Augmentin Caused a Tinnitus Spike

I have Achalasia which makes me have aspiration pneumonia a few times a month.

I have been prescribed Levaquin for it. I have taken it with no problems except each time I take it, I develop tendonitis which progressively gets worse; the side effect is tendon rupture.

This time I switched to Augmentin and have had a tinnitus spike for the past 5 days since I have been on it. I read all the information and everything is saying it’s not ototoxic but I’m in such a bad spike that I stopped it today after half the course.

Anyone have any experience? I’m struggling.

 

I have had horrible experiences on BOTH Levaquin and Augmentin, and refuse to touch them again. Possibly ask your doctor for another medication. The hard part is this, if our lives depend on it, sometimes we have to take a medication that will help us and take care of the major issue we are having. I truly understand your pain and I have been through it with both meds. The choice is 100% yours on what you do, but I share my experience and I have empathy for your sorrows...

 

Ask your doctor for Amoxicillin. I took Amoxicillin, and was OK, then I began taking Clavulin, and got a spike. Before I took Clavulin, I searched Tinnitus Talk, and didn't find any horror stories about it. Then I discovered that Clavulin is another name for Augmentin, and that this forum is full of horror stories. I switched to Amoxicillin, and my infection ended up going away.

I took six 500 mg pills of Clavulin/Augmentin, and my spike eventually went away.

 

The weird thing is that Augmentin is predominantly Amoxicillin, about 87%.

I don’t know. FML.

 

I would avoid taking any further Fluoroquinolones (aka Levaquin, Ciprofloxacin). This class of drug is responsible for my tinnitus and hyperacusis, along with a spontaneous ruptured plantar fascia ligament, that landed me in a moon boot fr several months. I am currently experiencing other ligamental issues that I attribute to the effects of Ciprofloxacin.

Fluoroquinolones are banned in Europe (as far as I know), and there is a black box warning on them now in the US.

I am not surprised you are experienced tendonitis and ruptured tendons. I would start taking Magnesium and collagen to try to offset the results of this.

Are you taking antibiotics because of pneumonia?

 

The antibiotics are for the pneumonia. For aspiration pneumonia the best treatments are Levaquin, Augmentin and Doxycycline.

 

If you search Tinnitus Talk, you will see many posts about negative experiences with Augmentin, and few posts about negative experiences with Amoxicillin (and many positive experiences with it).

The reason I recommended Amoxicillin is because it is so similar to Augmentin, and yet it is not as bad as far as tinnitus is concerned. You don't want to stop taking antibiotics, so switching to Amoxicillin is the next best thing...

 

My tinnitus is off charts. I took six pills of Augmentin. Is the spike a coincidence? I have no clue. This ear just sucks. But all of you know that or else you would not be on this site. FML.

 

@Scott T, sorry to reopen an old thread, but do you still have Achalasia?

Did you end up with POEM surgery? I've also heard that Cialis can help with this?