Does anybody know about tendon problems?

[LuckyLady13]

I'm losing muscle FAST! It's scary fast! I took Quinolone antibiotics 3 times. Two different doctors were convinced because of my high white blood cell count and fatigue (for over a year now), I have an infection. They threw a bunch of antibiotics at me but also Quinolone's 3 separate times.

 

I experienced tendon rupture. There's a black box warning on Quinolone antibiotics warning of possible tendon rupture.

 

I had a tendon rupture in my ankle and one across my foot. I had no real warning before they ruptured. They just went when I was walking.

 

Quinolone antibiotics increase some type of acid in the tendons that eats holes in them and make them prone to rupture. Usually people eventually recover. I'm not exactly recovering here.

 

All this time later now after not touching them anymore, if I walk just a block, both my Achilles tendons start to throb and I hurry to sit down to take a break. If I rest for about 10 minutes, the throbbing stops and I can get the rest of the way around the block and back home. It's a scary feeling but what's worse is watching my leg muscles just fall apart from a total lack of activity.

 

My Achilles tendons constantly feel very tight like I strained them. So, I thought stretching them carefully over a week and trying the walk again would make a big difference. It made no difference at all.

 

I'm not sure what to do. All I know is I'm a person who loved working out my whole life, love that intense burn from a great workout, loved to walk 2 hours a night after work and now I look at my legs and don't recognize them anymore. My thigh muscles are just vanishing and the shape of my legs has changed so much I'm surprised I haven't just collapsed in tears yet.

 

I don't know much about recovering injured tendons but most of my tendons have come back around. It's my legs that are causing me the biggest problem.

 

Does anyone know about this stuff?

[Taramere]

I can imagine how upsetting that is when you're normally so active.

 

This really sounds like something you need to go and see a specialist about. It must be something physiotherapists see quite frequently. Maybe a physio would be better placed than a general practitioner to advise you what your next step should be?

[LuckyLady13]

Oh wow. Taramere, I didn't even think of this! I was kind of caught in a loop, thinking that a doctor (or two) got me into this so they should know how to get me out but both shrugged their shoulders having no idea what to do about this..."side effect".

 

Thanks for the great idea, Taramere!

[Taramere]

You're welcome, LL. I googled and found this link which you might find helpful.

 

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/40024869/

 

You can see that amongst the management techniques it mentions, first and foremost, referral to an orthopaedic surgeon for assessment. It also talks about immobilising the affected area (with a brace or a plaster cast) followed up with a period of physiotherapy.

 

I'm not a medical person, but it seems sensible to me that for something like this you would be referred to an orthapaedic specialist. If I were you I'd push for that referral to be made. Perhaps a physiotherapist can help you in that respect, even if the treatment hasn't yet reached a stage where physiotherapy would play a role.

 

Good luck...let me know how it goes. I'm getting a niggle here about the implications of you having been prescribed a medication that's known to have this effect, combined with the lethargic, shoulder-shrugging response to the resulting problems that you have had so far from the doctors involved. If they don't know how to be treating this, surely they should be referring you on to somebody with more specialist knowledge ASAP.

 

Maybe this link will also be of interest...

 

http://levaquinlawsuit-info.com/2011/05/levaquin-class-action-lawsuit-litigation/

 

Sounds to me like it would be helpful for you to seek an independent medical opinion from somebody who doesn't prescribe this type of medication.

Edited July 11, 2011 by Taramere