Post Marketing Reports for September 2002

From: "sernik4484" <sernik4484@y...>
Date: Mon Sep 23, 2002 2:49 pm
Subject: adverse reaction to levaquin
To all:

My girlfriend was just recently hospitalized for a kidney infection.
At the hospital and afterwards she was treated with Levaquin.

Her hospitalization began on a Thursday and she was discharged on a
Saturday two days later. The following Wednesday, September 18th,
the pain to the kidneys was improving rapidly but pains in her
ankles, followed quickly by pains in her shoulders, knees, hips, and
all other major muscle and joint groups followed. Fortunately the
next day her physicians recognized that Levaquin was the likely
culprit and she was instructed to stop taking it. However, today is
Monday, September 23rd, and she has not had any improvement or relief
from the joint and muscle pain.

I just began researching Levaquin today. Much to my horror I have
found countless articles and personal stories regarding prolonged
adverse effect associated with Fluoroquinolones. What can you
experienced veterans offer my girlfried in the way of advice of what
to do and what not to do at the outset of discovering that you have
had a severe adverse reaction to Levaquin/Fluoroquinolones? What
should I tell her she can expect in the coming days, months, years?

What is worse is my girlfriend is severely allergic to the active
anti-inflamatory ingredient in Advil and other similar drugs.

All advice and or reflections would be appreciated.


From: "Sunshine Smilz" <debber_1@h...>
Date: Thu Sep 26, 2002 3:47 am
Subject: Re: [quinolones] Tequin - Liver Transplant

I was given Tequin in the E.R. for a urinary tract infection and took only 3
pills when i stared to imagine things..I put my family thru a month of hell..My
husband told doctors afterward at the E.R what I was doing and they acted like
I he was nuts..My family doctor finally confirmed it was the Tequin making me
crazy...He said it had something to do with the neurotransmiters in my brain....


From: livergirl825
Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2002 4:00 AM
To: quinolones@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [quinolones] Tequin - Liver Transplant

It's been 13 months since my liver transplant and I'm still having a
hard time settling for the "we'll never know" reason the doctors gave
me for the sudden liver failure I experienced. My obsession is what
led me to this site. I'll relay just the facts as I've realized that
emotions just get in the way. I am female, 44, active, healthly and
hardly ever got sick or went to the doctor.

July 18, 2001 - I went to my doctor (a GP) for a pelvic pain I was
having. I couldn't sleep and was in constant pain. I had a full
pelvic exam and pap smear and he couldn't find anything. He
scheduled me for a colonoscopy for August 8th mainly because my mom
died of colon cancer 11 years earlier and that seemed like the place
to start.

July 25, 2001 - I went in for the pre-colonoscopy blood tests. Even
though the pelvic pain was alot better we were still going to get the
colonoscopy done to check out if anything was going on there. While
I was there I had him look at the swollen glands in my throat that
were making it painful to eat. That's when I got the Tequin. Five
pills to take over the next three days. On the third day, my doctor
called me and sternly told me to STOP taking the Tequin. I told him
I only got five and they were all gone already. He again told me to
STOP taking them. I told him I couldn't take any more because I
didn't have any more. He told me a third time NOT to take any more
of the Tequin. The blood tests had come back and my liver numbers
were not normal. The tests were done a few hours before I started
taking the Tequin.

August 1, 2001 - I turned very yellow and was very tired all the
time. I spent the next three weeks having blood tests, vitamin K
shots, EKG's, x-rays and a boatload of other tests I can't remember
the names of.

August 23, 2001 - I started swelling up. This is when they called me
at work and said I should go to the hospital. They sent me to a very
large hospital. After 24 hours of tests and ultrasounds and
questions I was told that I needed a new liver and I needed it in the
next 12 hours.

August 25, 2001 - I had a liver transplant. At the time of my
surgery I had six hours to live, my kidneys had started shutting down
and I had 2% liver function. I had two heart attacks during
surgery. My heart stopped for 30 minutes the first time and 15
minutes the second time.

I am fine now but what this did to my husband and friends and
relatives was awful. The first thing my hometown doctor asked me
when it was all over was did the liver physicians at the large
hospital think he did anything wrong. Too suspicious for me. I
must have had a problem but my family and friends and I all believe
that the Tequin is what killed my liver. Can't prove it. Can't get
any answers. But we can't get any peace of mind either. Be thankful
that I'm alive? You bet! The miracle of organ donation is just
that...a miracle. But 13 months later and I still ponder the reason
why. That is why today I got on the internet and entered the word
Tequin and it led me here. Hoping for anything, I guess.

From: "cornstench" <dkeeney@s...>
Date: Mon Sep 30, 2002 3:49 pm
Subject: Very Recent Victim -- Need Help
I just completed a 10 day course of Levaquin. Almost immediately, I
noticed that my sleep patterns were greatly disturbed. I was waking
up alot and having wild wicked dreams. After two nights of this, I
called the doctor to get advice. For whatever reason, I got his PA
and she said "Well, it's really up to you." No mention of any of the
deplorable side effects that you all are very familiar with. I
decided to half my dose to 250 from 500. Did this once or twice,
then went back up to the full dose, because it didn't really help my
sleep. I really wanted to get over my prostatitis symptoms so I
stayed the course for about 10 days (even though it was prescribed
for 14). My final dose was last Wenesday. I also had occasional
tingling down my left leg. Friday night I had what seemed to me like
an anxiety attack. Saturday I had tingling for the first time down
both legs. Saturday night -- an even worse panic attack. Sunday I
jogged for two miles and performed well, lowering my time. Soon
after, however, both of my thighs started twitching. That night,
which was last night, WHAM -- anxiety attack from hell. It was
freaky! After a few hours I did manage to get to sleep, but then
woke up as usual around 3:30 in the morning. Even though I was
groggy, I got hit by another panic attack and literally thought I was
going to die. I put on clothes and shoes to get ready to go to the
ER. Eventually, I calmed down and fell back asleep. This morning I
went straight to the doctor's office. Of course, he'd never even
heard of any such side effects and treated me like a psycho idiot. I
returned home, slept a little more, and finally started to feel a
little better around 2:00. On a positive note, the tingling has been
almost non-existent today and the twitching is much milder. However,
I'm very worried about tonight, because so far, every night has been
worse than the last. Strange that the anxiety actually developed
after stopping Levaquin. Any chance that I could get lucky and be
about done with some sort of "withdrawal?" Do you know of any
stories where people get lucky and have symptoms resolve and not go
on forever? Please be positive and don't freak me out. I'm freaked
enough. Any advice of what to do in the short term?

Thanks,

Dave 35M