# Tinnitus caused by daily Miralax use?



## QuiQui (Aug 15, 2010)

I go through periods of time (like maybe a month at a time) where I'll take one dose of Miralax every day. Lately, I've been thinking that I should stop that because I suspect that it's either causing or worsening my tinnitus.

I've had intermittent ringing/high-pitched beebing in my right ear, along with fluid in both ears, a sinus infection and dizziness since July. I've been on antibiotics twice now, and I've tried allergy pills, Sudafed, Singulair and most recently Flonase. The Flonase almost completely stopped the ringing and dizziness and post-nasal drip for about a month. But...over the last 4 or 5 days, I've been back to taking Miralax daily, and the ringing is starting to come back, too.

This isn't the first time I've noticed that Miralax causes an odd reaction in my ears. In the past - before my ear problem in July - I thought I noticed that my ears ached whenever I took Miralax for extended periods of time.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this with Miralax? What sort of effect does Miralax have on the body, other than drawing fluid into my stool? Can it make me retain fluid all over my body, such as in my ears and sinuses? I've read that it can cause an electrolyte imbalance, which in itself is a cause of tinnitus. But I sort of assumed that you'd only get an electrolyte imbalance if you had diarrhea and didn't drink enough water and take in enough sodium, which is not the case with me.

Any thoughts?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

It doesn't really leave the colon (or isn't supposed to) so I dunno how much effect there is elsewhere. There do seem to be some reports on the web, but hard to know from that if it could be the cause, or is just a bystander for something else. After all some other things cause it as well (like aspirin) and you don't know how many people had the only exposure to anything at all when reporting. Often people don't know about something else so may miss a more likely cause.

Also hard to know how much there may be a third thing (what may increase the constipation may also be more directly related to the ear thing). So again could be the bystander thing. Something else you don't know about triggers both, but the miralax is more obvious as you only take it when both are triggered by the unknown thingy.


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## QuiQui (Aug 15, 2010)

You might be right about the "third thing" because there have been a bunch of things that at first I thought triggered the tinnitus, but then it turned out not to be the case. So the miralax could be just another coincidence. My guess at this point is the third thing is subclinical hypothyroidism. Tinnitus and constipation are both symptoms, and I go through phases where sometimes they're worse and sometimes they're better. I'll have to watch more closely to see if they both happen at the same time. I'm betting they do. Thanks for the answer! The more I think about it, the more I'm sure that you're right.

I guess the thing to do to test it would be to either take Miralax every day, no matter what, or to find something else (like fruit) to use in place of the Miralax. (I'm trying to eat low carb though, so I'm kind of limited on fruit.) Then if I'm still getting the off and on tinnitus, at least I'll know it's not caused by the Miralax.


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## postmortem (Nov 11, 2006)

Hi, can you elaborate on your theory about the possibility of sub clinical hypothyroidism? I was looking through your posts and I have experienced similar symptoms as you. Hypothyroidism was something I tried to get my doctors to look into; however they've always been adamant that I don't have it because of lab test results.


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## iluvourboys2 (Apr 2, 2013)

Do not take Miralax! Google it, lots of people having horrible health issues with their kids and themselves. I was on it for 8 yrs, and when I read the article, I stopped taking it last week. Now I'm trying to find something that works. I was told Chlorophyll gel caps (not liquid) with magnesium helps. I can't find it. Has anyone heard of this?


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