Levaquin for Sinus Infection

[QueenB]

So I got to the docs yesterday only to be diagnosed with a sinus infection. The doc was extremly fast to write a rx for Levaquin. Being allergic to all the 'cillins and never being given this... I google it while it is being filled at the pharmacy only to read the side effects and I kid you not, maybe 1 or 2 reviews out of about 80 said they rarely experienced these horrendous side effects to the liking of joint pain, torn Achilles Tendon, nausea, constipation/diarrhea (sp?) and a whole list of others, including hallucenations, depression, sleeplessness. I have yet to take it, the side effects scared the crap out of me, and the MucinexD is working pretty darn good.

So I contact best friend who is in the nursing field and she says dont take it, and gives me reasons why and a co-worker said his 16yr old son was given the IV form for MRSA three years ago and it reaked havoc on him. He had to supplement with Glucosamine for the joint pain. I was told it is borderline poison for your body because it kills literally every single bacteria that you have, even the good.

My question is, has anyone here ever been prescribed this, and if so, did you experience any of the side effects. I was given 5 days worth and I think the pills are 750mg not sure though... (rx is at home). Still debating on taking it or just tossing it due to the massive list of not-so-pleasant side effects.

Any advice/experience is greatly appreciated.

 

[jp2854]

i have taken levaquin and had no ill side effects to it and I have been on it 3x so far in my adult life. there is a slim chance you will get any of the side effects they just list them so you know if you get any of them.

 

[cattitude]

I've had no problem with it and I am allergic to penicillin. I had pneumonia in March was given levaquin. I know a friend of mine, JazzLady, had an awful time with levaquin.

 

[QueenB]

i have taken levaquin and had no ill side effects to it and I have been on it 3x so far in my adult life. there is a slim chance you will get any of the side effects they just list them so you know if you get any of them.

I understand that there is always a slim chance I will experience them, but the major red flag was when I opened the rx bag and there was a packet (6 pages) of "possible" side effects and in the first paragraph of the first page it went on to state that you could experience some of these side effects or even death... yea about that, I have two 6 year old girls at home and I am not really ready to take that "possible" chance of DEATH. I maybe overreacting but when I had my wisdom teeth pulled in July they gave me Percocet, and I experienced every single one of the side effects with that. And I had that when I had my C-Section and my root canal/crown with no side effects. Just rather be safe than sorry ya know...

 

[BeenSpur'd]

My son broke out in hives all over his body after taking the first dose so didn't take any more. He was prescribed something else by his doctor and didn't have any more problems.

 

[wagondriver1]

I just took it back in June. I had no side effects from it. I only took it for 5 days and not 7 since i was feeling better. I would say if you think the Mucinex knocked it down then dont worry about it. However without taking an antibiotic the chance the infection could come back is higher. Also you could go to the Doctor and ask for another brand and tell him/her you dont feel comfortable taking it. Best of luck to you.

 

[SoMDGirl42]

I took it and experienced nausea, vomiting and hallucinations.

 

[Aerogal]

Try Olive leaf extract nose spray to keep your infections down. My sister swears by swabbing her nose with listerine - but not too sure about that one. Saline nose drops may help too.

 

[GoodnessME]

Call your Doctor if you have concerns about this drug.

 

[QueenB]

I wasnt very impressed with the doctor that I saw. It was the first time seeing her and she saw me for less than 5 minutes and then wrote the rx. So I probably wont call to get a different rx. I am the typical "I am always healthy" type of person and every now and then I get a cold or something that knocks me flat, and I wait until I absolutely cannot stand the pain/symptoms before I go see a doc. I am more than likely just going to ride it out and if it progresses into something else I know why. Thanks for all the inputs!

 

[sanchezf]

I wasnt very impressed with the doctor that I saw. It was the first time seeing her and she saw me for less than 5 minutes and then wrote the rx. So I probably wont call to get a different rx. I am the typical "I am always healthy" type of person and every now and then I get a cold or something that knocks me flat, and I wait until I absolutely cannot stand the pain/symptoms before I go see a doc. I am more than likely just going to ride it out and if it progresses into something else I know why. Thanks for all the inputs!

My husband just got off his same 5 day dose yesterday and had no side effects at all. In fact I was given Argumentin (sp) 12 day dose and he kicked the bronchitis before I did..

 

[dems4me]

I've been on it several times. No problems. It worked great for me!

 

[jp2854]

if you didn't like the doctor you saw I can give you a recommendation of a good doctor. Dr. Monika Lee shes great. I like her alot she isn't the type to rush you in and out the door and just hand you a script and say have a nice day. The first time i saw her i was in her office over 1hr as she wanted to get my breathing better than it was (she gave me a nebulizer treatment in her office then sent me home with an inhaler of the same thing and antibiotics as I had bronchitis that didn't want to take a hike) she never metioned one word of shipping me to stmarys hospital like all the other doctors in the county want to do without trying to help you first.

 

[happyappygirl]

FYI...You may be able to avoid a sinus infection entirely if you use a decongestant and Neil Sinus Wash as soon as you get a sinus headache. That stuff works great for allergies too, flush out the 'ole sinuses once or twice a day during allergy season.

I took Levaquin and within 2 days I developed shoulder joint pain and trigger finger on my right middle finger, which resolved in several months. I didn't read about the side effects until AFTER being diagnosed with trigger finger, i just couldn't figure out why i'd suddenly develop a tendon type of inflamation with no trauma. I X'd out the bottle with a note to self - do NOT take this crap again.

 

[QueenB]

FYI...You may be able to avoid a sinus infection entirely if you use a decongestant and Neil Sinus Wash as soon as you get a sinus headache. That stuff works great for allergies too, flush out the 'ole sinuses once or twice a day during allergy season.

I took Levaquin and within 2 days I developed shoulder joint pain and trigger finger on my right middle finger, which resolved in several months. I didn't read about the side effects until AFTER being diagnosed with trigger finger, i just couldn't figure out why i'd suddenly develop a tendon type of inflamation with no trauma. I X'd out the bottle with a note to self - do NOT take this crap again.

I started out taking Tylenol stuff for my allergies, and then when that ceased to do anything, I switched to Zyrtec and when that was barely doing anything, I started taking MucinexD. I woke up Tuesday morning sounding like I had a clothespin on my nose. I couldnt talk without gagging because I had no movement of any of the crap in my nose. It wasnt draining or coming out by blowing my nose. And the mucinex started to help drastically, AFTER I made the doc appointment. I have been using a sinue rinse thing I got at target, its a botte that you fill with 8oz of warm water and a solution type mixture and shoot it up your nose. Talk about a drowning feeling. It is helping though.

 

[ohstate]

So I got to the docs yesterday only to be diagnosed with a sinus infection. The doc was extremly fast to write a rx for Levaquin. Being allergic to all the 'cillins and never being given this... I google it while it is being filled at the pharmacy only to read the side effects and I kid you not, maybe 1 or 2 reviews out of about 80 said they rarely experienced these horrendous side effects to the liking of joint pain, torn Achilles Tendon, nausea, constipation/diarrhea (sp?) and a whole list of others, including hallucenations, depression, sleeplessness. I have yet to take it, the side effects scared the crap out of me, and the MucinexD is working pretty darn good.

So I contact best friend who is in the nursing field and she says dont take it, and gives me reasons why and a co-worker said his 16yr old son was given the IV form for MRSA three years ago and it reaked havoc on him. He had to supplement with Glucosamine for the joint pain. I was told it is borderline poison for your body because it kills literally every single bacteria that you have, even the good.

My question is, has anyone here ever been prescribed this, and if so, did you experience any of the side effects. I was given 5 days worth and I think the pills are 750mg not sure though... (rx is at home). Still debating on taking it or just tossing it due to the massive list of not-so-pleasant side effects.

Any advice/experience is greatly appreciated.

I took levaquin for a sinus infection before I had my sinus surgery. They wanted me to take it for 21 days, but I stopped on day 11 because of the weird side effects - leg pain and weird swelling feeling under my arms - and nightmares. Within a day or two of stopping, all the strange symptoms stopped. I now get a combination of Ceftin for 14 days and Zithromax for 5 days when I get a bad sinus infection. That combo seems to clear things up for me. If I'm really bad, sometimes they'll add prednisone to knock down the swelling.

 

[happyappygirl]

I have been using a sinue rinse thing I got at target, its a botte that you fill with 8oz of warm water and a solution type mixture and shoot it up your nose. Talk about a drowning feeling. It is helping though.

That would be the stuff. It's ikky to use, but it works miracles!

 

[cattitude]

I started out taking Tylenol stuff for my allergies, and then when that ceased to do anything, I switched to Zyrtec and when that was barely doing anything, I started taking MucinexD. I woke up Tuesday morning sounding like I had a clothespin on my nose. I couldnt talk without gagging because I had no movement of any of the crap in my nose. It wasnt draining or coming out by blowing my nose. And the mucinex started to help drastically, AFTER I made the doc appointment. I have been using a sinue rinse thing I got at target, its a botte that you fill with 8oz of warm water and a solution type mixture and shoot it up your nose. Talk about a drowning feeling. It is helping though.

Most sinus infections don't require meds. Rinsing is the best thing you can do.

 

[jaie]

I have taken it 2 or 3 times and have never had a problem with it.

 

[jazz lady]

I've had no problem with it and I am allergic to penicillin. I had pneumonia in March was given levaquin. I know a friend of mine, JazzLady, had an awful time with levaquin.

I've never had a reaction like that. I too had pneumonia in February with a horrible case of the flu and the doctor prescribed that for me plus an inhaler. The first day I took it, I got the most horrendous headache a couple of hours after taking it that was worse than a migraine and I could not sleep. The second day was the same pattern but I chalked it up to the flu. The third day same thing plus now I was starting to itch and was getting a splotchy like rash.

I knew something wasn't right and stopped taking it. I called the doctor's office and got a Z-pack instead, which did the trick without any side effects. I then researched Levaquin and found out a lot of people have nasty reactions to it. It would have been nice if I had been better informed of the side effects and I should have been more proactive in researching it myself. I know better now than to blindly take something prescribed to me.