Levaquin and sip

I started taking Levaquin on Saturday for preventive measures for knee surgery. I had taken Keflex the week before and had an allergic reaction to it. Extreme itching on my hands, hips, shoulders and feet. I broke out in hives and my lips, eyes, hands and face swelled up. I quit taking Keflex and then a week later, they started me on Levaquin. So this morning, Tuesday, I had been on Levaquin for 3 days, I woke up feeling fine. I was up for about 10 minutes and the back of my head was itchy. I itched it and noticed that my fingers and hands were starting to swell. I took a sip of coffe and my lips were starting to swell. Within 10 min. I was swollen, itchy, in an extreme cold sweat, my throat was swelling and I could not breath very well. I grabbed my phone and called 911 and I could barely remember my address. I told the dispatcher that I was going to pass out and I did. When I came to I could hear the dispatcher trying to get my attention. When I got back on the phone after passing out, she said paramedics were on the way. They showed up about 2 min. later. My blood pressure was 101/53. I ended up going to the hospital and on the way there, they gave me a shot of epipedirine and benadryl. When I got to the hospital there were 8 people working on me. I got a shot of pepcid and a shot for the rash that was covering 90% of my body. I was still having a hard time understanding questions and was having a hard time staying focused to answer questions. I was in the ER for about 4 1/2 hours for anaphylaxis but they finally got it under control. Now I get to have epi pens to carry around with me since this was such a severe reaction. I was told to look into an allergy screening so I think I might see how much the insurance will pay on that and maybe get that done.

I was diagnosed with bronchitis a couple of days a go and was given a 5 day course of Levaquin 750mg. The doctor also gave me a prescription for the Z pack in case Levaquin did not work. Before I went to the doctor I had a fever of 102 for 5 days so I was ready to take anything. That evening Nov. 11th 2008 I took my first pill... and my last one. The onset of side effects started within 3 hours. It began with an extreme blinding headache and a very stiff neck. I finally fell asleep and had the most intensely bizarre dreams which I woke up from several times to find my self drenched in sweat. The night sweats were extremely intense and followed me through to the next day. I could not stop sweating... My head was pounding in pain, it felt as if my brain was swelling though my fever had subsided. I proceeded to turn the tv on to try to distract myself, but as I was doing so my mind was racing and I found it very difficult to organize my thoughts. My vision was very isolated meaning that I felt like I had lost my peripheral vision all together. I was unable to read silently without hearing the words in a loud voice in my head...very very strange. I had zero appetite and experienced serious diarrhea the next day. This drug felt overwhelmingly powerful kind of like dropping a nuclear weapon on a small village. I felt like my body was on fire for a moment as if i was given chemo therapy. While trying not to panic I realized that a lot of my joints were cracking. It was then I decided to go online and do some reading about this drug...WOW... I mean WOW... How do scientists manage to create a drug that can actually snap tendons... We can't cure anything but we sure can napalm the hell out of anything. That being said I decided to call my doctor and said WTF were you thinking giving me this!?! Needless to say it took about 60 hours for the one pill to wear off. I am terrified to think what would happen to me if I had finished the 5 day course. I know the one pill caused some damage, hopefully nothing permanent. I am now on the Z pac and it is very mild in comparison. Please listen to your body as I did and immediately discontinue use if you experience any side effects. I firmly believe that this drug is something you take only if you are dying and there are just no alternatives ie Anthrax.

My husband had stomach surgery 3 weeks ago and 6 days ago developed an infection and was prescribed Levaquin for 5 days. On the second day of taking it, he began to not be able to eat anything, then he couldn't tolerate water and went into retching fits. He is now inthe hospital being fed intraveneously. Has anyone heard of this side effect -- dry heaving, or inability to sip or drink or eat anything? He took his last dose yesterday.