Opioids Opiates causing deafness

[No. 13 Baby]

how common is this? any cases of heroin causing it?

 

[lukeskywatcher]

I get kind of like a ringing in my ears (not a coke kind) if I stand up quick. I also get weird sounding noises coming in and out for I guess a minute I’ve noticed pretty often lately. Where everything else just sounds distant and muffled... rly hard to explain. I do fentanyl. IV.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

are you talking about when your ears feel clogged up like you were in an airplane, like after the high or the day after?

 

[No. 13 Baby]

I'm talking about literally not being able to hear after. I've heard it happens and I'm worried.

 

[Wilson Wilson]

I've only seen reports of this regarding some weird toxic RC opioids. Where did you read this happens with "normal" opiates?

 

[Blowmonkey]

oof:

A Case of Heroin Induced Sensorineural Hearing Loss

A case of a 31-year-old male who developed profound sensorineural hearing loss following a heroin overdose is presented. The patient subsequently had a full recovery of his hearing. Other cases of this rare phenomenon are reviewed and management options ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Ototoxicity is the word you want to google.

 

[Wilson Wilson]

oof:

A Case of Heroin Induced Sensorineural Hearing Loss

A case of a 31-year-old male who developed profound sensorineural hearing loss following a heroin overdose is presented. The patient subsequently had a full recovery of his hearing. Other cases of this rare phenomenon are reviewed and management options ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Ototoxicity is the word you want to google.

"Sudden sensorineural hearing loss after intravenous heroin overdose has been described in five previous cases ... The patients fully recovered between three days and three weeks in three out of five of the reports."

So in all documented medical literature only two cases exist where someone has lost their hearing permanently? Considering how common opiate abuse is I really don't think this is worth worrying about unless you have a history of hearing problems already. Seems much more likely that in the case of overdose you'd die from CNS depression or choke on your vomit or something, those are far more serious and more likely concerns from IV heroin use than this very rare phenomena.

 

[Jaredborgetti]

"Sudden sensorineural hearing loss after intravenous heroin overdose has been described in five previous cases ... The patients fully recovered between three days and three weeks in three out of five of the reports."

So in all documented medical literature only two cases exist where someone has lost their hearing permanently? Considering how common opiate abuse is I really don't think this is worth worrying about unless you have a history of hearing problems already. Seems much more likely that in the case of overdose you'd die from CNS depression or choke on your vomit or something, those are far more serious and more likely concerns from IV heroin use than this very rare phenomena.

Not to forget mentioning that this ocurred after OVERDOSE where oxygen deprivation might have caused the ototoxicity, Hydrocodone was once considered ototoxic but more recent studies suggest the Acetaminophen (which is also ototoxic) was the one to blame for hearing loss after hydrocodone abuse, not the hydrocodone itself, in any case this is extremely rare.

 

[Blowmonkey]

The oof was in regards to the results more than you or anyone else in particular, mostly because I'm terrified of it myself, just to clear that up.

I think 1 out of 5 is 1 too many btw, sure this is an article about heroin specifically where it's a very small number of people, but considering other opioids/opiates have a history of causing hearing problems as well (see below, no it's not just the nsaid combination, although I believe it most certainly is a big factor), I don't think it's farfetched to think heroin is able to. How common it is, no idea, probably not very considering those documented above are all related to od's like you guys said. But then again, lot's of people od, or use longterm, like with anything cumalative, I bet it significantly increases your chances of running into any problems.

Sensorineural hearing loss is an unusual reported one. In recent years, there have been remarkable numbers of occurring of hearing loss (suddenly, or rapidly progressive) associated with opioid overdose, especially in the young patients. The majority of cases has bilateral hearing loss reported after using heroin, morphine, methadone, propoxyphene, hydrocodone, and oxycodone along with acetaminophen. Hearing loss is reversible in some individuals that improves with administration of corticosteroids and pentoxifylline. The cochlear implant is required in irreversible cases. Some patients in addition to hearing loss have tinnitus and vertigo. There are differences among these reports in terms of the route of consumption (oral, inhalation, and intravenous injection), the amount of drug, and duration of use

Opioid Drugs and Sensorineural Hearing Loss

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

fwiw, I hope noone has to deal with any of it, because any kind of hearing impairment sucks ass.

 

[Wilson Wilson]

It seems every case of this happening is specifically after overdose and it is very rare even then.

While it is a terrible thing, it seems counterproductive to dwell on this specific risk when it's much rarer than other more serious risks of opiate overdose such as fatal CNS depression.

Of course it goes without saying that for the purposes of HR you don't want to OD in the first place so this is yet another good reason to test your opiates to make sure you're not getting fent, and if doing H make sure you do a small dose to test the purity of a new batch also.