Hello. I apologize if this post is a bit much. I thought it better to be thorough rather than not provide enough information. I'm trying to learn what I can about drug-induced tinnitus and hyperacusis. I've participated in health forums over the last eight years and found them to be invaluable in figuring out what's ailing me. I've done my best to help my fellow sufferers over the years as they've helped me. So I hope I don't come across as too presumptuous when I come to a new forum, introduce myself, and ask for people's time. The thing is I've a fairly serious energy problem, as well a reading limitation that makes doing a lot of research difficult. And the progress I'm making answering my questions about ear issues of this sort is going slowly. I'm just hoping to speed things up and do everything right from this point on.
My main issue to date has been ME/CFS brought on by chronic Lyme Disease. And it was treating this condition with antimicrobials a month ago that has landed me here. Ototoxicity has been a real concern of mine since I started with Lyme treatment asI've read several stories of drug-induced tinnitus online. However until recently I'd counted myself as lucky. I'd tolerated quinine, azithromycin, doxycycline, minocycline, etc really well up to this most recent event. Quinine of course caused some ear problems while I was doing rounds of it but it always subsided quickly enough upon discontinuation.
A month ago I started a new drug, dapsone, known to work on persister bacteria. I took it in combination with quinine and azithromycin, and then with rifampin and minocycline. I was also taking ibuprofen for a sore elbow I'd developed from playing guitar. So I noticed my ears were a little more sensitive than usual while on the quinine; then when I changed to the rifampin and minocycline in combination with the dapsone I noticed increasing problems of sensitivity, a bit of ringing, and then dizziness. So I stopped all medications at that point.
The dizziness mostly resolved over the next week. It seemed to come and go a bit, but is mostly gone now. The hyperacusis still rears up at times, but it's hard to pin down what causes it to flare. However I've definitely noticed going back on minocycline aggravated things. And I'd never had a problem with this drug in the past.
I believe I've somewhat traumatized the nerves in my inner-ear and they're extra sensitive at the moment. What I'm wondering is how long might this last. I'm guessing there's no easy answer to this. Maybe there's the chance this is permanent. I'm hoping what my ears need is a break from ototoxic substances and probably noise to halt further damage. I really hope to be able to resume some of the antimicrobials that may have contributed to the problem. Particularly the dapsone as this seemed to bring me closer to a healthy state than I've experienced with other drugs.
It was likely a combination of ototoxic medications that brought on my problems and not necessarily one single drug. I tend to think the dapsone was involved as this is the only one I wasn't experienced with. The combination with rifampin can apparently potentiate the neurotoxicity of both drugs. The other possibility is ibuprofen use could have over-stressed my ears in combination with the quinine. Impossible to know.
At the moment I'm taking chloroquine and primaquine in an attempt to maintain my gains against a babesia co-infection. I've been treating this bug for a year and a half and am finally seeing improvement so I really don't want to stop taking everything. My impression is these two drugs are not perpetuating the problem in any serious way, like the minocycline surely would.
So I'm wondering about the likelihood of various outcomes. Is it common enough to experience a period of increased sensitivity following an ototoxic event? Should I be extra careful around noise for the next while? I think taking a B12 sublingual yesterday may have caused a bit of a flare. Is this possible? Does stress significantly affect the condition? Caffeine? Is there anything I can do to improve the outcome? Does such an event leave one permanently more sensitive to the effects of drugs known to be ototoxic?
I appreciate any help on the matter. Thanks.
My main issue to date has been ME/CFS brought on by chronic Lyme Disease. And it was treating this condition with antimicrobials a month ago that has landed me here. Ototoxicity has been a real concern of mine since I started with Lyme treatment asI've read several stories of drug-induced tinnitus online. However until recently I'd counted myself as lucky. I'd tolerated quinine, azithromycin, doxycycline, minocycline, etc really well up to this most recent event. Quinine of course caused some ear problems while I was doing rounds of it but it always subsided quickly enough upon discontinuation.
A month ago I started a new drug, dapsone, known to work on persister bacteria. I took it in combination with quinine and azithromycin, and then with rifampin and minocycline. I was also taking ibuprofen for a sore elbow I'd developed from playing guitar. So I noticed my ears were a little more sensitive than usual while on the quinine; then when I changed to the rifampin and minocycline in combination with the dapsone I noticed increasing problems of sensitivity, a bit of ringing, and then dizziness. So I stopped all medications at that point.
The dizziness mostly resolved over the next week. It seemed to come and go a bit, but is mostly gone now. The hyperacusis still rears up at times, but it's hard to pin down what causes it to flare. However I've definitely noticed going back on minocycline aggravated things. And I'd never had a problem with this drug in the past.
I believe I've somewhat traumatized the nerves in my inner-ear and they're extra sensitive at the moment. What I'm wondering is how long might this last. I'm guessing there's no easy answer to this. Maybe there's the chance this is permanent. I'm hoping what my ears need is a break from ototoxic substances and probably noise to halt further damage. I really hope to be able to resume some of the antimicrobials that may have contributed to the problem. Particularly the dapsone as this seemed to bring me closer to a healthy state than I've experienced with other drugs.
It was likely a combination of ototoxic medications that brought on my problems and not necessarily one single drug. I tend to think the dapsone was involved as this is the only one I wasn't experienced with. The combination with rifampin can apparently potentiate the neurotoxicity of both drugs. The other possibility is ibuprofen use could have over-stressed my ears in combination with the quinine. Impossible to know.
At the moment I'm taking chloroquine and primaquine in an attempt to maintain my gains against a babesia co-infection. I've been treating this bug for a year and a half and am finally seeing improvement so I really don't want to stop taking everything. My impression is these two drugs are not perpetuating the problem in any serious way, like the minocycline surely would.
So I'm wondering about the likelihood of various outcomes. Is it common enough to experience a period of increased sensitivity following an ototoxic event? Should I be extra careful around noise for the next while? I think taking a B12 sublingual yesterday may have caused a bit of a flare. Is this possible? Does stress significantly affect the condition? Caffeine? Is there anything I can do to improve the outcome? Does such an event leave one permanently more sensitive to the effects of drugs known to be ototoxic?
I appreciate any help on the matter. Thanks.
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