The Health Biz

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 this list of the types of medications that have been known to cause ringing ears. Based on information from the Mayo Clinic, here are the types of medicines known to sometimes cause tinnitus or worsen existing cases of tinnitus:

• Antibiotics: Several antibiotics can cause problems, including chloramphenicol, erythromycin, tetracycline, vancomycin and bleomycin
• Cancer medications: Some of the powerful cancer medications 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: When taken in extremely high doses (12 or more per day)

If you have ringing in ears and are being treated with any one of these medications, you need to talk to your doctors right away about a possible connection. It may be possible to change the particular medicines you are taking or choose an alternate treatment plan 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 tinnitus as a side effect?

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