Levaquin Toxicity- Almost 3 years later
My Urologist said “Take this, it’s not going to hurt you.” Those are words I will never forget as long as I am alive. I have no idea how I am still alive almost 3 years later. I have been poisoned by an antibiotic called Levaquin. I blindly accepted what my doctor had to say about Levaquin. I don’t even think I had an infection. My symptoms include severe anxiety/panic attacks, severe neuropathy, uncontrollable shaking, head pressure, bouncy vision, joint pain, severe insomnia, brain fog, tinnitus, sound sensitivity, balance problems, food intolerances, depression, feeling of impending doom, suicidal ideation, fatigue, nightmares, chemical sensitivities, 60 pound weight loss, night sweats, fatigue, liver damage and on and on. The panic attacks and severe anxiety have gone down considerably but many of the original symptoms remain to this day.
The reason for this blog is to try and warn people of the horrendous and devastating reactions to these drugs. Doctors will tell you they are safe and will deny a quinolone reaction when it occurs. The FDA knows all about this toxicity but does nothing to prevent this carnage since they receive roughly 50 % of their funding for the review of drugs from the pharmaceutical companies.
The ultimate irony is that I was a pharmaceutical sales rep that once sold Levaquin ( Quixin ).I simpy can’t believe this has happened to me. I have come so close to suicide from this to escape the unrelenting pain and suffering. Every day I get up and just try and make it to the night and hope that each passing day gets a bit more tolerable. This is my first post and I am not even sure where to begin. Please go to some of the links on this site so that you can warn your family and friends to never take a chance on these antibiotics. John
June 20th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Thanks John for making this problem known to people. I too am a victim of quinolone poisoning. In my case it was Cipro, but the outcome was pretty much the same. These drugs just ruin your like and you are then abandoned by the medical community who neither understands what has happened to you or cares. You are left on your own to pick up the pieces of your broken life and try to move on. The Dr’s can’t do much to help you because they don’t understand the mechanism of how you were injured or believe that an antibiotic could do this much damage to a person. Believe me when I tell you it can!!!
I have suffered every day for 23 months from all the ADR’s that Cipro did to me. I have yet to find one Dr. that believes me when I tell them that all this happened when I took Cipro for 10 days, even though all my symptoms are listed in the PDR. I don’t think they want to believe it. Gary Boyles
September 12th, 2008 at 1:15 am
I too have been poisoned by Levaquin, though only recently (took it from 8/24/08 to 8/27/08). Had hallucinations, continue to be altered, confused, in so much pain, fevers, fell out of chair due to altered state (broke bones in left leg, muscle damage, bruising, etc.), and I am wondering how long it will take to at least get my brain back. After all that I am reading, It seems that I may be permanently injured. I feel like I am really sick, and doc’s have done every test they can think of to try and prove it wasn’t the levaquin. I know it was. Have been reading stories from others, and am now completely scared. The doctors don’t want to believe this “miracle drug” is flawed in any way. There is a big cover-up going on re levaquin, and hopefully the lawsuits will start rolling in, and force the FDA to get this death drug off the market. And compensate the multitudes who have been permanently damaged. Thank you for listening. I want my brain back!!
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:24 pm
i only took this levaquin 7 days–like you all say docyors think your nuts.i have had numb baby and 4th finger for 3 weeks now and my doctor thinks i’m nuts.he did x-rays says degenerative bones in my neck. balogna…..i didn’t get arthritis in 7 days of levaquin. the doctors should read side effects before giving their free samples.
November 15th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Well guys and gals, I think the worst I can say is that I’ve just gone through the change of life. Didn’t realize how lucky I was until I read John’s testimony and your own comments. Honestly, I really have very little to gripe about. Compared to you’all, that is. Let me explain.
B/L (before Levaquin) my life revolved around two sets of tennis after work every day, then home to my sweet wife and always that wonderful home cooked meal. So always two sets of tennis, day in day out. Except in January and during June-July.
January was always scuba diving in Mexico (the island of Cozumel). Not just a few days in Jan, the whole month. Five of us met there every January for thirty years. Dove those gorgeous reefs up and down the coast of Quintana Roo (nine miles across the way from Cozumel) and came home with always enough lobsters to go around the five of us and
our wives, the boat crew and their family. With always plenty to spare. And no matter where in the world we happened to be, come January we five met in Cozumel for a month of diving and this went on for thirty years. Then comes late June and early July and my best friend and I would gather up our gear again and head for the Keys (Marathon) to exercise our commercial lobstering licenses. Just call me lucky (I still can’t believe it!) but he just happened to have a 35-ft boat and an airplane, plus he always bought a house at the start of the commercial season and sold it after we left. Then back home to my usual scheme of work-golf, work-golf, work-golf, etc. Usually managed two or three rounds of golf a week.
All that was B/L of course. Not that my golf game was ever any great shakes,
but I decided what I really needed to improve my game was a new knee (this time the right knee). And that’s how it came about that I first heard the word “Levaquin.”
The Orthopedic surgeon called up my family doc and told him we were replacing my right knee on 21MAR2007 and he should see to it that I had antibiotic coverage for a full week before that date. Had already had the left knee and right hip joints replaced and they were a piece-a’-cake. Pain leval 2 if even that. Then back out playing golf and tennis again in about six weeks
Well I’m here to tell you ……. THIS TIME WAS DIFFERENT. Post surgery I could not lay on my back in bed because the Achilles tendon in both legs went to pain level eight the minute they touched the mattress, even slightly.
Then, within a day or two, I felt as though someone had snuck up and put my right foot in a vise and was tightening – tightening – tightening that vise. Now that’s when I first knew that pain level-10 really, really did exist. And that went on unabated for several days until it was joined by a series of electric shocks in the tendons of the right foot. Now THAT was pain. And it went on for three, mebbe four days before it started to lighten up. Then, after a few days it eased off (or I got used to it, one). And that’s when I light heartedly told the nurse I was ready to go home. And I was.
Trouble was, soon as I arrived home I realized I had no balance, none!
Couldn’t stand, couldn’t walk without a walker, and sure couldn’t play tennis or golf or go diving. Not then nor any time since. And here I am on a walker 24/7 with night sweats, nightmares and really feeling miserable until I read what you guys (and gals) are going through. That’s when I realized how really lucky I am. While the rest of my life is ruined, I am 82.
You have the same problems but I’d bet you all are less than half my age, mebbe much less than half.
So, bottom line is: While Levequin has stolen perhaps ¼ of my life, it has stolen over 50% of your lives. I have lost at most 20 years. You guys (and gals) have lost possibly 60 years, because Levaquin bagged you at an early age.
So at best the next twenty years of my life is shot. But you all have just had mebbe sixty years or more taken away from you. By Big Pharma and the FDA and also by your doctors who should know better but don’t.
Well, I understand some congressmen have seen and heard about enough and are ready to start holding hearings to determine if there is collusion between Big Pharma and the FDA. Which there most certainly is.
These people are not easily fooled, and they’ve already decided to play hardball. Look for hearings to begin in midsummer 2009.
Rep. Henry A. Waxman has been quoted by both the Washington Post and the Orlando Sentinal as having said he is ready “to require more protection for the American people from the drug companies. And that it’s time for the FDA to start providing more dependable oversight and enforcement over pharmaceuticals that have unacceptable ADR records.”
Then there is Senator Charles E. Grassley (R-IA) whom the Washington Post describes as “an increasingly sharp critic of the FDA.”
And most importantly a true insider, one who is privy to the deepest secrets of the FDA, David J. Graham, Associate Director of The Office of Drug Safety, in the FDA. On November 19th, 2004 The Washington Post quotes David Graham as saying “I would argue that as currently configured, the FDA is incapable of protecting America against another Vioxx.” Continuing, Graham says “The scientific standards that The FDA applies to drug safety guarantee that unsafe, even deadly, drugs will remain on the U.S. market.” How long will they remain? That depends on the size of the annual profit accruing to Big Pharma from sale of those drugs and in turn the degree of control Big Pharma has over the FDA.
(The last two sentences are my words. PAM)
It is appropriate that “The Flox Report” should have the last word in any meaningful discussion on Fluroquinolones. It states in part: “Tens of thousands of people are damaged by Fluoroquinolones each year. Yet nearly all those damaged remain undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Some are diagnosed as having fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, any one of a number of rheumatoid diseases, diverse heart problems, or neuropathies of every kind. Thousands of people become crippled for years or permanently after having taken a Fluoroquinolone for some minor infection.
November 15th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Additional to my comment:
I am in possession of two reports, one from Japan and one from France,
detailing successful healing of damaged tendons by HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy).
Anyone interested in obtaining copies, just ask.
Pete Mattli, D.D.S.
3805 Scarborough Court
Clermont, FL 34711
ph 352-536-9586 (home
352-243-4090 (fax)
eml: pmattli@cfl.rr.com
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
January 8th, 2009 at 5:10 am
To J. Boynton: I can relate to your comment of “I want my brain back” I wrote a brief synopsis of my ordeal with Levaquin here
http://www.levaquinadversesideeffect.com/index.php/2008/05/12/so-much-pain/#comment-804
All in all, things have gotten better for me. You’ll get your brain back, it just takes time
June 8th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
[...] Death by Levaquin Brain Body Toxic Drug Blog Archive Posted by root 21 minutes ago (http://www.levaquinadversesideeffect.com) Bouncy vision joint pain severe insomnia brain fog tinnitus pain leval 2 if even that then back out playing golf and tennis again in about to j boynton i can relate to your comment of i want my brain death by levaquin brain body toxic drug is proudly powe Discuss | Bury | News | Death by Levaquin Brain Body Toxic Drug Blog Archive [...]
August 24th, 2009 at 3:25 am
i had no information on this antibiotic. i went to the er because of the symptoms u listed. and now it is an every relapse of those symptoms.
i’ve lost 27 lbs in 1 months. i’m 22 i was a healthy boy, eating greasy food i was 147 and now i am 120. i feel like i wont be here long on earth.
i didn’t even think about looking up this antibiotic until they mention a warning on tv in huge letters. then i began googling it…. and i found so many stories. i wasn’t alone… my chest continues to hurt… i am scared and depressed…
i wish i can go back and just ask them to give me a regular pencillin instead.
i was given samples after samples…
September 11th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Gary Boyles writes:
“I have yet to find one Dr. that believes me when I tell them that all this happened when I took Cipro for 10 days, even though all my symptoms are listed in the PDR. I don’t think they want to believe it.”
“…even though all my symptoms are listed in the PDR.”
That is one of the strangest and most horrifying things: that they ARE listed, yet doctors STILL refuse to believe it.
November 19th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
My now 83 year old mother went from a vibrant – water aerobics everyday 77
year old to a crippled woman who after two rupture achilles, two unsuccessful
subsequent surgeries and doctors who refuse to believe that Levaquin was
the cause, despite writing numerous prescriptions to treat bronchitis. It is
heartbreaking to say the least and such an injustice. And now what, what antibiotic to take in place of this deadly dose. I wish you all the best, you didn’t
deserve for this to happen to you.
August 27th, 2010 at 2:39 am
I wish that every single floxxed person would call the FDA every single day, and, ask them why no ” Dear Doctor ” letters have gone out, why are Doctors still handing levaquin out like candy ? I wish every single floxxed person would tell the FDA how tired we are of trudging from Dr to Dr, only to be told repeatedly by dozens of Doctors that ” levaquin doesn’t cause any problems. I wish that every single floxxed person would ask the FDA why nothing has ever been done about the Gulf War Veterans who were left crippled over twenty years ago. Go to your local pharmacy, ask them to give you the packet insert from levaquin. In the levaquin packet insert , it clearly states, ” floroquinones are the only remedy for all chemical warfare agents.” The V A recently paid 75 million dollars to UTSWmedical in Dallas to find out why the gulf war soldiers were left crippled. I will tell them for free why those men were left crippled, because, they were given massive doses of leviquin and cipro. If thousands of crippled people called the FDA every single day, they couldn’t't ignore us.l
August 27th, 2010 at 9:30 am
I called the FDA this morning, I told them that I took levaquin, almost two years ago. I told them that every muscle, every tendon, and, every ligaments in my body is ripped to shreds. I don’t have any cartilage, and my college is destroyed. I have a $30,000 MRI to prove it. Nothing has ruptured yet, because I have been bedridden, and in a motorized wheelchair for almost two yrs. They will rupture. I took Levaquin w prednisone. I told the FDA that I need a lawmaker, as I have heart arrythmias every day all day. I told them about the horrendous brain damage, and how at least 20 different neurologists have refused to treat me. They tell my attorney that they will treat me. When I get to the Neurologists office and they see that it is “all over body systems involve, they simply tell me. This is catastrophic, we have never seen let alone treated this and we are afraid we will make you worse. I told the FDA that I have been seen by over 30 Doctors, all of whom claim, Levaquin doesn’t cause any problems, let alone something as severe as this. If every flowed person called the FDA, every fray, they could no longer ignore us. They told me they would send a petition, and that would get the FDA’s attention. Pls call the FDA every day and explain to them that Orthodox Neil needs to send out Dear Doctor letters. Pls every day , call the FDA at
888-463-6332, or call 301-796-3400, let them know, there are thousands of us who suffer unbelievably every day, and we are tired of it. Levaquin is still being handed out like candy and thousands more will be left crippled. By the way Karen, a customer service rep at Ortho NeIl got a good laugh at my expense. I called and reported my symptoms to her, and she giggled out loud, as did her supervisor Gloria Ann. They giggled out loud. I had my phone on speaker phone and my son heard them laugh. He was furious. Let’s stop Ortho Neil from leaving people crippled, and then laughing at them. Call the FDA every day until Dear Doctor letters go out. Call the FDA every day.PLEASE.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
I took this in February 2009…I have had ankle surgery…a miniscus tear…and now rotator cuff…the pain in all my joints is horrendous. It is not in my head…who in the world would want to feel like this. This stuff is poison…..