding caffeine or minerals, advil (as I've found in online remarks)...had some caffeine & minerals today. Guess I better beef up my water consumption to flush out as best as possible!

I was real reluctant to use this drug after reading some of the post here, but alternitve methodes failed ro relive my prostitis so I started a 21 day treatment, I had some extra aches and pains and some fatigue while taking it but thats about it, it took about 2 weeks for me to notice that it was helping my condtion, it seems to have worked,

I've been off it for two days now and I feel a bit off balance allmost like im tippsy and I have this rocking feeling when I sit still,

I would use this drug again as it was relly not that bad, for me anyway.

Jim

I was prescribed Levaquin for a prostate infection. 500mg per day for 30 days. Took it for a couple of weeks and it worked, cleared up the infection, but oh my goodness, what horrible side effects...

Parathesia, especially in hands
Unpleasant dreams and fitful sleep
Heavy, heavy fatigue and weakness
Muscle and tendon pain extraordinare - twitchy too
Joint pain, back pain, you name it, it hurt
Lower left leg even feels sunburned when lightly touched
Slightly psycho / depressed

I will never, ever take this medicine again. I stopped taking the medicine over a month ago (at my physician's suggestion) but the symptoms still linger. Although, they have improved somewhat. It's nasty stuff. How on earth did the FDA approve it?

In Aug I was on levaquin for 4 days and experiencing subtle side effects (nausea, fatigue) until day 4 when i woke up with severe abdominal pain and called 911. I later reread the prescriptions notes and figured it was a side effect from levaquin. But now i am sitting on $15,000 of medical bills because i don't feel the ER physician caught this connections and ran every test possible including 2 CAT scans and an MRI and still never mentioned that it could be a side effect. It seems obvious to me and I am not even a doctor. If anyone else has been to the ER or doctor because of these side effects or if there is a doctor out there that can help me build a case against the physician who I believe missed on diagnosing me correctly and administered several unnecessary exams, I would greatly appreciate it. I need alot of evidence and resources.

does anyone know how to cleanse your system of levaquin? some of the postings suggest that it stays in your system for a very long time. and if it can cause ruptured tendons, how long does one need to worry about this happening. i took two pills, experienced bad side effects such as dizziness, muscle ache and fatigue, and immediately stopped taking it. my worry is that now that it is in my system, i may be susceptible to a ruptured tendon. any advice on how to detox my body of this horrible drug would be greatly appreciated.

I took Levaquin in Februaryl, 2004 and experienced joint pain and fatigue. I did not associate the pain with the drug. I was prescribed Levaquin again in April and had severe joint pain. My doctor said it was the Levaquin and said I should never take this drug again. I needed yet another course of antibioitics later in April and my doctor gave me Cipro. The result was horrible - I now have severe joint pain, can barely stand up and sit down and can't stand on my feet for more than a few minutes. I feel like I've aged 30 years in the past three months. Obviously, my doctor is now telling me not to take any antibiotic in this drug family.

The pain in my knees is so severe I fear I have ruptured the tendons. Is there any way short of an MRI to tell?

And has anyone had their symptoms go completely away? How long did it take? My doctor has told me to drink a lot of water, but had no other suggestions to reverse this.

Thanks to those of you I've corresponded with via email. Any other comments would be appreciated.

I took Levacquin in APril & thought it was my imagination that my hip began aching. I now have severe tendonitis & cannot drive. I am thin, an athlete & never had such a prblem. Then my kness swelled up, my neck spasms constantly & I looked this up here.

My dr. told me not to work out when taking this & I did not BUT this still happened. A small case of tendonitis is what she said might happen! Not swelled knees, bruising, fatigue like I am 90 years old. As for the idiots saying this is "whining"? I work 70 hours a week as a project manager in the FDA field. I have no time or desire to whine. Perhaps 100 plus entries does not hit you as odd but it actually is, for we educated people. DId I mention that I work in an FDA related field? I just had a sinus infection that would not clear up & I did not bargain for this ...nor was I told. I am going to go to the fda.gov website & ask for their "adverse events" reporting information (based on the drugs clinical trials) which they have to release by law. I advise that you all do as well ..... uh, except for those that have too much tome on thier hands and just don't get it.

I started Levaquin 3 days ago and have been suffering from headaches, fatigue, nausea, sleeplesness, severe changes in body temperatue, muscle pain and serious anxiety problems. I have a UTI and get them chronically and unfortunately cannot stomach bactrum or cipro. After reading this web site I called my doctor and requested klonopin an anti-anxiety medication i took for a year just for the first five days of treatment. She offered to change the antibiotic but said using all different kinds might leave me in worse shape with the infection than I started with. Since I get them chronically and will be starting a prophylactic when I'm done I want to make sure this infection is gone, I get them every 60 days. If you can stomach another antibiotic and have a choice definitely get something else. I'm hoping the klonopin will calm me down.

I have just finished a ten day course of levaquin 500mg po q day.Maybe I was lucky but I had no severe side effects like those listed in this site. Many times AB Tx will effect the gastrointestinal system and cause some fatigue, but I felt like that any way from the bronchitis post flu.

I went to the doctor fighting fatigue, weight loss/gain and increased sweating. All the blood work has come back OK for hormones, thyroid, etc. I was sent to an internal medicine doctor who is now checking for mono, etc. but is at a loss as to what the problem is. Becuase my breast bone is tender and I had a small cold prior to noticing the increased fatigue, I was prescribed Levaquin to take care of any viral activity that may be causing my symptoms. I took the first pill Friday night at 6:00 with dinner. By bedtime (11:00) I was noticing an pain in my chest. Not real sharp just noticeable and distinct, almost more like a tightening of my chest. I slept well and have noticed them again this morning (Sat.) After talking with my pharmacist and the on-call doctor, I will cease to take any more pills (I only had a five day course 500mg - 1 pill per day to take to begin with) and will be calling the internal medicine doctor on Monday.

I was prescribed levaquin six days ago for a chest cold and sinus infection. Fatigue was noticeable after two days, and I skipped my work-out class on day three; just feeling sluggish, achy. On day four, I used my leaf blower for 90 minutes to clean a community pavillion that Storm Isabel had covered with sand from our river; lots of twisting and turning and sweeping, too, to get it in shape for our kid's Halloween Parade and party yesterday, Saturday. By last night, my left knee had swollen noticeably, was stiff, very uncomfortable (I've had no prior problems with that knee). By this morning, my left hand felt 'needles and pins-ish' and uncomfortable,
stiff; my knee was worse. I'll ask my doc and stop the drug now......thanks for all the shared experiences.

I was prescribed Levaquin 4 days ago for a possible UTI/Kidney infection. The only side effects I have possibly experienced are sleeplessness, fatigue and a bit of anxiety. Quite frankly, I had these symptoms prior to taking the drug so I don't believe I have suffered from any side effects. The UTI/kidney infection I had seems to be improving. It is amazing to me what other people are experiencing!