Levaquin and levequin

After what I have seen here and on some other sites I'm 99% positive this drug has hit me with several of the side effects listed. I'm a fairly healthy 49 year old woman. I have never had any health problems, no high blood pressure, no heart problems nothing. I went to the dentist in late March with a problem wisdom tooth. I'm allergic to penicillin so I was prescribed Clindamycin (sp) but it did make me sick to my stomach so I couldn't get the entire daily dose down. I had made it thru 90% of the prescription when I went back on 3-31-09 and still had some infection left in the tooth. My dentist took my BP and it was normal. He then said he wanted me on antibiotics for another week, and prescribed Levaquin as "a wonderful drug, it won't make you sick and you only have to take one a day". So I took the 7 day 500mg dose, went back the next week. True, it didn't make me sick. But I did notice my Achilles tendon was really sore and stiff. I also had a re-occurrence of an elbow problem that had healed and was no longer bothering me until then. I also noticed I wasn't sleeping well, and was having vivid dreams, which I attributed to the pain medication (vicodin) he had also prescribed. Went back on 4-8-09 and my BP was sky high!! As I said, never ever have I ever had an issue with my BP including when I was pregnant! He said he couldn't do anything with it so high. I mean a week and up almost 100 points! He attributed it to "White coat syndrome". So another week of Levaquin and back again yesterday. BP was the same story again, this time he didn't even see me but sent in the assistant to tell me to go get on meds with my Dr. So after that, I'm angry and totally confused. So I came home, hit the internet and I'm seeing what changed in that week to make my BP go insane. I'm also seeing other symptoms here. The Achilles tendon, Knee aches, Back ache, Hip ache, difficulty sleeping, and Steven King quality nightmares. I also read somewhere on the net that supplements like MoveFree with MSM would help and I do take that as a regular supplement to help with things just getting a little older as I'm a pretty active gardner. Now I have been off this since Monday and my aches are better today than they have been. I picked up a BP machine yesterday and it's down a little since at the doctor's. I'm keeping a close eye on that for a couple of days before I submit to a chronic disease for the rest of my life. Hopefully the side effects will gradually go away. Has anyone else's symptoms gone away after stopping the drug? How long did it take for them to go away if they did?

I have been fighting a sinus infection for over two years now. Two surgeries for my sinuses so far, and every time I see the Doctor, I get the Levaquin every time, 750MG for 14 days. I have another sinus surgery in another state, with a specialist, I hope, better than my last ENT. But my left shoulder froze up and my right one is trying to freeze up. I am headed in Friday to get the Ortho to put me to sleep and twist my arm around and shoot it with cortizone, and I am hoping my shoulder will be ok then in another week, I head out to get another sinus operation. I was a very active, healthy mid 40's female. Now I can't seem to function. But I just stumbled onto this sight, and I am sure I am going to have to take another anti biotic. Any suggestions on which one? I will never take this Levaquin again. This is all to coincidental for all of us to have similar side effects. I had very bad headaches as well, but blamed the sinuses.

NO SIDE EFFECTS: POSSIBLE HELP WITH SUPPLEMENTS had very serious sinus infection. two weeks of anit-biotics with no result, symptoms got worse, before taking levaquin for an additional two weeks. within three days was back on my feet. i previously have taken the supplement MSM for continual joint pain in past years, and was pleased to find a wide array of other health benefits from taking it. Having two kids, building a home and busy work schedule led to neglect of my heath supplements. (not smart) Resulting in immune dysfunction, chronic sinus infections over the last two years. After realizing that my health was was in ruins, i decided to start taking my supplements again around the time of my course of levaquin. started taking my multi's again and more importantly my MSM ( similar to chondroitin or glucosamine) Note: I recently read that MSM has been proven to help the body fight infection, as it is required to be present for the body to fight infection. MSM is simply (organic sulfer) found in everyday food we eat. with processed foods and preservatives this element is removed. To make a long story short, after first taking levaquin, I did have some minor joint and back pain (among other things) started taking MSM and effects were diminished, and then gone. After reading what others went through, i made the correlation between the two, and with my previous history of joint pain i would think that i would be a prime candidate for these symptoms. It worked for me, it may work for you, and the worst case scenario is that is doesn't work but you become stronger and healthier from taking it. Brief History. I use to love to play basketball. after joint pain and swelling could only play once a week, and couldn't even walk up stairs the next day. after taking MSM continually for a couple of weeks i was able to play daily, for as long as I wanted. a true miracle. The good news: its at the health food store, it's really cheap, and its a completely natural supplement. take 1000 mg daily with meals or without. its worth a shot for no symptoms.

I took 4 of the 10, 500 mg daily dose of Levaquin that was prescribed to me. My heart rate was so fast that I thought I was going to have a heart attack! And now I have this awful rash all over my body. It's been 4 days since I 've had the last dose and it's not getting better. Does anyone have any idea when this itchy rash will go away?

OH MY GOD!!!! I thought I might be imagining things. I was prescribed Levaquin and clyndamycin on December 15 2008 for a urinary tract infection that appeared to have gone systemic. After 2 days my right knee swelled up. I went back to the Dr the next day and he looked up both antibiotics in his little book and said the clyndamycin could cause joint swelling and pain. He told me to stop taking the clyndamycin and take 600 mg of ibuprofen for the joint paig. His little book said nothing about levaquin. Well I kept taking the levaquin and the pain spread literally to every joint in my body. I could not walk and had trouble even holding a coffee cup. The pain was unreal. I completed the 10 day course of the levequin as instructed. The joint pain was getting worse. I called the Dr. again and they did blood work to rule out arthritis and stuff like that. He put me on prednisone which has significantly helped with the pain. He said it may be a coincidence that I have developed arthritis and that it had nothing to do with the UTI. Well as I was watching TV last night I saw a lawyers commercial for a law suit against levaquin and cipro. Then today got on the internet and found this site. I am going to call the Dr. and tell him to update his little book he looked up the levaquin in. My fear is how long after you stop taking this poison does the joint pain end? I wish I would have known all of this sooner. I will never take this drug again.

I am a healthy female with little to no history of adverse reactions to medications. I was prescribed a 10 day dose of Levequin (500 mg) for a minor but stubborn skin abscess. After the third day, I woke up with significant joint soreness in my fingers. Progressively the soreness spread daily to my wrists, elbows, ankles, knees, hips, etc. I did not suspect the antibiotic at first, but I know my body, and I know something was WRONG.
After my 8th dose I decided to look online...it is at least good to know that what I'm experiencing is definitely from Levequin. Thank you all for sharing your stories.

I especially found MERCEDESLANE posting on April 15th interesting. I guess this person works in the health care system. Considering this uncompassionate individual, who apparently wants everythone to know he has a Mercedes, can't spell (whine), and does not have basic grammar skills. Wow...my faith in the our health care system is stronger than ever. But what do I know, I'm just an "IDIOT" with shingles that needs to have a couple of glasses of whine while I pop my remaining Levequin.

I took Levaquin the first time (that I know of and remember) in Dec 2006..probably for bronchitis or pneumonia. I started having strange symptoms, headaches, achy body, etc but chalked it all up to being sick. I have since taken in 4 more times - even after talking to my Dr about the strange things that were happening to me. I just realized by reading everything online that all of these things are more than just me being out of shape...I have had about 75% of the problems associated with this drug, but simply thought I was getting older, out of shape and ill. The headaches are the worst, the sharp pains that radiate through my skull at any given time for no apparent reason and the constant radiating pain coming from my shoulders, the funny vision issues that happen off and on, the incredible pain in my jaw that leads to what I call a 'pulled muscle' in the right side of my jaw, the severe pain in my muscles, mostly in my feet and shoulders but has now started in my wrists, taste of metal, night sweats are ridiculous! and I have started missing my period with this dose of Levaquin, however the new lower back pain that I am feeling is about 10 times worse than that of meses cramps, the sharp shooting pains in muscles sometimes happen in my arms, legs and knees. The very odd feeling of having a bruise when I touch any part of my body to scratch or rub it....the pain is extreme. I have made about 100 excuses for each of these things that I have experienced over the last year and a half and now I feel that I can probably blame it all on Levaquin, I have a doctor's appointment with a new doctor Thursday and am hoping she/he can provide some relief of some of these issues. Please make sure all your loved ones know not to take this drug!

Struggling with a sinus infection that threatened to bore into my brain, resulting, ultimately, in seizures and death, I've been taking Levaquin now for three days. I'm experiencing anxiety and sleeplessness, however, it's not from the medication. It's from all the hyperbole on the internet.

Look, I understand that many have had adverse reactions to this medication. One dose of penicillin can kill you without warning. At anytime. No warning. I suspect that few of those labellings Levaquin "poison" would ever bother to consider that - or anything else. All wrapped up in your misery, you spout off with rhetoric that is really better left to lawyers and politicians.

If you were uninformed of the possible side-effects of this medication, blame your doctor. I see that the last post here is dated November 2007, and the bottom of this first page takes us to October 2006. Perhaps one could take a bit of responsibility for oneself and do some research on one's own before popping a pill handed out by a disinterested physician. This information is out there - and yes, your doctor could have seen it, too. But he didn't bother, did he? Neither did you.

So, yes, with my first dose, and despite the impact drill driving through my eye-socket, I waited for the seizures, swelling and signs of imminent demise. Nothing. Sorry. Oh, my sinuses feel better, I don't have a brain infection, and so I won't die frothing at the mouth on my living room floor.

I'm sorry you feel bad - and if you hadn't run off at the mouth calling what may be one of the last effective antibiotics "poison", I might mean that with some sincerity. Oh, and lest you forget, antibiotics are poison by definition - the idea being that they affect/poison/kill the source more than they do the host.

So let's stop the hyperbole, and simply say you had a bad reaction to this medication. Not everyone does. Your option might have been to skip the doctor and the meds altogether, and see how you'd fare. But that would leave the responsibility, and the blame, all on you, then, wouldn't it? Far better to spread it around some.

Levaquin cured my pneumonia but I'm now having trouble with my knees and shoulders. I can hardly bear my weight and am having trouble performing simple tasks such as reaching to answer the phone. Has anyone else suffered this way? Otherwise I feel well. I discontinued using Levequin on my doctor’s advice but when I explained my symptoms was told this was not a problem associated with Levaquin. I wonder. I'm 60 years old, very active and hope this problem is only temporary. I've got life to live!!!!

I have been taking levequin 500mg for a spider bite. The doctor gave be a ten day supply. I noticed after a couple of days that the taste in my mouth was nauseating. Then the pain in my arms and legs was just horriable. Then the diarrhea started and I though Id never get rid of it. The waking up in the middle of the night and it felt like I had ran a race in my sleep, I was exausted, I couldnt get my head off the pillow. I will never take this poison again.

I'm a 45 yr-old male in pretty good health. Start Cipro for prostatitis, 500mg x2 / day. Eight days into therapy, starting experiencing tinnitus, tingling in hands & feet, and anxiety++. On day 9, actually experienced a significant facial 'tic'. Stopped drug on day 9; anxiety faded out 95% in less than 2 days, tingling has abated about 1/3 after 4 days, but still remains very noticable (of course, now I'm focused on it). Tinnitus remains at the same level. Have taken Floxin & Levequin several in the past with no adverse effects.

About a month ago I took Levaquin for a bacterial infection. It was taken for a painfully infected hair follicle on my face. After 4 days of the med (Levequin) I woke one morning with pain and swelling in my legs and feet, as well as generalized swelling in my entire body. I had a feeling of "brain fog". A year prior to this occurance I had been admitted to the hospital with a bacterial pneumonia at which time I was medicated with Tequin. After that I sufferred with swelling and pain in my joints and tingling and numbness in my hands and arm that lasted approximately 6-7 months. At that time I did not relate it to the drug Tequin. I assumed it was due to age and being over weight (56y/o and 190lb. at 5' 3". However It did get better and I was only left with a loud click in my knee and tingling in my arms and hands. I went to the Chiropractor for some relief of those syptoms, until a month ago when it suddenly returned after using Levaquin for 4 days. I am experiencing pain mostly in my lower extremities. It feel as though the muscles and tendons are very tight at times and at other times they feel unstable with burning and pain alternating from one area to another, sometimes the left side, sometimes the knees sometimes the ankles and feet. I have to be very careful when I stand up to walk to get my balance and stabilize my postion so I don't tear anything with sudden movement or chage of direction. I limp most of the time depending on which extremity it affects at the time. It seems to be affected by the barometric pressure also.

I have been on and off Levaquin for nearly 6 months while beeing treated for prostites. After about three weeks I noticed that the tendaons on the back of both feet were very sore making it very painful to get up and walk especially in the morning. I quit taking the drug and the soreness appeared to lessen. The my doctor told me to get back on it which I did and after about two week the soreness in the tendons on the back of both legs reappeared. I got scared of taking the drug so I requested a switch to a sulfa drug. I've been off the levequin for about a week now and the soreness in both legs continues.

I am a 32 year old male who gets occasionally bad sinus infections. i found this site yesterday after 3 days on levaquin, and had numerous side effects, notably: light headedness, weakness in my legs and hands, headache, sleeplessness and a nigthmare that caused me to sleepwalk. ( which I had never done before!)

I planned on stopping this medication as I did not feel right and had a softball game in the evening. Well I only lasted 2 innings of the game when I chased a foul ball and crashed into the fench and went to the hospital with a severly sprained ankle. i blame this on the fact that i was out of sorts and not really paying attention to my location on the field due to the lightheadedness of the medication.

at the hospital I was asked if i was currently on medication. when i told the nurse i had been taking leviquin and was not feeling right, she responded by saying she did not like the drug and had similar effects herself. Another nurse agreed. When I told the attending doctor she stated that levequin was not normally a drug she would prescribe as it is very strong and recommended i talk to my physician and use something else.

Use caution when using this drug, do not plan on doing any strenuous activities as your degree of concentratioin could be altered. I will not take this drug again and have been drinking lots of water to get it out of my system. It seems to be helping .

I have been on Levequin, for about one week. Has anyone experienced severe stomach pain, naseau, vommiting and/or acid reflux, and a very bad taste in the mouth. Please someone shed some light on this for me. Thanks

Started on Levaquin 750 on 03-07-2006 for a UTI. Rash from head to toe - muscle aches, chest/lung pain. Will return to the doctor on 03-10-2006 - this is the first time I have had side affects with levequin -

I had to worst bladder infection of my life this past weekend. I have been on Levequin since Monday night, and my entire lower body aches. I thought I would look up side effects of the drug, and WOW there it is....all the problems I have been having. Im only 22, and I may be 10 lbs overweight, so I knew it wasnt anything like that. What is the deal with this mess?

I developed a staff infection from a horse throwing me and landing on my leg. What I though was scraped up skin was actually a big chunk of dead skin where there was no drainage. They drained about a 1/2 cup of puss from the back of my leg. Then I was presented with the choice of losing my leg or taking antibiotics. I chose the antibiotics because within 12 hours the infection had taken up almost all of the lower leg. I was given two antibiotics, one of them being levequin. I was on levequin for 15 days. I had no really severe reactions until the 14th and 15th day. Now the pain is very extreme in the sacral area and I have trouble sleeping sometimes, nightmares, and depression. My feet and hands became very dry and had burning pain. I had very bad stomach cramps which I used a flora/probiotic for and it corrected. I took 5 doses of 10 capsules... one that evening and 4 the next day (2 to 3 capsules equals 60 billion viable cells per gram of flora or acidophilus and bifidum cultures. I am now continuing that treatment taking 10 capsules a day. I have heard that lactobacillus GG is the best culture for antibiotic resistant bacteria (C-diff toxin bacteria colitis).
I have been praying and searching for a holistic treatment for the problems. Because the fluoride in levequin makes the body very acidic and robs the body of calcium I have taken many supplements and done a lot of raw juices. I think the reason I did not react sooner is because I have been using a rounded teaspoon of dulse (a seaweed containing natural iodine with naturally occurring minerals) a day and a teaspoon of chlorella, both of which (iodine and chlorella) are specific for eliminating toxic metals and poisons in the body (ex. copper, radiation, mercury, fluoride, etc.). The best product I have used for the pain is an alkaline water call Essentia. I can be in horrible pain and drink a full glass of this and I the pain eases right up and my brain clears. The water is sold at the Smith Food Stores and I would like to see someone else here try it and see what it does for their pain. I honestly believe that the human body has the intelligence to heal provided we can supply it with the right healing substances to carry the poison out.
I will be trying acupuncture to hopefully further accelerate the healing process and stabilize the back, so I can do a let you know how that works. I would like to see more feedback of what works to alleviate the problems.

I was precribed levequin on March 5th 2005 and begun my treatment on the following day for sinus infections. This is the worst i ever felt from being on some sort of prescribed medication. This drug made me feel like i was not in touch with the wrld and i felt like i was on clound nine all day. I sat in a daze in my office trying to figure out what was going on. I begun to experience pain in my neck and unrest and nauseua. Today will be the last day that i take this medications. I just hope that i did not wait to long to stop taking it.

i took levequin 1 month ago because i had repetitive cysticis and since then i have insomnia and i have to pee all the time!!my mother who is a doctor in france thought that it was psychological because i ve had so many cysticis but when i see all this comments it makes me think that i really have a pb!!
Sonia

I took 3- 500mg of Levequin starting March 3. After the first pill I had pain in left hip, next day it was in my back and legs.
Foolishly, I didn't associate it with the Levaquin until just after taking the pill on the 3rd day.
Things went down hill from there. I could hardly get out of bed by myself. The pain was so bad I went to my orthopedic doctor. I had X-ray, then MRI with a bad reading that prompted a Nucular 3 phase bone scan. These came out clear and found no reason for my pain. Finally, my internest did kidney test and chest x-ray. After all these test and 2 months later, I was told it probably was the Levaquin.
I am better to the point of careing for myself and using the wheel chair and walker to get around. I was told just to let the muscles rest and it would pass, but when? This was a terrible price to pay for a sore throat. I did file a complaint with the FDA and suggest each and every one of you do the same. My feeling now is that I might never be able to return to my life as it was before Levaquin.