Tinnitus After Ear Infection, with Other Complications — Could Omeprazole (Zegerid OTC) Cause It?

Hello everyone! I found this forum while looking up my symptoms and thought I'd ask if anyone had similar experiences like mine.

About a month and a half ago, I had a middle ear infection that cleared up pretty quickly once I started the antibiotics. During that time, I was also taking painkillers for the first time in my life (I'm 30!), at which point I learned that I'm sensitive to NSAIDs after taking two Motrin liquid gels which promptly set my stomach on fire and sent me to the ER spitting up blood. That cleared up until about two weeks ago, when everything came back in force and I was prescribed Omeprazole (Zegerid OTC) to treat what every doctor I've seen so far has assumed is gastritis, but I'm seeing a gastroenterologist on Monday to confirm. My stomach has been back to normal within 3 days of starting the drug, at least.

I don't know for sure if it's a combination of stress and anxiety, coupled with the fact that I had an infection recently in that ear, or a side effect of the medication causing it, but I've noticed high-pitched tinnitus in that ear non-stop for the past few days now, coupled with some minor jaw pain on that side. Assuming everything checks out okay, I should only be on the Omeprazole for another week before coming off of the drug, but I was just wondering if anyone else has any ear infection/PPI-related experiences like mine and if the tinnitus is likely to subside over time if those are what's causing it?

I haven't seen a doctor about it yet, since I'm pretty sure they'll tell me to wait out the drug and just give it time at this stage, considering the ongoing treatment. The sound isn't debilitating as long as I have something else to concentrate on, but it is loud enough that I can hear it over the standing fan in my room set to max.

 

Sorry to hear about your tinnitus.

I think the possible contributors to your tinnitus are:

. middle ear infection and any residual infection causing TMJ pain?
. antibiotics (which ones did you take?)
. NSAIDs can cause tinnitus
. Not sure about Omeprazole
. stress/anxiety definitely
. TMJ

Do you have an audiogram?