Post Marketing Reports for May 2001

4014From: Kanefer@a...
Date: Tue May 29, 2001 7:41pm
Subject: Article about Qunilones, symptoms file, 5/29

LEVAQUIN

Felix, prostatitis:
dry mouth, dry eyes
severe joint pain: hip & leg, especially L leg
inability to walk due to pain 3 days into Levaquin therapy
testing for: Sjogren's Syndrome

Judie, upper respiratory infection;
Lost all sense of smell for the better part of two years

Earl age 52, prostatitis
joint pain & tendon problems: arches in both feet, achilles tendons, knees,
elbows, unable to lift arms above horizontal without extreme shoulder pain
pain in lower back, rib cage & neck
sprained my little finger 12 weeks ago it wont heal
took exactly 504 CIPRO in twelve months for prostate troubles in 1996
(my condition would reocurr or never clear up completly -so i would be on
them for a while then off then back on ,till i finally decided to just live
with the problem and just quit going to the dr. for the prostate thing) !
Now disabled, unable to work
Doctor.says it's osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia & and unknown
polyneuropathy--what's your opinion?

Ken age 39 prostatitis
muscle spasms
Severe joint pain: elbows & arches of both feet
sleeplessness
Anxiety (Depersonalization, Derealization)
stomach problems.

Paul, infected cyst on leg:
500 mg/day for 9 days
Initial Symptoms: depression; insomnia; cardiac distress; abdominal pain;
joint and muscle pain; cramps and muscle spasms; severe paresthesia; altered
smell and taste; weight loss.
Continuing Symptoms: disturbed sleep; difficulty concentrating; frequent
cardiac arrhythmia and elevated blood pressure, peripheral neuropathy:
persistent burning sensation of skin; pain in most major joints, including
left shoulder injury; persistent rib cage soreness. Severity of some of these
symptoms appears to have become cyclical.

Susan, Pelvic abscess due to abdominal surgery
Levaquin- 500mg for 16 days
torn achilles tendons
pain in joints and tendons
brain fog, mental confusion
Sensory nerve damage, peripheral neuropathy: mushy feeling in the area of my
achilles tendons. I also experienced the tingling and crawling feelings.

Cassandra, 31, sinusitis
I was diagnosed with sinusitis May 2000, prescribed Levaquin 500 mg for 7
days. Symptoms started a week later.
Peripheral neuropathy: tingling, burning, numbness due to small fiber nerve
damage which affected most of my left side of the body (cheek, neck, both
arms, left leg).
Hypersensitivity to hot and cold
Anxiety, depression
4 months into ADR tendon problems occurred with both arms (primarily wrist
and elbow joints).
Muscle weakness followed. 1 year later I'm still recovering with mild flare
ups of the above symptoms.

Michael
Levaquin 500 mg/day for 20 days in late August & September, 2000
Joint pain: hands and knees
Insomnia/due to pain
panic attacks during the middle of the night
Peripheral neuropathy: nerve pain and that electrical tingling feeling
----
Levaquin, Cipro, Floxin
David F, prostatitis
severe back pain
joint pain, tendonitis in all joints
leg cramps
muscle pain
liver lesions
damage to lymph nodes
was on 500 mg twice daily for 2 months - diagnosis of prostitis was in eror
actually had kidney stones with no infections present.
Been suffering for 9 months now doctors have no answers
--------------------
CIPRO

Olive,age 41. suspected typhoid (some kind of gut infection)
Tendon problems - severely damaged right shoulder, ongoing tendonitis in
*other* shoulder and often flare-ups in other joints.
Peripheral neuropathy: every now and then I get a tingling in my scalp, like
there is an insect on my head, lasting for a few hours.

Jeff, 33, Cipro, sinus and ear infection (also using steroidal nasal spray)
Peripheral neuropathy: burning sensation left side of chest/side

It is a full 3 1/2 years later and I still have mild to moderate burning in
my left chest/side. I am on 600 - 900 mg's of Neurontin each day and have to
take a mild pain pill every once in a while. Before the Cipro, I had never
experienced this type of pain in my life. My Nero says I have ridiculopathy
of the T5 nerve that runs from my back to my front. He says it may never get
all that much better. He doesn't believe it has anything to do with the FQ I
took. Seems odd however that my syptoms came on just as I was taking the
drug.

Mike W., age 31, perfect health until prostatisis for which Cipro was given
as first medication
Cipro 500 for two months
Major muscle spasms and tremors
Chest pain (pending analysis next week by cardiologist)
Peripheral neuropathy: burning sensation in muscles

Judie
Cipro, 1999, 2 times following oral surgery
w/i 30 days, torn tendons right elbow
w/i 1 year, overall extreme joint pain
2 years later: still have bad elbow(s) and overall joint pain

Mary, age 56, traveler's diarrhea
Cipro 500 mg. 2 times a day for 20 days in November 1999
Psychological: exacerbation of pre-existing Adult Attention Deficit Disorder
and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: severe depression (for almost 18
months), suicidal tendencies, depersonalization, out of body experiences.
Insomnia
Muscle twitches diagnosed as Myoclonus.

Jeff, 33, Floxin/1 day, switched to Cipro/12 days
Skin Rash: red dots on arms, legs and buttocks
Joint and muscle pain: thigh, groin, hip, and legs
"Geographic tongue"
Night sweats
Anxiety, panic attacks
Now it has been a month since my last Cipro and I am still experiencing
muscle and joint pain in my legs. The rash is clearing up but not entirely
gone. I am still experiencing anxiety and panic attacks, which I never had
until the medicine.
For a while I though that I was showing the signs of HIV and get tested. This
came back negative. Until I saw this site I could not explain why I was
feeling this way.
----------------
TROVAN

Sharon, UTI
I took 1 Trovan (quinolone) which is off the market now. In fact, I took 1
sample, a week before it went off the market and 4 Macrobid for a UTI
infection. Macrobid is not a quinolone but highly toxic to the nerves. I have
experienced in the course of 2 years:
massive bruising
wheezing
muscle spasms
Peripheral neuropathy: tingling in all areas of the body (mainly in legs for
the better part of 1 year), stinging and strange nerve sensations (crawling
like) from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. It took me a year to
figure out it had something to do with those drugs. Yep, I have fought
depression, but keep going.
----------------

NOROXIN

Ned, 24, Noroxin/3 weeks
Headache: "eyepopping headaches," continuing
Skin rash
Insomnia
Anxiety/panic attacks
Vision deteriorated
Frequent Urination
I also thought that I had HIV (negative). I made a mistake of waiting too
long to get checked out and probably drove myself further into insanity. I've
been feeling better since I tested negative for HIV and some other major
illnesses but not 100%. For me the worst thing is this weird feeling in my
head that I get almost every day I fell like I'm lost, the left over anxiety
and panic attacks . I have hard time concentrating on my work or anything for
that matter. It's been almost a year for me. Good luck.


4020From: Mollymgr@a...
Date: Wed May 30, 2001 0:00pm
Subject: Re: to Barb

To the group:
Wanted to let you know this latest bit of medical folly. Spoke with
my internist, the lady who had me taking the devil-drug levaquin for
10 months (at 500 mg a day) and we again discussed my ADR. She
doesn't believe it for a minute, suggests that all the drug is
long-gone from my body, and also suggests that I begin taking an
anti-depressant and perhaps consider counseling. Lord a'mighty! She
thinks I've gone nuts and she's known me for years! The closed-minded
nature of the medical community drives me nuts. I suggeste that she
look at this forum, that she spend whatever spare time she might have
getting to know this anti-biotic that she's prescribing like candy.
And get this: She was recently voted, by her peers (in a local
magazine) as the BEST DOCTOR IN TOWN! And maybe she is, but in fact
the medical community needs educating about this growing problem.
Regards, Glenn R. P. S. -- Has anybody heard from