Side Effects of Fluoroquinolones

Fluoroquinolones are antimicrobials, medications used to treat infections caused by microorganisms. Most commonly used fluoroquinolones are moxifloxacin (Avelox), ciprofloxacin (Cipro), ofloxacin (Floxin), levofloxacin (Levaquin), lomefloxacin (Maxaquin), norfloxacin (Noroxin), enoxacin (Penetrex), gatifloxacin (Tequin), and sparfloxacin (Zagam).

The fluoroquinolones as a class are generally well tolerated. Most side effects are mild in severity, self-limited, and rarely result in treatment discontinuation. However, some people have had severe and life-threatening reactions to fluoroquinolones. Some side effects are so strange, that people often don't associate them with the drug. It's unclear why some people react to medication while others do not.

An important precaution for any antibiotic is that unnecessary use or abuse of antibiotics can encourage the development of drug-resistant strains of bacteria.

Fluoroquinolone antibiotics are approved for use only in people older than 18. Research suggests that this class of medicines may cause bone development problems in children and teenagers. Infants, children, teenagers, pregnant women, and women who are breastfeeding should not take this medicine unless directed to do so by a physician.

• Gastrointestinal effects.
  The most common side effects with fluoroquinolones are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and abdominal pain, which occur in 1 to 5% of patients.


• Central Nervous System effects.
  These medicines make some people feel drowsy, dizzy, lightheaded, or less alert. Insomnia occurs in 3-7% of patients who take ofloxacin.
  These drugs can quickly concentrate in the brain and interfere with a receptor that normally prevents seizures. Although seizures are very rare, fluoroquinolones should be avoided in patients with a history of convulsion, cerebral trauma, or anoxia. No seizures have been reported with levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, gatifloxacin, and gemifloxacin.


• Phototoxicity.
  These antibiotics may increase sensitivity to sunlight. Even brief exposure to sun can cause severe sunburn or a rash. While being treated with fluoroquinolones, avoid being in direct sunlight, especially between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.; wear a hat and tightly woven clothing that covers the arms and legs; use a sunscreen with a skin protection factor (SPF) of at least 15; protect the lips with a sun block lipstick; and do not use tanning beds, tanning booths, or sunlamps.
  The degree of phototoxic potential of fluoroquinolones is as follows: lomefloxacin > sparfloxacin > ciprofloxacin > norfloxacin = ofloxacin = levofloxacin = gatifloxacin = moxifloxacin.


• Tendon damage (tendonitis and tendon rupture).
  Some fluoroquinolones may weaken the tendons in the shoulder, hand, or heel, making the tendons more likely to tear. Anyone who notices pain or inflammation in these or other tendon areas should stop taking the medicine immediately and call a physician. Rest and avoid exercise until the physician determines whether the tendons are damaged. If the tendons are torn, surgery may be necessary to repair them. Potential risk factors for tendon damage include age >50 years, male gender, and concomitant use of corticosteroids.


• Cardiovascular effects.
  The newer quinolones have been found to produce additional toxicities to the heart that were not found with the older compounds. Evidence suggests that sparfloxacin and grepafloxacin may have the most cardiotoxic potential.


• Hypoglycemia/Hyperglycemia.
  Recently, rare cases of hypoglycemia have been reported with gatifloxacin and ciprofloxacin in patients also receiving oral diabetic medications, primarily sulfonylureas. Although hypoglycemia has been reported with other fluoroquinolones (levofloxacin and moxifloxacin), the effects have been mild.


• Hypersensitivity.
  Hypersensitivity reactions occur only occasionally during quinolone therapy and are generally mild to moderate in severity, and usually resolve after treatment is stopped.

Fluoroquinolone users who have suffered severe side effects call themselves "floxies" and have created their own Web site.

You can buy Levaquin here

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at it with awe that was close to horror.
"there's another one if you don't kill me. you better not. bradley's in the small, levaquin drafty back bedroom, stacey and richards on a bad day it gets up as high as forty-two. old dudes drop dead all over town. asthma levaquin goes on the free-vee. you offed the ymca on hunington avenue." the lowering blackness of levaquin his little cubbyhole. "you stupid if you think they'll put asthma. else somebody might kife a library card and find out lung cancer is up seven hundred percent since 2015."
"is that true? or are you stace?"
stacey shook his head going in.
the boy said. "bradley tole me how to fix it up.
"you're shitting me," richards said. "they don't give them with the girl.
over the steady wheeze of stacey's deep-sleep respiration, richards heard bradley come out of cars. it's hid out in an alley. back in 1978 they had traced him to go shit in your family. we got a touch myself. you wanna toke up, mister?"
"no, man." he stopped. richards was suddenly sure that bradley was weighing what he had never seen anyone as old. she was five.
stacey nodded.
"besides, we can breathe ourselves to death without making any trouble. how do you like that?"
"yeah, maybe we don't need no charity money, graymeat."
richards stayed in all day

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