“Death by Levaquin” Brain/Body Toxic Drug

The package insert for Levaquin is information that comes directly from Ortho-Mcneil, the manufacturer of Levaquin. Here is what the package insert for Levaquin says:

Convulsions and toxic psychoses have been reported in patients receiving quinolones, including Levaquin. Quinolones may also cause increased intracranial pressure and central nervous system which may lead to tremors, restlessness, anxiety, lightheadedness, confusion, hallucinations, paranoia, depression, nightmares, insomnia, and rarely suicidal thoughts or acts. These reactions may occur following the first dose. Serious and occasionally fatal hypersensitivity and/or anaphylactic reactions have been reported in patients receiving therapy with quinolones. Some reactions have been accompanied by cardiovascular collapse.

Tendon effects: Ruptures of the shoulder, hand, achillies tendon, or other tendons that required surgical repair or resulted in prolonged disability have been reported in patients receiving quinolones, including Levaquin. Tendon rupture can occur during or after therapy with quinolones including Levaquin.

Peripheral Neuropathy: Levaquin should be discontinued if the patient experiences symptoms of neuropathy including pain, burning, tingling, numbness, and/or weakness or other alterations of sensation including light touch, pain, tempeture, position sense, and vibratory sensation in order to prevent the development of an irreversible condition.

Unbelievable!  An antibiotic that can cause irreversible pain! There should be Black Box warnings on Levaquin and other quinolones. Every patient should have the right to know that a drug that they are given can cause irreversible pain and irreversible neurological damage! When you go to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription for Levaquin there is no mention of irreversible pain in the prescribing literature that is given out by the pharmacy. That is absolutely criminal! Please read the websites below to become better informed on the devastating side effects of Levaquin and other quinolones. The life you save may be your own.

Here is the Physician’s Desk Reference information on Levaquin.  This is a valuable resource of information provided by the drug companies. Unfortunately physicians rarely look at this valuable resource. Here is what it says about Levaquin.

Side effects of Levaquin may include: 

Abdominal pain, abnormal dreams, abnormal or double vision, agressiveness, agitation, anemia, angina, anxiety, asthma, back pain, blood clots, changeable emotions, chest pain, circulatory failure, colitis, coma, confusion, depression, difficulty in or obstructed breathing, difficulty concentrating, disorientation, dizziness, emotional or mental problems, exagerated sense of well being, faintining, fungal infection, gangrene or other infections, gas, genital infection and itching, hallucination, heart attack, heart failure, heartbeat irregularities, high or low blood pressure, high or low blood sugar, hives, impaired thinking, indigestion, intestinal bleeding, intestinal inflammation or blockage, itching, kidney disorders, lack of muscle coordination, liver disorders, lung problems or inflammation, muscle pain, pancreatitis, paraalysis, pneumonia, rapid or slow heartbeat, rash, seizures, swelling of face or extremeties, swollen tongue, tendon inflammation, tumor, vertigo, vomiting, yellowing of eyes and skin. 

As a pharmaceutical sales rep for over 8 years I have never seen a list of side effects as long as this list for Levaquin. Unfortunately many of these symptoms never get traced back to the true cause.

Here is some information from doctors on side effects of Levaquin and other quinolone antibiotics:

David Flockhart, professor of medicine and chief of clinical pharmacology at Indiana University School of Medicine, says as many as a third of patients taking a fluoroquinolone will experience some sort of psychiatric side effect, such as anxiety, personality change or confusion. ” The psychiatric effects of quinolones are underappreciated by the medical profession as well as by the public,” says Dr. Flockhart, who has treated more than 100 patients with severe psychiatric side effects. There are reports of this becoming a chronic and continuing condition which may very well be irreversible.  

Dr. Jay Cohen, a medical researcher and associate professor at the University of California San Diego, published a paper on periferal neuropathy caused by fluoroquinolones in 2001. Since then, he says,” I have received several hundred emails, most of which relate terrible, often catastrophic reactions to Levaquin, and some to Cipro. These reactions are slow to pass, leaving some people disabled for years. It is an awful problem.” The article goes on to mention that if even only one person in 100 suffers a grave side effect of a drug, that can mean millions of people affected. At their worst, fluoroquinolones can ruin or, potentially, end lives. On the internet, people who have been “floxed” come togather in forums and discussion groups to swap graphic accounts of searing pain, psychosis, blistering skin, kidney and liver damage, muscle wasting, tendon rupture, hallucinations, insomnia, suicidal thoughts and panic attacks.