I Now Have Tinnitus After Receiving the Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine

@Bobby B, thank you for asking. It's a very high pitched cricket sound that doesn't fluctuate as much as crickets. Sometimes it hisses and whistles like a high pitched kettle. Other times it's a tone. Sigh... sorry for the poor descriptions. Any insight is appreciated.
It isn't a poor description. It's pretty much exactly how I describe it.
 
I am so thankful I found this site. I have had tinnitus off and on most of my life. I first noticed it as a kid when I took aspirin. Aspirin also made things smell odd or at least a weird nasal sensation. Tequila does the same thing. I haven't used either for decades. As an adult I got it off and on now and then, weeks or months apart. After reading here I found out that I have both the high pitched "ring" in both ears and the pulse matching type in my left ear. The bouts never last more than a few hours. On Sunday (March 28) I got my first Pfizer vaccine. I was ok except for a sore arm--and that wasn't even bad. I woke at 2 a.m. on March 29 to tinnitus in both ears. It has not stopped. I am very thankful it is not overly loud, but it is annoying. I am wondering if it will wear off or not. Has anyone "recovered" from vaccine caused?
@CathyJ, please share if someone has fully recovered after the vaccine. I dont want to miss that good news should you get a response! Thank you.
 
my first Tinnitus was antibiotics induced. It was in 2014, I freaked back then did my round of seeing specialists and searched for cure. I started protecting my ears with earplugs in loud environments. My T faded after a year. I don t even remember when it faded exactly. I took the pfizer vaccine and T came back gradually mainly in left ear within a week. Now almost 2 months later it s improved alot. I m not taking the risk of the second shot. I d rather try another vaccine and only after this T spike fades away.
 
@Bobby B, thank you for asking. It's a very high pitched cricket sound that doesn't fluctuate as much as crickets. Sometimes it hisses and whistles like a high pitched kettle. Other times it's a tone. Sigh... sorry for the poor descriptions. Any insight is appreciated.
Thanks for the reply. This sounds like my own tinnitus which is between a 10 kHz and a 12 kHz white noise (there are 2 good examples on YouTube).

Which means that the high frequencies, and less numerous hair cells have been affected.

Also, if this is a blood flow issue then you can try Fish oil and Ginkgo biloba supplements.
 
@CathyJ, please share if someone has fully recovered after the vaccine. I dont want to miss that good news should you get a response! Thank you.
Will do. I have a lot of hope now. I read an article about COVID-19 infections. In a study in the UK is a report of a woman (I believe the article actually said girl) who got sick. She got tinnitus and then lost her hearing. It all resolved in 69 days. I assume (I am NOT medically trained so can be wrong) that it would be possible to have a milder form of a symptom after vaccination. I now think this will resolve itself.

I do plan to take the 2nd dose even if I still have this tinnitus--unless my doctor says not to. I'd rather live like this than get a permanent disability from getting the actual virus in some form (so many variants out there). Plus at this time, they are saying we will probably need annual vaccines like we get for influenza. I'm in a high risk group and will take what vaccines I can get. I assume any weird side effects will be rare and not permanent.
 
Will do. I have a lot of hope now. I read an article about COVID-19 infections. In a study in the UK is a report of a woman (I believe the article actually said girl) who got sick. She got tinnitus and then lost her hearing. It all resolved in 69 days. I assume (I am NOT medically trained so can be wrong) that it would be possible to have a milder form of a symptom after vaccination. I now think this will resolve itself.

I do plan to take the 2nd dose even if I still have this tinnitus--unless my doctor says not to. I'd rather live like this than get a permanent disability from getting the actual virus in some form (so many variants out there). Plus at this time, they are saying we will probably need annual vaccines like we get for influenza. I'm in a high risk group and will take what vaccines I can get. I assume any weird side effects will be rare and not permanent.
Thank you very much for that piece of news. I am happy you reported that. Praying so hard that will happen for me and all the people suffering! Made my day. Please share the article if you would like.
 
Does the vaccine affect tinnitus in both ears? I'm curious if people get tinnitus only in the ear that is on the side of the body where the vaccine was given? For example, if you get the jab in your left arm, you get tinnitus in the left ear?
 
Does the vaccine affect tinnitus in both ears? I'm curious if people get tinnitus only in the ear that is on the side of the body where the vaccine was given? For example, if you get the jab in your left arm, you get tinnitus in the left ear?
My tinnitus is in both ears.
 
Does the vaccine affect tinnitus in both ears? I'm curious if people get tinnitus only in the ear that is on the side of the body where the vaccine was given? For example, if you get the jab in your left arm, you get tinnitus in the left ear?
Mine is in both ears. I got the shot in my left arm. Oddly I "feel/hear" the sound more in my right ear than left. But I think that was always the case whenever I had an episode. The pulsating kind was always in my left ear and as of last night, it started again off and on. But I am reducing a dosage of a BP med and think it's possible that triggered the pulse type--not the vaccinated. So I have high pitched whine in both ears and a pulse beat in the left ear. Really annoying.
 
I think the antibodies produced might accidentally trigger an inflammatory reaction similar to what we see in real COVID-19 for endothelial cells. So not hair cells. But indirectly they may be starved for oxygen.

Given how high frequency hair cells have higher metabolism it could result in some dying.

That said though... who knows. I'm basing this off Susac syndrome as far as the immune system getting out of whack. It's why prednisone was being used for COVID-19.
 
COVID-19 vaccine suppliers are all downplaying facts that tinnitus and sudden hearing loss is a side effect and not properly reported. The FDA reported that tinnitus events were not even mentioned in a briefing documents on the vaccines.

I was scheduled to receive the 1st injection of the J&J vaccine on March 26th, 2021 and the news about a prominent owner of a restaurant chain committing suicide as a result of receiving the J&J vaccine happened the previous day. My concern was that tinnitus would become even more elevated and I decided not to receive the vaccine. There are many people who have received the J&J vaccine along with other suppliers reporting negative results on the Drug Discovery and Development website.

There is also research that patients that contracted COVID-19 experienced tinnitus and hearing loss as reported in a Frontiers in Public Health study which makes the decision to risk not receiving a vaccine or contracting COVID-19 a difficult one.
 
Hello everyone, I'm not sure what to do. I have had tinnitus for over 12 years and have had lots of up and downs with it over the years.

It's been a stressful year for sure, lost my job and the never ending coronavirus and the even worse disintegration of our politics and media in this country. BUT even with all that over a year, I didn't have any major increase in sounds or pops UNTIL I got my first Pfizer vaccine just under a month ago (within 24 hours it was almost double in volume and I was not even paranoid about the shot to begin with), I'm due to get the 2nd tomorrow after canceling a few appointments.

Here is my question for anyone that got an increase in noise on the first shot of the vaccine, did you get the 2nd shot and did it increase the noise even more or it was the same after the 2nd shot?
 
Here is my question for anyone that got an increase in noise on the first shot of the vaccine, did you get the 2nd shot and did it increase the noise even more or it was the same after the 2nd shot?
This is an excellent question as I'm in the same situation.

My tinnitus increased the day after my first shot and has not gone back down and it's been over two weeks.

My next shot is scheduled for the 17th of this month and until I hear some kind of positive news, there's absolutely no way I'm getting it. I'll take my chances with the 80% effectiveness of one shot versus potential permanent damage from the vaccine, of which I (we) may already have.
 
If you check out the official reports of side effects over 5 months, tinnitus / deafness takes up about the same amount together as general "malaise" or headaches for side effects.

Looks like it was included in about 20-25% of reports. So if that's a sample, then tinnitus being a side effect has about a 1/4 chance.

I haven't done enough research to compare other vaccines if they're equivalent yet, but that's initially kind of shocking.

Given my tinnitus is from hell, I won't be rolling those dice.
 
If you check out the official reports of side effects over 5 months, tinnitus / deafness takes up about the same amount together as general "malaise" or headaches for side effects.

Looks like it was included in about 20-25% of reports. So if that's a sample, then tinnitus being a side effect has about a 1/4 chance.

I haven't done enough research to compare other vaccines if they're equivalent yet, but that's initially kind of shocking.

Given my tinnitus is from hell, I won't be rolling those dice.
I hear you, the only thing I would point out is that if you got the coronavirus, you might get increased tinnitus volume more so than if you just got the vaccine.
 
If you check out the official reports of side effects over 5 months, tinnitus / deafness takes up about the same amount together as general "malaise" or headaches for side effects.

Looks like it was included in about 20-25% of reports. So if that's a sample, then tinnitus being a side effect has about a 1/4 chance.
Can you please link to the data/source?
 
I thought I was going crazy! I got my first Moderna shot on March 5th, and a day later my head felt like it was going to explode. I've had tinnitus since. It was starting to become manageable, but I got my second shot today (April 5th) and again I have sharp pains in my temples, stuffy nose, and my ringing is off the charts! I'm hoping this goes down to manageable again. I've never had issues until the vaccine and myself and my ENT reported it to CDC; but nothing I can do but try not to cry and go crazy.
 
Be forewarned, I haven't had enough free time to compare to other vaccines, so it's likely biased until compared.

https://vaers.hhs.gov/data.html
Can you please provide a screenshot? When I combed through the data last week for Pfizer, I did not see anywhere near 25% of the people reporting mentioning tinnitus/hearing loss.

ETA: I just went and looked at Pfizer data to see the number of people reporting:

Tinnitus: 180 which is .69%
Sudden Hearing Loss: 9 which is .03%
 
Coronavirus live news: 'clear' link between rare clotting cases and AstraZeneca vaccine, EMA official says

A senior official from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has told an Italian daily it is "clear" that there is a link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and a rare form of blood clot but that the cause is still not known, Agence France-Presse is reporting from Rome.

"In my opinion, we can say it now, it is clear there is a link with the vaccine. But we still do not know what causes this reaction," the EMA head of vaccines, Marco Cavaleri, told Italy's Il Messaggero newspaper.

The official reportedly told the paper that Europe's drug regulator would be making a statement on the issue "in the coming hours".

https://www.theguardian.com/world/l...be-eligible-for-vaccine-cases-rising-in-japan
 
I thought I was going crazy! I got my first Moderna shot on March 5th, and a day later my head felt like it was going to explode. I've had tinnitus since. It was starting to become manageable, but I got my second shot today (April 5th) and again I have sharp pains in my temples, stuffy nose, and my ringing is off the charts! I'm hoping this goes down to manageable again. I've never had issues until the vaccine and myself and my ENT reported it to CDC; but nothing I can do but try not to cry and go crazy.
So when you say "manageable", do you mean it was getting better or you were just getting used to it?

I had my first shot on the 19th of March and to this day it has NOT gotten better. I am able to sleep a little better and not focus on it as much, but I'm sure it's just because it's becoming a normal background noise.
 
This is an excellent question as I'm in the same situation.

My tinnitus increased the day after my first shot and has not gone back down, and it's been over two weeks.

My next shot is scheduled for the 17th of this month and until I hear some kind of positive news, there's absolutely no way I'm getting it. I'll take my chances with the 80% effectiveness of one shot versus potential permanent damage from the vaccine, of which I (we) may already have.
Yes, I am in the same boat - tinnitus increased the day after I got the first Pfizer jab and has not subsided - I reported this to VAERS last week. I had a glass of tonic water a few days ago (not being aware of the ototoxicity of quinine) and that made it even worse.

Regardless, I have a gut feeling that the spike caused by the vaccines will eventually get better. I am due to receive the second shot in 3 days - on 4/9, and so far I am thinking of doing that, despite the spike I experienced after the first shot. I am reading some conflicting information about vaccine protection after one shot of the mRNA vaccines - some studies claim it is 52% effective, others - 80%. I am likely going to have to travel (not a pleasure trip but a required one) internationally during the summer months and the prospect of contracting COVID-19 for now seems worse than the side effects of the vaccine.

I will report here if I get another spike after the second shot, etc.
 
Can you please provide a screenshot? When I combed through the data last week for Pfizer, I did not see anywhere near 25% of the people reporting mentioning tinnitus/hearing loss.

ETA: I just went and looked at Pfizer data to see the number of people reporting:

Tinnitus: 180 which is .69%
Sudden Hearing Loss: 9 which is .03%
Is 0.69 percent of people who are reporting side effects? If it is, then the percentage of people experiencing tinnitus or hearing loss would be even lower when considering the number of total administered doses.

Either way, those numbers are significantly less than the number of individuals with COVID-19 who are experiencing auditory problems. I recall one study reported around 40 percent of people who caught COVID-19 experienced an increase in pre-existing tinnitus.

I also looked through the reports specific to Pfizer and many were episodes of short-term tinnitus that occurred in conjunction with elevated heart rates, fevers, mild allergic reactions, headaches, etc.
 
Is 0.69 percent of people who are reporting side effects? If it is, then the percentage of people experiencing tinnitus or hearing loss would be even lower when considering the number of total administered doses.

Either way, those numbers are significantly less than the number of individuals with COVID-19 who are experiencing auditory problems. I recall one study reported around 40 percent of people who caught COVID-19 experienced an increase in pre-existing tinnitus.

I also looked through the reports specific to Pfizer and many were episodes of short-term tinnitus that occurred in conjunction with elevated heart rates, fevers, mild allergic reactions, headaches, etc.
Yes, that's the percentage of all adverse reports for Pfizer so you are correct that it's even lower--much lower for people who got the Pfizer vaccine! That's not to say any of us here aren't at risk or aren't experiencing a spike (which I am right now). Also, not everyone reports it, but still it's way lower than the 25% claimed upthread.
 
Is 0.69 percent of people who are reporting side effects? If it is, then the percentage of people experiencing tinnitus or hearing loss would be even lower when considering the number of total administered doses.

Either way, those numbers are significantly less than the number of individuals with COVID-19 who are experiencing auditory problems. I recall one study reported around 40 percent of people who caught COVID-19 experienced an increase in pre-existing tinnitus.

I also looked through the reports specific to Pfizer and many were episodes of short-term tinnitus that occurred in conjunction with elevated heart rates, fevers, mild allergic reactions, headaches, etc.
Very informative!

At this point we have to choose the lesser of two evils, that being the vaccine.
 
Yes, that's the percentage of all adverse reports for Pfizer so you are correct that it's even lower--much lower for people who got the Pfizer vaccine! That's not to say any of us here aren't at risk or aren't experiencing a spike (which I am right now). Also, not everyone reports it, but still it's way lower than the 25% claimed upthread.
Even accounting for some individuals not reporting, the number experiencing tinnitus would be significantly lower given that around 162 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the U.S. When I read through the reports, many were not lasting tinnitus side effects either.
 
At this point we have to choose the lesser of two evils, that being the vaccine.
I agree. It's a decision I have struggled with, too. Obviously none of us want to make a decision that negatively impacts our tinnitus or our long-term health. All we can do is look at the current data and consider our own health history.

For me, a virus caused a heart problem and asthma, another virus caused optic neuritis, and another virus left me with severe hearing loss and tinnitus. I am not sure I should take my chances with COVID-19, which the data increasingly suggests exacerbates heart problems, asthma and tinnitus.
 
At this point we have to choose the lesser of two evils, that being the vaccine.
Seems as if so many of us are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

My second dose is scheduled for tomorrow April 7th. Being my first dose had my ears ringing between 30 - 45 minutes I assume I'll know pretty quick.

I've done everything I can think of. Cut way back on coffee and significantly increased my daily water for a few days now. It's just as bad now as it was day one.

I did go to the doctor as well and he didn't really have any answers because it's so new. I've gotten more answers from everyone here on Tinnitus Talk.
 

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