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Thanks for all the responses. I've included them below, plus my own response
at the end.
Deb, Newark, DE
My husband had the same reaction to Levaquin even before he found out he was
a celiac. I don't know if it was because he was probably a celiac at that
time and didn't know it, or if it is just some of the side effects that
medicine has. You may want to call your pharmacist and ask them if it is GF. There
are many drugs that are not GF.
Absolutely! the fluoroquinolones can even cause psychosis, even if you don't
have Gluten Intol. My daughter just took one for 10 days and her anxiety,
which had been at bay for years, came back full blown. I looked it up in my
nurses PDR and there are definitely problems in some people. I took Levaquin
recently and had some free floating anxiety briefly each day soon after taking
the pills.
To let you know, I'm very sensitive to trace amounts of gluten......I'm
taking the Levofloxacin which is a Levaquin sub and have not had any of the
anxiety troubles. My stomach was a bit upset the first few days but it's much
better now.
I did have the anxiety reaction you described with Septra and my doc had me
cut the dose in half and the symptom disappeared.
I too had weird reaction to levaquin. At one point I was having
hallucinations and when realized it was the levaquin stopped it immediately.
If you put "quinolone reaction" or "cipro reaction" into google you will
find out this class of drug has whole websites devoted to reactions. Our
Daughter got violent vomiting from Cipro which is a sister drug. She is a celiac
despite many improvements she has a lot of weird things that don't seem to fit
together which I think has to do with the cipro reaction.
I use Levaquin whenever I have an infection and have no reactions to it at
all. My husband has also used it extensively (long-term and short-term)
without side effects.
When you nail down if it's the Levaquin, let the company (don't have that
handy) know, so they can list it as a potential side effect, if they didn't
already. (You can check that out by googling it and finding their website.)
I hope you feel better. We all react differently to meds. Just a suggestion.
If your doctor hasn't gotten through to you today, if you have access to a
24 hour pharmacy, like CVS, you can speak to one of their pharmacists. At
least that might put your mind at ease.
Any quinolone (like Levaquin) can cause neurologic effects... known side
effect...some have been taken off the market for this very reason. You need to
get on a different drug.
levofloxacin, a chiral fluorinated carboxyquinolone,
Quinolones are potent oxidizing agents with the potent for very nasty side
effects.
_http://rxlist.com/cgi/generic/levoflox_pi.htm_
(http://rxlist.com/cgi/generic/levoflox_pi.htm)
Like Cipro, it carries the risk of ruptured achiles tendons that persists
months after treatment is over.
According to animal studies (check under warnings & precautions), it appears
to damage cartilage....
In _immature_ (javascript:defwindow('immature')) rats and dogs, the _oral_
(javascript:defwindow('oral')) and _intravenous_
(javascript:defwindow('intravenous')) _administration_ (javascript:defwindow('administration')) of
levofloxacin resulted in increased osteochondrosis. Histopathological _examin
ation_ (javascript:defwindow('examination')) of the weight-bearing joints of
_immature_ (javascript:defwindow('immature')) dogs dosed with levofloxacin
revealed persistent lesions of the cartilage. Other fluoroquinolones also produce
similar erosions in the weight-bearing joints and other signs of
_arthropathy_ (javascript:defwindow('arthropathy')) in _immature_
(javascript:defwindow('immature')) animals of various species. The relevance of these findings to
the _clinical_ (javascript:defwindow('clinical')) use of levofloxacin is
unknown. (See _ANIMAL PHARMACOLOGY_
(http://rxlist.com/cgi/generic/levoflox_cp.htm#AP) .)
My mother and best friend both have reactions to this med. This is not
uncommon. It is my favorite med, but I don't have any side effects.
Both times I have had Levaquin, I became weak quickly, had to go to bed and
still had the bed spin like a rollercoaster. I then experienced chills and
hot flashes not like normal chills & fever when ill. My doctor said no more.
I HAVE IT BY IV AND NO REACTION SO IF YOU TOOK PILLS IT'S PROBABLY GOT
GLUTEN. I HAVE EVERYTHING BY IV ONLY TPN, HYDRATION, MULTI-VITAMINS, VIT C,
EVERYTHING I NEED
I took Levaquin with no problems. Hope you are feeling better SOON.
I was on Levaquin twice since spring for pneumonia. I didn't seem to have
any reaction to it.
HI! Sorry to hear that you are fighting pneumonia. I have actually had it
twice in the last two years and it is not pleasant at all. I did take
levaquin in both cases and, whether it worked or whether the pneumonia just ran its
course, it seemed OK. As I recall, at that time, I checked and it was GF. I
also had the pneumonia vaccine about 6 months before getting pneumonia the
first time which is ironic, never having experienced it before. My own personal
undocumented theory is that my immune system is just screwed up as a result
of celiac sprue which, as I am sure you know, is an auto immune disease. I
have always been very healthy and very resistant to viruses etc. until I was
diagnosed about 7 years ago. Anyway, good luck! Hope you're better soon.
I've had a lot of unusual reactions to medications, but Levaquin is not one
of them. As a matter of fact, I was on it for 4 months in 2003.
I was on Levaquin for 2 months. I didn't experience those kind of side
effects, but Levaquin is known to be associated with a higher incidence of
Achilles tendon ruptures. I did develop golfer elbow (tendonitis of the inner
elbow) while on it and I presume it could have been related.
You might want to research this med on the internet. It can cause many
side-effects, some of which are severe. Many lawsuits are in progress. However,
pneumonia is also very serious, so it the decision to use this powerful
antibiotic is not a simple one.
My DD who is severely gluten-intolerant had a nasty rxn to Levaquin which
was Rxd for a lung infection. After 2 doses she suffered blurred vision &
extreme tendon pain at 8 points in her body, along with the anxiety. It took
several months for the tendon problems to mostly resolve -- 2 yrs. later they
still flare up -- never had them before. In my DDs case the Rx was a poor
decision, as the infection was caught very early, and the Lev was the first drug
Rxd. The infection responded well to Biaxin after the Lev was discontinued.
Go to google and type in levaquin side effects - there are a lot of them.
But that's true of just about any medication it seems.
I certainly reacted to Levaquin but had a rash. If you have celiac disease
the neurological symptoms may be related to celiac instead.
Note: I did call the company who makes Levaquin, Ortho MacNeill, and talked
to a customer specialist. They said they did not add gluten but they could
not guarantee that any ingredients had not been cross-contaminated. They also
had no info about celiacs taking the med. I realized I did not say it was an
auto-immune disease; they may have info on this. I need to call them back.
I did find this at one of the websites I found googling the issue:
http://www.geocities.com/drugs2008/REPORT-REV10-EDITED.pdf
This drug is not recommended for those who have been diagnosed with
autoimmune disorders, or if there is a suspicion about one being present. It can
cause conditions similar to, as well as worsen or release, autoimmune disorders
like multiple sclerosis, lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, small
vessel vasculitis, dermatomyositis, polymyositis and others.
My doctor decided that pneumonia was the bigger health concern and has kept
me on Levaquin. They did not think the 10 day regimen would be sufficient
enough to cause me major problems. My pain is mostly controlled by Tylenol so I’
ve decided to complete the course of antibiotics.
Visit the Celiac Web Page at Http://www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html
Archives are at: Http://Listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?LIST=CELIAC
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