Unknown Tinnitus & Possible Ototoxic Damage

Hello everyone,

I'm posting here mostly for support and encouragement. Like all of you - I'm dealing with tinnitus and finding it difficult to maintain positivity and not let it ruin my quality of life.

I'm fairly new to tinnitus - it's been going on for just over 5 weeks now - and have seen my family doctor but no specialists yet.

Here's how it started for me: I was coming off a particularly stressful period at work, having just been promoted during one of the busiest times at my advertising agency. High-levels of stress and sleep problems compounded and I was facing burnout.

The last week before the Christmas break I was struggling with mind fog, low energy, poor concentration and the like. I looked forward to resting during the holiday break. Well, the holidays didn't provide the relief I needed. I still felt "off" after many days of rest & relaxation.

Looking back I think it may have been anxiety related as I've had issues with anxiety attacks in the past.

Anyways - on Dec. 27th a friend of mine who was in town for the holidays asked me to meet him for a few drinks. I figured it was perhaps the best thing I could do to get out of my funk, get back to normal. I met him and had about 4 glasses of beer over a 5 hour period - nothing crazy but above the recommended limits. I went home well buzzed but not falling over drunk. I woke up the next morning with a slight hangover and headache and ringing in my ears.

At first I wasn't alarmed, it seemed unusual but familiar. I thought I was just dehydrated. I went about my day. It wasn't until a few days later and the ringing hadn't stopped that I started to get concerned.

I made an appointment with my family doc and saw him in early Jan. He looked in my ear and said - you've got a big ball of wax in there - that might be causing it. He sent me home for a week and a bit of loosening the wax with mineral oil. I then saw him in mid-Jan and he irrigated my ear and got the wax out. Sadly, it didn't help. I was still noticing the tinnitus.

A few days after irrigation I also started to notice pressure in my ear, like a fluid buildup or a pressure problem of some sort. But I was leaving on a vacation where I was required to take a couple different connecting flights. As expected my one ear had real problems, the pressure got a lot more severe and I spent the whole trip trying to 'pop' that ear and dealing with hearing problems (including the weird sensation of pressure changes or a clogged feeling in that ear when I spoke).

I returned home on Jan. 29th and saw my doctor as quickly as I could. He looked in the ear and said that he didn't see much in the way of signs of infection. He thought maybe it was an inner ear infection that he couldn't see with his otoscope and gave me ciprodex ear drops to try for 8-10 days. In his words: "this might be overkill but I can't see in there so hopefully this offers relief". I asked about the continued tinnitus and he said: "you'll just have to learn to live with it". He also recommended I see an audiologist for an audiogram because it may be related to hearing loss.

So I just finished 8 days of the ciprodex. I have seen improvement in the ear in respect to the pressure, feeling of being clogged - but not complete recovery. I'd say it's 65-75% better - and that may be the ear just getting better on its own.

I've read that ear infections and ear problems - especially inner ear infections - can take a notoriously long time to make full recovery. The side effect here is that about 5 days into the treatment I noticed my tinnitus getting louder. For the first 4 weeks it was something I'd describe as mild. I really only noticed it in quiet rooms or when I was trying to sleep. If I was in the living room watching TV or work it was more or less drowned out entirely. 3-4 days ago I noticed it was getting louder and sharper. My kind is best described as a high-pitched ringing. It wasn't completely drowned out by the TV anymore. And at work, same thing. I thought this was weird, maybe temporary.

But then I decided to google things and began reading stories about ototoxic reactions to medications - one being ciprodex drops. Stories of people who had deafness, pain and tinnitus as a result of using. I didn't know what to do. I was days away from finishing my course of medication. And officially the drops are listed as 'not ototoxic', contrary to a lot of internet stories to the contrary. So I decided to use it for the remainder.

I can't say that the drops increased my tinnitus for sure or if my mind has just noticed the sound more. But needless to say its very tough and downright fear inducing, that you won't be able to find relief. I keep my ears stimulated at all times now - white noise at work with headphones, radio or running a fan or tap at home.

I'm seeing an audiologist on Tuesday for an audiogram to determine any hearing loss.

And I'll be back with my doctor on Thursday for a follow-up where I'll bring up my new concerns. I'm not sure if he'll refer me to an ENT specialist yet.

Anyways, keeping my fingers crossed that I can beat this thing somehow.

Any thoughts, comments, stories or words of encouragement appreciated!

 

I don't see how ciprodex would help you if you have an inner ear infection: the drops are blocked by your ear drum before they can reach your middle ear.

It's a good idea to go do a hearing test to see where you stand hearing-wise, however.

 

There is still a chance that eventually it will help. Tinnitus never disappears overnight. Now that one possible cause of your T is gone, your body might begin healing. There is a reasonable chance that you will experience fading over the next month or two.

The doctors refer to this as a "full ear sensation." It is a sign that your ear got hurt. Trying to pop your ears will not help, and might even cause a T spike.

Headphones can be dangerous.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/isnt-it-ok-to-use-headphones-even-at-low-volume.25287/
@Michael Leigh might have more to say about this.

You might consider staying away from the moderate noises (assuming those noises don't feel right to you, or cause spikes).

Your drops are not listed on
http://hlaa-sbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ototoxic_Brochure.pdf

Is tinnitus listed as one of the side effects for your drug?

In any case, many people experience their T fading. Give it more time...

Check out
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

I would highly recommend staying away from Ciprodex. It's a type of antibiotic that falls in the fluoroquinolone class, and sounds like--as your doctor mentioned--overkill for your situation. You may want to consider using diluted apple cider vinegar drops for your ears if you feel you have some kind of ongoing infection. There's lots of natural alternatives. Some on this forum have gotten benefits from ingesting apple cider vinegar as well. -- Best!

There's a number of testimonials on this forum and elsewhere online that it has caused tinnitus, or made it worse.

 

Hello, Recent research indicates that hearing test used at most audiology clinics and ENTs are extremely inaccurate, they only test for hearing loss within the human voice range, learn more here about hidden hearing loss

http://hyperacusisfocus.org/innerear/









https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378595516302507

 

You should reconsider such position, as you could be steering people towards a dangerous alternative. There are quite a few clinical/scientific studies available for your perusal on Pubmed.

I did extensive research on this as my daughter was prescribed those drops after her tube surgery.

Be careful to not confuse Ciprodex drops with systemic Cipro (sometimes delivered by IV). I know the names sound the same, but they are different animals.