Topic: Is this the tendon damage I'm supposed to look out for?
MichaelTampa
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 24868
posted
I've been on factive, a 4th-generation fluoroquinolone, for about 3-4 months. It's the only abx I'm taken supposed to be active against bart.
A couple days ago, I did some yardwork for a couple hours in the morning, and in early evening I was reclining on the couch, cutting toenails, kind of flexed my feet forward some. After I was done with the left foot, I put it back to a relaxed position, but it felt very uncomfortable around the diagonal tendons or ligaments leading from the top of the foot to the bottom of the leg. Some kind of light pain or uncomfortable feeling, and it was kind of pulsing on and off in a few different locations. It lasted about 20-30 seconds, and hasn't felt unusual since then.
Any thoughts. I do plan on calling my LLMD to see what he thinks, but also curious for anyone's thoughts here.
I guess rifampin is the alternative? Is it nearly as good?
Posts: 1927 | From se usa | Registered: Mar 2010
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MichaelTampa
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 24868
posted
Actually, just went to an appointment with a neuromuscular massage guy, and he said that type of experience I had with my foot/leg can happen with a fever, which I did have at the time. So, could be just that. He suggested looking to see if it recurs or is just one-time event.
Posts: 1927 | From se usa | Registered: Mar 2010
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
I agree. People who have told me their experience said that their tendons felt tight where they attached to the bone. It was not a 20-30 second experience.
After a few days of that feeling, they stopped the med and the feeling went away.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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djf2005
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11449
posted
Rifampin can be taken indefinitely and is the best overall abx option IMO
I took Factive and was not impressed.
I would steer clear of the floroquinolones.
Good luck.
Derek
-------------------- "Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you."
blinkie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14470
posted
I overextended my elbow while on IV levaquin. I got a sharp shooting pain there for the next several months.
At that point, I decided with the known tendon risks with these meds, it was better not to "overuse" my tendons or joints. It got me out of major housework for three months! =)
BTW- my elbow healed up just fine, it took about 4 months.
Posts: 1104 | From N.California | Registered: Jan 2008
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Tracy9
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7521
posted
When I was on Levaquin, within two days the backs of my heels hurt really bad. It was constant. It got to the point within days I could barely walk and could hardly walk up and down stairs. It was awful. I stuck with it for 11 days and the pain stayed with me for about 2 years, flaring up on and off. Continuing to take it was the stupidest thing I could have done, but the pain was really, really bad and constant, and interfered with walking.
13 years Lyme & Co.; Small Fiber Neuropathy; Myasthenia Gravis, Adrenal Insufficiency. On chemo for 2 1/2 years as experimental treatment for MG. Posts: 4480 | From Northeastern Connecticut | Registered: Jun 2005
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nefferdun
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 20157
posted
I had muscle soreness which my LLMD dismissed as a herx. Then when I was reaching out to get something, a tendon snapped in my shoulder. I was in pain for 8 months.
It is thought that those drugs reduce blood flow to the tendons and that is what increases the risk for damage. So you should pay attention to any feelings of discomfort in your muscles or tendons.
-------------------- old joke: idiopathic means the patient is pathological and the the doctor is an idiot Posts: 4676 | From western Montana | Registered: Apr 2009
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