I had the flu in December, it was mild, everything was normal. I was starting to recover when I noticed that my left ear feels clogged and muffed... It was actually nothing to worry about, but I was worried, because this has never happened to me before. I called my doctor, and she prescribed me Tobradex eye drops that she told me to put in my ear. I asked her: "Are you sure, on the box it's said "eye drops" nowhere in the leaflet was there any mention that you can use it in your ears?" She replied - "yes, don't worry, it works for ears too". I felt that there is something wrong, and I knew that I should be careful with antibiotics, vaccines, and anything like that, but I just trusted the damn doctor, instead of trusting my intuition... I feel so angry and depressed, I can't believe I've made such a childish mistake.
Almost immediately after using these ear drops (active ingredients: Tobramycin and Dexamethasone) I got Tinnitus (high-pitched noise in my ear) that I hear 24/7 for one month now... It's annoying as fuck, it makes me nervous and depressed, it's hard to concentrate, and it just doesn't stop. At times it's louder, and sometimes not as much, but I hear it all the time. I've read that it's a very common side effect of this antibiotic. It's known to be very ototoxic, it damages the cochlear hair cells in the inner ear, but it doesn't come with any warning on the box or anything like that. The annoying thing is I didn't even really need an antibiotic, because I didn't even had an infection, my ear was just clogged/muffed. But doctors prescribe antibiotics for literally everything. I should have just self-healed at home, naturally, without antibiotics or anything like that, like I am usually doing...
And now, from what I've read, basically there is a good chance that it will eventually go away, maybe in a few months, but there are also a lot of cases where it just never goes away, which terrifies me.
I've read tons of stuff online, and basically, it seems like the only thing I can do is to wait and hope that my body will recover. All the supplements and medicines that supposedly help look like just a placebo, and sometimes they even make things worse. I am taking Vitamins B12, B1, B6, Magnesium, Alpha Lipoic Acid, and doing some massages/exercises on my ear for relieving tinnitus that I saw on Youtube - surprisingly, these exercises were the only thing that seems to relieve the noise, at least for a while, but it comes back again at some point. I need to make this go away.
Any help, or advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you.