Worst Tinnitus of My Life, Pressure, and Hearing Loss. What Do I Do? Urgently Need Help, Please.

A few weeks ago, I had a Sinus Infection. Went to a Doctor, and was prescribed Augmentin for 10 days. Afterwards, everything was fine for a couple wekks, but I started to have some pressure and pain in my ear. Went back to the Doctor, who said I have an outer ear infection. They prescribed Ciprofloxacin ear drops. I took them for two day, and today woke up with horrific ringing worse than I have ever experienced or imagined, plus intense pressure and I think some hearing loss (hard to tell because the ringing is so severe). I called my Doctor, and they said it the infection and have prescribed something called "Z-pac", an antibiotic. Is this going to help? What more can I do?

I don't know what happened, or if it was the drops or the infection or what that caused this. I just know that I can't deal with this at all. I have had Tinnitus for over 10 years, but I never experienced anything this bad before. Nothing even comes close to.this. Can anyone help me? I'm lost, confused, frustrated, scared, and kind of an emotional wreck right now, if I'm being honest. I don't know what to do, or where to turn. Please help me.

Edit: should also mention that a couple weeks ago, I had some loud noise exposures which gave me some Distortion of my hearing. Not sure if related, but it probablycould be. I don't know if that caused this, or the infection, or the ear drops or what. Maybe a combination of all of them? Not really sure. Here is the thread I made about it: https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...something-else-please-help.32972/#post-400960

 

Both azithromycin, which is in z pak, and cipro are both associated with tinnitus. They may have worked synergistically to cause an even worse case.

 

Do they think it turned into a middle ear infection then? Because at first they diagnosed an outer ear infection, right?
An otoscopic examination should be able to tell (but not over the phone obviously).

If you do have a middle ear infection (otitis media), then there is a good chance your T spike could be because of it. My wife had T during her middle ear infection and it went away when it subsided (it took a couple of weeks though).

If you've been prescribed azithromycin in pill form (which is what I suspect your Zpac is) then consider asking your doctor whether you could use a different antibiotic, as aminoglycosides are known for their potential ototoxicity.

Good luck.

 

This sounds like good advice, thank you.

 

Did the spike subside at the end?

 

You need to realize tinnitus can be caused by multple things but the most common one is noise exposure leading to more hearing loss.

 

What dosage was the 10-day course of Augmentin (amoxicillin-clavulanate)?