Thursday, October 6, 2011

The Joys of Levaquin

Hello all - I'm sorry for the double post today!! Just had a lot to say, I guess! :)


Please, don’t get me wrong: I LOVE that antibiotics make me feel better.  That said, I also tend to dislike many of the side effects.  There is, however, one in particular that I absolutely loathe. 

Whenever I take Levaquin, I tend to develop sensitivity to the sun.  It’s actually a known side effect of the drug, and it’s quite annoying.  Today, my bestie and I walked around the neighborhood (20 minutes outside time max), and I suddenly started to feel itchy on my face, neck, and arms (wherever the sun was touching me).  We decided to head back into the house because we obviously didn’t want it to get worse. 

That was about 8 hours ago. I now have little white welt-like objects all over my forehead and neck.  They itch.  They also feel like someone is stabbing me with a million little needles over and over again.  I’ve showered and tried to keep the area cool, which usually makes them go away.  They, however, have lingered on, trying to annoy me to the point of scratching my skin off.  I must say, it’s probably a very good thing I never had chicken pox. . . I can’t handle itchiness very well!

Other than that side effect, my antibiotic treatment is going pretty well. I’ve developed a sinus infection, but the junk in my chest seems much better.  My doctor sees me next week and so does the ENT, so we’re going to wait for the clinic visits before deciding on any further treatment. 

I hope everyone has had a good week and has a blessed Friday! I’ll be subbing tomorrow so I doubt there will be a post until late Friday night or over the weekend.

3 comments:

  1. I just had to smile when I read this post. I have never taken Levaquin but I go on Cipro about every few months. This past August I went on it and since it was the end of August, I must have thought that the sun is no longer out because I went to the pool one day and laid out in the middle of the deck with no shade. Needless to say, I was fried! Luckily for me it turned into a nice end of the summer tan :)

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  2. I highly recommend one of those big floppy hats! That helped me a lot this summer. I don't naturally burn all that much, but I was on a strong antifungal for several years that made me EXTREMELY sun sensitive (along with plenty of antibiotics here and there that helped it) and even though I had to go off it to TTC, I swear my skin is still more sensitive than it used to be! It sounds like what you have is actually called sun poisoning. It's miserable! I used a cooling lidocaine spray on it one summer when I went to the beach on Cipro and had a particularly awful reaction - it was the only thing that brought temporary relief!

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