Member- Aug 21, 2016
- 352
- Tinnitus Since
- 2005
- Cause of Tinnitus
- Noise / T worsened with antiobiotics
This post is long, so I apologize in advance if I ramble too much. I just needed to get this off my chest.
This started over a year ago when I developed a prostate infection. I was wary of taking any antibiotics for it because I know how ototoxic some of them can be but did lots of research on which ones seemed "safe".
I've been on several rounds of antibiotics this past year. None of them cured my infection though none of them made my tinnitus worse which I was thankful for. Most recently, I was put on Doxycycline and another drug called silodosin. The doxy worried me because it's known to cause ear problems. I tolerated the 2 drugs fine for about a month. But then, I started to get a plugged feeling in my ears. It seemed to come and go, so I continued the meds hoping that whatever ear issues it was causing would go away after ceasing the meds. The plugged ear feeling started to happen more often, and I noticed my tinnitus getting gradually louder. However, I wanted to tough it out because the antibiotics seemed to be finally working. With the previous antibiotic I had taken (Bactrim), I had to stop that after 2 months because of a severe allergic reaction.
Then, I was hit with 2 bad ear incidents. I had a huge tinnitus spike that came from out of nowhere that was extremely loud. It died down quickly but not down to baseline. I told myself it was temporary and would go away completely after going off the medication but it happened again a few days later.
I e-mailed my doctor to ask him if the ear issues were temporary or if I should stop the meds completely. I didn't want to stop and end up on square one again like I did with the Bactrim because then I'd have to start all over again with a different antibiotic. As I was awaiting an answer, I woke up one morning to find that my ears felt plugged up and sounds were muffled. This lasted for a couple of hours and then my hearing seemed to go back to normal.
The doctor took almost a week to get back to me at which point he told me to stop the doxy which I promptly did. The plugged ear sensation stopped shortly after, but the tinnitus spikes kept continuing. I suspected it was also the silodosin and then stopped taking that too. However, my tinnitus continued gradually getting louder.
I made an appointment and saw an ENT this past Wednesday. He told me that there was nothing he could do because the muffled hearing had gone away, and he didn't think steroids would help with the tinnitus. I was frustrated to say the least. I even have several prednisolone pills left over from something else I could've taken but was afraid to because I had no idea what dosage to take.
Thursday and Friday the plugged sensation in my ears returned in the mornings, and I started to freak out a little. Also, the tinnitus kept getting louder and louder little by little. When I woke up this morning, I think it was the loudest it's ever been.
I ended up going to urgent care this evening. By the time I got there, the plugged ear sensation had resolved again but the tinnitus was still raging. They prescribed 60 mg of prednisolone for 7 days (which I haven't taken yet) and then made an appointment for me to see a different ENT tomorrow.
I'm now totally anxious and upset for a number of reasons. I know the side effects that prednisolone can have and have read on here that it can make some peoples' tinnitus worse which scares the crap out of me. I've taken it before but never such a high dosage. I'm also upset because when I do start taking it, I feel like too much time has gone by for it to be effective. And lastly, I'm upset for my doctor taking so long to get back to me and at myself for trying to tough things out for a few more days while waiting to hear back from my doc.
So, tomorrow we'll see what the ENT says and will probably start the steroids then. But the tinnitus in my ears is very invasive now, I just feel like the wind has been taken out of me. I don't feel like seeing anyone or talking to anyone unless I absolutely have to. I just want to crawl under a rock and be miserable all alone with my tinnitus ringing in my ears. If you've gotten this far, thanks for listening to me rant. I will post updates since I know other people also have drug-induced tinnitus.
This started over a year ago when I developed a prostate infection. I was wary of taking any antibiotics for it because I know how ototoxic some of them can be but did lots of research on which ones seemed "safe".
I've been on several rounds of antibiotics this past year. None of them cured my infection though none of them made my tinnitus worse which I was thankful for. Most recently, I was put on Doxycycline and another drug called silodosin. The doxy worried me because it's known to cause ear problems. I tolerated the 2 drugs fine for about a month. But then, I started to get a plugged feeling in my ears. It seemed to come and go, so I continued the meds hoping that whatever ear issues it was causing would go away after ceasing the meds. The plugged ear feeling started to happen more often, and I noticed my tinnitus getting gradually louder. However, I wanted to tough it out because the antibiotics seemed to be finally working. With the previous antibiotic I had taken (Bactrim), I had to stop that after 2 months because of a severe allergic reaction.
Then, I was hit with 2 bad ear incidents. I had a huge tinnitus spike that came from out of nowhere that was extremely loud. It died down quickly but not down to baseline. I told myself it was temporary and would go away completely after going off the medication but it happened again a few days later.
I e-mailed my doctor to ask him if the ear issues were temporary or if I should stop the meds completely. I didn't want to stop and end up on square one again like I did with the Bactrim because then I'd have to start all over again with a different antibiotic. As I was awaiting an answer, I woke up one morning to find that my ears felt plugged up and sounds were muffled. This lasted for a couple of hours and then my hearing seemed to go back to normal.
The doctor took almost a week to get back to me at which point he told me to stop the doxy which I promptly did. The plugged ear sensation stopped shortly after, but the tinnitus spikes kept continuing. I suspected it was also the silodosin and then stopped taking that too. However, my tinnitus continued gradually getting louder.
I made an appointment and saw an ENT this past Wednesday. He told me that there was nothing he could do because the muffled hearing had gone away, and he didn't think steroids would help with the tinnitus. I was frustrated to say the least. I even have several prednisolone pills left over from something else I could've taken but was afraid to because I had no idea what dosage to take.
Thursday and Friday the plugged sensation in my ears returned in the mornings, and I started to freak out a little. Also, the tinnitus kept getting louder and louder little by little. When I woke up this morning, I think it was the loudest it's ever been.
I ended up going to urgent care this evening. By the time I got there, the plugged ear sensation had resolved again but the tinnitus was still raging. They prescribed 60 mg of prednisolone for 7 days (which I haven't taken yet) and then made an appointment for me to see a different ENT tomorrow.
I'm now totally anxious and upset for a number of reasons. I know the side effects that prednisolone can have and have read on here that it can make some peoples' tinnitus worse which scares the crap out of me. I've taken it before but never such a high dosage. I'm also upset because when I do start taking it, I feel like too much time has gone by for it to be effective. And lastly, I'm upset for my doctor taking so long to get back to me and at myself for trying to tough things out for a few more days while waiting to hear back from my doc.
So, tomorrow we'll see what the ENT says and will probably start the steroids then. But the tinnitus in my ears is very invasive now, I just feel like the wind has been taken out of me. I don't feel like seeing anyone or talking to anyone unless I absolutely have to. I just want to crawl under a rock and be miserable all alone with my tinnitus ringing in my ears. If you've gotten this far, thanks for listening to me rant. I will post updates since I know other people also have drug-induced tinnitus.
