Any one else have tinnitus after taking the antibiotic Clarithromycin?

[Comatoseotaku]

for a month now I have had some chest issues so I went to the clinic doctor a few weeks ago. Was told I had acute bronchitis and wasn’t prescribed anything. However over the next few days I felt worse so I went to another clinic doctor for a second opinion. This doctor gave me 500mg of Clarithromycin 2 tablets for 7 days and an inhaler (forget the name) first day I took it them both I had an allergic reaction so I went to the hospital they gave me Benadryl told me they weren’t sure which one causes it but not to take them. Saddened by the news I went home hoping to just rest it off. This happened 2 weeks ago.

Last week on Monday I got so sick I just said screw it and started to take the antibiotics again. First night I was fine second night not so much. I had a bad reaction where my tongue felt like it was burning and swelled up. So I stopped taking them as of Wednesday. Totally I had was 6 pills. I haven’t been able to go back to the same doctor to tell him about the allergy to the meds since he’s on vacation. Figured I would be fine then to just wait it out. However with in 2 days after taking them I started to notice ringing in my left ear. I had tinnitus before a year ago when my ear drum popped. Took a really long time before it has settled down but it did eventually go away. That is until now.

I started looking up stuff on online about Clarithromycin found out it can cause temp or permanent damage to your ears like hearing loss or tinnitus. Since Friday until now I have had a loud high pitch ringing in my ears. It was on and off for a bit but then stared to last constantly…. Driving me crazy.

I tried calling an ent I had went to last year in hopes he may be able to see what the cause is. Unfortunately they were closed so I hope they can call me back asap. In anyone else opinion, do you think that it may be permanent? Was it caused by the antibiotics or could it bc still the bronchitis? I feel basically healthy other then the sore chest and a random cough once in a while. I can deal with that but the tinnitus is starting to weight down on my mental health again and idk what to do. I should have never retook the antibiotics but I had wanted to know if I was really allergic to them. Now I know I am but I may have ruined my hearing forever….

[Happyrosie]

if you don’t get a reply from anyone out clariomycin in search box top right of this page. There were posts a few weeks ago.

[Comatoseotaku in reply to Happyrosie]

Thanks I did find one or two ppl talking about however neither seem to have good luck with it going away. Keeping my self positive by trying to ignore it the best I can. I have been taking vitamins and currently a nasal spray that I’m hoping might help but having some doubt that it will do anything.

[Philip6]

healthunlocked.com/tinnitus...

[Bellyboo]

Hi. When your symptoms die down then I think your tinnitus will settle again. Try not to worry or stress too much. You will get better though it feels all gloom and doom at the moment.

[Comatoseotaku in reply to Bellyboo]

Thank you I really hope your right. Currently the tinnitus has died down a bit but I’m still sadly suffering from a very high pitch constant sound. At times it seems like my hearing is back to normal but then suddenly it’ll just come back trying to stay positive as I had someone tell me they had tinnitus for about a month after taking the antibiotics and it had went away. Crossing my fingers and knocking on wood that with in a month or two it’ll be gone.

[Candleinthewind]

I'm sorry to see your difficulties Comatoseotaku. I'm not an expert, I just have long experience. If I remember rightly, the benadryl knocked me out so I stopped taking them. I'm now on clonazepam, which I found by accident worked to lower the tinnitus, but I literally had to argue my case for years, over several different doctors.I have found, that different things work for different people, and that there are many different kinds of tinitus as well as many different reasons we might draw up to try to understand where it came from.

I am told by audiology that its not to do with hearing. !!! Its more about what the brain does with the noise.

!!!

My understanding is that it begins with stress, even if that stress is as simple as hearing a loud siren or musical sound even.

I think our other senses are heightened when we are stressed, then trying to reason it out wen no help of any worth can be found can be traumatising.

The best help I have found, was a tinitus group run by volunteers who struggled with it also. Sadly, the group closed pre covid and volunteers are thin on the ground.

There are a lot of products available, some say they work, albeit temporarily,

From where I stand, I think you have 3 options. You could treat yourself for stress- the very contradictions you hold- or you could look into it all yourself via British tinitus association online, or, as you have done...join a group...if you cannot find one near you, you have here.

Hello 😁

[Doxiemom1 in reply to Candleinthewind]

I’ve been on same med. we’re you told not to take benzos cause they interfere with the neuroplasticity so makes it harder to habituate ?

[Comatoseotaku in reply to Doxiemom1]

No I had no idea about that either. Wasn’t told much other then to take lots of water with the antibiotics

[Doxiemom1 in reply to Comatoseotaku]

Sorry miscommunication. I was talking about the person who was taking klonopin

[Candleinthewind in reply to Doxiemom1]

No. I was told they are addictive. That was their argument against. My argument for, was that I had been given them in hospital after being driven mad by sound and it took a good while to convince anyone sound was the actual problem. I'm on 250micrograms at night, and if I havnt been subjected to dreadful sounds I'm sure the benzos have helped with the tinitus.I have read that different things work for different people, so, sorry to say it is trial and error for each individual.

Best wishes

[Doxiemom1 in reply to Candleinthewind]

That’s so true. But as far as benzos goes they are one of the least addictive. I say if it helps go for it

[Comatoseotaku in reply to Candleinthewind]

thank you so much for the advice! I’m going to keep trying to stay positive as it has only been a week with the tinnitus and it has changed different pitch’s and volumes.

[Comatoseotaku]

update: on my second week and my tinnitus has gone down significantly. At this point I barely hear it. I have days where I don’t notice it at all and other days like today where it will spike for a bit on and off. I’m crossing my fingers that it isn’t permanent since it seems to be going away. I’ll update again after a month

[Comatoseotaku]

Been a month at this point. Still have the tinnitus doesn’t seem like it’s improving but I notice it when I smoke drink, or when I’m at work lifting heavy stuff. It comes and goes but only really noticeable when I try to go to bed and do other activities like I listed above. Such a shame I hope I goes away I’m the next few months

[maui24]

Hello! I took clarithromycin 25 days ago for a sinus infection. After taking my first dose, I felt funny, so I took a nap and when I woke up my ears were ringing. I'm on day 25 and the ringing hasn't gone away. Sometimes it fades in and out but for the most part I get a static sound all day long. It is worse at night when I lie my head down. At night it gets loud and I've been having trouble sleeping. I really want this to go away. I was curious if yours has improved? Take care.

[Comatoseotaku in reply to maui24]

Hello! Yes good news is that my tinnitus did calm down after a few months. At this point I barely even notice it. Only when I go to bed and even then it’s rather low so I don’t even notice it at all anymore. Keep your head up I’m sure it’ll go away! Give it time mine I thought wouldn’t never go away got super depressed And anxious for a while. Don’t get me wrong there were days it was bad, even god awful days where it was unbearable. I missed the work, didn’t go see fiends or family bc being around I felt so miserable with the constant ringing in my ears made going out impossible. I found what helped was sleeping a lot to just pass time but also there is this app I use called relief. It’s a white and red icon that says resound on it. It allows me to make my own sounds to help relieve the tinnitus. Sometimes it worked other days it didn’t. But if you can find some sort of sound relief on YouTube or anything like that it should help! I hope you have a speedy recovery my friend.