After taking Levaquin, another patient had "multiple areas of tendinitis in triceps, biceps, rotator cuff, hip flexor, feet and lower back," he wrote on the web site askapatient.com. "I had joint swelling and severe pain in my wrists and fingers, generalized fluid retention and edema, joint popping with any movement in feet, ankles, knees and hips." Before taking Levaquin, "I was a sponsored athlete—happy, strong and active. Levaquin has ruined me.
The drug the patients are talking about, the antibiotic Levaquin (levofloxacin), is part of a group of drugs called fluoroquinolones, widely used until recently for urinary tract infections, bronchitis, sinusitis and other infections. Other drugs in the class include Avelox (moxifloxacin), Cipro (ciprofloxacin), Floxin (ofloxacin), Factive (gemifloxacin mesylate) and Noroxin (norfloxacin). Patients' stories about taking Levaquin share striking similarities. Illinois resident Jerzy Tyszkowski who filed a complaint against Johnson & Johnson and Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. about Levaquin in 2013, says he developed severe orthopedic, gastrointestinal, neurological, visual and renal injuries after taking the drug for only five days.
Comment: Unless you're seeking DNA and mitochondrial damage and damage to immune cells, fluoroquinolones should be avoided at all costs.