Ototoxic Drugs

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady asked: Can a person drink grapefruit juice, or eat grapefruit without taking medications with it and be ok, or does grapefruit affect hearing loss period? If you are not taking any medications, eat/drink as much grapefruit as your heart desires. It doesn’t affect ears. It’s not the grapefruit that […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady wrote, While I was on beta-blockers for inappropriate sinus tachycardia I developed tinnitus. Initially it seemed intermittent, but as I had to increase my dose the ringing became constant. The ENT doctor tells me that he has never heard of beta-blockers causing tinnitus, but upon his evaluation found that […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. December 21, 2007, Revised January 29, 2015 A lady explained, I have an ear infection, tinnitus, and a history of hearing loss in my family. My MD has prescribed a medication that I can not find any information about, ‘Augmomyn’. He says it is a “type of Amoxicillin”. Do you have […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady asked, I wondered if you knew about the ototoxicity of food products such as decaffeinated tea. I read that tea is high in Salicylates, as are also a lot of fruits. Does this mean that drinking/eating these things can make my existing tinnitus worse? Interesting question. It is true […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. A lady explained, I’ve been diagnosed with S.A.D—Seasonal Affective Disorder, a depression/chemical imbalance related to the seasons and environment, and also related to serotonin imbalance. I’m still discovering what this is about and getting counseling. I have been recommended a low grade serotonin anti- depressant and wonder if this will in […]

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D. Viagra (Sildenafil) is quite ototoxic. I have listed it in my book “Ototoxic Drugs Exposed” for several years as known to cause hearing loss, tinnitus, ataxia, dizziness, vertigo and ear pain. Now it seems it is even more ototoxic than previously thought. On October 18, 2007, the FDA issued a special […]