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Recovery from Drug-Induced Tinnitus?

Johnny Naro

Member
Author
Mar 22, 2017
7
Tinnitus Since
March 7th
Cause of Tinnitus
Antibiotic Biaxin side effect
Has anyone recovered from drug induced tinnitus? I took Biaxin for 2 weeks and have had tinnitus for a month now.
 
Has anyone recovered from drug induced tinnitus? I took Biaxin for 2 weeks and have had tinnitus for a month now.

I'm wondering the same thing. 30 days in, caused by paromomycin. I only took one 250mg capsule.

All things being equal and if there are no health issues that may be an underlying cause, both of you should probably experience a slow reduction in it. Please don't focus or hyper-focus on it and try your best to just ignore it for as long as possible. Please continue on with living at 100% and it may very well go away sooner than later.

Hugs to both of you two.
 
ah yes, Biaxin strikes again.

Took it for 7 days, a year later its still around in force.
I wish I knew about ototoxicity !
 
Biaxin / Clarithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic and that is the family that did me in too (Azithromycin). I have been searching for remedies for this for 9 months, but more on that in a minute.

My immune system was in an extremely weak state when I took the drugs, and I figure that was what allowed the damage. Most people don't have a problem with a normal course of these macrolides.

Also, I feel my situation may be different from normal. On the second day of a normal three day course, my head swelled and kind of shut up in what I think was an allergic reaction to the drug. It wasn't just tinnitus but a whole sinal clampdown. I still feel that there is something physical in my middle ears which I cannot solve--very loud cracking every time I swallow, and I don't think it's mucus--so for me it's not just a tinnitus issue.

For those who only have tinnitus from antibiotics, work on healing your gut through a no sugar and no yeast cleansing diet. It has been proven to help people with tinnitus, in part, I think, by removing excess yeast / fungal growth. The vagus nerve set runs from your stomach to your ears, and considering how antibiotics wipe out your gut, I figure there's a link there. I have read some good positive case histories of people who have cured their tinnitus from improving their overall well-being.
 
thanks for adding.

Interesting enough I am on a low sugar diet myself to help with my grossly high Cholesterol because I was put on a Statin and bad things happened. Anyways, I was also in a bad state when I took mine. I had whopping cough, and it took almost 4 months to get rid of, and for at least 6 weeks I was in horrible chest pain. I think the combo of Motrin and Biaxin, sleeping pills and whatever else I was taking was the deadly combo that did me in. Best part was, the Biaxin didn't help ... at all ... all it did was to add T to my already wonderful situation.

Mine is I static pitch, around 8000 hz, and another high pitch one that comes and goes 11,000 hz or so. I can't quite figure out why it comes n goes but that one is killer since its basically impossible to drown out.
 
Has anyone recovered from drug induced tinnitus? I took Biaxin for 2 weeks and have had tinnitus for a month now.
Mine was induced by Paromycin/Metronidazole, it got better three years after, with time it got very mild and didn't disturb my sleep or daily life at all. Since last April, severity came back after a medical procedure with sedation. The anaesthetic was Profol (1% tinnitus inducer) and now my life is back to hell.
So, replying to your question: yes, you can with time according to my own experience.
 
Did anyone else experience vertigo and significant hearing loss when they had their reaction to the drug? Or just tinnitus?
 
I'm wondering the same thing. 30 days in, caused by paromomycin. I only took one 250mg capsule.
One hour after taking a 250 mg. capsule of Paromomycin I experimented a very low high pitch tinnitus, three days after I had vertigo and my docotor stoped the medication. The tinnitus developed during the next two weeks and became severe.
Greetings.
 
Has anyone recovered from drug induced tinnitus? I took Biaxin for 2 weeks and have had tinnitus for a month now.

Hi @Johnny Naro

Are you sure your tinnitus is drug induced and not caused by "noise"? Exposure to loud noise is the most common cause of tinnitus. Do you listen to music through headphones regularly? Play music in a band or attend clubs, concerts where loud music is played? If the answer is yes to any of these questions then louds sounds could be responsible for your tinnitus.

Michael
 
Patch and Anima, thank you. From what I've read around, most people who got tinnitus from antibiotics did not experience other head side effects. I asked because I'm pretty sure my own reaction was allergic, as my head swelled up 24 hours later and basically shut me down for weeks. The fact that for many of us the tinnitus came on so quickly--within hours--gives me more confidence that it has a gut / nerve link, probably due to a weakened immune system or already leaking or damaged gut. There must be a reason why some of us are predisposed to this while most people don't get it.

I know--from what I've read--that people who got tinnitus from antibiotics also got rid of it. Obviously it's better if it goes away naturally within a month or two, but it's still possible to be rid of it beyond that. In no way will I believe this is permanent. The body has a remarkable way of healing when you find ways to allow it to do so.

Are you sure your tinnitus is drug induced and not caused by "noise"?

Hi Michael, it's not terribly uncommon for people to get tinnitus from a short dose of antibiotics (usually macrolides from what Iv'e read). How long it stays for those who get it is another question though.
 
Hi Michael, it's not terribly uncommon for people to get tinnitus from a short dose of antibiotics (usually macrolides from what Iv'e read). How long it stays for those who get it is another question though.

Hi @Terje788

I agree with you that antibiotics and other drugs can cause tinnitus including an ear infection. However, the most common cause of tinnitus is "exposure to loud noise" More often than not when people have contacted me about their tinnitus being caused by medication or an ear infection, it turns out wearing headphones or attending places where loud music is played on a regular basis has caused the tinnitus. This is the reason I usually ask, if a person regularly uses headphones or goes to clubs, concerts often.

Michael
 
Mine was induced by Paromycin/Metronidazole, it got better three years after, with time it got very mild and didn't disturb my sleep or daily life at all. Since last April, severity came back after a medical procedure with sedation. The anaesthetic was Profol (1% tinnitus inducer) and now my life is back to hell.
So, replying to your question: yes, you can with time according to my own experience.

What were you trying to treat? Blastocystis?
 
Any success stories? I am 5 months in after getting tinnitus from antibiotics (and an infection in my wisdom tooth). I had tinnitus for about 7 months in 2006/2007 but it went away (cause unknown). Guess I am not that lucky this time...

Emelie
 
Have any of you gotten better? Please update if so.

I'm on week three now. On 19 Mar after taking Meloxicam for 1 week, T woke me up in the middle of the night. The next day pressure in head, ears, dizziness, and a blood pressure spike put me in the ER. Immediately stopped Meloxicam but no recovery yet. My ears hurt and I think I have some hearing loss. Loud places and stress worsen the T.

I have heard about a recovery already: The nurse at the VA said her husband had T (his onset mysteriously) a few years ago and it lasted for 1.5 years before dissipating. She said his ENT prescribed anti-depressants.

Recovery from this illness seems so random.
 
Is there anyone out there with more suggestions to help heal yourself after a drug induced tinnitus event? Mine was Doxycycline and I am now three months in with horrible noise in my ears around the 7 kHz range.
 
Mine was Doxycycline
Hey! I also developed tinnitus from Doxycycline.

I've had it since April 2020. Not much info I can offer, apart from mine has lowered significantly in volume. I also read somewhere that ototoxic medicine can take up to six months to completely leave your system - this info could be wrong though.

Steph x
 
Steph,

Thanks for the reply. So far this has been three months of hell as the Doxycycline has done more damage to me than just my hearing.

At what point did you see some improvements and are you taking any supplements or therapy that you find helpful?
 
Hi Bilzer, how much Doxycycline did you take? What dosage and for how long? I've had noticeable tinnitus since March 2020 after taking 200mg of doxycycline two days in a row after getting a tick bite (which later tested negative for lyme). My tinnitus definitely increases with allergy symptoms and is less noticeable when I don't have allergies. It also increases in volume when I'm feeling stressed out. In general though the tinnitus is bothering me less now than it did initially. I've found that being back on the US east coast with lots of chirping crickets in the background is helpful, they really drown out the ringing.
 
I was given 21 days worth of it and stopped after a few days when I became aware of the awful side effects. Have you seen a doctor and is there any countermeasures we can do to possibly reverse these horrific side effects?
 
I had a video conference with a general doctor but not a hearing specialist. The doctor was not very helpful, didn't believe (or wouldn't acknowledge) that the tinnitus might have anything to do with the doxycycline. Told me that it is unlikely that the tinnitus was caused by doxycycline. Said tinnitus "can linger", whatever that means. What dosage were you on for those few days you took it, Bilzer? I think stress really plays a huge role in the tinnitus. Today, for instance, I've not even thought about the ringing, but if I focus on it, sure enough it's there. I took 10 mg claritin (loratadine) the past couple of days and I think it is indeed helpful. Sometimes I do wonder if maybe the tinnitus is entirely caused by allergies and the stress of dealing with the pandemic. Do you have allergies?
 
At what point did you see some improvements and are you taking any supplements or therapy that you find helpful?
I actually started to see major improvements around the two month mark. By three months, it had almost gone.

However, I caught an ear infection from swimming that put me right back to square one. :( Perhaps even worse than before.

The volume has slowly reduced again, though it's slightly louder at the moment due to this cold I have.

Before the cold came, I was even starting to experience morning silence, which is what I had before the ear infection when my tinnitus was at its lowest.

Hopefully once I'm better, it will fade again.

Supplements I take are as follows: vit b12/magnesium/zinc/NAC.

Steph x
 
The doctor was not very helpful, didn't believe (or wouldn't acknowledge) that the tinnitus might have anything to do with the doxycycline
Literally the amount of people on here who took Doxycycline and developed tinnitus. Your doctor is ignorant.

I never had any hearing problems until Doxycycline. Also how the hell can he deny it was the Doxycycline when tinnitus is listed as a common side effect of taking it!

I knew instantly I had tinnitus from the Doxycycline, because I remember reading it in the side effects but thought nothing of it, having no idea it would be a permanent side effect.

My neurologist even told me that Doxycycline can damage your ears.
 
I was on it for only a week. I don't have any allergies and the Doxycycline did a lot more damage to me besides just the tinnitus.

Has anyone ever recovered from a drug induced tinnitus event? Has anyone pursued being damaged by this awful drug?
 

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