First Noticed Tinnitus After 8/17 Course of Minocycline for Staph Infection

Hi All,

First of all, I am not "new" to Tinnitus, I had postpartum depression (or at least that's all anyone knew to call it when my son was born 28 years ago). At the time, I had severe Insomnia (primary symptom), so of course when I couldn't sleep, I could literally hear certain songs I'd heard during the day playing in my head.

Three years later I was diagnosed with Bipolar II and put on Lithium. I don't recall having Tinnitus from Lithium (I was asked this by my ENT doc recently). But that was a long time ago.

In 2014, I was put on Buspar for Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I noticed within the first week I was getting Tinnitus, and as it wasn't helping my anxiety, my Psych dr. took me off of it. It rapidly went away.

So in all of these years of being on various Psych meds (mostly to help me sleep and also Depakote ER as a mood stabilizer, as I am hypomanic), I've never had Tinnitus again. Until now.

On 8/24/17 I was diagnosed with a bad staph infection from a pedicure at a salon gone horribly wrong. I was put on a 10 day course of Minocycline. After just 3 days I got severe Vertigo and my Dermatologist switched me to Doxycycline for the next 7 days. I really noticed the Tinnitus starting on Day 1 of the Minocycline.

After finishing that, I got Vasculitis (yeah, not fun), put on Methylprednisone (could not tolerate and only took 2 pills), and my Derm prescribed a topical steroid cream to put on my legs and feet 2x daily for 2 weeks called Triamcinolone Acetonide. When I called my Derm 1 week in to mention the Tinnitis to see if the cream was causing it/prolonging it, she just told me to stop the topical cream.

Since that day the ringing in both ears has not stopped. I saw an ENT about a month ago who basically said to try to ignore it as much as possible (it is about a 5-6 on a scale of 1-10) but worse it seems, when I'm working as I'm an Exec Assist and it's quiet in my office.

I see an Audiologist for a hearing test (and I've never had a hearing problem in my life) on 12/11 at my ENT's referral. I guess I'll know more then.

The salon is covering all medical bills (even though I do have good insurance), but geez, people, read up on bad salons and know what CAN happen. Who knew?

Has anyone had this experience with the antibiotics that I have mentioned, as I don't believe my Psych meds of 28 years are causing this when it just coincidentally started on Day 1 of Minocycline.

Any comments welcome! Thanks!

 

@Swoosh60,
Welcome to the forum!
I'm so sorry for you. I was already aware that people can pick up staph infections through pedicures at bad salons. A friend warned me about this several years ago. Apparently, some salons do not keep things sterile.
I know someone who suffered hearing loss (and tinnitus) as a result of taking antibiotics but it was accumulative, after repeated use of antibiotics. How odd that you would experience severe vertigo and tinnitus right away with minocycline!
Please keep us posted about your upcoming hearing test. Try to eat well and sleep well. I hope things get better for you.