Clarithromycin affecting the ears?

Ear fullness was one of my first symptoms. It felt like when you go up in an airplane or travel over a mountain range. I would walk around yawning all day trying to pop my ears. Annoying as all get out. Mine was not due to any antibiotics, it was just dumb ole lyme. I also got tinnitus for awhile too. I had to always have something "on" making sounds so I would not hear the ringing.

Treatment finally resolved these symptoms. I hate symptoms. Always popping up out of nowhere and never with a definite reason. Annoyances most of them. Then there are the painful symptoms. Those made me cry. I had no fix for those except treatment and time. I spent one week with red eyes and red nose from crying off and on all day and night long from the head pain. I have so much more compassion now for people that have head pain. I never knew a head could hurt that badly.

lyme stinks!

Funny you posted this because I was just looking up Azithromycin and tinnitus. I have had tinnitus for about 4 or 5 years - it basically sounds like there's machinery working outside and sometimes gets pretty loud. There are breaks in the noise - like how a machine doing work sounds. Both times I have been on Azith the noise changes to a solid noise - almost like a deafening silence. Not sure how else to explain it! I never new about the "mycin" and ear side effects before I saw another post on it a few weeks ago. Now I'm wondering if I should switch to something else. My old tinnitus sound comes back as soon as I stop azith.

Sorry I have no answers. Going to email my doc to see if I should be concerned.

Again, I could be wrong, but my instinct is that macrolides (clarithro & azithromycin) and tinnitus/ear issues are a herx, as the macrolides are often prescribed in combination with an antimalarial for babesia and babesia causes such ear issues.