Question
I have been off prozac for 9 months but am still experiencing a feeling of imbalance accompanied by a feeling of fullness in my ears and head and tinnitus. I've been to an otolaryngologist, had an MRI and all they could tell me is that I have lost some hearing but everything else is normal. Could this be an after effect of the prozac (I took it for nearly 7 years)? I have also seen a neurologist and she said that my problems are likely from Prozac. Have you seen anything like this? Will it resolve itself eventually?Answer
I cannot locate any definitive studies clearly demonstrating fluoxitine (Prozac) ototoxicity in humans or animals. I have reviewed only one report with some "subjective information" along those lines. As widely used as Prozac is, it would be surprising if there was a significant incidence of ototoxicity that would not be clearly apparent by now. However some medications have been found to have an extremely low incidence of a given side effect that delays identification of it and its relationship to the drug. Also a particular side effect may only occur in a certain subset of individuals or only in combination with other factors. Therefore, I cannot offer a "yes" or "no" response. I recommend that the best source of information for you is your physician, and I urge you to review this with him/her.
Kathleen C.M. Campbell, PhD, is Professor and Director of Audiology Research at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. She has been doing research in ototoxicity for over 15 years and has had several NIH and pharmaceutical company grants for her research in that area. She holds two patents for pharmaceutical agents to prevent and rescue from ototoxicity and has several others in prosecution.
