Tequin and Levaquin are POISON!!!

[elmhar]

Yes, all antibiotics have side effects, but the quins take the cake.

After 2 doses of Levaquin, my daughter suffered loss of vision, extreme weakness, & threatened tendon rupture at 8 sites on her body. That's way more extreme side effects than your garden variety diarrhea from most antibiotics.

Fortunately over time & with treatment, most of the side effect subsided. Except that there are lingering tendon problems.

Levaquin is an exquisitely potent copper chelator. When it pulls copper from connective tissue, the tissue disintegrates. There are people who have had strokes following a single dose of Lev due to this phenomenon.

The treatment for Levaquin toxicity is to take aluminum salts (like some of the antacids) plus supplement extra copper. The aluminum is preferrentially chelated out/binds w/the Levaquin.

It would be prudent for doctors considering prescribing Levaquin to determine copper status. Many people have abundant copper, but some are deficient in this mineral.

Best wishes.

[osmonxp]

Originally Posted by elmhar

The treatment for Levaquin toxicity is to take aluminum salts (like some of the antacids) plus supplement extra copper. The aluminum is preferrentially chelated out/binds w/the Levaquin.

Very impressive statement, this is the first time someone talks about Levaquin detox using aluminum salt and extra copper; would that work for tendon problems only? I got more neurological damage (tremor, palpitations and inflammation) than tendon problems, you think that would work for me????? Thank you.

[elmhar]

Hi Osmonxp,

If you sustained long-term damage from the Levaquin, have you joined one of the class action lawsuits? Something to consider.

The aluminum salts work only while the Levaquin is actually in the body. So if you've been off the Lev for more than a week, chances are that would no longer be helpful.

I'm not sure about the neurological damage. Is it possible that Levaquin toxicity has more than one mode of action? Beyond the copper chelation?

One could always try a little copper supplementation. My DD found copper supplements very difficult to take, & had to take fractions of the 2 mg. tablets with food to prevent nausea & vomiting. It's also impt to make sure one is getting at least the RDA of zinc, & maybe a little more more if supplementing copper. Please note, copper toxicity is nasty, so be prudent. My DD found that low, slow copper supplementation over several months was helpful for her tendon issues, but they still flare up occasionally now almost 18 mos. later.

The National Institutes of Health has very good info on their Office of Dietary Supplements website. You can get a lot of valuable info on copper & zinc, food sources, toxicity, etc. there. I highly recommend it.

Best wishes.

[Jenne]

I took cipro a long time ago and couldn't feel my legs while driving. So we put it as an "allergic " reaction.

I took levaquin for the first time last month for a bad sinus infection and bronchitis . It was horrible. The anxiety was awful. I was shaking..dizzy..i was crying hysterically..my legs hurt. I thought i was going to be put in a mental ward. If you knew me...you would know i am not a highly emotional person..so this was very unlike me. My body hurt. I was having visual disturbances..everything was blurry.

I called my doctor and told him I didn't want this drug. He told me that levaquin did NOT do this to me. Levaquin doesn't give reactions like that. I told him i wasn't comfortable with taking it. He said fine. I said what do we do now? He told me "we will just see if you get better then". So I changed doctors and went to a new one. She wanted to put me on levaquin. She told me it's the be all end all for sinus issues. I explained to her what happened and she told me "Levaquin does NOT do that" and basically I was out of luck cuz that is the best drug for me.

I will never take it again.

[elmhar]

Jenne,

My DD (3,000 miles from home) had the same experience. The doc said, no, it's not the Levaquin, Levaquin doesn't do that, you've got MS (!). Talk about freaked out. DD was, half-blind & barely able to move from this drug, no emotional support system to speak of (3rd week of freshman yr. of college). The doc had absolutely no labs, no objective evidence to say MS, totally dismissed the possibility of adverse drug reaction despite documented history of ADRs. Waaay beyond poor bedside manner ... I vote for mental cruelty.

There are support groups & class-action lawsuit groups with many, many personal stories about how Levaquin has ruined lives. Different info than what your doc gave you. I suspect that docs who say these things about Levaquin have been totally indoctrinated by drug reps. It's like a cult.

I advised my DD to dump the doc & find a responsive healthcare provider. I would never give repeat business to any doc who insisted that there was only one possible remedy for something as common as sinusitis. Gosh, how did humanity survive before Levaquin was invented. Double ditto, never return to a doc who denies the validity of my symptoms. Such hubris! I would probably even give these docs a thumbs-down on one of those physician-rating sites.

Not everyone has a bad experience with Levaquin. In our family, we are known to have ADRs & have this noted on all medical charts. It's a genetic/metabolic thing. People who metabolize certain drugs faster or slower than normal get more side effects. Hopefully soon we'll be able to do the genetic screening for certain drug metabolic pathways. It's available in some but not all parts of the country.

Jenne, did you lick your sinusitis? I think there was a good thread not too long ago on the allergy forum here.

Best wishes.