Doxycycline — Is It Safe for People with Tinnitus?

Evening everyone,

I was wondering if it's safe to take Doxycycline?

I've read reports it can worsen tinnitus and on Tinnitus Talk there are a few threads about it but not much evidence either way.

It's for a sinus infection, 100 mg a day. 200 mg on the first day.

Nick

 

I was on Doxycycline last summer for two weeks. Nothing happened with my tinnitus..

 

Amoxicillin is not ototoxic, so you might want to look into that.

 

I've been concerned about Doxycycline as well. I was just put on 300 mg/day to treat Lyme disease, which is a lot.

Since starting it 2 days ago, I have already had 2 tinnitus spikes, and possibly some hearing damage last night (woke up not hearing motorcycles outside the house, and with a burning sensation in both ears). I'm really hoping it's not the drug but I am getting very worried.

Probably best to try a penicillin family antibiotic instead.

 

Hello, I was recently given a 100 mg daily dose of Doxycycline for an eye problem. I took it for 11 days before stopping due to it increasing the level of my tinnitus quite a bit, from a level I didn't really notice it at much before.

I am just wondering if anyone has had any experience with Doxycycline affecting their tinnitus before, and whether it was permanent or temporary?

I had a month-long spike about 2 years ago due to taking Tramadol which eventually went away, so I'm optimistic that this spike will too.

Thanks.

 

I was on Doxycycline and it didn't have any impact on my condition. Doxycycline is not generally ototoxic.

 

Did it go away?

 

My tinnitus was caused by Doxycycline. And on the list of top ten side effects, it listed tinnitus. A few weeks after taking Doxycycline, I started having fleeting tinnitus, then one morning I woke up and it was permanent. I knew straight away it was the Doxycycline because I remembered reading it in the side effects. I had never had or experienced tinnitus before then. When I spoke to my neurologist, he said Doxycycline does and can most definitely cause tinnitus.

Doxycycline sucks big hairy balls lol.

 

How are you doing now though?

 

It’s the same as it always is. Some days hardly there, and other days loud enough to hear it over everything. It’s so unstable. I just don’t worry about it too much because there’s nothing I can do to change it. Just carry on as normal. Don’t let life stop because your ears are ringing.

How are you doing?

 

It’s a roller coaster everyday, but it usually calms down at night. My right ear did the whole deaf thing and ramped up the loudest I ever heard it, then popped... the loud reactive noise on that side now went to a very low sound. Just weird stuff.

Anyways, once I gave up hoping this would go away, I started feeling a little better. Like letting go.

 

It absolutely can be. My first negative experience with ototoxic meds was Augmentin of which Amoxicillin is a component. It tripled the volume of my tinnitus 3 years ago and it's never gone down since then.

 

I was on Doxy for a couple of weeks. It increased my tinnitus slightly, but worse, it caused me to have muffled hearing, which went away after I stopped taking it.

 

Did you try NAC or endurance sports btw? I am sure it is temporary also for you, but it can take some time.

 

Yes - I take NAC and I exercise regularly which includes swimming, running, cycling, climbing, surfing, and lots and lots of hiking.

Tbh, I think the damage is done. I don’t dwell on it, it doesn’t really bother me. I’m too busy to stop and think about it usually.

 

I thought she’s had tinnitus for over a year now?

 

I don't think so.

I bet that either there is still Doxycycline in your body, since you took it that long, or you have (reversibly) damaged your mitochondria.

"Doxycycline hyclate binds reversibly to the 30S ribosomal subunit, possibly to the 50S ribosomal subunit as well, thereby blocking the binding of aminoacyl-tRNA to the mRNA-ribosome complex. This leads to an inhibition of protein synthesis. In addition, this agent has exhibited inhibition of collagenase activity."

Source:
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Doxycycline​

-> Too many free radicals in your mitochondria maybe.
Other symptoms of damaged mitochondria are e.g., depression, fatigue, bad sleep, sometimes headache, irritability. Do you have any of those?

Solution IMHO:
Supplemental intake (high doses!):
-Ubiquinol Q10
-Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
-Vitamin C

Sports:
-Yes, but do not pressure yourself too hard

Stress:
-Reduce it significantly

Nutrition:
-Rich in vegetables & Fibers
-Low carbohydrates (maximum 20% of calories)

Please try it
I would be very happy if I could help you and I would be very happy to see that this works!

Other links worth reading:

• Tetracyclines disturb mitochondrial function across eukaryotic models: a call for caution in biomedical research
• Induction of Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Oxidative Damage by Antibiotic Drug Doxycycline Enhances the Responsiveness of Glioblastoma to Chemotherapy

 

Wow! Thanks for such a lovely and informative message!

Great advice too. X

 

...and Vitamin E.

 

Just wondering how you have been doing with your tinnitus after taking Doxycycline?

I took it a couple of weeks ago for a sinus infection and developed a ringing in my ear and it is driving me crazy.

 

Hi @Farley.

My tinnitus from Doxycycline never completely disappeared, but it did subside substantially. In fact, at one time, it nearly disappeared completely - but it took a good year to get to that stage.

Unfortunately, my tinnitus is more moderate than mild now, because of several set backs (people smashing plates near me etc.) also, I believe my ears were already fragile from years of earphone abuse - taking Doxycycline was the tipping point for them.

Anyway, if your tinnitus is just caused by Doxycycline, then there’s a good chance it will go away eventually. And if not completely, then it should fade like mine did. I was taking Doxycycline for 6 months.

Hope that helps. Feel free to ask more questions if need be.

Steph

 

I was given Doxycycline for a sinus infection, and it never had any negative effect on my existing tinnitus.

 

Thank you for the replies, I do hope it goes away in time.

 

No worries bro,

If you search on Tinnitus Talk, everyone eventually got rid of tinnitus who got it from Doxycycline.

Reasons:

- Doxycycline is not ototoxic per se, but it messes with your mitochondria. That's why some people notice tinnitus - maybe tinnitus that they even had before but so slightly that they didn't notice it.

- wWat you get from Doxycycline is called an "acquired mitochondriopathy" (I hope I spelled it right). This is something one can cure - go to the good doctor to accelerate this process.

All the best

 

I was taking 100 mg of Doxycycline a day for 4 months when the course ended at the end of February. I noticed the tinnitus that week when I stopped taking it. Not at all while on the drug. It's been a month now and it is still there, lightly hissing only in my right ear. I can only really notice it when i am in a quiet setting. I'm starting to get anxiety that I should have never taken the antibiotic. It was to help a skin condition, which it did. But talk about pros and cons! I really hope this is temporary.

 

Same thing. I was taking Doxycycline last month & got tinnitus as well. I hope it goes away :/

 

I'm trying to remain optimistic after reading some of the testimonials on here about tinnitus from Doxycycline eventually going away. Are you thinking about taking any supplements for it? I have been reading mostly about B complex or B12 helping. This sucks.