Amoxicillin — Ototoxicity / Safety Profile? User Experiences?

I was prescribed Amoxicillin for a sinus infection (doesn't feel like I have one so I'm not sure about that) and I've seen conflicting things about Amoxicillin & its ototoxicity.

If anyone could tell of their experiences with Amoxicillin / if it affected their tinnitus, I would greatly appreciate it

I don't want to make my tinnitus any worse.

 

I took a 7 day course, it had no effect on my tinnitus and I think it’s one of the weaker antibiotics. I know what affects one person doesn’t always affect another. Wish I could be more help.

 

I have always been fine on Amoxicillin, but not on Doxycycline.

Love,
glynis

 

Amoxicillin had no effect on my tinnitus. It is my understanding that it is one of the least ototoxic antibiotics out there.

 

Amoxicillin had no effect on me.

 

Amoxicillin is supposed to be the safest antibiotic as far as tinnitus is concerned. Of course this doesn't mean that it is 100% safe.

It looks like in the past 20 years, only 256 people had reported (to the FDA) getting tinnitus as a result of taking Amoxicillin: https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/amoxicillin/tinnitus/

 

No problems with Amoxicillin for me either.

 

Same here.

 

Mine started less than 24 hours after first taking Amoxicillin. A wax impaction in my left ear had been making me deaf and it was misdiagnosed as an infection in that ear, hence the antibiotic. I only really got the tinnitus in the left ear and therefore I believe the primary cause was the wax impaction which was misdiagnosed for several months. However, I have my suspicions about it starting right after taking the Amoxicillin. I think it possibly just pushed it over the edge. Incidentally I had been been on low-dose Doxycycline for years for Rosacea. Perhaps that contributed too but it had never caused tinnitus before that day.

I had even asked the GP whether the antibiotic would cause tinnitus even though I didn't have tinnitus at that point, because it just so happened I had a colleague whose tinnitus had been caused by Gentamicin. Of course she said it wouldn't cause it.

Yet less than 24 hours later I had tinnitus and seven months later it has not gone away. However, as I say, I really don't know for sure whether the Amoxicillin pushed it over the edge and started it.

 

Hi,

I had an ear infection 2 to 3 weeks ago. I was given Amoxicillin which I took, along with a number of ear drops.

During the week I had the infection I started getting two new faint tinnitus noises.

Swabs showed it was gone but I felt muffled for a week or so afterwards.

I went back to my GP about this and there was a red and inflamed spot in the centre of my right eardrum.

He gave me another course of Amoxicillin. The muffled sensation seemed to disappear almost overnightish but these two new noises came on full and loud.

It's been with me since and I finished the course of Amoxicillin on Monday.

Friend of mine says Amoxicillin is ototoxic. If it is and these new noises are a consequence of this, what are the chances of these noises disappearing?

I noted last night that my hearing in my right is less than my left. It always was (after a noise exposure when I was 17) but now it seems less.

Could it be the ear is still healing and traumatised?

 

Amoxicillin is what I ask for by default because I've never had any issues with it (granted, I try to never take ABx, but every 5-6 years I run into something).

I just had to do a week of Keflex as well as a day of somewhat high dose Doxycycline, because in the space of 3 days I stepped on a nail and got bitten by a likely-Lyme-carrier tick. No changes to my tinnitus from any of that, either, and no really awful GI stuff.

 

Me again.

Tinnitus has been with me since 2013.

I have described and lived through several relapses.

The most recent one in 2021 was associated with perimenopause/antibiotics.

After a year long struggle - and addition of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) - I finally reached a good place with my tinnitus. Life slowly went back to normal - ish.

I am actually not totally sure what turned my situation around late last year, but from memory, the only thing that i was doing were the BHRT and returning to work. Around the time I felt back to my old self, I did order some blood tests that showed my estrogen and progesterone levels had increased, which was consistent with my improved sleep, mood, and tinnitus.

Until, I ended up having to take 3 courses of Amoxil (Amoxicillin) to know a nasty UTI on its head. It was a low dose. But now I seem to be experiencing louder, more intrusive hissing and worrying myself silly that I have damaged my ears.

However, on the recommendation of a friend, I checked my hormone profile, and found my estrogen and progesterone have dropped since taking the Amoxil. I am not entirely sure how relevant the drop is (as in is this a normal fluctuation or...?) Digging about on Google revealed that Amoxicillin and other broad spectrum antibiotics can cause a downregulation of beta-glucuronidase (deconjugates estrogens into their active forms) by dysbiosis associated with antibiotic usage (estrobiome). Amoxicillin can also speed up the pathways that metabolise estrogen in the liver causing the levels of circulating estrogen to drop.

I have been racking my brain trying to figure out exactly what the Amoxil has done to me.

I have checked with the pharmacist and Googled extensively. I was told that the Amoxil isn't known to be ototoxic and that it is more likely that it has caused a drop in my estrogen through disrupting my gut/liver microbiome (where estrogen is absorbed).

My theories are:

• Sped up liver detox pathways (glucuronidation and methylation) - excreting circulating estrogen.
• Gut dysbiosis - downregulates beta-glucuronidase - reduction in circulating estrogen.
• Gut dysbiosis - direct effect on brain, altering neurotransmitters and activating microglia - leading to raised TNF-alpha - neuroinflammation (lack of estrogen will do this).
• Ototoxicity?
• Nutrient depletion from Amoxil (known to deplete Calcium, Potassium, Magnesium, B vitamins - notably B12, B6).

I am taking BHRT, have sent off more hormonal panels, along with microbiome testing to look for gut issues. I am back to taking high dose Magnesium and supplementing with sublingual B12.

So, I am back to constantly being aware of the head hissing, feeling anxious and worried I have caused damage to my ears, worried how long this is going to go on for, and if it will ever get better.

I would love to hear from anyone who has taken Amoxicillin (I took 2 repeats of 750 mg/day and then 1,000 mg/day).

Please no negative posts. I'm feeling fragile again. I could use some reassurance and support.

 

Hi, @DebInAustralia: Amoxicillin is the only 100% safe antibiotic for tinnitus sufferers, in my experience. 10 years ago (I was 65 years old) due to a terrible infection in my mouth, a consequence of oral surgery, I was taking 4 grams daily for 15 days, without major problems. My tinnitus did not change, neither for better nor for bad.

I don't think you should worry about possible ototoxicity that Amoxicillin doesn't have.

Be calm because you have not caused any damage to your ears. Just calm down, if you suffer a spike it will go away as it came.

Best regards.

 

Have you ever had higher doses, longer courses of Amoxicillin?

 

I was on it again recently for a week, orally, and it had no effect again. It was 500 mg 3 times a day.

I've had high IV doses, but nothing much longer than a week before switching to oral.

 

My tinnitus worsened in May 2022.

After it had already worsened, I was on Amoxicillin for pneumonia in June 2022, and for a nasty gum infection just last week.

Amoxicillin had no effect on my tinnitus.