tendon ruptures and antibiotics

A ski buddy of mine recently tore an achilles tendon, 10 months ago he tore a different tendon. His orthopedist asked if he had taken Cipro or related drugs in the past, he had. There is increasing evidence that taking any quinolone antibiotic (such as ciprofloxacin, Levaquin,ofloxacin, etc) can put you at increased risk of tendon rupture anytime afterward. Preferable to use alternative antibiotics, you may have to tell your prescriber about this side effect. www.webmd.com/osteoarthritis/news/200807...-may-rupture-tendons

Very interesting, and yet another reason to avoid VD

Bummer. The drug info sheets I've seen have only talked about risk for a pretty contained period after taking the antibiotic, but sounds like your friend's experience and what this doc is saying implies that this is too conservative. So does the new evidence suggest that the risk can last for years?

I'm the guy with the achilles tendon rupture. The first one (last april was a quadriceps tendon. It was a much more serious injury (Painful, needed siurgery, and had a long rehab). I was just skiing (albiet sitting back and uphill in very deep, heavy snow), when it just tore. No fall before the injurey. The ripping noise was chilling.
In the past, I have taken Cipro a few times, and levoquin. After the levoquin I developed bilateral achilles tendon arthritis, which took about 6 months to fully resolve.
My Doc's opinion is that the effects are cumulative, and perhaps permanent, although I don't know if anyone really knows at this time.
At any rate, this was pretty short skiing season for me. Looking forward to next year.

These drugs are designed to kill anthrax, so I don't understand why doctors prescribe them for anything less.

Some people are suffering permanent disabilities as a result:
well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/popula...erious-side-effects/

Yeah, hard to prove a relationship without being part of a study, but I blew my achilles about a year after taking Cipro as well.