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Cons of opioids - the hearing problem

RodJonse

RodJonse

Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 26, 2012
Messages
291
Good morning Bluelight. I apologize if this sounds whiny but I figured someone here could probably help - suffering from something pretty common.

I'm at a pretty dark time now in my life, and while I don't find myself crying in the rain outside like some meth users have mentioned (or something akin to that) with opioids, I still feel pretty terrible. It doesn't help that I'm a nihilistic fuck who wants to either succeed in the arts or just call it a day (as another user said, reality sucks). Or that I've got chronic pain with one neck MRI showing nothing conclusive and one pending (I'm ordering more expensive and more recommended kratom for the pain since what I have lasts about 40 minutes before I feel like shit inexplicably).

But I don't want to drone on about that. Ultimate point of it is that AZ doctors are some of the stingiest fucks on the planet Earth and my mother put me through chiropractic regularly since I was seven years old, before I could comprehend what alternative medicine was.

Anyways, I don't take opiates anymore. Just been sticking with this kratom. Sadly carrying the same cons as all the other opioids.

The constipation is manageable and a bluelighter helped me out with that.

But the one that I can't take anymore is what it does to one's hearing! Especially as a musician, especially as someone with expensive cans and media players. I went from amazing sound to what I have now: constantly muffled. Clearing ear tubes via pinching nose doesn't help. Highs are less prominent. Everything sounds fucked up and it's not any of my tech. Feels like I've lost a good chunk of volume hearing too and that's the worst part. It sucks.

Opioids/opiates often go hand in hand with music, or at least in the communities I've known. Anyone know ANYTHING to help with the hearing? I currently have to wait about 30 hours with no kratom to get it to slightly return to what I remember, and at that point I feel like shit.
 
Sorry I can't help you. I actually like that part of the opiate high, the muzzled hearing.
 
Its intresting because I experience the same thing but I also have awful hearing.

I wonder if it is a physical thing, or if the brain just pays less attention to auditory stimuli.
 
RodJonse said:
And that goes away afterwards after how much time for you?
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Uhh it goes for the length of the high. Are you implying that you have hearing problems after opiate use? It could be sinus problems caused by snorting your drugs??
 
I'm lazy and don't have much time, so I'm just gonna quote one of my recent posts. Opiates and opioids are toxic to the ear, though susceptibility and magnitude of abuse plays a role in who develops hearing loss... Ototoxicity associated with opiates is well documented though. If your hearing doesn't return as the high fades then maybe you should avoid opioids, or at least slow down. If it's just for the duration of the high I wouldn't really worry about it as dulled hearing isn't all that uncommon. This is one of the "two threads" I speak of, another dude in BDD was complaining about hearing loss and tinitus from kratom and phenibut.

Surprised nobody has mentioned the fact that opioids are ototoxic. There's even been many threads regarding hearing damage/loss/tinnitus associated with opiate use. From what I recall reading, codeine and it's derivatives are the worst offenders. Overuse of APAP is thought to be a contributor, but not the sole cause as hearing loss has been associated with Methadone, Opium, Heroin, Tramadol, and possibly even Kratom.

There has been two threads in the past two weeks regarding tinnitus and hearing loss associated with kratom. I can attest to the tinnitus, but not hearing loss. I assume opiate related ototoxicity is worse with heavy abusers, but it's still a health problem that's under-discussed. Hearing loss aside, to say daily opioid use comes with no negative health effects rediculous.

Auditory sensitivity in opiate addicts with and without a history of noise exposure.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21959116

Since both opium and noise independently can cause hearing loss, it is important to know the prevalence of hearing loss among individuals who are exposed to opium or both opium and noise.... Fifty percent (2/4) of the individuals without any noise exposure had a hearing loss confirming previous reports that some of the population is vulnerable to the ototoxic effects of opioids.... Health professionals need to be aware of the possible ototoxic effects of opioids, since early detection of hearing loss from opium abuse may lead to cessation of abuse and further progression of hearing loss
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Review of Opioid-Associated Hearing Loss and Possible Mechanism of Opioid-Mediated Endothelin-1-Dependent Cochlear Vasoconstriction. (In full text)
http://scitechnol.com/review-opioid...learvasoconstriction-7aoU.php?article_id=1890

Conclusion:
Opioids are commonly used in the general population for both medical and recreational purposes. Recently, there have been increasing reports documenting opioid-induced, sudden or rapidly-progressive sensorineural hearing loss. These have been attributed to a variety of opioids, including hydrocodone/acetaminophen, heroin, and methadone. Although the mechanism of opioid-induced hearing loss remains unknown, it is likely due to cochlear hypoxia from endothelin-1-mediated vasoconstriction of the spiral modiolar artery. Genetic variations in liver cytochrome P450 genes and the MOR regulatory region may explain why some users experience hearing loss while others do not.
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Hydrocodone Use and Sensorineural Hearing Loss Case Series
http://www.painphysicianjournal.com/linkout_vw.php?issn=1533-3159&vol=10&page=467

The chronic use of hydrocodone can be associated with progressive sen-sorineural hearing loss. Successful auditory rehabilitation can be achieved with cochlear implantation. Genetic polymorphisms of drug metabolizing enzymes as well as associated comorbidities such as hepatitis C infection may be significant in the development of hydrocodone ototoxicity, though additional investigations are necessary.
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Profound hearing loss associated with hydrocodone/acetaminophen abuse.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10733182

CONCLUSIONS:

Hydrocodone is frequently prescribed in combination with acetaminophen for the relief of pain and has a side effects profile similar to other medications in its class. Although not described previously, overuse or abuse can be associated with a rapidly progressive sensorineural hearing loss. These patients can be successfully rehabilitated with cochlear implantation.
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Strange I've never noticed this. Sometimes when I wake up I have this sharp pain in my left ear thi, quite painful, do you think it may be related to my use? I've been using 2-3 times a week for the past months.
 
Leegrow said:
Uhh it goes for the length of the high. Are you implying that you have hearing problems after opiate use? It could be sinus problems caused by snorting your drugs??
Click to expand...

I have felt that my sinuses were fucked up for a while. Unfortunately if it is that though then I think it's probably because I have some sort of allergy to kratom, or it settling inside causes sinus issues.

But I can't help but feel that me taking quite a bit of it twice a day is partially responsible for this.
 
If it really bothers you, have you at least tried cutting back to a single dose? I've cut back to one dose a day (minus a few grams before bed so I can sleep WD free) and I've noticed a drop in the tinnitus, though if I'm being honest it was never that bad to begin with. The quality of the high is far better as well though.
 
Well, I had never really made a connection. But now when I hear this it all makes sense. It takes longer to get my hearing okay as I had managed to quit. So I really hope it comes back. It's surprising when you get to know these things so much later ..
 
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