This personal story was originally posted to the Quinolone Adverse Reaction Forum. If you are a victim of a quinolone antibiotic and need support or advice then please visit the Quinolone Adverse Reaction Forum (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinolones/).
 

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This personal story was originally posted to the Quinolone Adverse Reaction Forum. If you are a victim of a quinolone antibiotic and need support or advice then please visit the Quinolone Adverse Reaction Forum (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinolones/).

Levaquin
Posted on 21 July 2002
I am new to this and don't really know how to use a site like this but here goes. I have my own episode of Levaquin that I would like to share and "vent" as some say. Last August I had a bladder infection and beause I am allergic to so many antibiotics out there I was put on Levaquin. In the mean time my tendon in my right ankle tore and started to hurt extremely bad. I went to a podiastrist who thought I had injured it and had possibly broken a bone in my ankle or foot. He put me in a mobile cast and told me to stay offf of it. So I was either in a wheel chair or on crutches. I saw another doctor who basically said the same thing. Then I saw another doctor who told me it was a tendon problem, not a bone problem and to stay off of it. All the while I had been seeing my regular doctors -- general practitioner and allergist because i had contacted a flu/cold disease. In the meantime and through the winter months I developed 3 upper respiratory infections back to back with only about a 10 day to 2 week well time in between each episode. Since I have asthma and allergies, the doctors (3 of them) put me on 500 mg. of Levaquin to make sure I didn't get pneumonia, because I had bad bronchitis. So I was on and off of Levaquin (more on than off) from August of 2001 until May of 2002. None of the doctors I had been seeing (about 7 of them), ever connected the Levaquin with the tendon problem. During that time my left ankle started hurting really bad and the tendons tore in that one. Now both ankles are torn. Now I am almost totally wheel chair bound -- very short distances with a cane. During this time I saw another doctor about my tendons. This doctor was even in another state. He told me your tendons are tearing, but I do not know why. This was a specialist orthopedic doctor. (Idiots) All of these doctors had access to my medical records and knew the drugs I was taking. And none connected this with the Levaquin. Now I have bumps on the back of my ankles from the scar tissue and have very limited range of motion in my ankles. When I try to walk I walk like a Penguin. Finally after all of this in June one of my doctors had read something that triggered my condition in his head. He told me he thought he knew what was wrong with my ankles. He sent me to a doctor and that doctor denied it. Even though I have found tons of stuff that it can cause it, he denied it. My doctor is still sticking to his diagnosis, even wrote a letter that I have Levaquin induced tendonitis and tendon rupture. I am seeing another specialist this week. Since I have been off the Levaquin since the middle of May I haven't seen any improvement yet. I am also suffering from deep depression, pain all over my body, chest pain and experience heart palpations that come and go....... after doing some research I think it is all from the Levaquin and it is so sad and disgusting that I was on it so very long. Plus I am having severe problems with anxiety......I am in a fricking nightmare. Not only that, the specialist I saw told me to continue taking the Levaquin for future infections, that it didn't cause tendon problems.......I finally found this web site after a lot of searching out of desperation. I do not know if I will ever be normal or even close to normal again. But at least now I have an idea why I have turned into a nut case and why I am practically crippled.........I'm just so angry now that this went on so long and none of the doctors knew about it. I went to the a pharmacist and I read these possible conditions on the insertion sheet that he had given me, Yet the pharmacist stood right there and denied my tendon problem with Levaquin. He said that was only found in young children. He didn't even know what was on the sheet.......Is this pure stupidity or am I trapped in a nightmare........I use to garden and loved it, now I can't even get to the garden, and you think you've got problems. I would love to be able to walk without pain, or even be able to walk for any distance period......... Count your blessings.

Originally posted on the Quinolone Adverse Reaction Forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinolones/message/8749