Hello,

I developed a SFN after a course of Levaquin, Has anyone heard of this connection? and Hello Everyone..

Welcome to PN...

You might find Dr. Cohen's webpage interesting:

http://www.medicationsense.com/artic...cs_052205.html

If you move around there, you will see some reports of using IV glutathione to help this. But that is just anecdotal at this time.

If you search "fluoroquinolone" on this page, you will find many discussions about Levaquin and its cousins.

Thank you for responding to me, I will search that. I have many questions about this condition which I would like to post to other members. Is starting a new topic the best way to inquire directily or should I just tell my story and post it in a topic to be reviewed by others and responded to. I have been struggling mightily and glad to have found this board. Thanks again

We always like to hear stories...the more the better!
Lots of details, are best. PN is like a detective mystery. One has to know alot to ferret out the right path to take.

You can do it right here on this thread.

Thanks again for responding,

My story: In march of this year I was prescribed levaquin by my urologist, a low dose 40 day course. I developed tingling and burning in my feet and pain and weakness in my shoulder, nausea, dry mouth, and general malaise and had to stop at 20 days. I ingested alot of levaquin by that time. I was referred to a neurologist who put me on prednisone and followed up in 2 weeks to see if it was helping. It had not stopped the symptoms but they had not gotten significantly worse. He then sent me to the University of Michigan for evaluation. They did an EMG which showed what they thought was a brachial plexopathy. (I had a similar episode with my right shoulder 15 years earlier but no SFN symptoms presented themselves and it resolved in 6 months or so. I never even went to a neurologist) They also did a lot of blood work which came back normal. They told me to get off the prednisone so I did a taper and once I got below 10 mg a day things flared up again. I told the people at U of M about this and they still said to get off. I decided at that time to get a second opinion and consulted with a neurologist at Cleveland Clinic who after reviewing my information said to try the prednisone again. I'm thinking, Hmmmm. I reported this back to my local neurologist who first seen me and he suggested I go for 2 out of 3 and be a walk in at Mayo to find some sort of consensus. So I did. They did a bunch of blood work, another EMG, autonomic testing Etc. The EMG results were similar, the autonomic testing showed slight abnormalities, and the blood work was normal. They also did a gastro workup with tests, scopes, a MRI, and biopsies only to find that I had high fecal fat for an unknown reason. They told me to get off the prednisone so I had a consensus. I started to taper the same result with things flaring up under 10 mg. I continued the taper and got off. I did have stomach damage from the prednisone and NSAIDS I was on which eventually go better. The shoulder got better. The burning and other neuropathic symptoms eventually leveled off but definately did not cease. I have tried Neurontin, Klonopin, and Antidepressants and either could not tolerate them or they did no good. Basically I was just trying to eat right and do some of the supplements shown here when a couple of weeks ago the burning and stuff went from irritating and localized to extreme and all over in a matter of days. I told the guy at U of M (whom I like more than the guy at mayo and consult with regularly) and he just gave me more suggestions for pain and was not going to do any thing else. I do not know why this has flared like this worse than ever when it had been fairly stable for a few months and perhaps even improving in some ways. Is this a common thing with SFN and can it go back to what it was before it flared up? I have been thinking about trying the neurontin again, I have tried it twice and it gave me backaches but this is so intense that it may be worth it. I also have some Norco but I hesitate to use it too much. I smoked some marijuana the last week or so(I am not a regular user) and it did take the edge of but only for a short while. Of course I have all the other junk like extreme fatigue, sleep problems, eating problems and etc. I do not know if any of you good people have any advice but I am open to anything or if you want to know more please ask. Thank you very much for reading my story

What supplements did you take, for how long, and at what dose?

Excess fat in the stool, may point to pancreatitis, or gall bladder disease.
Levaquin also alters the liver functions. Did you have liver tests?

Where is the burning? Only in your old injury? Or in other places too?

If this is localized to one area, have iced it, to see if that helps?

When I was having stomach trouble it was hard to take supplements but lately I have been taking ALA 600mg, GLA 1000mg, Fish Oil, 1000mg, multivitiamin by Allone, Bcomplex. Extra C. semi consistanly for a couple of months.

Burning, tingling, numbness came with new condition, I did not have burning with the old shoulder problem 15 years ago. It started in the feet and hands with some on the face. As I said it seemed to be sort of stable and localized to those areas until a couple of weeks ago and now it is almost everywhere at times and deeper and more intense burning than I have ever experienced. Aching in my legs and forearms as well and I have become kindof clumsy which happened some when this first came on but was one of the things that seemed to improve until lately. It is almost like it started all over again but worse and more widespread. I have not tried ice.

They did an MRI on me at mayo and said my pancreas looked normal. I have had liver function test too and they were normal but I think my GP did them. I have a bunch of results from Mayo and U. of M. The fecal fat thing is weird because I have had greasy stool since this began and there has to be a reason for it cause I never had it before. The gastro doctor at mayo said it could have been a false positive but I do not think so. Do you think I should get retested by my local gastro doctor?

--almost immediately makes me think celiac/gluten intolerance, and associated malabsorptions that go with it (often fat, protein, and vitamins/ minerals).

The biopsies at Mayo--did they include one for small intestine villous atrophy? And have you ever had anti-gliadin IgA/IgG, anti-transglutaminase IgA, total IgA, anti-endomyesial blood tests done (a comprehensive celiac panel)?

Yes I am thinking gluten too. And something else....

But fast transit can also cause this. When there is too fast a movement thru the bowel, the fat cannot get absorbed properly.

Do you drink or consume food with high fructose corn syrup?
I had a hidden fructose intolerance for years...which became a crisis about 2 yrs ago. It caused a very fast food transit, and issues similar to your GI issues. If you stop eating all sweets and do not drink any juices or eat fruit for 2 weeks, then see how your GI is doing then. This is also part of a diet that starves Candida (yeast). If you developed a dysbiosis in the bowel, from the long term use of antibiotics, then the Candida can be causing your problems.

Also I'd try right now, Benfotiamine 300mg a day (you can take this all in one dose as it is long acting). iherb.com has this at a reasonable price. If you prefer something easier to obtain, try 300mg of Thiamine (B1) daily in divided doses.
Candida releases alot of aldehydes into your system and metabolizing them uses B1 heavily. By increasing B1 you can reduce this load. Elevated aldehydes give neuro symptoms..similar to what you describe. Most mainstream doctors do not test for this. Do you recall having a test that reports for Candida?

It is very possible that the Levaquin is doing more than one thing to you. Most surely all antibiotics can cause upsets in normal bowel flora. A good probiotic, or a good yogurt like Stonyfield daily, may also help you with the GI issues.

Also for the time being, I'd reduce the GLA to every other day or every 3rd day. Too much of this increases bowel transit in some people--sometimes even diarrhea.

There is another risk with Levaquin, that may take months or up to a year to manifest. This is tendon injury. Some people get frank tendon ruptures. The mechanism is not understood at this time, just that it "happens". So do not over stretch or engage in activities/sports that stresses the tendons. The Achilles and knee tendons are the most often affected.

YES YES YES!!!! the Levaquin use and consequent bowel distress may well have been the "insulting event".......assuming this was given for prostatitis that may have been an instigation as well or if this is a chronic issue check out this link..
http://www.mensglands.com/chronic-prostatitis.html