Ringing Ears & Medication – Medications That Sometimes Cause Tinnitus
If you’ve been suffering from tinnitus for a while, 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 powerful medications he was taking for bone cancer. The medications helped eliminate the cancer & cure him, but part of the price he paid for his cure was long-term, likely permanent hearing damage.
Let me give you a list of the types of medications that can cause tinnitus. 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 the powerful cancer medicines that can cause ringing ears 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 ringing in ears 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. It may be possible to change the way they are treating you and provide you with tinnitus relief at the same time.
What could be a more natural cure for tinnitus than stopping taking one or more medications that cause your tinnitus as a side effect?