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 10 August 2001
Regarding your gamble to take the levaquin my noticeable ADR's did not show up until 5 months after I had stopped taking the pills. I was on 500 mg twice daily. Besides the inability to sleep thru the night, the first sympton I noticed was intense back, hip and pelvis pain of no known orgin. I also experienced intense muscle and tendon aches through out my body as well as lack of muscle strenght. I also experienced loss of vision to the point of needing glasses (bifocals) as well as intense pain in the ankle and knees. It felt like a red hot sliver was being stuck in it. I went from lifting weights to being unable to open a soda bottle. I am now, almost a year later, still suffering from pain in all my joints which is requiring me to be on heavy duty anti inflammotory drugs just to be functional. Some days the pain is so intense that I am unable to dress myself. I am currently under the care of one of the top 100 rhuematologist in the nation and his diagnosis is poly (multiple) arithisis, chemically induced, tendonitis of all the major supporting joints, agian chemically induced as well as damage to my liver, and damage to the major ligaments that connect the hip to the pelvis. I have undergone mutiple MRI's, full body xrays, Cat Scans, liver scans, IVP xrays, cystos, full and complete blood work ups, urinanylisis, bone scans, muscle samples for biopsys and god knows how many other test. I am the healthiest miserable crippled person you will ever meet. All test have come back negative with the exception of the liver test which showed damage from these drugs as well as eye and ligament test which showed the same. The doctors have no clue as to the mechanism by which this damage is done but it is without question a result of these drugs and at this time it appears to be permanent. I went from a healthy physically active construction worker to a crippled person who's every day is an intense act of will to just get out of bed and I am taking darvocet (an extreme narcotic pain killer) for pain management like it was candy. As well as anti inflamatory drugs daily. I would not even take an aspirin for a head ache before this. My medical bills have exceeded $100,000.00 since the start of this mess and there is no end in sight. Even something as simple as typing this response is darn near impossible to do. Hopefully you will be one of the more fortunate ones who do not experience this type of reaction. Believe it or not I am on of the luckier ones compared to the rest of the folks on this website.

Originally posted on the Quinolone Adverse Reaction Forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinolones/message/4569