"I Connected the Dots and Linked Tendonitis to Avelox"

Roswell, GA" I didn't connect the dots with Avelox and tendon problems right away," says Carrie, who had surgery last month for tendonitis in her finger. "Six days after I started taking Avelox, my infection got better but the pain in my hand was unbearable."

When Carrie finished the course of Avelox treatment (10 days) she went back to the doctor: her finger was almost bent down to the palm of her hand and she couldn't straighten it. "My doctor thought it was tendonitis so I had an x-ray," says Carrie. "Nothing was broken so he sent me to a specialist who thought I had 'trigger-finger', where the tendon in the palm gets so inflamed you can't straighten your finger. I had two cortisone shots but they didn't help.

I'd never had any joint problems or this trigger figure before. [The doctors] just thought I woke up one day with inflammation in my tendon, but how could that happen? I'm not even working; I don't do anything repetitively. There was no reason, this tendonitis came right out of the blue.

My only alternative was surgery, which I had a month ago. The surgeon opened the tendon sheath in my palm so the tendon could move again. Luckily my insurance paid most of the surgery but I had to pay the deductible. And I had to go through so much pain. I've had surgeries in the past, such as knee surgery, but nothing was as bad as this.

And I still hadn't connected the dots with Avelox and tendonitis, not until I read an article on LawyersandSettlements about another woman who had tendon problems. Wow, I had those same Avelox side effects. I wasn't happy when I found out; it is very upsetting to go through surgery and I wasn't told about any side effects. My doctor gave me samples and I didn't read the label. Why would I read about side effects with an antibiotic?

I will definitely talk to my doctor about the Avelox-tendonitis connection because they don't know what caused it. I guess the side effects are so rare some doctors aren't aware of these drugs but if they have more cases, maybe they'll think twice about prescribing Avelox.

Now my hand is much better; I still get some pain but it's manageable. But I won't take any of these [fluoroquinolone] drugs again. I won't put myself in harm's way. And if my stomach problems return, or if I get any kind of infection, I won't take a medication until I research it thoroughly."