Levaquin Patient Spends Summer With Foot in Brace

San Diego, CAKirk C. says that when he started taking Levaquin he had no idea he was not supposed to do any physical activity. That is because the reported Levaquin side effects include tendinitis and ruptured tendons. However, some patients, like Kirk, say they had no idea the Levaquin medication could cause such serious side effects.

"I was on Levaquin for five weeks and two days out of six weeks that I was supposed to be on it," Kirk says. "I was on it because I had hurt my lower back, which caused severe inflammation, prostatitis and a bladder infection. So, I was on Levaquin for the bladder infection and prostatitis."

Kirk says that after he started taking Levaquin, he noticed that he had some difficulty walking.

"I experienced a lot of muscle cramping, especially in my legs," Kirk says. "It almost seemed like neurological problems—in the morning I would be tight and stiff and fatigued and not really know why. It was very abnormal. I know usually you get out of bed and take a step or two to stretch out, but this was beyond what I had before."

Then, after just over five weeks of taking Levaquin, Kirk injured himself.

"I ended up rupturing a tendon and ligament in my foot while I was running—having no idea you were not supposed to do physical exercise while taking Levaquin. I didn't know if it was broken because I just heard a loud pop. I saw a podiatrist, who monitored it and suggested x-rays, which showed the foot was not broken. Then I had an MRI.

The biggest pain is that it has been time consuming. I am doing physical therapy—I was doing it four times a week, now I'm down to once a week. The physical therapy, the MRI and the x-rays all took time. I'm lucky, because I have insurance.

After I injured my foot, I looked up Levaquin on line to find out the side effects and I found out what it can cause [tendinitis and tendon ruptures have been linked to Levaquin]. I contacted my doctor, who said that it had already been almost the full six weeks, so I should just stop taking it.

I never had these problems before the Levaquin. This happened in June [2009]. It definitely had an impact on my summer. I wasn't able to do anything. My foot was wrapped for months in a brace to support it and I had to ice it every night. I could boat or jetski or do any normal things that I do in the summer in San Diego.

I'm glad I didn't wreck my rotator cuff. I was too tired and sore to go to the gym, so I just exercised at home. That probably saved my rotator cuff."