Loading...Q. My doctor prescribed Levaquin for a sinus infection. Since then I have suffered from severe tendinitis. My shoulders and my Achilles tendon are extremely painful and I can no longer run or play tennis. I can’t even pick up my little daughter.
The doctor has injected cortisone, but that only worked for a while. Ibuprofen upsets my stomach. I am desperate for relief. Is there anything I can take to ease the pain?
A. The FDA has issued a warning about tendinitis and tendon rupture with antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin (Cipro), levofloxacin (Levaquin) and moxifloxacin (Avelox). Injecting a corticosteroid (such as cortisone) may seem like a solution for tendinitis but a new study suggests that any relief is short lived (Lancet, online, Oct. 22, 2010). Oral prednisone might actually increase your risk for tendon rupture.
Since you cannot tolerate NSAIDs like ibuprofen or naproxen, we are sending you our Guide to Alternatives for Arthritis. It contains a range of options from topical capsaicin and NSAIDs like Voltaren Gel to anti-inflammatory herbs such as boswellia, bromelain, ginger or turmeric.
alan
oregon
I liked to distance cycle then got pneumonia. The first antibiotic did not work. The 2nd was levaquin. I recovered and wanted to do a short ride. Caught my shorts on seat while mounting, went over and heard two snaps. Those were my achilles tendons. Permanent ruptures. In pain for 6-plus years. Lost my balance so can not ride any longer. Daily struggle. My Dr. is great but he was unaware in those days of what could happen. Pain meds work at times. Was told I would never walk again but I did not accept that, and so I walk after lots of p/t and hard work. I use a cane for stability, and falling happens from time to time. Good luck to all.
Dave C
Delaware
Long on agony descriptions. Short on what to do about shoulder and arm tendonitis pain. My wife, a paraplegic, is now suffering from levafloxcin side effects so much she is pretty much a quad. Does anybody have a recommendation to reverse this toxicity of this poison?
Patricia
Spokane, WA
Like some of the others who commented here, I used Levaquin and other quinolone antibiotics over the course of several years, for sinus infections. Initially I never connected it to the tendon pain such as chronic plantar fasciitis that I developed. One time I used it and developed pain behind my knees, but it went away when I finished the drug. Then, five years ago, I started a course of it, and the tendon pain in several areas was almost immediate. I finished the course of Levaquin, not realizing the pain could become permanent. Today I have tendon pain in knees, shoulders, ankles, elbows, you name it. I cannot do any exercise without straining something; I can’t even find a sleeping position that does not increase pain somewhere. Many tests, no cures, and I can’t take anti-inflammatories. Moral of the story: If you develop tendon pain while on Levaquin or another quinolone, tell your doctor and stop the drug immediately. Read the FDA black box warning. It’s not worth a lifetime of disabling pain.
susie
Doha
Hi,
I was started on this medication yesterday for a UTI – this morning I woke up with severe sharp pains in my hip and my thigh muscles felt stiff – the hip pain stopped quite quickly but the thighs still feel stiff – I also feel a bit short of breath – I never have these pains normally – I will ask my doctor to change my antibiotics.
I felt it was important to add my concerns to the many concerns I have now found on this site regarding this medication – and would encourage others to do so also.
Hoping this pain will not return.
best wishes
Stephen
Massachusetts
I have taken oral and/or intravenous Levaquin or Cipro many times in the last 10 years without immediate side effects. None in almost a year. In the last month I have been having mild to severe pains in multiple joints. Could this be delayed Levaquin tendonitis?
Marty
Connecticut
I was recently given a 5 day dose of Levaquin (750mg per day) for a pneumonia bug. This stuff is potent. I immediately felt different on the med and felt an almost electric surge throughout my body. Not painful but a weird sensation. Mostly everything went well until near the end of the dosage I noticed my right knee hurting. I assumed maybe I slept on it funny or something since I had to rest a lot given how sick I was. However it progressed and now it is hurtful to walk and while my left knee doe s not hurt like the right one, both knees pop and the right one feels tight almost like there is a rubber band around it. Very weird. I hope this goes away in time. If anyone has had this condition and eventually got better I would love to hear it..
CW
Dallas, tX
Oh, how I wish I knew then, what I know now.
Since 2008, I have been prescribed Levaquinn multiple times for chronic prostatitis. Initially, the medication worked in treating the infections, but I also began to notice small aches and pains here and there. Elbows, knees, feet, and an odd “pulling” sensation in my side that wouldn’t go away (and concerned my doctor enough to put me through a bunch of tests). The CT Scan, ultrasound, and colonoscopy revealed nothing – so the conclusion was that I had pulled a “core” muscle.
Fast forward to 2013 – once again prostate issues (including an elevated PSA) prompted more Levaquinn, and even a prostate biopsy. Followed by more Levaquinn, and then more Levaquinn (sometimes a thirty day prescription). The biopsies were negative (thank God), and subsequent PSA results have been encouraging), but during that time, I began experiencing some nagging lower back issues. Not terribly painful, but more of tight and weak feeling. For someone accustomed to working out/running/and being very active many times a week, this was a true pain. Also, I began to develop a painful, long lasting rash every three to six months that was first thought to be shingles, then herpes, then “no idea.” This later turned out to be a fixed drug eruption. That was finally uncovered when yet again I was prescribed Levaquin and the outbreak started after the first dose.
Then in mid-2014, I started with this “weak kneed” feeling, that pretty quickly progressed to tingling and burning in both calves, achy knees, painful soles of feet. Many many medical tests have been done (more blood draws than you can imagine), MRI, neuro exams – and pretty much nothing has been found (except one doctor told me it was neuropathy (which, I am now not buying at all).
One day I was on the internet trying my best to find out what is wrong with me, when the Levaquin thing jumped up on my screen. Now I am convinced that the tendons in my knees, back, and elbows have been affected, and I am actively trying to treat the inflammation with OTC anti-inflammatories, heat and cold, Vitamin C, potassium, and magnesium.
Some days are better than others, but generally speaking, my legs are the biggest issue. My knees crack and pop like a 90 year old, and little did I know, tendonitis in joints can cause pressure on nerves, resulting in all sorts of symptoms.
This whole experience has had a hugely negative affect on how I feel about physicians. No one ever said anything to me about tendonitis – even after hearing my crackling knees, jaw, elbows.
Just wanted to relay my story and see if anyone can relate and if there is anything else one might suggest to get beyond this. It has pretty much taken over my life.
Ron
MB : It has been 1 yr. since my shoulder ‘blew out’ after being prescribed Levaquin. I have able to return to my normal lifestyle including gym workouts (4-5 days each week, 3 hr per day) and, no I’m not a bodybuilder but I enjoy the activity; I do not lift heavy weights. The shoulder is still not 100% and may never be but I’m quite happy with what I can do. Have been faithfully using Magnesium both orally (Chelated Magnesium, MG 400 mg, CA 135 mg) and transdermally (Magnesium Oil). Not as regular with the iodine which occasionally causes sleep issues.
I’m a heavy supplement user so I can’t say that Magnesium is the only factor in my healing but it must be a co-factor by helping to manage Calcium. I think it’s critical to have a non-inflammatory lifestyle including diet, vitamins and minerals, of course, staying away from all prescription drugs as they drain away nutrients, including Magnesium from our bodies. I think if we treat our bodies well we enable them to heal themselves. Good luck to you; let me know if you have additional questions.
Ron
JSB
MB – See my post. My doctor finally put me on a high dose of naproxin (1,000 mg/day), along with pain medication. After a week, the pain lessened and the swelling went down. That was after months of agony from the reaction to levaquin. Good luck. No one knows what it’s like until they live through it.
MB
Has anyone had any success with treating Levaquin induced tendonitis? If so, what has worked? Any help would be appreciated. Only one week since I developed pain in my shoulder and upper arm after taking Levaquin. But I would like to do all I can to hopefully not suffer the rest of my life or make things worse. Thanks!
MB
I have pain in my upper arm after taking levaquin for 6 days. Just wondering how you are doing and if the magnesium therapy or the iodine therapy helped? Not finding a lot of info on how to help my body heal. Any insights would be appreciated. Thanks!
Wendy
I was just recently prescribed Levaquin for a severe sinus infection and have taken it plenty of times before. However, after only taking 2 doses, I woke up in the middle of the night with pain in my Achilles tendon on my left foot. It feels like a spasm of sorts. I don’t have any trouble walking and there isn’t any swelling…yet. Is it possible for someone to take the drug many times and now, this time, have a reaction?
Allison
In Dec 2009 I had an accident, to heal my foot hospital docs prescribed Levaquin. After 6 weeks, I awoke with severe bilateral pain in my Achilles’ tendons. Later the pain migrated to both wrists. Unable to continue my work (Medical Massage Therapist) I lost my income, and continued to suffer.
Shortening the story – after six months of casting, due to tears in the Achilles’ tendon, I had surgery in 2013. Along the way I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, after two years of joint pain, and frozen joints, in shoulders, wrists, knees and ankles.
By Feb 2014 I was well on my way to recovery. Taking Sulfasalazine 500 mg twice a day. I was diagnosed w/ pneumonia on 2/23/14. After 4 doses of Doxycycline my symptoms began to return; bilateral pain in Achilles and wrists. I stopped taking the Doxycycline. Going to ask doc about Bactrim DS.
Ron
I had a terrible bout of food poisoning for which I was prescribed Levaquin. Spent 1 week in the hospital and was given the thick package of possible side effects for tendon problems with Levaquin.
I was never warned about the side effects beforehand; it seems to me that the doctors should be required to give a warning prior to handing out these potentially dangerous drugs. One month later I developed horrible shoulder pain for about 1 week. Now I’m starting to put the picture into a clearer focus concerning the damage that Levaquin might have caused.
I have begun magnesium therapy after reading The Magnesium Miracle. Have also started with iodine therapy. I hope that these strategies will help my overall health and in particular help with inflammation. I am sixtyish and active and hope to stay that way as long as God allows.
Erin
I was given floaxacin 750 tabs for pneumonia. After 2 doses I developed pain in both of my shoulders and the bottoms of both feet. I am 32 and active. I cant even lift an iPad with my arms now. Shoulders throb constantly. I fear there will be surgery. It’s hard to find away to live that doesn’t require using my arms. My rotator cuffs are messed up.
Casey
I just took my first dose. My heart is beating out of my chest, I’m anxious, I can’t stop moving around, and my ankles are so sore. Waves of pain in and out. Should I stop? I’m trying to kill bacterial pneumonia.
I feel like I’m having a panic attack but with a burning sensation and painful ankles. All I’m doing is lying in bed.
This stuff is awful….
MJ
I’m another victim of multiple complaints of disabling tendon pain in feet, ankles, and body after a prescription of LEVAQUIN for sinus/bronchial complaints that subsided within one week after discontinuing the med. of three days only….. Recently, I had similar pain in the tendons of my hands and arms after taking Turmeric 500 mgm a day x1 week that was suggested for arthritis pain… the symptoms subsided within 24 hours after discontinuing the herbal medication (purchased from a Health Food Store). So far, I haven’t found any relationship of these “drugs” causing tendon pain, however I will DEFINITELY avoid them in my future. Also after two weeks of researching Turmeric, I found that it is used for multiple health complaints, especially arthritis…. I should have known better but I also thought a “food spice” used in so many recipes could do no harm! WRONG!!! After a 40+ year career in medicine, this really came as a surprise….. BEWARE and AWARE!
Mat
Rose,
For a simple cold,cough, 101 fever, lil chest congestion I went to a new doc as he was the only one who took me in same day. He was very friendly asked couple of questions, did some typical checkup, n said I see lot of red coloration near throat also hear some murmur in lungs… wondering why… then he said do u have a good insurance? said Yes (wondering what’s the connection here) he then prescribed Levaquin n said it’s strong.
I walked out n bought the med on my way reached home took 1 immediately. When I got some time I googled side effects.. Ha I couldn’t believe my eyes tendon issues, heart nerve lots of lawsuits… Doc just gifted a young person with tendon pain, just because he had a good insurance! I stopped taking the med after one time. Still I have tendon pain on my right foot. after reading ur message I guess I still have some hope left… Thank you
JSB
This is lengthy, but it is my ordeal with Levaquin. Fortunately, I had a better outcome than most. First, I am a 43 year old wife, and mother of 4 children. I work full-time and I have a “desk job”. Last year, I was given Levaquin – 5 doses. A week after I finished the Levaquin, I started experiencing pain in my right foot and ankle. I thought I had twisted it. My ankle became swollen and bruised. The pain got so bad that I finally went to the ER one morning around 5:00 a.m.
The ER doctor said that I had an allergic reaction to Levaquin. He gave me a few pain pills and sent me home with orders to see my PCP. I went to my PCP who said she had never heard of Levaquin causing tendon damage. I told her it was all over the internet. After looking it up, she sent me to an orthopedic surgeon. He also said he had never heard of it and “very much doubted” that Levaquin was the cause of my condition.
An MRI showed a slight tear in one of the tendons and he said he could do surgery to repair the tear. I declined surgery at that time. He gave me an air boot to wear and told me to “watch it” and come back in a month. A week after seeing him, the pain was unbearable. I went to an Urgent Care Facility and they made me a formed splint for my ankle/foot and wrapped it with an ace bandage. I don’t know how, but it actually provided some relief.
I wore the air boot during the day and the splint to bed at night. A couple weeks later, my LEFT foot/ankle started to experience the same symptoms. I went back to the Urgent Care and they made me a splint for that foot! I continued to see the orthopedic doctor who referred me to another “specialist”. After some “tests”, I was told I had neuropathy in my feet. I was then sent for Physical Therapy, which did more harm than good.
During this entire time, my life was ruined. I remember waking up on the recliner one night, my husband let me sleep because he knew when I was awake, I was in pain. I literally had to crawl through the house on my hands and knees, up the stairs to bed, sobbing in pain. I was starting to become depressed. My life consisted of struggling to go to work, hoping I didn’t have to move from my desk, struggling to go home, sitting in a chair until bedtime, then starting over again. Thank goodness, I had help from my family. I could not get on the floor to play with my youngest, I could not go outside to play with my other children. I was DEPRESSED!!!
I went back to my PCP. She suggested putting me on an anti-depressant. I broke down and told her that I was depressed because of the PAIN! Take away the pain and the depression would go with it! My outburst surprised her, but that day, she started me on 1000/mg of Naproxin per day and 10/325 hydrocodone/acetaminophen as needed. I had taken the hydrocodone/acetaminophen in the past because of a back injury, so I was familiar with its ability to combat pain and it did not make me groggy.
Within two weeks, the swelling in my feet went down, I could see my ankles again, and I didn’t need the boots or the splints!! FIVE MONTHS of going through that agony and that is all it took?! In addition to the Naproxin (1000/mg/day), I took the pain pills twice a day. I could have taken more, but I know people who have become addicted to pain pills. After two weeks, I didn’t even need the pain medication any longer, although at first, I was afraid to go without it.
There is no doubt in my mind that Levaquin caused my problem. Since then, I sometimes get a nagging pain in my ankle area and I get scared thinking that I might have to go through the pain again, but so far, so good. I tell everyone I know not to take any drug that ends in floxacin. The pain I endured from this drug was the worse in my life. It made natural childbirth seem like a cake walk! It should only be prescribed for resistant infections.
JMP
Same story for me. Took Levoflaxcin 500mg for 10 days. Already had Achilles tendon problems, didn’t know that was a concern with this med. In a few days I had a great deal of trouble walking and developed other aches in hip and knee. Also blood pressure went from my normal; pf 120/60 to 150/80. After med, sinus symptoms did not clear, tendon paid went back to “normal” prior discomfort level. BP had not dropped, been over 2 weeks now.
DHD
I was given Levaquin 500mg once a day for a bladder infection. I was having pain after three day didn’t know why. After a week I called the Doctor who agreed with me, so she took me off the Levaquin and I am still having severe pain in my Hips, Knee and can’t bare weight on my feet. Maybe I will be blessed and the pain will go away soon.
DCS
My physician prescribed Levaquin for a sinus infection. My pharmacist initiated a conversation with me when I presented the prescription to make sure I understood the possible side effects. In the middle of the night after the first day of treatment, severe pain in both wrists woke me. The second day of treatment my physician changed the medication due to this side effect. Thankfully, the pain lasted only another week.
nancy a.
I was given IV Levaquin prior and after hip replacement surgery. While in the hospital, I experienced excruciating pain in both Achilles tendons. The pain was much worse than the surgery. I’ve had physical therapy for my “tendinitis” which has done nothing to alleviate the pain. I’ve also had an experimental procedure where they spin your blood down to plasma and then inject it into the tendons.
It helped a little, but for only a few months. My Achilles tendons are getting thicker and hard… the pain is almost intolerable. I’ve also been to quite a few doctors, and they don’t want to get involved, saying that it’s probably nothing. I’m furious!
SGS
Started 750 mg Levaquin on 01-20-11 for a recurrent sinus infection. Switched to 375 mg on 02-07-11 until 02-21-11 per doctors verbal instructions. I have severe tendonitis in both elbows, both knees, and right achilles tendon.
Symptoms developed after the first week on Levaquin but I did not make the connection until speaking with a person familiar with dangers of Levaquin. Neither doctor or pharmacy mentioned anything about tendon pain. Sinus infection is gone though. I’m not sure if I need to get a different doctor or a good attorney. I am in a great deal of pain and really am hoping it goes away soon.
Karen
My son was given Levaquin for acne…500 mg daily, for 60 days… by a local “dermatologist”/skin care specialist. He started to experience extreme pain 30 days into this treatment. It has now been 2 years… he is still in debilitating pain… daily. He saw a rheumatologist today who told him she suspects he has microtears in his tendons… and there is nothing really that can be done for him. More expensive imaging, PE, pain meds.
We found out that the dosage he was given was what the PDR recommends for someone exposed to ANTHRAX… not acne… clearly this doctor did not understand the devastating affects this drug has or how to read her PDR.
Yes, this drug was given a “BLACK BOX WARNING” by the FDA in July of 2008… Anybody know what that is? It’s a warning that is given a drug… just short of being pulled from the market because it can be so damaging. GOOD LUCK FINDING IT ON YOUR PILL BOTTLE… IT WAS NOT ON MY SON’S. There was a warning indicating that he may be more sensitive to light… ohhh… thanks. and not to take it with your tums, or wait a couple of hours. I couldn’t find the “black box” warning on the information that is given with this drug.
Our pharmacist was a dear… he was more concerned with the fact that the insurance company only wanted to cover this drug for 15 days… (Which should have been the absolute max time he should have taken it, had to find that out for myself… AFTER THE DAMAGE WAS DONE). Never heard about about a black box warning from him….
So beware consumer… always research your drugs that the doctor’s give you… they only know what the drug reps tell them. Few take the time to actually check out the drugs for themselves before passing them on to a trusting patient.
PK
After taking Oracea (doxycycline) for about three weeks (prescribed by my dermatologist for rosacea… hadn’t ever been treated for it although I’m over 70) I developed Achilles tendinitis in my left heel. Saw your column in November and so went to the internet to further investigate. There has actually been a study linking doxycycline to tendinitis (don’t know if I’m the latest victim). My orthopedic surgeon now has me going for therapy but healing is a long, slow process.
PEOPLE’S PHARMACY RESPONSE: WE WERE NOT ABLE TO FIND A CLINICAL STUDY OF THIS, AND HOPE YOU ARE HEALING WELL.
CN
Jan 2011, I was prescribed 10 tablets of 750 mg ea of Levaquin for severe bronchial infection (diagnosed by x-ray). The third day I felt as if I had been run over by a truck, followed by tendonitis throughout my body. I took 6 tablets.
Neither the prescribing doctor nor pharmacist warned me of potential tendon damage..the warning itself was 2 lines among a long list of warnings, so I missed it. I am a 68 yr old woman. I now have many of the symptoms in common with others and am afraid of rupturing a tendon(s). I did find a website, http://www.tendonitisexpert.com which I hope will be helpful.
It’s awful to live in fear and pain and apprehension, especially for the young people POISONED BY LEVAQUIN. My PCP has no advice. My Ortho Surgeon became defensive and told me to rest and take Ibuprofen.
I met an experienced nurse who is familiar with Levaquin damage, sees people in the hospital with it. BEWARE. WARN YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY. I AM THINKING OF PUTTING A SIGN IN THE WINDOW OF MY CAR: “DON’T TAKE LEVAQUIN OR YOU COULD BECOME CRIPPLED LIKE ME!”
My best wishes to all who have been POISONED BY LEVAQUIN.
MMK
I am 61 and at the end of Sept. I took a generic for Cipro for 7 days 2x day for a UTI but cannot recall the dosage. Almost immediately I experienced an excruciating tendonitis in the top of my right foot–so painful it made walking almost impossible and literally made me cry despite having a pretty good tolerance to pain. It eventually subsided with use of a Voltaren patch.
Not long after that I began experiencing a neuropathy-like pain in my right arm that I at first attributed to a chronic weakness after a rotator cuff tear 20 years ago. However, this came on very suddenly having done nothing to aggravate it. However, it was preceded by weakness in my shoulders and in my neck so severe that it was exhausting sometimes just to hold up my head.
I believe that the shoulder pain and weakness was caused by the Cipro which led to stressing the neck muscles and I now have what I believe is a pinched nerve with accompanying hand and arm weakness and constant and painful neuropathy. Self care has had little success and I now must resort to doctor appts and probably physical therapy–none of which I can easily afford and for which I will have to borrow money.
Neither my own internist nor my brother, also an MD, believe this has anything to do with Cipro. A pharmacist also told me that side effects like the tendonitis generally only occur with long-term use or IV administered Cipro. But no one can convince me that the cascade of misery I’ve suffered wasn’t caused by the Cirpo. I wouldn’t take this drug again unless I was literally on my death bed. I’m angry with my Dr. for having prescribed it instead of something else.
LJ
CIPRO!!! Finally I feel vindicated!! I complained of excruciating pain in both arms, hands, and the tops of both feet during a course of treatment for infection prior to a hysterectomy in 1990! Instead of being on leave from work for 6 weeks, I was out for over 4 months.
I could not feed, bathe or even clean myself after toileting. Even after returning to work, I could not stand to have anything or anyone touch my arms and hands. I suffered so much pain just trying to do my job working on a computer. My doctor looked at everything except the antibiotic CIPRO. I did my own research and within a few months figured out it was the CIPRO.
I received it a second time in 1992 for a UTI with the same results after only 1 pill. This new doctor was aware of the first reaction and ordered RX of massive Benadryl and Dos Pak. Within 2 days, I was back to normal. Normal for me is ongoing “spasms” of pain, mostly in the right forearm tendon.
Pain has limited my activities over these last 20 years. I am paranoid of any new RX and refuse meds unless I can’t stand the pain anymore. I have had to adjust my lifestyle. No volleyball, working in yard is nearly impossible, even typing or pushing a grocery cart can lead to the same excruciating pain again. I finally have a specialist who cannot believe I have had this 20 years and no one has found a way to make it better. He refuses to give up until he finds out what happened. Praise God. Someone finally listened to me. The makers of CIPRO have finally been found out.
jbp
Levaquin has a black box warning about the Achilles tendon that’s being ignored by doctors and the general population alike. It ruptured my friend’s achilles on the 3rd day of use. He couldn’t figure out how that had happened until I told him that the Levaquin he was taking was the 100% culprit. When you ask the doctors, they say that so many people can take this drug without any side effects that they hesitate to state the potential for harm. There are so many other drugs out there without this disastrous side effect. Why don’t they prescribe them instead!!
SM
I took Avelox last year, just 2 times, for a sinus infection. My heart was racing and my muscles were twitching terribly when I went to bed each night. I stopped taking Avelox, and some of the twitching stopped after several weeks, but what helped the most was taking a magnesium supplement, I believe magnesium citrate. All magnesium supplements are not the same, so ask a pharmacist. Foods high in magnesium, like sunflower seeds, also helped. After several months, I think the involuntary twitching is gone. The warnings on Avelox about anxiety and suicidal thoughts are absolutely correct.
kaf
I have had chronic pain in my Achilles tendons for years, and was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis. Everyone else I know with this have had it clear up. Mine has remained a problem for years. I have been wondering if the years (about 11 years 2x/day) of low dose penicillin I took as a child post-rheumatic fever might be the contributing factor for this.
PEOPLE’S PHARMACY RESPONSE: THIS HAS NOT BEEN REPORTED WITH PENICILLIN.
Rita H.
Since I have taken both Levaquin and Cipro… I have had both calf muscles to tear in half just walking… I have a tendon that has hardened and balled up in the middle of my right foot…. I have an ANA count of over 35… which means some Auto Immune Deficiency such as connective tissue disease or something. The doctors can only tell me what I don’t have at the moment… they are still trying to figure it out… so a high ANA count means an inflammatory disease.
The sad thing… I took Vioxx, Bextra, and Bendictin and all of these have been taken off the market too… I feel like a guinea pig to the world of Pharmaceuticals! My body is paying the price for their mistakes!
Bob
I’ve been taking Levaquin for years for sinus infections and have had no major side effects.. a minor upset stomach or dry mouth.
SGT
I was prescribed Avelox for a sinus infection. The last day of the drug I developed painful tendinitis in both Achilles tendons. The process to recover is long. I had 10 weeks of physical therapy which was basically just ultra sound treatments to the area – but this did help. Walking and stretching only aggravated the condition. Total time was about 6 months until back to something normal.
Kinesio taping of the area does help with pain. Also, ice packs followed by tightly wrapping the foot/heel with an ace bandage. Hope this helps someone!
j w b
Last Dec. I had a UTI & my Dr. prescribed Cipro. Within a week I developed tendinitis in my left elbow. A month later, I developed a tendonitis in my left hand & a month later I had a tear in my right rotator cuff.
It took me five months of physical therapy to get over these. Now I find that Cystex (OTC) usually clears up a UTI and if it doesn’t in 5 days then I take Doxycyline which has no side effects for me.
JAS
After years of taking Levaquin or Cipro (cousin drugs), I took Cipro on August 2, 2010, and have been wearing an air cast for tendinitis in my foot since August 28, over two months. I also have tendinitis in my elbow. Both my podiatrist, who is treating my foot, and my acupuncturist, told me that cipro is known for causing tendinitis.
The saddest thing about it is that I told the doctor who prescribed, that I had read older persons (I am 75) should not take cipro. He said it would be fine. Hah! I suspected another infection, two weeks ago, and the local lab report came back positive, so I was put on another antibiotic, which gave me a rash. When the culture I requested came back, the report said I had no urinary tract infection! Maybe I didn’t even have a UTI when I took the cipro, since the same local lab read the sample.
Cindy B.
Some of my friends have found help for inflammatory type pain by applying a 50% solution of Oil of Oregano. The O of O concentrate is diluted with olive oil. Just a few drops are applied to the painful area and it is very lightly rubbed in. It does leave an oily residue but relief from pain is worth it. Any natural food store would have this. ~ Cindy
Rose
I took Levaquin and experienced EXCRUCIATING pain in the tendon on the sole of my foot (instep?). Luckily, I had actually READ the insert with my medication and thank God a light bulb went off and I recalled the warning. I stopped taking it immediately and the tendonitis subsided (slowly). This medicine should only be used for the elderly in HARD to treat infections when there is no other choice. This SHOULD NOT be a mainstream antibiotic; ever.
Judy
I was prescribed Levaquin because of bronchitis at an urgent care facility and not my regular doctor and went through 8 weeks of the worse muscle and tendon pain in my body which included muscle spasms and then frozen shoulders.
Cortisone worked for about three days. I had to use high powered pain killers to get through it. What finally worked when the worst pain was in my shoulders was a really hot shower with the spray beating down on the shoulders and when I could get some sort of movement without horrible pain, I would get out and use ice packs to ease the pain that would come afterward.
I picked up the prescription when my usual pharmacists were not working, otherwise, I think they would have suggested I not take it.
debbie
Your answer does not address what alternatives there are to Levaquin, Cipro, Avelox? I was recently prescribed Levaquin for a urinary tract infection. I was, and still am, concerned about the side effect of tendon issues, since the pharmacy read-out said that these issues could be delayed before showing up. What other options are out there when a doctor prescribes one of these meds and you don’t want to take the chance with the side effects?
PEOPLE’S PHARMACY RESPONSE: IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THESE MEDICATIONS, YOU NEED TO ASK YOUR DOCTOR IF A DRUG THAT IS NOT A FLUOROQUINOLONE WOULD TREAT YOUR INFECTION. THERE ARE MANY, BUT NOT ALL WOULD WORK FOR A SPECIFIC INFECTION.
kenju
I took Levaquin and experienced the worst joint/muscle pain ever. I will never take it again.