Does Levaquin cause small cell vasculitis?
Answers
Yes Levaquin can cause vasculitis in a select few patients, even though it is very rare for it to happen. The number of people who have reported getting vasculitis from taking Levaquin is very low and Levaquin has been rated safe by the FDA and numerous studies have been done to show how safe Levaquin is for the majority of patients. A vasculitis skin rash occuring from taking Levaquin isn't likely to happen but if you do get one it is very itchy and may even cause you a lot of pain in extreme cases. Vasculitis is an incurable disease, but most users of Levaquin aren't at risk of acquiring it from taking Levaquin. The worst experience a user of Levaquin would normally get is no worse than the side effects of other common drugs such as Tylenol.
Alana K means well, but is wrong. Levaquin is not the safe drug it has been sold as. Some people can take Levaquin and suffer no dramatic ill effects, but many others take it with devastating consequences. The FDA reports do not tell the whole story, as adverse reactions to the drug can manifest up to 18 months after the dose and the FDA studies don't follow that long after the fact. Please refer to the website http://www.fqresearch.org/ for more info and also to check on any other symptoms you may have developed since taking Levaquin. FYI, this whole family of antibiotics, called Fluoroquinolones (FQs for short), can have similar effects. Cipro is the other common FQ drug.
