Antibiotics

Dr. Nagler, thanks for replying to my previous question.

I have another question for you though, before my vascular tinnitus started, I had a bladder infection and I was given Macrobid (Nitrofurantoin) which has Intracranial Hypertension as a rare side effect. Would you think that my Pulsatile tinnitus, and the pressure I feel in my head be related to this? I took this medication for 5 days twice a day and on the 5th day my symptoms started and have gotten progressively worse in a span of 3 months. I did not finish the course of antibiotics as I was scared.

Basically my question is, is it possible to have such adverse side effects from this antibiotic in such short period of time?

Kind regards,

Laura

 

Benign intracranial hypertension (or pseudotumor cerebri) is a rare condition, occurring in 0.001% of the population. In my opinion and experience it is unlikely that it could have resulted from a five-day course of Macrobid - but antibiotics or not, pseudotumor cerebri is part of the differential diagnosis of pulsatile tinnitus. So if your headaches worsen with eye movement or if you have any of the other symptoms of pseudotumor cerebri, your doctor may want to refer you to a neuro-ophthalmologist or a neurologist to rule it out.

Dr. Stephen Nagler