Scared to be on Levaquin!!! - General Health Message Board

stacey01 · 09-28-2004, 10:38 PM

has anyone been on the antibiotic Levaquin and had strange side effects with it ???? I am experiencing some STRANGE insomnia, none like ive had in the past. I have also gotten a freak sore throat and stuffy head with TONS of drainage after 4 days on it. Im on it for a sinus infection by the way, and i am worse now than i was before i went to the doc. Everything i read on this med, people have had horror stories with it and believe it should be taken off the market..... now im scared to be on it.... anyone know anything about it ?????

CheerAngel · 09-29-2004, 12:03 PM

I have never gone on Levaquin before but I have heard about nasty side effects from it! It seems that it is a dangerous drug. It can cause nerve damage, connective tissue damage...etc. Are you able to ask your doctor to change your meds? Augmentin should be fine and I have gone on it without any significant problems. Try to do searches on the medications that you are taking, cause you never know whether they will cause bad side effects till it's too late. Good luck to you!

skf33 · 09-29-2004, 11:45 PM

Levaquin is one of the STRONGEST antibiotics in use, orally. And most expensive. It used to be for aids patients but they brought it around to general years back.
I took it once, and only two doses of it.
Its horrible. I felt sick as heck, confused, dizzy and no way would I take it again...most people I know cannot take it....except my husband who has an iron stomach.

If you can stomach it I guarantee it will knock out whatever you have in a couple doses.....
I just cannot take it. No way.....
Give me some Biaxin or something....in my experience they can keep that levaquin on the shelf

sensibleshoes · 09-29-2004, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skf33

If you can stomach it I guarantee it will knock out whatever you have in a couple doses.....

Not true.

I had a systemic E coli infection last month. I was hospitalized and given Levequin via IV. After four days, they couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting any better, and finally a culture showed the infection was resistant to Levaquin. They switched to Augmentin, which cleared it briefly. It has now come back twice. And an MRI for a brain lesion showed the infection had moved into my mastoid bone.

Since both antibiotics have not eliminated the problem, I'm wondering where they go next.

stacey01 · 09-30-2004, 02:15 AM

if i am correct, vancomycin is the strongest antibiotic out there period. it is given in severe infections (IV)when nothing else has worked or the severity of the problem is too much for anything else. when u hear everyone worried about drug-resistant bacteria, they label it this after it has shown its stuff against vancomycin. And as far as the Levaquin goes, it is a strong antibiotic but all of my resources on it say that it is used for "Maxillary Sinus Infections" whereas other antibiotics just read as for a general "Sinus Infection" term. I dont think my doctor knows what sinus is infected so i hope this med really can cover the wide range of sinuses. 6 Months ago, my sinus infection was in the frontal sinuses, not maxillary. I guess we'll see, the only thing that is bothering me on the Levaquin is the sleeplessness. Cant catch a full 4 hours straight for NOTHING.