Advice: Ototoxic Med (a Type of Antihistamine)?

My rheumatologist gave me a new Rx and it says tinnitus is a common side effect. The med is a type of antihistamine (prescription). It also warns of cognitive confusion, drowsiness, etc... but it was the tinnitus that scared me.

I just got over a ten day tinnitus run from taking a supplement that doesn't even list tinnitus as a side effect. (I tried it twice, the first time took a week to go away, the second time, 10 days. Horrible!)

Normally I get reactive tinnitus with sounds, or allergic reactions that resolve in a couple of hours. Otherwise my tinnitus is resting at nil or a very low level, so this last "run" was extremely distressing.

I am caught between not wanting to risk even a drop of something that might give me more tinnitus. But if I don't try this she has even more aggressive ideas for a med.

Try it or not? I hear stories of people who took one pill that set them off.

Since this is also listed as ototoxic, am I crazy to try it? Or being totally unrealistic?

Have others been in this position?

 

Check out
http://hlaa-sbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ototoxic_Brochure.pdf

Also try
http://www.ehealthme.com/ds/DRUGNAME/tinnitus/
or http://www.ehealthme.com/ds/DRUGNAME/ototoxicity/
e.g.
http://www.ehealthme.com/ds/prednisone/tinnitus/

 

Tinnitus is a side effect of many many medications.

Just to clarify, very very few meds are truly considered otoxoic - that is, the medication has a history of causing physical damage to the auditory system. This is different to drugs that can increase or start tinnitus from the brain.

If you’re not comfortable, ask your doctor for another option