Initial reaction symptoms and conditions

On June 17, 2008 I had an emergency appendectomy. They put me on Levaquin in the recovery room. By the time I got to my room I was covered in a horrible red itchy rash--I layed there scratching like a squirrel for hours. When I told the nurse, she said everyone has that reaction and she put Benadryl into the IV. They CONTINUED to give me the Levaquin with a Benadryl chaser until I couldn't take the itching any longer. Finally changed the IV to Cipro---no more itching! I am home now, very very sore and extremely tired. I could have done without that rash-----it is still all over my arms, neck , chest and back--very RAW because I scratched like crazy! Hopefully in a few days it will disappear. Will NEVER take Levaquin again, that's for sure!!

My daughter is seven years old. She was diagnosed with asthma when she was around two years old and, for years, suffered with the night cough associated with childhood asthma.

When Singulair came along, my initial reaction was that of joy. My husband and I could not believe that we no longer heard coughing throughout the night. However, while on this drug, we also noticed that she underwent a change. Sometimes, she seemed terribly sad and withdrawn. Other times, she became angry and even aggressive. We rarely saw her smile. It also seemed like she was in some sort of fog much of the time. About a week ago, I found her on the floor of our office. She had just gotten out of the shower, and I was getting her pajamas for her. The towel was not around her and she was shaking violently and crying. She explained that she had the chills, but it was clear that she didn't even comprehend that her towel was not around her. We all know our kids, and, I'm telling you that this scene was frightening. This was not at all my daughter.

In addition to the mental/emotional changes, she also had physical symptoms including sudden and frequent headaches, fatique, stomach pain, and bed wetting. A day after her "breakdown" in our home office, my husband called me from work and told me that he had just been reading MSNBC and that there was an article about the negative side effects of Singulair. When he listed things that matched what our daughter had been going through since on this drug, it was both comforting and horrifying. I am relieved to know that there is nothing wrong with my daughter psychologically, but I am furious that she and so many others have been treated like guinea pigs. We took out daughter off Singulair the very same night that my husband came across the article on Singulair, and she hasn't had any of the mental or physical symptoms that she had been experiencing...the change was that drastic. Currently, we are only using her inhaler and Benadryl at night. She has a doctor's appointment next month, and I will tell the doctor about our experience.

I have my little girl back, but I can't help but wonder how many families are going through this and do not have a clue that Singulair could be the problem. Other than reporting this to our pediatrician, is their another agency I should contact?

I posted my experience with Levaquin back in January 2008. It's been three months since my initial reaction to Levaquin. I was in terrible pain then and I could barely walk. It has been three months now and I am still in a lot of pain and the pain in my lower back is worse. However, I can walk better now. I have yet to find a doctor who can help me or who even believes that Levaquin caused this. If anyone out there has a physician who believes that Levaquin can cause this damage and who is competent to treat this problem, PLEASE email me with his or her name. I am willing to travel to wherever I need to travel to to get some relief from this. If nothing else it would be great to have a doctor who understands the problem. Thanks. My prayers are with you all.

Chris

Took Levaquin for 3 days starting August 8th for acute Prostatitis. It is now Sept. 21 and I only get 4 hours of sleep a night. It is awful. The initial reaction was my heartrate went to 120, I was nervous and agitated and called the Doctor to say I was going to the emergency room. He said go off the Levaquin and see what happens. End of sleeping!!!

Note: I got rid of the Prostatitis with Cephalexin. However, Because of heart reactions. I can't take Cipro, Levaquin or Cephalexin. Don't know what to do next time!!!! Wish the Pharmacuticals would come up with something that works without awful side effects!!!

I was prescribed it for a vaginal yeast infection and "jock itch"...I took it the first night - and I woke up with burning and itching where it was relatively mild before. Thinking that it was just an initial reaction, I applied it again in the morning only to have it BURN for the rest of the day! I knew that it would cause that side effect, but not to this extent. I looked again, and my left side of my vulva was red, inflamed and itchy...where only the area near my vaginal opening was irritated before.