Levaquin and muscle weakness

This is an update about my son who took Levaquin 16 months ago when he was 16 years old (he is now 17). My son was given Levaquin September, 2007, to prevent an infection after minor sinus surgery. His symptoms were severe muscle weakness (he would get exhausted walking from the parking lot to a store and back, severe joint pain (in thumbs, wrists, elbows, knees, and ankles), dizziness (he felt like the room was moving away from him and would lose balance), and headaches (a severe pressure in the back of his head that was constant and then shooting pains in his head that would come and go for no reason). He then developed IBS a few months after taking Levaquin. He was an athlete at the time and in very good shape. Prior to Levaquin, he was rarely sick and headaches were equally as rare. He was a junior at the time and as a result of the Levaquin, missed most of his junior year. He kept up through home instruction and maintained 2 honors classes, but had to drop his AP class.

In the first 4 months, his muscle weakness, dizziness, and joint pain (except for his knees) went away. As a parent, it is very painful to have your son hold his head in his hands and ask you to make the pain go away…but you can’t. It took 9 months for his 24x7 headaches to go away. His IBS recently went away after giving him enteric coated peppermint pills twice a day. All that is left now is his knees hurt when he plays sports, so he can't. The knee issue is pretty minor compared to where he used to be.

Here are some things we learned: 1) We tried giving him magnesium, potassium, selenium, calcium, and B-complex after the Levaquin...but it didn't make him better; 2) We took him to over 20 doctors; most couldn't believe it was Levaquin, but some did; 3) Ortho-McNeill will admit that Levaquin can cause these symptoms (I called them); 4) There is no magic pill, once you have ingested Levaquin and develop symptoms, you can only treat the symptoms; 5) Numerous tests of all types over several months never came up positive for any disease or illness; 6) Filing a Medwatch report with the FDA is important since every report helps; 7) Levaquin is not FDA approved for anyone under the age of 18, but is still allowed to be prescribed; 8) Doctors get most of their information on drugs from the pharmaceutical representatives, so BEWARE and do your own research before taking medication; 9) Most drugs have side effects, but beware of the ones that have long lasting effects like the fluoroquinolone family; 10) Never ever lose hope or the belief that one day you will be better. The power of faith does wonders for your health.

I don't know if this post will help anyone. People are affected by this drug differently and recover at various rates. Most people do recover and you need to believe you are one of them. Fortunately for my son, it looks like he is okay now, but it has been an extremely long, difficult road. Keep your faith as my son did, and I'll pray that you all recover. If you haven’t taken this drug yet, then don’t. If you are taking it, then stop. If you have already taken it and have developed symptoms, then be strong and keep the faith.

I have been on Levaquin for about 4 days now and i have been having a hard time trying to sleep and found myself being restless when trying to relax. I would get mad all of a suden and begin to force my body to move, which in turn caused my muscle weakness to increase. I also am now noticing that since i started this medicine, my testicles have had randome feels of pain as well as when my girlfriend decides to mess around w/ me, i find my self going up and down, incapable of keeping it up as a result. has anyone else had this problem? how long after im off this medicine will this stop?

Update on my post of Aug. 11th. I did see a neurologist who was a bit skeptical, but after looking it up did acknowledge that this drug can cause tendon ruptures, etc. Later that week he did a nerve conduction study, both the one with the needles and the one where they shock the muscles. He was happy to report that I did not have any "nerve" damage. I had already told him that I did not think I had neuropathy as the numbness had gone away and was just replaced by the constant pain in my joints, etc. I then went to see my rheumatologist who was also just as skeptical that the drug could be causing all the pain I was describing. She said she had had three patients with tendon ruptures, but nothing else. I really don't care what she believes, and I told her so. I know what happened and what horrible pain I have been in ever since. I hate to report that the pain in my feet, knees, hands, hips, back and now my neck are not any better. My insomnia is some better, but I am taking more Lyrica. I tried a different antibiotic yesterday for the sinus infection called Clindamycin. OMG! I took one pill and within a few minutes had unbelievable heartburn. That lasted for 12 hours, along with reflux, burping, weird stomach noises. Now, I can't take that. Doctor called in a prescription for Augmentin this morning. Afraid to try anything now, but guess I will give it a shot. Is anyone getting any better from their joint or muscle pain? Some encourgement would be good. Thanks.

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?

I have just finished taking Levaquin for a 10day treatment for pneumonia. In the last 5 days or so I have noticed stiffness in my achilles tendon (no pain) until I get moving. I have also notice a tremor in my hands and no muscle weakness and shaking in my triceps and quads. Of course I hadn't read the precautions to this drug before noticing these symptoms. I contacted both my pharmacist and physician and neither seemed concerned and told me if I was really worried to go to the emergency room. I am wondering if these symptoms will disappear since I am no longer on the drug, how long it will take, and how long I should worry about tendon damage----is the possibility of rupture forever???

Muscle weakness, pain, tingling

After taking levaquin, I still suffer from muscle weakness, pain, and tingling several years later. My doctor who is one of the top specialists in New York has seen what this drug has done to me and is doing research for an article in a medical journal to put the word out of the horrible side effects of this drug as well as increasing the knowledge to hopefully figure out how to counteract this.

If you are/have suffered similar results, please contact me at ****** and we can discuss how you can send your case information to my doctor for the study and medical journal article. We need more scientific studies and literature out there about this drug and the side effects.

Well I posted a couple weeks ago and thought I would update. I intially thought I had no symptoms but lately it seems that in the morning getting out of bed that my muscles are extremly tight in my legs from my calf to my ancles. They seem to stretch out ok after a few minutes but i wondered if the damage has already maybe be not reversable. I just happen to have been seeing a physical therapyst for surgery I recently went thru for another problem altogether. I mentioned this drug to him and he had not heard of it. I told him of the tendon problems people have experienced. I asked him if he knew of any drug that can cause this effect and he stated cortizone can. He says its acks in destroying tissue, cells that act in supporting the tendon and allows them to stretch. . So knowing that a drug can actually cause the same symptoms some of you have experienced I am a believer now. I can see how this drug can possible reak havoc on any part of your body. So since i seem to have been feeling possible symptoms I was wondering if any- one has felt muscle aches and leg stiffness issues and how long after stopping the levaquin were the symptoms felt and what did they progress into if anything and did they subside and or go away all together. To me it seems that if this is about damage then its possible that just simple stretching can cause the tendon to snap. I can also see why some people may have recurring injurys. This would be a sign that one does not heal or the healing process is greatly lenghtened. I do plan on eating better and using some supplements to help.

My 16 year old son took Levaquin 6 months ago and had a bad reaction to it. His symptoms were severe muscle weakness (he would get exhausted walking from the parking lot to a store and back, severe joint pain (in thumbs, wrists, elbows, knees, and ankles), dizziness (he felt like the room was moving away from him and would lose balance), and headaches (a severe pressure in the back of his head that was constant and then shooting pains in his his head that would come and go for no reason). I should say he was in top shape before this and wrestling in the 125 pound category. He took Levaquin to prevent an infection after sinus surgery.

Now 6 months later, his joint pain is completely gone except for his knees. They still hurt when he does squats and they are not good enough for him to go back to wrestling, but he can walk around pain free. His dizziness is also gone as well as his muscle weakness. His headaches are still there and still constant, but not as bad as they once were; however, he has had them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 6 months. He is on Lyrica which has helped make the headaches subside.

I have taken him to more than 16 medical doctors of all specialties, had multiple MRIs, CT Scans, blood tests, spinal tap, and an MRA. All come back negative. Thankfully, despite all of this, he still remains happy and positive that he will once again be 100% healthy; it will take lots of time, but he will get better. I know the first three symptoms (joint pain, dizziness, weakness) are clearly Levaquin related, but I haven't heard much about the headaches from people. Anyone else out there that has suffered from a constant headache after Levaquin? I REALLY want to hear about headaches from others!!!!

By the way, we have filed a medwatch already. I also know that Levaquin is not approved for anyone under 18 years old and he never needed such a powerful drug to prevent an infection, but there is nothing I can do about that now except to warn others. One of his UCLA doctors wants to write a case study on him to make this more known to others and I am helping him with that.

If anyone has questions, please feel free to ask. If you have had a headache from Levaquin, please let me know where in the head the pain was, if it is constant, what it feels like (pressure, shooting, throbbing), how long you have had it, and what, if anything, helped. THANKS.

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!

I took 750mg Levaquin for 5 days for a sinus infection and after the 2nd day had a horrible headache, nausea, dizziness, insomnia, muscle aches and metal taste in mouth. At first I thought I was getting the flu or that it was from the sinus infection. After taking the 5th pill and not feeling any better, I found these postings which explains everything. My doctor did not tell me anything about the side effects. It is 3 days after I took the last pill and I am still suffering from severe headaches, dizziness and some nausea. Do not take this medication unless you absolutely have to. I do not normally have any side effects to medication and am not on any other meds. I just hope the headaches go away because I am having to miss work as a result and not able to give attention to my family. My fear is that the headaches won't go away. One posting said that her daughter's headaches went away after 6 days...I can only hope at this point. Terrible drug and shame on the doctor for not warning patients. Try other antibiotics first before you take it.

Hello Everyone ---
I just wanted to share my story and hope that it helps others. On December 20th I was prescribed Levaquin to help clear up a bad case of Bronchitis that I had taken a Z-Pac for a week earlier. I still had remnants and the doctor saw as fit to give me the Levaquin to help me get over what was remaining. I had a 10 day supply of the 500mg Levaquin prescribed to take once a day. After (2) two days of taking the medicine I noticed that I was having a slight amount of pain in my left knee, and by the 23rd of December it hurt to walk or stand or sit. The pain was just a dull ache however; it would also become sharp with any movement. Just to let you know I finished all of my 10 day supply, not knowing that the Levaquin was what was causing my problems. I am a healthy 31 year old male that has a 3 year old daughter, so I am always on the go. However, beginning the 24th & 25th of December the pain had spread from my left knee to my right knee, ankles, as well as hip bones. By the end of my prescription my pain was all over my body, it hurt to sleep, it hurt to move, however, taking 800 mg of Motrin every 6 hours seemed to help ease the pain but never seemed to knock it out. I tried everything from Tylenol to Aleve...however, Motrin was the best. Not knowing what had caused my problems, and getting tired of being in pain I went to see my family medical physician on the 7th of January. He ran me through the mill with test to figure out what was going on. Nothing out of the ordinary, I was a little anemic, however, that had nothing to do with my problems. We talked about the Levaquin, and he as most doctors dismissed the chance of that being the case. However, he did prescribe me 200 mg of Celebrex per day, and told me to take Tylenol as needed to help with the pain. After taking the combination of those drugs for 10 days, I called his office back and told him I was still having problems not as strong as before and I could tell I was getting a little better however movement was still bad, so he referred me to a Rheumatologist. I saw the Rheumatologist on Jan. 22nd and he seemed to help more than anyone else, he also did some blood work, however, nothing out of the ordinary once again, he also check for arthritis, and nothing came of that either. He believes that the medicine was the root of the problem, and until it is gone from my system nothing I am going to continue to have problems. He upped my Celebrex to 2 times per day, and told me to take Tylenol Arthritis 2 pills 3 times a day...this combination has almost knocked away all of the pain. I can still tell that I have problem areas such as my wrist when opening the car door; however, hopefully those will go away in time. Apparently, according to him there is a small amount of people in the world that is allergic to fluoroquinolone drugs and do not know it until they take one of these. I go back to see him again on the 12th of February hopefully I will be back to normal, however, I do have one burning question in my mind…what happens if I get off the Celebrex? Hopefully he will be able to answer that one for me. For anyone out there that is having these same problems as I have you might want to recommend for your Doctor to prescribe you Celebrex and see if will help you…

I am a 39 year old female who was prescribed Avelox on December 21, 2005. That date will stick in my mind forever because I nearly died that day. I finished eating dinner about 8:00 pm and took 1 pill of Avelox, within 20 minutes I was vomiting and had diarrhea and then developed what I can only describe is an internal burning sensation in the pit of my stomach and it spread outward through my body. It felt like my insides were being burned which cause me to start to sweat terribly (you could wring out my hair and clothes) then it felt like some one was sitting on my chest and I started having difficulty breathing. I went to the ER and by the time I got to the hospital I could no longer walk. After they wheeled me in the ER I lost consciousness for over 30 minutes and when I awoke I went into convulsions. I knew that it was the Avelox that did this to me and all of the ER staff acknowledged that as well. But over the last 2 years, the medical problems I have experienced all the docs say it can’t be from the Avelox (that’s out of your system by now) DON’T THINK SO ……………………..

Had all the medical test run – tested for arthritis, MS, MD, had an EMG for muscle weakness and I still felt horrible all the time. My husband was getting sick of me being sick all the time – my kids were worried all the time “What’s wrong with Mom?”. Actually it was my daughter’s Pediatrician who suggested I start eliminating food and maybe I will start feeling better. Well after some research I found out that Avelox is in the Fluoroquinolone family of antibiotics and that is the same family of antibiotics that is given to poultry. I love chicken and eat if all the time but I stopped eating all chicken and eggs and turkey and over 75% of my aches / pains and gastrointestinal ailments. That was over a year ago and I stay away from all chicken, things made with chicken, eggs and all products made with eggs (mayo, cole slaw, potato salad, cake, cookies, etc…). So if you are still suffering a lot of adverse reactions and are eating poultry and poultry by-products – you are re-ingesting antibiotics through the food you are consuming. Also, it seems the older I get, the more sensitive I have become to these antibiotics, where once I would just vomit and / or have diarrhea if I ate something that had eggs or chicken in it by accident but now within 24 hours after consumption all my muscles bunch up / knot / and/or tighten that if becomes very painful to walk.

My Doctor tells me that as long as I believe that’s what is causing my problems and I feel better because I don’t eat any of the foods that contain that antibiotic then keep doing what I am doing as long as it makes me feel better. I really don’t know why she doesn’t believe me but that’s her prerogative. Ever since I went through the anaphylactic shock when I took Avelox, I have a very hard time with my cognitive thinking skills and trying to verbalize my words. There are times I have to stop mid sentence and gather my thoughts because I lost my train of thought. This is coming from a person who used to do ad lib speeches to 400 people and also teach computer classes in a technical school, while conducting workshops to teach job readiness skills to the economically disadvantaged. I never before had trouble speaking but after my episode over 2 years ago – I do now.

I tell everyone DO NOT TAKE A QUINOLONE ANTIBIOTIC -- these are very dangerous drugs and should be banned by the FDA for regular use and to be used to treat infections in life or death situations NOT for sinus, ear, prostate infections when there are literally thousands of other antibiotics that could be used that are not as dangerous.

If there is anyone out there who would like to get in touch with me regarding your or my experience with this antibiotic

Well, I had heard about muscle problems caused by this stuff, and now suddenly, I have this intense muscle pain in my shoulder. I had been working out while on this stuff. Thought it was simply a muscle pull. Could it have either exascerbated the tear, or caused the muscle weakness. I've never had this pain in my shoulder before.

I just thank God I found this website...I literally thought I was losing my mind until I started to read all the horror stories associated with Levaquin. After only 3 doses of 500mg levaquin over a 3 day period, I literally thought I was dying. I was given this drug for a sinus and ear infection. Almost immediatly I experienced chest pain, headache, severe nausea diarrhea, and visual disturbances. I continued to take the medication in hopes that these symptoms would subside after my body got use to it, but unfortunatly that was only the beginning. What followed was extreme fatigue, muscle spasms, numbness in my hands and toes and probably the worse feeling I have ever experienced in my life. I called my doc and told him I stopped the medication and thankfully he prescribed another antibiotic for me. After 5 days of not being able to get out of bed, I finally am able to function somewhat although I still am experiencing some muscle weakness. I am sure this drug has worked for some people, but if I had my way, it would be banned. It was the scariest expereince of my life..and what is most troubling is that we are at the mercy of these drug companies. Someone should have told me that these side effects were possible....the cure shouldnt be worse then the illness. Good luck and good health to all of you...I hope you all will be well again soon.

I have had the side effect of severe confusion and a diabetic episode which resulted in a hospitalization from Tequin. I started Levaquin a week ago, but had stiff muscles, tendon & joints, muscle weakness and ringing in the ears. I was prescribed Cipro Friday and am suffering aches, joint & back pain and joint stiffness. My throat is getting sore and stiff and possibly swelling. I am stopping the Cipro immediately and calling my doctor tomorrow. I have taken it successfully once in the past. I am a multiple organ transplant recipient, and know my body and how I feel. The so called "M.D." who so facetiously posted that "As a matter of fact maybe this whole Iraq thing is all levaquin's fault. Maybe you people need to realise that just because you have a symptom, and it happened after you took a drug, the two aren't necessarily related" needs to get a better bedside manner and do some research in the PDR.

I was prescribed Levaquin for a bladder infection. After taking only two 500 mg. tablets I started having severe side effects. I had extreme muscle weakness and pain, nausea, dirreah, facial swelling, dizziness, nervousness, and impaired concentration that had me bedfast for three days. Sixth day after taking first dose and I am still experiencing severe neck and shoulder pain and slight dizziness.