Tendon pain - Levaquin + Methylprednisolone

by Janine

So I have had 2 1/2 dose packs of Methylprednisolone plus 4 days of solumedrol IV while I was in the hospital with a lung infection...what brought me to the hospital was chest pain which revealed through blood test to be magnesium deficiency.


I started out having bronchitis (i have post nasal drip that clogs my throat and ends up in my lungs).

3 months ago I started feeling my chest getting heavy...I go through this at least once a year if not 2 or 3 times. I was given a z-pack and methylprednisolone dose pack...this did not work well...went back to my dr and was given another MP dose pack and amoxicillin...this cleared up the problem about 90% and was given another MP dose pack but I knew I wasn't going to get more after this so I only took 1 a day to stretch it out...there was no change to the weight at the bottom of my left lung which X-rays could not see...I had 2 sets of xrays done...one my dr ordered and one while admitted in the hospital...while on the 3rd MPS pack I went to the hospital for chest pain...this is when they discovered the magnesium deficiency.

I was put on Levoquin IV for 4 days, while getting solumedrol pushed into my IV once a day...I went home on another pack of methylprednisolone (I took 2 per day for 3 days and 1
per day for about 5 days) I was also sent home with levoquin (the generic version) and took that for a week.

I can't tell if my weakness is due to low magnesium or the medications...I went back to the e.r. day before yesterday and my mag (serum) was 1.7...I left the hospital with it at 1.8.

I have been feeling weak and tired for the past 5 months at least with it worsening a few weeks before I went to the hospital...I had no idea that the steroid was depleting my magnesium stores.

Anyway, I am having superficial cramping in my calves, and I feel a minor soreness to my left Achilles tendon.

I really need to start supplementing magnesium but I am afraid to after I've read all the horror stories regarding these medications...Shouldn't I wait until these drugs are out of my body before I start supplementing?

My a/g ratio is only 1.0!!! I am hoping this is due to the meds.

So if it's possible that my liver is not functioning properly (I have not done a good job eating protein..and I was dx with fibromylagia and had no idea that I should be eating more protein) then it is possible that the meds are not out of my system yet.

Can you tell me when is the usual time frame when it is save to take meds or supplements that are contraindicated?

Thank you,

Janine

Comments for Tendon pain - Levaquin + Methylprednisolone

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When to supplement
by: Kerri Knox, RN

Hi Janine,

The best time to start supplementing is the second you feel you are having problems from these drugs, as long as the infection is cleared. You don't WANT to wait until the drugs are out of your system, you want to get RID of the drugs as fast as you can- again, assuming the infection is cleared.

For your next step, I would suggest that you not only supplement magnesium, but take care of the reasons that you became ill in the first place. You don't get fibromyalgia and lung infections from nowhere, you get them from a lot of different lifestyle habits that set you up for chronic pain, and infections that your immune system is too weak to fight off.

While taking care of your known nutrient deficiencies is a good thing, I seriously doubt that your problems will end when you eat more protein and supplement magnesium. You need more protein when you have liver issues, but I doubt that not eating enough protein got you where you are today. It sounds like you have some serious underlying health issues that you need to take care of.

For your next step, I would highly suggest that you get my book, The Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Solution which addresses the underlying issues that caused you to get these problems in the first place.

You'll learn the factors that caused your immune system to become impaired in the first place, and that caused you to get 'fibromyalgia', which is really a 'junk' diagnosis that means you are in pain. Well, you already knew you are in pain, that is not a diagnosis, it's an observation.

So, get my book and we'll help you through your challenges so that you aren't subjected to these issues any longer. You CAN be well again.



Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System
Side Effects

PS: Don't forget that I wrote the book on Fluoroquinolone Toxicity. Get The Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Solution today and get the best available program to end your struggle with the symptoms of Fluoroquinolone damage and toxicity today.
More details
by: Janine

Hi Kerri,

The Levaquin information said the following about taking supplements, so that is why I didn't.

If Levaquin is taken with certain other drugs, the effects of either could be increased, decreased, or altered. It is especially important to check with your healthcare provider before combining Levaquin with the following: antacids, multivitamins, or other medicines or supplements that contain magnesium, aluminum, iron, or zinc; diabetes medicines (such as insulin); didanosine; nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (such as ibuprofen or naproxen); sucralfate; theophylline; or warfarin.

I have no idea why my Dr didn't think it was important for me to follow up right after my stay in the hospital, but my follow up isn't until July 6th. I was d/c'd May 9th. Which is why I decided to look for the answer online.

I agree that there is an underlying issue. I have been doing weeks worth of research of my own and have learned that many if not most people who are dx with hypomagnesemia have also been dx with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue. If you look into the side effects of low mg you'll see that many dz processes are in relation to decreased mg.

Side effects of low mag include but are not limited to increased pain, and inflammation to muscles and joints, weakness, Fatigue as well as anxiety, asthma, allergies, decreased immunity and several much more. These I listed are the issues I developed.

My issues started out with IBS 10 years or so ago. I found a product that cleansed my colon and after 3 rounds of it the IBS was gone and I have not experienced it in over 7 years.

We had many horses, so I bought some property and had a house built on it. After living in it for a couple of years I developed seasonal allergies. We also started breeding AKC Champion Bred Miniature Schnauzers who are hypoallergenic...I also learned I was allergic to dust mites.

The allergies brought on asthma, the inhalers brought on bronchitis which sometimes brought on pneumonia.

The dogs carried the dust and pollen on their fur so we had to retire them last year which made things a little better.

***let me digress. About the time I started having IBS, I also started having Chronic Fatigue. All I wanted to do was lay down and sleep. When I was out making sure the kids had a great quality of life and having extra curricular activities, I was thinking about wanting to be home laying down.

After about 2 years of living in this house, I started getting regular anxiety attacks. Not little heart racing panic attacks, but the kind of anxiety that makes you feel like you are literally dying. My head spun, my body turned to jello, I felt pressure in my head and I became numb from head to toe. My eyes became blurry and my hearing decreased, along with my chest getting so tight I couldn't breathe.

It took about 18 months before we came across the right medicine combo that relieved me 100% of the anxiety. (which is a symptom of low magnesium...as I recently learned.)

From there, I began having increased muscle pain. I started having shoulder blade pain upon any type of exercise when I was around 12 years old, but I was always told it was stress induced.

Around 35 yrs old I noticed that "sometimes" when I sneezed real hard I would get a burning and tightening sensation in both arms and sometimes neck and/or jaw.

Then around 40 I started having pain in my arms, and legs, even if one of my kids leaned over and put their hand on my leg it felt like a charlie horse. Just sweeping my kitchen can lay me up for days with excruciating muscle pain in my arms, shoulders, neck, and back...including my hands.

Due to the pain and weakness I did a lot of laying around and stopped being active. This of course causes your lungs to stop expanding to their full extent. Eventually, it is nearly impossible to get them to hold the amount of oxygen and pressure they once did, making it more difficult to clear the lungs of mucous, which then leads to lung infections.

I have just recently started making myself increase lung capacity by doing simple exercise and have already noticed more clearing of the lower respiratory system and an increase of lung capacity. When inhaling albuterol from my inhaler, I would hold my breath as long as I could...getting to the count of 20 was the best I could do...now I can go over 30. I also just do lung exercises like, inhale, then inhale just a little bit more and a little bit more til I can't go any further. It's working. :)

I got real serious about all this after having to go 3 rounds of antibiotics and steroids and seeing what the medication Levaquin has to me and to other people.

I quit the RN program just before the last semester, before graduation because I was having psychosomatic illnesses every time I stopped foot into the hospital and waking up due to a panic attack.

So I am just putting what little skills I have to use and am researching the reasons for why my labs look like they do. Some things are high, some low...some at the low end of normal and some at the high end of normal which I don't like. I'm learning that most of the highs and lows are due to the meds, Thank God.

I must tell you though, after receiving the magnesium IV, all my symptoms disappeared, but I was on the magnesium robbing medication methylprednisolone for 10 days which depleted my mag stores again, just not as bad as it was prior to hospitalization.

We know that serum mag levels are not accurate, but they still do show that while I was on the steroid, it was being depleted.

The day after receiving magnesium IV, the mag level was 2.0. The day I was discharged it was 1.8, and when I went back to E.R. a week later it was 1.7. This appears to be evidence that the steroid indeed was depleting my mag stores which do need to be replaced.

I've been taking Prednisone or Methylprednisolone for several years, whenever I get bronchitis, which was about 1-3 times a year, each time reducing my mag stores.

I also learned that we don't get enough of it in our diet and that it really should be supplemented, along with potassium, sodium and calcium...you know, the elements that have the ions that charge our hearts so we can live?

My messed up levels of most everything else seemed to be due to the medications and are looking better, though mag is still 1.7.

The low a/g ratio is also due to the meds. Though I did learn if you are low in albumin, you can eat foods high in albumin to bring it up. The whites of eggs are 100% albumin...I had no idea, lol.

My creatinine is still a little high but I haven't had a chance to look into that yet. Albumin is back within range, though on the low side of normal.

I feel like I might have a kidney infection, pain in that area. I will pick up some cranberry juice from GNC tomorrow.

I eat nuts, raw spinach, organic green smoothies, organic kale and other magnesium rich foods yet I was still mag deficient. I wish I would've known to supplement. I think I will always keep an eye on my electrolytes from now on.

You stated that I should not worry about protein unless my liver function is decreased, but people with fibromyalgia need protein. Fibromyalgia is a muscle wasting disease thus the need for protein. Is there something I missed here?

Frank Davis, owner of Food For Health International had Fibromyalgia and claimed that going on a straight protein diet for I forgot how long cured him of it. I can't support that of course, but I also think straight protein is dangerous. I went on the Atkins diet in my 30's and I think that diet is responsible for my gallstones.

There's a nutritionist that wrote a book about beans being the cure for gallstones, but I just can't get myself to eat them everyday, lol. There has to be a better way and as long as it's still functioning and I'm having regular BM's, I'm not letting anyone take it out. I'm praying for a better cure.

So your book seems interesting and I will probably buy it. But right now my tendon already is feeling better.

I still have a sensation in both calves, they don't hurt though. My biggest issue right now is the increase in fatigue and weakness. Also, I started having tremors and twitching in my extremities including fingers a few days ago...took a chelated mag last night and they went away. However I woke up feeling very strange...like I was drugged out. Everything felt inflamed even though I felt like jello. I slept most of the day and feel like I'm retaining water...the inflammation went away after I slept for a few more hours since I first woke up...The twitching and tremors are back but with much less intensity.

I just want to get back to normal.

Having a few days of no symptoms after the magnesium infusion was a tease. It was incredible actually. When I came home from the hospital I wanted to start moving furniture and clean my house, my garage, my yard, lol...It was amazing.

I for one am hopeful that my problems are caused by low mag. We will see. The tremors, twitching and increased weakness I'm sure are due to side effects of Levaquin.

Unless I'm dying and that is the ONLY medicine that will cure me, I will never take it again!

I'm sorry for writing so much, I realize that nobody reads people's long drawn out comments. :/

So after further explanation, what do you think?
Why side effects AFTER medication is out of the body?
by: Janine

Actually, the title says all I wanted to know. :)

How is it that the medication and continue to cause side effects days to months after it's out of the body?

Can you answer that?
Acid Poured on Your Hand
by: Kerri Knox, RN

Hi Janine,

Good question. Here is an analogy. Imagine you poured some battery acid on your hand. As soon as you could, you washed all of the acid off of your hand, but what happened? You would still have burns and damage to your skin cells, right? It's not the acid ON your skin that is the problem, it's the destruction the acid CAUSED to your skin cells.

Well, something similar happens with the Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics. These drugs are chemotherapeutic drugs that target the mitochondria of cells in order to kill those cells.

We like to think that antibiotics selectively target only single celled organisms, and particularly 'bad' single celled organisms. When they do kill single celled organisms, they kill the whole organism because it only has one cell. Unfortunately, these antibiotics target lots and lots of cells, including the cells of the humans who take them.

In the case of the Fluoroquinolones, they have a tendency to target connective tissue cells the most. So they target the mitochondria of your cells and destroy them in a similar way that battery acid destroys your skin cells. Washing off the battery acid doesn't instantly heal your skin, just as eliminating the Fluoroquinolones from your body doesn't heal your connective tissue cells that were damaged.

Fortunately, in the case of skin cells, skin cells heal and grow back quickly in most people. It's just a characteristic of skin cells to do that. Unfortunately, connective tissue cells are very slow to turnover and replace themselves when they are damaged. So, healing becomes a much longer process.

I hope that makes sense and answers your question. Damaging the mitochondria of cells is just one of the actions of the Fluoroquinolones that explains symptoms. There are several more actions that continue to cause problems (including magnesium chelation and chemotherapeutic actions) long after the medicine is out of your system.


Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System
Side Effects

PS: Don't forget that I wrote the book on Fluoroquinolone Toxicity. Get The Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Solution today and get the best available program to end your struggle with the symptoms of Fluoroquinolone damage and toxicity today.

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