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Misc About "ototoxic" drugs

BourbonMac

Bluelighter
Joined
Jan 14, 2022
Messages
1,266
I had sinus surgery in late May and my sinus issues induced pretty bad tinnitus, but it was generally tolerable compared to how it is now. I'd finally been experiencing silence throughout June and July, but somewhere in there, especially the 2nd half of July, I began to take ibuprofen almost daily because of awful headaches and neckaches that were associated with using too many pillows. I guess in reality I was using it daily since like, middle of June, but the doses were getting higher by mid to late July. I used to run track in high school and college and Ibuprofen was my go-to. I'd take 600mg 5-6 days a week and never had noticeable ear ringing, but then again, I didn't have sinus induced tinnitus then.

Neck has gotten a lot better. Initially I had to prop myself up more after surgery, but then I was just being a dumbass and using 3 pillows because I like to eat right before I go to bed, and obviously that can cause acid reflux. I've only had that a couple of times ever, though, so I don't think it's likely. I snack on light stuff before bed. I guess fat chunks of banana bread aren't too light, but I only eat one piece now instead of 2.

I've heard that Ibuprofen is ototoxic, or damaging to hearing, and can cause or worsen tinnitus. I wouldn't say my T was 100% gone, it was like, 90-95% gone. I want to believe this is what caused it and I'm stopping ibuprofen for now, but it's tough to say. I used to take it all the time when I was younger and never had this issue. When I smoke weed now it makes the ringing worse too, when it hadn't been before. Well, it did, like a year ago (the tinnitus really began last May, so I dealt with it for around a year). But it was never a very significant increase. It seems at the moment, it's only after a certain number of hits that it actually worsens, but I have doubts that this helped cause this to become worse, as I was often smoking lots throughout June/July and at times, any mild ring present would actually go away.

I'd go on antibiotics on and off and it would always reduce it some, but it'd come right back. Then it FUCKED up my G.I and I spent months earlier this year anorexic as a result. Anything I ate gave me acid reflux. I never even had an infection I don't think, my GP just kept tossing them at me and I wanted the ringing to stop. But I never would've known how much worse it could get.

Lately, it's been like someone is running a vacuum cleaner above my ear and there's also this sort of electrical storm going on in my head like 100 CRT monitors. It's so bad and I've had major, major mental breakdowns especially in the past week over it. Breaking things, punching things, screaming, contemplating suicide. It's fucking terrible, witnessing myself utterly break down to this level. Last month was so good overall. I mean I had some shitty headaches often and that was frustrating because I wasn't supposed to be having them, but I'm pretty sure my neck was causing most of it.

Even then, I'd wake up with it, but then it would go away after I stopped lying down. Lying back in my bed at night listening to music would also trigger it. Not the music, but the posture, which to me indicates some kind of issue with my eustachian tubes.

I take an anti-depressant at the moment, amitryptaline, but I've been on it since April. Apparently this is ototoxic but like, fucking 90% of all medications seem to be. And it's also been shown in trials to improve tinnitus for some so... who the fuck knows.



tl;dr: has anyone here ever noticed NSAID use causing tinnitus? My aunt with arthritis warned me about this because it happened to her. In my case it may have just worsened what little I had left. All I know is it's the worst it's ever been, period, and all I can think about is maybe it's the Ibuprofen, but I'm just desperate to find a reason. Sometimes it will randomly be quieter for 5 minutes or so.

All of the things that used to make it go down like doing sinus flushes or hot showers don't do it now. Sometimes the sinus flush will reduce it, usually it won't. This isn't hearing loss related, I can hear fine, and have never been exposed to much loud noise. I did go to a local concert last month and I was right near the speaker. Expected my ears to ring when I got home, nope. Total silence. I do suppose my ibuprofen use reached a high point by late July because of my neck. A tempurpedic pillow over time has helped tremendously.
 
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I have tinnitus on the left side ever since some fucking idiot screamed into this ear at full volume in school. My experiences with ototoxic drugs are limited to bupropion but it's scary when a single, limited use of a drug induces/exacerbates tinnitus for days or weeks.
Dissociatives do that for me too some times but limited to the time of their effects. Bupropion is weird shit. Didn't know about ibuprofen, but antibiotics tend to be pretty toxic agents, some mess with the CNS and can induce psychosis.

They used a memantine derivate in experimental treatments of tinnitus, but afaik was it injected into the ear somehow. Don't know whether oral memantine can protect the ears.
 
I have mild tinnitus from years of drumming and have taken alot of amitryptiline and ibuprofen without noticing a worsening of it.

My mine is a ringing amd I don't really notice it unless I listen for it becsuze I'm used to it and it's mild
 
It's strange that anti-biotics are that ototoxic given my tinnitus would improve on all of them, at least to some degree. I'm still curious to hear from others if they've developed worse ear ringing from using NSAIDS.

Hearing impaired retired nurse here - Please see your Dr about this. Sometimes it can be reversed, sometimes not. I waited too long... want to see my new red hearing aids with blu tooth for my phone and car? :)
I'm trying but I can't get in, my physical is on September 7th. It already had reversed after my surgery, that's why I don't understand why it's come back so severely. Randomly it might go away for a little bit, but it will come back. Last night it definitely got worse after I got high. It had become quieter by that point, and I sat in silence taking hits gradually. It was by hit #4 that it got worse. It seems I have to limit consumption of THC for the time being, but I don't think it's causing this. I think THC probably causes ear ringing for a lot of people but it's mild and would only make existing tinnitus more pronounced.

Yesterday morning after a saline/budesonide flush, it was gone, and for most of the day it was down. Spent the day in Maine with some relatives, had some lobster, sight seeing, etc. Then by the time I was almost home, it started coming back, and then I got home and it was extremely bad again. It's honestly made me contemplate suicide every day. I'm not going to, I don't have the balls, but I would if I owned a gun, probably. It's so terrible to think like that when I know there's such an inspired and positive person inside of me, and I was experiencing a lot of that before August. This feeling that things can only get better.

The whole year has been a constant struggle for me with various health problems physically and mentally. Chronic head/face aches from my sinuses, terrible G.I problems from antibiotics I'd been taking, developing anorexia and paranoia over eating, becoming severely underweight. Issues with my throat and feeling like it was closing on the regular, like, fuck, this has been the worst year of my life. I doubled up my amitryptaline to twice a day, one morning one night. Most people get too sedated from this but it doesn't do that for me. It also doesn't seem to really do anything. I've been micro-dosing shrooms at night and that puts me in a way better mood and if there is ringing, I just accept it.

I'm terrified that my ENT won't be able to explain what's wrong. All I know is that it went away after my sinus surgery, so there has to be a link. Sometimes it'd come back if I was lying in a certain position but it would go away very quickly. I also constantly sound congested even though my sinuses appear clear, so I think there must be something wrong with my middle ear. They ordered me to come in for a hearing test a week before my follow-up next month, it's scheduled for the 13th. For now all I can do is wait and hope this gets better with not taking ibuprofen.
 
I have mild tinnitus from years of drumming and have taken alot of amitryptiline and ibuprofen without noticing a worsening of it.

My mine is a ringing amd I don't really notice it unless I listen for it becsuze I'm used to it and it's mild

How much ibuprofen would you consider a lot, and were you taking it every day for months? I don't think ami is likely to cause it as it's been shown to improve tinnitus in many people who have it.
 
How much ibuprofen would you consider a lot, and were you taking it every day for months? I don't think ami is likely to cause it as it's been shown to improve tinnitus in many people who have it.
Not alot in dosage levels....just a very regular basis (several times a week) for years
 
Maybe not taking it daily had something to do with it, I don't really know. I've only been taking 400mg on average for the last 2 months but I suppose I was reaching 800mg toward later July. At the moment my ringing is way down but there's still that electric CRT whine. It's terrible that getting baked makes it worse now because it's my go-to anxiety med. I had to quit initially because whether it was smoke or vape, I would get a sinus headache, and my quality of life decreased significantly in the 5 months I wasn't ingesting THC. I know the high pitched whine is going to come back because it always does.

It's driving me mad, and I'm extremely worried my ENT won't be able to explain any of this even though I'm 90% sure it's my sinuses. The ringing began in May of last year simultaneously with me beginning to sound stuffed up. My sinuses were fucked for years and I think increased smoking made it worse, though I believe years of heavy drinking did ths most damage. I believe I'm allergic to alcohol. My hangovers were always sinus headaches, extreme pressure and lots of mucus, with 100% loss of taste and smell.
 
"At the moment the ringing is way down" and of course, like always, it comes right back. My right ear high pitched whine was 90% gone, then within like, 10 minutes, it's back.
 
I remember my dad telling me how, as a younger man (in his late teens or early 20s, IIRC), excruciating pain from shitty dental work once caused him to take so many aspirins that he ended up with severe tinnitus. Fortunately, it was only temporary and subsided relatively quickly before eventually disappearing.
 
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