In early 2007 I went through 4 courses of Keflex to treat a cyst on my chest.
In January of 2008 I went through what appeared to be severe tendinitis in both arms. In March I picked up a 30 lb. computer, and my left biceps tendon ruptured, resulting in surgery.
This is all so similar to what’s going on with tendon ruptures and the antibiotics Cipro and Levaquin.
Has anyone else heard of this happening with Keflex / Cephalexin?
No - to my knowledge, the cephalosporins are NOT associated with any tendonopathies like the quinolones are. Good question though.
No, and a brief search didn’t turn up any reports. There’s a chance some of the orthopods, etc. amongst us may have more to add.
Yes, I am a pharmacist.
When I read about levaquin… I was sure that’s what I’d been taking, the symptoms were exactly the same, but I checked back with the pharmacy and it was Keflex…
Sparky - I’ve certainly had to repair my share of bicep tendons and, if I had a nickel for everyone I saw/put on Keflex, I wouldn’t have to post on ST.
Keflex is likely the most commonly used antibiotic, and while I wouldn’t have the exact numbers, I’d bet on millions of doses…if not more. In residency they’d call it “Ortho-cillin” and say that it should be put in the water supply like flouride it’s so benign. You’d think that if there were a cause and effect relationship between bicep disease and Keflex that not only would it be all over the internet but that the leeches on TV looking for class action suit fodder, “Hello, this is Robert Goldwater, have you been injured at the hands of another, you may be eligible for a cash award!!!” would be all over it like stink on s* and so far I’ve seen nothing.
Most of the bicep ruptures are just unlucky. I could tell you more if you could tell us if the rupture was the shoulder end or the elbow end. Either way, I’d bet that it’s no more than coincidence and the keflex played no role. Sorry. But, all of us on the forum hope you’re OK and ready to kick ass on the bike.
And, yes, I’m an Orthopedic Surgeon.
Thanks for the response, it was distal…
LOL! We called it the “Keflex reflex” during my residency :0
I do like “Ortho-cillin”, but I think you guys just copied “Gorilla-cillin” 
Rroof - you guys are way too young! Copycats. The “Gorilla everything” started long after I finished my training. But, I will take it as a compliment.
Sparky - that’s what I expected. While I can’t remember them all, I know one guy was picking up his cat! It seems to be a “disease” of young males and, with repair, they seem to do well. I don’t know if this is the right time but I’ve had several folks (not many but I’ve seen it) rupture both sides…and I’ll bet they can’t spell cephalexin.
Quick question… why the onset of severe tendinitis in both arms just prior? I was just living life, nothing new or extraordinary. If it were levaquin, does it do permanent damage to the other tendons or lead to a higher risk of future ruptures?
Sparky - you’ve reached the limit of my knowledge. As far as I know, almost all the levaquin tendon problems were in the achilles although other sporadic ones may have been reported. I’ve only had 30,000 patients and not ever had this as a problem. As you’ve already figured out, it’s pretty uncommon.
Maybe if you were to ask your local pharmacist for a package insert, or look in the PDR (Physicians Desk Reference) you could get down to the nitty gritty details of negative levaquin interactions. Sorry, but that’s all I know.
Well since you put it in italics - “Keflex is *likely the most commonly used antibiotic”. *I doubt its even top 5. Your view of antibiotics is very skewed as an orthopedist…peds/geriatrics don’t use it much at all. ER/Ortho use it a fair amount. The list I just looked at had Levaquin about 20th of 200 top Rx’s for 2006 but I’m sure thats dropped now with the black box…Augmentin used to be top 10 of all Rx’s. The list I looked at had omnicef next under Levaquin. There are just too many cephalo’s…
If Keflex was shown to be useful for URI’s then it might move up the list…
Dave
I would be willing to bet that they put you on prednisone as well. If so I would also highly suggest that you consider a medication that your body reacts badly to. I have bad tendinitis from taking levaquin and prednisone at the same time but it recently got worse again from prednisone. There was also some cephalexin this time but I believe that something about that prednisone was starting to deteriorate my tendons before taking any cephalexin. It’s a sort of burning sensation and tightness in tendons that I am all too familiar with. I have found that physical therapy and stretching helps though.
Who cares about tendon rupture now that some studies are showing aortic root dilation association with the fluoroquinolones…although of course with the the caveat that association is not causation…the association of fluoroquinolones and aortic aneurysms does give me pause…is the class of antibiotics doing something to connective tisuue?
This thread is almost 10 years old. The OP hasn’t logged on since that time.