sudden vertigo and antibiotics

[ellene]

I had a sudden episode of 'going over the edge' vertigo while driving. It 'froze' me...as the road seemed to 'flip' and I felt I was going 'off rhe edge'. I stopped suddenly, and was just shaking in cold fear. A CHP officer (luckily) came along the off-ramp, and helped me. He moved my car, and had me taken to the nearby hospital in Sacramento. After all the usual 'scans' etc. were done, no one could find anything "wrong'. An ER doctor came on at the shift change, and was asking me all kinds of questions.  Suddenly, he said.."oh, that's most likely the cause....after he asked about meds, and I said I was on long term MINOCYCLINE for acne.  He said it was rare, but notorious for causing exactly what I had happen to me. I was stunned....this wasn't just 'dizziness' ...it was incapacitating!!  He said he had seen it before, and that once it has happened, (even though you stop the mediction) you could have occasional 'flashbacks' so to speak, occur for a long time ,or not at all. The brain 'remembers' the 'going over the cliff' fear, and when you are in a similar situation of 'motion' and horizon/edge being close, you can have  flashback of the cold fear and sense of dizziness that occurred. Once I stopped the Minocycline, I never had another total 'vertigo' episode...but I have had a few of the 'flashback' memories of cold fear and slight dizziness etc. Almost always on an 'elevated' freeway or ramp, with no guardrails to visually mark an 'edge' or the horizon. As time passes, they are very rare now.  But BE AWARE that ANTIBIOTICS can cause VERTIGO....not just 'dizziness!


This discussion is related to sudden vertigo.

[hughesclen]

I have the same thing and it's caused from antibioctic Tobi. Ended up getting toxicity from the antibioctic which effected my inner ear the emergency room said. I am currently going to have testing done with ENT and then off to neurology for some answers to clarify what the emergency room found during an MRI. I've had this for over 2 months and trying therapy to help me balance. I was told this is very common..... Hope you get well soon.

[Nd3]

I too had sudden onset of vertigo. I was going on gentamicin for 4 weeks straight and it hit on last 3 days while on antibiotics.
I am now 2 months having vertigo am now able to walk somewhat but can only be up moving for as long as a hour before I get nausea. Riding in a car is also not good. I have been in therapy for the 2 months with some recovery, as initially with on set I could barely walk without vomiting. I am now being told that I could have hit a plateau and this is were I could be. So scary to think I won't drive or be able to work. Please help anyone if they have heard of this happening and what was done I hope their is something else?

[sol3au]

Definitely Minocyclin caused visual and positional awareness failure after 4 days taking it. I would almost call it hallucinations. Minocyclin gets into brain in much higher concentrations than any other antibiotic I know and it interferes. Wrong into can get written to the brain, so some kind of memory of these failed perceptions can remain until replaced. Took 1 month for me. But simply stopping taking Minocyclin resulted in significant improvement.

Too bad because Minocycline is gr8 for prostatitis, because it really gets there to kill the annoying bacteria. But for the same reason it also gets into brain...

[Janine677]

I have has vertigo for 5 months now, I have seen 2 ENT specialist the 1st said that I had stress and that was the cause, I am not under stress, the second said I had brain trama, I know I don't.  Then I saw a GP and she told me I had a ear infection.  I was put on antbiotic's and I was feeling great and then I had a allergic reaction to them and I was taken off them by another doctor who said that the ear infection had cleared up.  I am dizzy all over again.  I am losing my mind!

[CheeserNurse]

This is interesting...do you know if Atenolol (anti-hypertensive med) can cause vertigo as well?? I was recently put on Atenolol 25 mg (I only take 12.5mg/day) for high blood pressure, but my physician doesn't believe that it can cause all of the symptoms I'm experiencing - MS-like symptoms. I check my blood pressure everytime I experience the vertigo to see if it has dropped too low which could explain the feeling like I'm going to pass out, but it's always normal. The vertigo I feel resembles like I am getting off of an escalator or on a boat that will not stop rocking, and it's worse when I'm in a sitting position or standing still position...weird!

Thanks for the heads up!