Avelox and sinuses

Well, this is obviously a very strong antibiotic. I had a raging sinus infection and was in a lot of pain. The doc prescribed this along with prednisone. I think I tolerated it quite well. I did get side effects though. I didn't have insomnia. I had just the opposite. I was soooo tired that I had to take naps every day that I was on it. I also had heart palpitations where it felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest. It would take my breath away. It made me feel depressed also. I wouldn't take this again unless I really needed something strong. On the plus side, after 6 hours of taking it, I could feel my sinuses start to improve.

I am very scared right now and concerned, but recently I have been sick for the last 3 weeks or 4 weeks. I went to the doctor about 2 weeks ago and he prescribed some Amoxicillin for my sickness. He said he couldn't identify what I had so he gave me a broad based anti biotic. For about a week I took it and didn't get any better. The medicine caused me to get dizzy spells after sleep and before sleep. So this week I went back to the doctor and he said the medicine wasn't helping me and my white blood cell count had gone up. So I had to get some blood taken . Then the nurse couldn't find my vain easily. She managed to get a little blood though and took it for lab samples. The doctor came back and said I needed to take some Avelox and gave it to me. So for about two days I took it and I felt ok, but later the second day I started having a panic attack for no reason. I told my dad I needed to lay down.

After that, my dad made me some food and I laid down and watched TV and the feeling soon left. I was really feeling sick so I got a cold rag and put it on my forehead. I was looking forward to my mom coming home from Wednesday night church. I fell asleep for about 30 minutes. Then my mom came home and woke me up and we talked for a bit and then I went back to sleep.

Well, today I got curious about my medicine and looked it up and found out some terrible news. The medicine I am taking has actually landed people in the hospital. I found a site where people who had taken it posted what the side affects were. They all had reports about having anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and muscle aches.It was then I realized that my medicine is what caused the panic attack the day before. I called my dad instantly and told him about the bad side affects. He didn't really seem to care that much. He listened to me though, which is a step up from my mom. Then I called my mom and explained to her. She just ignored me and didn't care. I was crying and I felt so terrible and frustrated. I was just trying to explain to her that my medicine caused very bad side affects and even thoughts of suicide. She didn't really seem concerned though, she said she'd call my doctor and talk to him about it.

Right now my parents and I are just really stressed about this whole thing. I refuse to take my medicine because of it's dangerous side affects... but if I don't have any medication at all I won't get better. I'm just in a really bad situation and I am just so depressed I feel as if I could burst!! Everyday I feel like utter crap and my vision is screwed up and I don't have an appetite so I have to make myself eat. Also, my white blood cell count keeps getting higher and if something isn't done soon what I have could be very dangerous.

I keep praying to God... but it doesn't feel like he hears me. I am in great emotional pain, my parents are never home and I'm lonely the majority of the day to , and being sick doesn't help. I am starting to experience a bit of the thoughts of suicide.I keep convincing myself I need to live and I'll get better and I don't need to die. It's hard though I am fighting with all my might to keep it away.

Sinus infection and chest congestion: doctor knew I was on HCTZ, a diuretic, as well as Zyrtec and Nasonex. The HCTZ I now known is an agent that should have triggered a modification of the treatment protocol. First night on the 400 mg Avelox, during conversation at the supper table, a black cloud of depression suddenly descended upon me like a curtain. Then I became extremely irritable and short-tempered. (Hard to blame on a drug, except that this came out of the blue right when I was feeling mentally and emotionally happy and relaxed, enjoying my husband's companionship. No reason for depression, irritability and short temper, especially to such an uncharacteristic degree. This was severe!) No sleep whatsoever that night due to shivering without getting warm, feeling like my whole body was crawling, feeling terrible frustration and anxiety and depression. Had taken the Avelox with my supper. Second night: unable to breathe through nose at all. Nasal passages so dry they hurt. I decided to abandon Nasonex and Zyrtic but never thought about stopping the HCTZ (the info insert from the drugstore never mentioned that). Insomnia and feeling electrified. Again, the feeling of total body crawling and restlessness. Irritable to the max. Frustration. Wound up sitting up most of the night to avoid waking loved one with my tossing and turning and misery. Third night, I took the Avelox early, at 5 p.m. Had been having to turn on the shower and steam up the bathroom to moisturize my nasal passages enough to bear the painful dryness. Also began using Ocean Mist to ease the pain. Despite the dryness, my nose was still too stopped up to breathe. Heavy sinus congestion and pain not any improved yet. Dozed some that night but a phone call came at midnight for my husband and after that I was wired awake again. I am desperate for rest. This is the fourth day and finally I'm coughing less and the congestion is coming up. But my sinuses are harder than ever to empty. Mucus extremely thick and sticky (sorry for the graphic quality of this post). One very severe side effect is that I am now incontinent. I never make it to the bathroom in time to urinate and so am wearing pads. Having to change them every time my bladder begins to fill. Leaking, dribbling and now gushing urine without any control whatsoever. I have just read the full prescribing info and wonder why on earth was I not given a safe antibiotic (I realize everything has some risks and side effects, but why was I exposed in this way to such a dangerous drug without a life-threatening disease to require its use?) This is an outrage. Now I"m stuck finishing the script or else my infection will be back worse than ever and then I'll be given yet another bad drug. I have only one clue to this question: I was asked what my Insurance company was just before the script was written. I cannot help wondering: what if I'd had no insurance, or another insurance? Would I then have been given a less-expensive and much safer, even safe drug? If you are ever asked just before the script is written what your insurance company is, ASK WHY THEY NEED TO KNOW. They will probably tell you it's so they can pick a Preferred drug. That would be a bogus answer, because after I told them what my insurance company was, they never went and looked for a list of preferred drugs! They simply swiftly wrote for Avelox! I was never told any of the bad effects. Now I fear getting the colitis, the tendonitis (no one told me not to exercise!). I even fear permanent incontinence. I also think that this depression, anxiety, and insomnia, and the horrible restlessness and whole body crawling sensation could be lasting and that really makes me feel very depressed. My husband has had to suffer with days and nights of my irritability and temper -- and he has cancer and I never wanted to ever be cross or complaining or to worry or burden him. This medicine is not worth it. THere are safer better options. DEMAND BETTER OPTIONS. I also wonder if the HCTC or Zyrtec or Nasonex taken on the same days could have damaged my kidneys or liver. I really think that antibiotic resistance is the ultimate bad side effect of this drug. What could be worse? Why is this being used for garden-variety sinus infections? Why is it not an option only for those who must have it or probably die of some life-threatening illness? This medicine needs more than a black box. This medicine should be available only to doctors treating patients who are in danger of dying of an illness. I have had doctors give me black box medicines before and I was spineless enough (and ill enough with severe, recurrent sinus infection) that I took the medicine. But from now on, never again. There are still better options and I deserve the safer options just as much as the next person -- no matter what my insurance coverage is! Doctors don't hesitate to use black box medicines anymore. Why do they hesitate so long to prescribe medicines without black boxes? They say it's because of the new resistance to antibiotics and the super bugs. Well now I'm susceptible to super bugs PLUS all these other severe side effects have to be endured. If anything else goes wrong, I'll come back and add another post. Meanwhile, I'm praying for each of you to make a full and speedy recovery.

I was given Avelox repeatedly for about a 4 month period for sinuses. Ended up having surgery to correct sinus issue. Four months after I have chronic back and rib pain, light headedness, itch skin, burning skin, sore leg muscles the list goes on. After a lot of testing nothing can be found wrong. Is it possible I'm just now seeing the effects of this drug?

DO NOT TAKE THIS MED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!
I have been on this for 5 days and I feel horrible. My doctor prescribed fifteen (YES 15) days of this crap to me for sinusitis. The first couple of days I felt...ODD. Then I started having some tingling sensations and felt groggy. Thinking my doctor knew what he was doing, I plowed on to day 5. Today was the worst. Disorientation, lethargy, headache, tingling under my skin. I will NOT continue this and I am heading into the doctor tomorrow. After reading this and other sites....I have no idea why this would be prescribed for such a relatively minor problem. There are OTHER less threatening antibiotics in the arsenal to try first. I had no idea what I was getting into, but only if I could go back and say NO...... I just hope I haven't done permanent damage.
Robert - 12-31-2007

After exactly 2 hours of ingesting the Avelox 400mg. pill, I suddenly felt a sensation of vertigo as I was standing in my kitchen talking with my young daughter. This was followed by extreme dizziness. I had to lie down for the next hour and a half as I had no balance. I felt slight nausea as well. I spoke to the pharmacist on the phone and she said these symptoms were fairly common (2-5%) and I should try to continue taking the drug the next day, "if I could stomach it." It was very hard speaking to her as I was also experiencing severe confusion; it was hard to form my thoughts and to string them together into a sentence. I went to bed feeling groggy but slept okay for most of the night; only slight insomnia in the early morning hours. The next day, I felt physically and mentally disoriented; I was incapable of driving my daughter to school and my mind felt completely "zonked out of it" -- "stupid" -- like my mind was almost a blank. It's a shame because my sinuses and bronchitis felt a bit clearer already -- but I simply could not go through that experience again -- I have a life to lead and can not spend 9 more days incapacitated, lying on a couch and incapable of looking after my 4 year old daughter. I usually take medicines just fine and am not prone to side effects, so this experience took me totally by surprise.

I started taking an Avelox prescription (10 day) last Saturday, October 23, 2007. I was diagnosed with a sinus infection and had finished a Zithromax prescription for a tonsillitis 48 hours prior to that. I guess the previous infection had spred to my sinuses. On the third day, I started getting dizzy spells and was getting 2 second jolts of pain in my head once in a while like a sudden headache that would just dissapear. My ears would block and unblock cause of the sinus pressure so I thought it was normal for me to feel light headed or get suddden headaches from sinus pressure. On the fifth day, I had a very bad dry cough, and my chest felt like it was crushed. There again, I thought since I had the tonsillitis before, I was caughing alot so I might have a set back cause of the sinus infection and the weakened immune system. What started to worry me was this afternoon, my tongue started to feel raw like as if I burned it with a hot coffee, and when I looked in the mirror, had red spots. I decided to look up some info on the internet and discovered this site. I will go to the doctors and see what I have to so since I still have 3 days left to go. Thanks to the others for the info.

Tanya, Montreal, Canada