Levaquin and three months later

I started taking Levaquin on Thursday October 4 for a sinus/throat infection. 5 days later and I feel wired out of my mind. Strange thoughts, increased energy intertwined with panic, wrist/hip pain, very little sleep. Severe stomach pain, constipation, nausea and vomiting, gagging reflex. Also mouth sores, and terrible taste in mouth. This has me very concerned. I am grateful that this isn't my imagination. Thanks for this forum. Why is this drug still on the market. Karen in Winnipeg, Canada

Hi, My name is Scott and I am 58 years old. I had a severe case of Bronchitis four years ago. I was so sick my Doc. sent me to have a chest x-ray thinking I might have pneumonia. He prescribed Levaquin...one tablet a day for 30 days. I immediately started taking the antibiotic. I was so sick I did not realize any reaction immediately. I just felt horrible, but attributed it to the bronchitis. The infection started to come under control, but I was starting to feel worst physically. I got so bad my wife took me to the emergency room. I was slurring my speech, my muscles ached, I had night sweats and I lost my coordination. It had also affected my memory...both short term and long term. The physician who saw me at the hospital was 99% sure that I had suffered a stroke. I was admitted to the hospital and spent 3 days undergoing blood-work and testing to see if they could determine what was happening to me. Upon release I was sent to a neurologist and had MRI's of my brain. All came back negative.

I took the medicine for 26 days before it dawned on me that it could be a reaction to the Levaquin. I went home and researched Levaquin and was blown away by what I read. All of the weird symptoms I had been experiencing were right there in front of me. I immediately stopped taking the antibiotic and within days started to feel better. I continued to get better until I was feeling almost normal. This took about three weeks. I still experienced problems with my memory and had residual effects with my coordination, but otherwise felt 100% better.

Approximately three months later I had a severe relapse. It came out of the blue. I was not taking any medicine, but was taken to the hospital and admitted with the same symptoms I had experienced before. Again the Doc's had no idea what the problem was. I did explain about my reaction to the prior use of levaquin, but that was dismissed as not probable and they released me after three days with no idea what was wrong.

I continued to have relapses for the next 2 1/2 years, every three or four months. Each time was not as bad as the last. Finally I traveled to Boston and saw a very well known neurologist who explained that he had seen this before. He called it a post infection syndrome. He was the first person who agreed that it was a reaction to my long-term use of levaquin. I finally felt vindicated!

If you check the manufacturer warnings online, you will see that they do know about these reactions. It a small percentage so they think the benefits out way the adverse reactions of some patients. As a person who has suffered with these reactions, no percentage is worth the risk!

For those of you that are experiencing adverse effects, there is hope at the end of the tunnel. It does take time, but it does get better. I can live with my memory problems and although I have some residual muscle and tendon problems in my legs, my life is almost back to normal. I have not had a relapse in the past year.

Good luck to everyone and keep the faith!

Scott

Levaquin 500mg prescribed for bronchitis for 10 days. Doctor had to stop on day 7 because of migraine aura told to be low blood sugar. This was in December, 2006. After stopping there has been difficulty walking, with severe pain in legs. Also migraine auras return and are still present three months later. These symptoms were not present in December. This is a poison. Why this drug was given I do not know. There are plenty of other antibiotics which I have taken which did not cause symptoms once stopped.
There was one other that was horrible, Ketek, which has now been stopped because of liver problems.
Would not take Levaquin again.