Gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic that can have devastating side effects. It can cause deafness, severe kidney damage, and completely destroy the vestibular system — the inner-ear mechanism essential to our sense of balance.
Often there is a need to learn to walk again using other sensory and visual cues. Normally the vestibular system allows the brain to cancel out head motion from the visual images around us. Without it, a visual disturbance called oscillopsia gives a sensation that fixed objects are moving or wavering back and forth. This can cause a person to appear intoxicated when they walk — hence the name "Wobblers."
This web site was started by Lynn Brown of Alabama as she worked to raise public awareness of the dangerous side effects of the drug and provide support to many others. The site was redesigned and expanded when continued widespread use of the drug resulted in many more people experiencing adverse effects. As well as useful links for Wobblers, a number of people in the support group have chronicled their experiences on our Our Stories page.
If you are visiting the site for the first time looking for answers, we hope you will find comfort in knowing you are not alone. Use the Links page to learn more, read other people's stories, and join the support groups. By sharing our good and bad days we can feel better prepared to get on with our lives — and raise awareness of the dangers of Gentamicin.