Levaquin and stress

I was prescribed Levaquin in Feb./March for 30 days. I have had tremendous pain in my heels since then. I am walking slower as every joint and muscle in my body hurts. I can barely stoop down and it is getting worse. I can not sleep. I thought I was just going through some depression and stress until I started reading about it in the WSJ and now realize I fit many of the symptoms being discussed.
We all need to take some action as this is only going to get worse for everyone.
FDA?????????????????

While taking Levaquin I experienced insomnia and anxiety. One week after completing 500mg a day for 10 days, I began experiencing Tendonitis in my right hand/wrist and have had an incredibly painful earache with tinnitus and vertigo. The ENT doctor diagnosed TMJ, but I do not grind my teeth or clench my teeth. My jaw operates just fine with no immediate pain, but the earache persists almost constantly. The ENT doctor's solution was Vicodin, but I want a cure not a pain treatment. I don't believe I have TMJ and wonder if it could be the temporal tendon. I am indirectly aware of two other people who have had the same experience, and I wonder how many others are out there. If any one else has experienced this and has any knowledge or advice to offer, I would greatly appreciate it. I have no idea who to go to about this. The ENT doctor does not have any solutions, and I doubt a dentist can help me because I don't think it's TMJ.

I am a 27 y/o male in good physical condition (i did a triathlon 2 months ago) I was prescribed levaquin 750mg a week ago for an throat infection and fever. After the first dose I had sever abdominal pain (like someone was stabbing me). After the 3rd dose my back started to hurting and my calf's cramped up. I stopped the medication immediately. It has been 5 days since I stopped the medication and I have a burning sensation on my back. It is on both sides and stretches around toward my stomach. It feels like I have bad sunburn but there is no redness, swelling or discoloration. I also still have fever and muscle spasms all over my body (mostly in my legs). I went to my doctor yesterday and he is running a bunch of blood testes and I hope he can find a way to treat the symptoms. Does anyone know how long this should last? I just want it to go away so I can get on with my life. Any help or suggestions are appreciated.

I was given Levaquin 750 by my doctor about 6 weeks ago for a sinus infection. I took the first pill and about 20 minutes later I started feeling anxious and panicky. Thought it was all psychosymatic, and it wore of somewhat, but was not able to sleep well, very strange dreams, felt like I all I did was dream all night did not get good deep sleep. Blamed in on stress had a lot going on at the time, here I am six weeks later, suffering from sleep depravation due to the fact that I am unable to get into all layers of sleep each night, this is starting to drive me crazy and I have no quality of life because of the feeling of not being alert due to the deprivation. What do we do to get the nightmare of a med off the market.

This morning I awoke with my heart racing and a very anxious emotional state of mind. I felt irrational,frantic, like crying, hand-wringing & completely out of control emotionally! It was very scarey - I've never experienced this before. This is my 7th day on the antibiotic, and I'm seeing no improvement in the sinusitis that I'm taking it for.

I cannot stress too strongliy how opposed I am to the marketing of this drug. I took 3 of 5 prescribed doses
and was unable to eat or drink, felt anxious, spaced-out,
just weird.
I went to an E.R., because I didn't know what was
going on. It was a horrible experience, almost surreal,
and impossible to describe.
Today a friend of mine, who has muscle tears from it,
is having an incisional hernia repair.
AVOID LEVAQUIN!

3/30/06 update

I was referred to a rheumatologist by the ER Dr. and had my appointment on 3/29/06. To make a long story short, I do not have gout. I have a condition called 'reactive arthritis' that the doc could/would not openly say was caused by the Levaquin but that he had seen before in patients who were taking/had taken Levaquin. I am taking celebrex and it seems to have helped slightly (stress on the slightly). I am experiencing more and more problems sleeping. The last two nights have been the worst so far with basically no sleep. I generally come into work at 9:00AM and have been showing up at 6:00-7:00AM as of late because I either do not sleep or wake up around 3:00-4:00AM.

I am as used to the foot pain and numb/tingling/burning sensations as i'm ever going to get and am able to work, although at a severly hampered pace. I am actually having some real fear for my job at this point, having taken three sick days in two weeks because of this. I am beginning to believe that I need to consult a mental health professional. I have learned that drinking lots of water can temporarily alleviate some of the symptoms, which I started doing for gout treatment, but doesn't make you feel normal again in any way. I guess this is going to become normal for me. :-(

Normal, healthy male, 57, with suspected prostrate infection. Prescribed 500MG Levaquin for 30 days. I've used it before over the years for sinus infection (10 day regimen) and it was quite effective, although I had noticed some muscle and tendon soreness. This time, 14 days into it, I'm experiencing severe irritability, and stress. The muscle soreness and joint stiffness are constant, particularly in the feet and hands. I've read a number of postings about accompanying stomach and digestive problems - you must use acidophilus when taking a drug like this - all the beneficial flora in the digestive tract are being destroyed and you have to replace them or you'll get bloating, gas, stomach and intestinal cramping, etc. The mental distress is new for me on this one and it concerns me.

I was prescribed Levaquin for a urinary tract infection. This is a chronic problem for me and I have always taken Cipro. After 1 day of taking my 7 day prescription, I felt very tired and weak and felt feveress (but no fever) and I was achy all over, especially my legs and feet. It is Christmas time and I blamed it on stress and fatique. I am not getting rested after 6 days and I was beginning to think I was seriously ill. I felt better after reading the side effect reports and I hope I will begin to feel better now that I have taken my last dose. I will never take this drug again.