What medications cause tinnitus?

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Tinnitus, ringing, buzzing, or hissing in the ears, has a long medication list attached, and the effect is called ototoxicity, ear poisoning by drugs. MedlinePlus lists overall causes spanning hearing loss, loud noise, infections, and blood vessel problems, and the medication regulars are: high-dose aspirin, where ringing is an early sign of too much; loop diuretics; certain antibiotics, especially aminoglycosides; some chemotherapy drugs; and high-dose quinine-type medicines. The patterns that matter: dose and duration drive the risk, so occasional normal-dose aspirin is not the concern that weeks of high doses are; the ringing sometimes reverses when the drug stops, but with some drugs, particularly certain chemo and aminoglycosides, the damage can be permanent, which is why early reporting matters; and new tinnitus that starts alongside a new medicine is exactly the kind of detail your prescriber wants to hear promptly, not at the next annual visit. Do not stop prescribed drugs on your own; mention new ringing at the next available appointment, sooner with hearing changes, dizziness, or fullness; and protect your hearing, since loud noise stacks with ototoxic drugs. If aspirin is the suspect, the fix may be as simple as the dose.

What medications cause tinnitus?

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