Please don't make the same mistake I did. I was prescribed and took Levaquin for pneumonia.
I became so ill and I believed it was more than a herx as I know them well. I couldn't lift my head off the pillow or bend my knees or stop crying.
I researched and found out these drugs (including Cipro) have a black box warning b/c they can cause tendon snaps, severe depression and many other horrors.
They should not be given to at-risk patients. The stories of those poisoned by these drugs are as sad and complex as our Lyme suffering.
Please think twice if your doc prescribes this class of drugs to you. Levaquin toxicity is no joke and with all we are suffering, we don't need this too.
Posted by Judie (Member # 38323) on :
Here's a thread on it. I've been dealing with the damage too. These drugs are awful.
2013 FDA Warning about Fluoroquinolone antibiotics causing PERMANENT damage
Smokingsky .. Very sorry to hear this! I hate this class of drugs myself.
Go to the link Judie gave you .. there are tips for recovery there that may help you.
God bless!
Posted by linky123 (Member # 19974) on :
I got floxed a few years ago by levaquin. Still have some residual damage.
This is nasty stuff that should be pulled from the market.
So sorry you are having to deal with this. Posted by beaches (Member # 38251) on :
Totally understand.
But when Cipro is the ONLY and I mean ONLY drug that has been able to control my chronic UTIs I am sure you will understand my assertion that this drug cannot be pulled from the market!!
Posted by Judie (Member # 38323) on :
My friend took several rounds of cipro for UTIs. Eventually she got floxed, had such severe vertigo that she couldn't get out of bed and killed herself last December. I'm still grieving for her.
These drugs are toxic. Here's a list of several antibiotics for UTIs (including the evil quinolones):
Beta-lactams, including penicillins and cephalosporins (for example, Amoxicillin, Augmentin, Keflex, Duricef, Ceftin, Lorabid, Rocephin, Cephalexin, Suprax, and others); many organisms have resistance to some of these drugs.
Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole combination antibiotic (for example, Bactrim DS and Septra); many organisms may show resistance.
Fluoroquinolones (for example, Cipro, Levaquin, and Floxacin) resistance is developing; also these should not be used in pregnancy or in the pediatric population.
Tetracyclines (for example, tetracycline, doxycycline, or minocycline) used most often for Mycoplasma or Chlamydia infections; like fluoroquinolones, they should not be used in pregnancy or by the pediatric population.
Aminoglycosides (for example, gentamycin, amikacin, and tobramycin) used usually in combination with other antibiotics to combat severe UTIs.
Macrolides (for example, clarithromycin, azithromycin, and erythromycin), used more often with some STD-caused urinary problems.
There are other antibiotics that are used occasionally, such as Nitrofurantoin, but its use is limited to cystitis and should not be used to treat more serious (kidney) UTIs. Choice of antibiotics for treatment depends mainly on the susceptibility of the infecting agent to the drug, the seriousness of the infection, if the infected person is an adult, child or is pregnant, and on the treating doctor's experience and knowledge of local antibiotic resistance patterns of commonly infecting bacteria. Posted by ctone (Member # 38779) on :
I was floxed six years ago and can say with complete confidence that I would never knowingly take a fluorquinolone again under any circumstance. They should be banned, as they are in some other countries. Even if one appears to have benefited from a fluorquinolone, it is suspected that negative reactions are the result of a cumulation of exposures and the next dose may be the one that puts one over the exposure threshold resulting in a possibly catastrophic reaction. Given that they are using fluorquinolones in food production, and it's ending up in fertilizers, that threshold may not even need a fluoroquinolone prescription to be met, but may be met by repeated small exposures from the food supply. Something to bear in mind if considering throwing the dice by taking a fluoroquinolone.
Posted by dali (Member # 24458) on :
I agree with ctone, smokingsky and others.
Taking these is a role of the dice...and at some point your body will definitely give. And it is quite dramatic and traumatizing to the body and mind.
Never again for me, and I wish I had a better idea of potential poisoning effects (side effects is to gentle a term).
Now hopefully healing myself from this to the greatest extent possible.
![[group hug]](graemlins/grouphug.gif)