I'm at a New Low and Just Need to Get This Off My Chest

This post is long, so I apologize in advance if I ramble too much. I just needed to get this off my chest.

This started over a year ago when I developed a prostate infection. I was wary of taking any antibiotics for it because I know how ototoxic some of them can be but did lots of research on which ones seemed “safe”.

I’ve been on several rounds of antibiotics this past year. None of them cured my infection though none of them made my tinnitus worse which I was thankful for. Most recently, I was put on Doxycycline and another drug called silodosin. The doxy worried me because it’s known to cause ear problems. I tolerated the 2 drugs fine for about a month. But then, I started to get a plugged feeling in my ears. It seemed to come and go, so I continued the meds hoping that whatever ear issues it was causing would go away after ceasing the meds. The plugged ear feeling started to happen more often, and I noticed my tinnitus getting gradually louder. However, I wanted to tough it out because the antibiotics seemed to be finally working. With the previous antibiotic I had taken (Bactrim), I had to stop that after 2 months because of a severe allergic reaction.

Then, I was hit with 2 bad ear incidents. I had a huge tinnitus spike that came from out of nowhere that was extremely loud. It died down quickly but not down to baseline. I told myself it was temporary and would go away completely after going off the medication but it happened again a few days later.

I e-mailed my doctor to ask him if the ear issues were temporary or if I should stop the meds completely. I didn’t want to stop and end up on square one again like I did with the Bactrim because then I’d have to start all over again with a different antibiotic. As I was awaiting an answer, I woke up one morning to find that my ears felt plugged up and sounds were muffled. This lasted for a couple of hours and then my hearing seemed to go back to normal.

The doctor took almost a week to get back to me at which point he told me to stop the doxy which I promptly did. The plugged ear sensation stopped shortly after, but the tinnitus spikes kept continuing. I suspected it was also the silodosin and then stopped taking that too. However, my tinnitus continued gradually getting louder.

I made an appointment and saw an ENT this past Wednesday. He told me that there was nothing he could do because the muffled hearing had gone away, and he didn’t think steroids would help with the tinnitus. I was frustrated to say the least. I even have several prednisolone pills left over from something else I could've taken but was afraid to because I had no idea what dosage to take.

Thursday and Friday the plugged sensation in my ears returned in the mornings, and I started to freak out a little. Also, the tinnitus kept getting louder and louder little by little. When I woke up this morning, I think it was the loudest it’s ever been.

I ended up going to urgent care this evening. By the time I got there, the plugged ear sensation had resolved again but the tinnitus was still raging. They prescribed 60 mg of prednisolone for 7 days (which I haven’t taken yet) and then made an appointment for me to see a different ENT tomorrow.

I’m now totally anxious and upset for a number of reasons. I know the side effects that prednisolone can have and have read on here that it can make some peoples’ tinnitus worse which scares the crap out of me. I’ve taken it before but never such a high dosage. I’m also upset because when I do start taking it, I feel like too much time has gone by for it to be effective. And lastly, I’m upset for my doctor taking so long to get back to me and at myself for trying to tough things out for a few more days while waiting to hear back from my doc.

So, tomorrow we'll see what the ENT says and will probably start the steroids then. But the tinnitus in my ears is very invasive now, I just feel like the wind has been taken out of me. I don’t feel like seeing anyone or talking to anyone unless I absolutely have to. I just want to crawl under a rock and be miserable all alone with my tinnitus ringing in my ears. If you’ve gotten this far, thanks for listening to me rant. I will post updates since I know other people also have drug-induced tinnitus.

 

Very sorry to hear your about your predicament. Hopefully your tinnitus will calm down soon enough. Prednisone is a fairly common strategy for tinnitus. Mine started 14 months ago right after a dose of pepto bison. That and using aspercreme for a foot problem undoubtedly started the whole problem.

Best of luck.

 

Regardless what you decide with the pred, I would take some magnesium chelate for nerve function.

 

The ENTs I have seen don't think steroids works unless it's for sudden hearing loss.
Prednisolone can also be ototoxic so I am not sure if taking it is a good idea

 

Thanks for the reply. Did you take prednisone after your T started and if so, did it help?

 

I actually just got some and will start taking it today.

 

This may seem like a weird question, but are you in the U.K.? I’ve found that ENTs in the States often give steroids for tinnitus and say it could be helpful, but the ones in the U.K. won’t and say it’s it helpful unless you also have some hearing loss.

 

No I live in Canada

 

Thanks everyone for the support and comments. Here's an update.

Saw the ENT today who did a thorough check of the ears, though I knew he wouldn't find anything other than some wax. He said I should go ahead with the 60 mg of prednisolone for 7 days with no tapering. He also said that if my T increased while on the prednisolone, it wouldn't be from the medication and that I should finish the entire course regardless. I took the first dose of pills late this morning and about 5 hours later, I had a super loud T spike that lasted for about a minute and then went away.

There's no way in hell I could live with myself if a spike like that became permanent. It had to be from the prednisolone no matter what the doctor told me earlier. The plugged ear sensation and T is relatively minor compared to the spike I heard. So, I'm going to finish off the course of meds like I would with a medrol dose pak and do 25 mg tomorrow, 20 mg the next day, etc. Medrol dose paks have worked for me in the past, so that's what I'm going to stick with. I don't think my body and ears can handle 60 mg for an entire week. I definitely know my nerves and anxiety can't.

Will update later this week.