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 23 July 1999
Dear Quinolone Victims, I took Levaquin for two months straight, 250mg. per day. After two months, my husband took me to ER, as I became completely incoherent, irrational, and finally psychotic. I am an instructor of foreign languages at a major university and have never experienced transient psychotic episodes. I was taking the Levaquin because I had a positive blood test for the pathogen "mycoplasma fermentans incognitus", and this was the typical protocol for erradicating this pathogen. When we arrived at ER, the attending physician informed us that he had never heard of any patient staying on Levaquin for the length of time that I had been on it (two months). I believe it to be a VERY powerful, harmful and dangerous antibiotic, and the FDA has not spent enough time examining ALL of the patients who have been harmed by this antibiotic, some even permanently. I was fortunate, in that the adverse side effects subsided in about two months, and I am back to my former "pre-Levaquin self"; however, I must add that I have permanent tendinitis in my right wrist (pain upon putting weight on that right wrist, such as doing push-ups or while scrubbing floors). I believe that this will probably not diminish. I have also read that "torn tendinitis" has occurred in some patients. I believe that I was headed toward having torn tendons bilaterally, as at the end of two months, I had severe pain in both wrists, whenever I would bend my wrists, or put weight on them. Besides the right tendinitis, I had the following symptoms that lasted for two months: severe bilateral weakness (legs and arms) that would not allow me to walk (thus, I was bedridden for two months), serum sickness beginning with a large rash on my abdomen, and finally intracranial pressure (which exhibited itself by pressure on the optic nerve), and suddenly, my peripheral vision began to darken, and the spatial area of vision became darker and darker. These are the beginning symptoms of intracranial pressure on the optic nerve. I believe this drug to be very dangerous and should undergo further investigation by the FDA, as it appears that many patients (especially small boned women, like myself) are having serious adverse reactions upon initiating antimicrobial therapy with Levaquin. Sara

Originally posted on the Quinolone Adverse Reaction Forum at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quinolones/message/404