Ringing Ears & Medication - Medications That May Cause Tinnitus
If you’ve done much research on your tinnitus, you have probably already discovered that there are lots of things that can cause your ringing ears. One of the more surprising potential causes of your tinnitus is the medications that you are taking. That’s right. It is actually possible that one of the medications your doctor prescribes for you could be the cause (or at least one of the causes of) your tinnitus.
This possible link between prescription medications (the drugs that are supposed to help us be healthy) and ringing ears was certainly a surprise to me. I learned of it when my nephew developed tinnitus from the drugs he took during chemotherapy for bone cancer. The doctors were able to completely eliminate the cancer, but part of the price he paid for his cure was long-term, likely permanent tinnitus.
Let me give you this list of the types of medications that have been known to cause ringing ears. According to the Mayo Clinic, here are the types of drugs known to sometimes cause tinnitus or worsen existing cases of ringing ears:
- Antibiotics: Several antibiotics can cause problems, including chloramphenicol, erythromycin, tetracycline, vancomycin and bleomycin
- Cancer medications: Some of these powerful medications that can cause tinnitus include mechlorethamine and vincristine
- Diuretics: Bumetanide, ethacrynic acid, and furosemide
- Quinine medications and others (such as chloroquine) used to treat malaria
- Aspirin: Very high doses of aspirin (12 or more per day)
If you experience tinnitus and are being treated with any one of the medications listed in this article, you should talk to your doctors right away about a possible connection. They may be able to change the way they are treating you and provide you with tinnitus relief at the same time.
What better way to cure your tinnitus than stopping taking one or more medications that cause your ringing ears as a side effect?
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