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Dangers of Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics (Levaquin)

Wayne

Senior Member
Messages
4,300
Location
Ashland, Oregon
This is herx, not neccessary bad thing. You should investigate which organism is behind such a reaction.


Not to be disagreeable, but I seriously doubt it. These drugs are well-known to cause severe joint and ligament damage. I heard of one man who took his first dose, and that evening had his shoulder fall out of its socket. These are extremely dangerous drugs.
 
Messages
6
Location
Western United States
Hi Mitch, so sorry to hear about your debilitating symptoms. I've heard many stories similar to yours over the years, and cannot believe these dangerous drugs are still being prescribed, especially for relatively non-urgent, non-life threating conditions like sinus infections.

Regarding your experience with malaria drugs, I think the stress caused by some of these drugs could very well be at least partly responsible for your acquiring ME/CFS. There's a lot of information on this online; here's a couple of links for you to start out with. The second one has many comments by soldiers who've been through some pretty bad experiences with these drugs (Lariam, also known as Mefloquine).

From FDA reports: Lariam and CFS

Drug Ratings for Lariam

Thanks, Wayne. I'll check them out.
 
Messages
2
I was just floating around the web looking for some insights regarding fluoroquinolone treatment and this site caught my attention.

I don’t go around throwing grossly overstated arguments into the air to see if they stick, nor do I have any scientific basis to make claims other than what I have experienced, but if I was a scientist I would most certainly desire pursing an examination relative to this medication and its residual effects upon people.

Without too much detail, bacterial pneumonia brought me to inpatient status for 5 days this spring during which time I received IV Levofloxacin 750 daily, and two oral pills for use on consecutive days after discharge, so a total of 7 dosing days. The stuff worked great and was glad I received it because the hemoptysis upon entering the emergency room was straight from a horror movie, scary stuff.

Months have now passed and, although my pulmonary function is better, something does not seem quite right- attributes I did not have prior to admission. I can’t put my finger on it precisely at this time. I will say that for a few weeks after discharge every time I got up from a nap it felt like an elephant was resting upon both Achilles tendons, and along with a slight feeling of swollen knees, I just passed it off mostly as getting older. Those symptoms have abated.

Now it seems if I knick myself shaving it takes forever for the bleeding to stop. My skin also itches, but that is getting better. The area that concerns me most however is panic attacks. I have had two of them within the past month and both were very unsettling.

It has been over five months since my inpatient stay, and IT APPEARS that Levofloxacin, even though seemed to work wonders in the hospital, may have deposited residual side effects that may not be the most pleasant.

I am not certain if there is a cause-effect relationship going on here, but something happened to this 61 year old 5 months ago that is causing me concern presently and would like to know if anyone else has experienced the same, or similar, conditions.

…..there’s something happening here, but what it is ain’t exactly clear.....Buffalo Springfield
 
Messages
15,786
I took Levaquin once for suspected pneumonia a few years before I got ME/CFS (the doc lost the X-ray while I was waiting and didn't want to admit it). It was really awful - at times it seemed like I would stop breathing if I didn't focus on it, and it was just so hard to keep breathing.
 

August59

Daughters High School Graduation
Messages
1,617
Location
Upstate SC, USA
I just had to take a prescriptions worth plus 1 refill which was 14 days due to a deep infection at the back of the jawbone that came from my cancer surgery. I was crossing my fingers the whole time and it has been a month since the last dose and I have not seemed to have encountered any ill effects.
It was that or Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber for 30 days and my part of the Medicare bill was $6750 as opposed to $15. I did not have a choice, but I came out to the good with my fingers crossed.
 
Messages
6
Location
Western United States
I sent my internist an email, asking his opinion of the thought that this might be a "Herx" (don't know whether I should be using that word as a noun, a verb, or an adjective!) and his response was very disappointing. To paraphrase, he said that a Herx reaction is something suffered by patients after a bout of sepsis. He went on to say, in a very smart-@ss way if you ask me, "and, as far as I know, you've not recently HAD Sepsis, so I doubt this could be a Herx reaction."

Alrighty then....

Everything I've read today seems to indicate certain conditions that are associated, especially Lyme. I tested positive for Lyme several years ago, but was told that the level was "too low to cause any problems".

So, I don't know why I'm hurting, but I'd be very happy to go back to my pre-Levaquin level of discomfort! ;)
 

Lala

Senior Member
Messages
331
Location
EU
I sent my internist an email, asking his opinion of the thought that this might be a "Herx" (don't know whether I should be using that word as a noun, a verb, or an adjective!) and his response was very disappointing. To paraphrase, he said that a Herx reaction is something suffered by patients after a bout of sepsis. He went on to say, in a very smart-@ss way if you ask me, "and, as far as I know, you've not recently HAD Sepsis, so I doubt this could be a Herx reaction."

Alrighty then....

Everything I've read today seems to indicate certain conditions that are associated, especially Lyme. I tested positive for Lyme several years ago, but was told that the level was "too low to cause any problems".

So, I don't know why I'm hurting, but I'd be very happy to go back to my pre-Levaquin level of discomfort! ;)


Levofloxacin is very effective for lyme and if you have lyme and have not used levofloxacin in the past, then there is high probability you will have strong reaction. Please read at least basic things about lyme and herxheimer reaction. Most of lyme people got it.
 

Lala

Senior Member
Messages
331
Location
EU
Not to be disagreeable, but I seriously doubt it. These drugs are well-known to cause severe joint and ligament damage. I heard of one man who took his first dose, and that evening had his shoulder fall out of its socket. These are extremely dangerous drugs.


I know a woman, which knee fell out of the sheath after using doxycycline. This is not proof and even such a event can be part of herxheimer reaction if knee was infected, which frequently is during chronic bacterial infection as a part of ME/CFS.
 
Messages
2
Interesting comments.

I suppose it might be interesting to see how many 'snow bird' heart bypass patients, with pre-surgery smiles on their faces knowing successful golfing rounds after recovery will again be on the horizon, suffer limb or tendon damage during bypass recovery, and have no clue the two may be directly related by an antibiotic bridge. I know two such people who this happened to this spring, and prior to my own exposure to this medication and topic might have thought them clumsy, or unfortunate, but certainly not medically related. Are fluoroquinolones a primary agent, both pre and post surgery. Thank you.
 

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
My shoulders and knees went out after taking Levafloxin
in January 2013.
I have a thread here on it.

I can walk easily now but I still can't squat. My shoulders
are getting looser finally but I need to try exercising
to rebuild them. I've been exhausted since using
this.

Fwiw, we have to rebuild our gut flora after taking these.
From previous experience, I've noticed it can take
me a few weeks to get my digestion working again.

tc .. x
 
Messages
170
Location
Hippietown
Hi All,

I've done a fair amount of reading on the dangers of a class of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones and have determined I would never take them myself. Too many people have become extraordinarily disbled as a result of taking only a single dose, and many more after taken more than one dose.

I know many with ME have had difficulty with sinus infections, and this type of antibiotic is often prescribed for such infections. One person who used to post on the ProHealth board detailed how his own descent into ME/CFS/FM was initiated by a single dose of Levaquin.

The following PBS segment aired last week

Certain Antibiotics Spur Widening Reports of Severe Side Effects

I thought this 10-minute video presented a very concise and accurate description of the situation regarding fluoroquinolone antibiotics. I think not only should we be concerned about it for ourselves, but also for family and friends. A single dose can irrevocably take down a completely healthy individual. Why take such a chance when other much safer options are normally available?

One of persons featured in the video is a woman who was given this antibiotic as a "preventative measure" following sinus surgery. I can't understand why they don't recommend rinsing the sinuses with saltwater as a preventative measure. Too simple I guess.

Best Regards, Wayne

Great post Wayne. I do my best to inform my family of the dangers of fluoroquinolones. Unfortunately, they are still overprescribed for non-life threatening infections.

I wish someone had warned me about them...Cipro was the beginning of my journey into CFS.