Antibiotic-Induced Tinnitus

I was prescribed Ciprofloxacin for travelers diarrhea after going on a canoe trip and ingesting some water. I was ill for about 5 days and then was prescribed Cipro. Cipro is a very dangerous antibiotic for some people. It seems certain people will have extremely severe side effects. It is called Fluoroquinolone Toxicity. My tinnitus began along with numerous other effects from this drug. My nervous system was effected throughout my body. I experienced peripheral neuropathy, muscle twitching, tremors, etc. This drug also causes tendon damage.

The tinnitus was a bothersome companion as you all know. I soon found out that both of my parents have constant loud tinnitus. My grandmother has severe tinnitus as well as hearing loss due to various medications as well.

Something we should all be aware of are the many ototoxic drugs on the market. Great caution should be used and a true cost/ benefit analysis done before taking them.

I have largely adjusted, but do use a noise machine at night. I am also concerned about shooting and additional hearing protection for that. I shot a rifle for the first time since tinnitus, and even with muffs on my left ear rang louder for about 3 days.

 

Warm welcome to the forum. It is great to hear you have adjusted even though your tinnitus is so new. But be careful about suffering acoustic trauma on the already unstable ears. Use prudence on your shooting sport as some acoustic trauma can aggravate tinnitus to the point it won't subside in days, perhaps even in months. So be careful there. God bless.

 

Thank you. I plan to double up and use ear muffs as well as ear plugs. Hopefully that will be enough to allow me to continue to shoot without further damage. If that isn't enough I'll be buying a suppressor to attach to the rifle to reduce the db significantly.