Hi everyone,
I was taking Bupropion for about three weeks when I lost hearing in my left ear for a few hours one evening. It improved a bit the next day but not completely, so I made an urgent appointment with an audiologist who found I did have unilateral hearing loss at some frequencies. She sent me urgently (same day) to an ENT who started high-dose steroids. I had unilateral tinnitus in addition to the hearing loss at this point. I had already stopped the Bupropion because I had heard it could cause tinnitus (not hearing loss, though). The ENT felt it wasn't related to the Bupropion and advised I could restart it. That spiked the tinnitus severely, so I stopped it again. My hearing loss improved after ten days of steroids, but I'm stuck with the tinnitus. It's been three months since this whole thing started. I was getting used to it (kind of), but the past three to four days have been especially annoying/loud.
I reported my experience to the FDA and actually received a response from a psychiatric pharmacist who wanted more information about my experience. I highly recommend that if you think your tinnitus was caused by a pharmaceutical, you report it so that there is a record of how often it happens. It's important.
The best relief I find is with masking; it not only covers the hissing/static/ringing sound but also relieves the strange head pressure that accompanies it (does anyone else have that pressure-like sensation, too?). I'm trying acupuncture, but I'm not seeing any effect.
I was taking Bupropion for about three weeks when I lost hearing in my left ear for a few hours one evening. It improved a bit the next day but not completely, so I made an urgent appointment with an audiologist who found I did have unilateral hearing loss at some frequencies. She sent me urgently (same day) to an ENT who started high-dose steroids. I had unilateral tinnitus in addition to the hearing loss at this point. I had already stopped the Bupropion because I had heard it could cause tinnitus (not hearing loss, though). The ENT felt it wasn't related to the Bupropion and advised I could restart it. That spiked the tinnitus severely, so I stopped it again. My hearing loss improved after ten days of steroids, but I'm stuck with the tinnitus. It's been three months since this whole thing started. I was getting used to it (kind of), but the past three to four days have been especially annoying/loud.
I reported my experience to the FDA and actually received a response from a psychiatric pharmacist who wanted more information about my experience. I highly recommend that if you think your tinnitus was caused by a pharmaceutical, you report it so that there is a record of how often it happens. It's important.
The best relief I find is with masking; it not only covers the hissing/static/ringing sound but also relieves the strange head pressure that accompanies it (does anyone else have that pressure-like sensation, too?). I'm trying acupuncture, but I'm not seeing any effect.