What You Need to Know About Levaquin
Millions of Americans take antibiotics every year for a variety of bacterial infections. If your doctor has suggested you receive Levaquin, you should find out all you can about it before you do.
What is Levaquin? What Does it Do?
Levaquin is a brand name of the antibiotic levofloxacin. Levofloxacin is given orally or by injection to treat infections such as pneumonia, chronic bronchitis and sinus, urinary tract, kidney, prostate and skin infections and to prevent anthrax.1
Levaquin is a type of antibiotic that prevents bacteria DNA from dividing and producing more bacteria.2
Does Levaquin work?
Like all antibiotics, Levaquin is effective against some bacteria and not others, and its effectiveness will eventually diminish. Antibiotics become less effective as strains of bacteria develop resistance to them and finally become completely resistant. When bacteria become resistant to one antibiotic, doctors will try another level of antibiotics and hope that will be effective.3
What should I go over with my doctor before I decide to start taking Levaquin?
In 2008, the FDA added a black box warning, the highest-level warning, for Levaquin because some of the side effects “are associated with an increased risk of tendinitis and tendon rupture in all ages,” for example in ruptures of the Achilles tendon.4
Adverse effects for Levaquin can include: risk of tendinitis and tendon rupture, which is increased in patients over 60 years and patients with certain other medical conditions; allergic reactions which can be serious and even occasionally fatal; lowered white blood cell or platelet counts and kidney toxicity may occur after multiple doses; liver toxicity and signs or symptoms of hepatitis; nervous system effects including, convulsions and seizures, anxiety, confusion, depression and insomnia and other symptoms. The most common adverse reactions, in less than 3% of patients, have been nausea, headache, diarrhea, insomnia, constipation and dizziness.5
Multiple lawsuits have been filed alleging tendon damage by Levaquin and that the risk of tendon damage was much higher than for antibiotics in this same group and higher for patients over 60 years old.6
What if I’m already taking Levaquin?
Never stop taking any prescription medication without talking to your doctor first. If you are already taking Levaquin and you experience any adverse effects, talk to your doctor.
Learn everything you can about Levaquin before you start taking it.
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1 PubMed Health, “Levoflaxin Injection” (revised 15 June 2011, revised 22 October 2012), http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000129/
2 American Family Physician, Oliphant C. et al., “Quinolones: A Comprehensive Review” (1 February 2002), http://www.aafp.org/afp/2002/0201/p455.html
3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “About Antimicrobial Resistance: A Brief Overview,” http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/about.html; Gastroenterology, Federico A. et al., “Efficacy of 5-day levofloxacin-containing concomitant therapy in eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection” (July 2012), http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22484118
4 Food and Drug Administration, “Highlights of Prescribing Information” (), http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/EmergencyPreparedness/BioterrorismandDrugPreparedness/UCM133684.pdf
5 Ibid.
6 Articlesbase, Kelley K., “Fifteen Additional Levaquin Lawsuits Filed in Illinois” (23 September 2009), http://www.articlesbase.com/law-articles/fifteen-additional-levaquin-lawsuits-filed-in-illinois-1264133.html