Resources re: Tinnitus Causing/Aggravating Drugs

[LifesABeach]

In an effort to be forewarned and forearmed when I hit the OTC aisles or when the good doctors whip out their prescription pads, I've been checking out resources listing drugs that cause or aggravate tinnitus. I know that the list of biggies seems to be pretty short, but then sources like Bauman list many, many medications.

I guess my first question is what's the "best" (as in most accurate and complete) reference for this stuff?

Second, if folks here like Bauman for this purpose, is this online list (http://hearinglosshelp.com/articles/pdf/TinnitusDrugList2013.pdf) sufficient or is it worth it to shell out $ for his 2013 book, "When Your Ears Ring"?

http://www.amazon.com/When-Your-Ears-Ring-Tinnitus--Heres/dp/1935939181/

Thanks!

 

[linearb]

I hate to admit it, but partially as a result of T, and mostly as a result of bad earlier experiences, I'm just incredibly skeptical overall of drugs, especially ones I haven't taken before. I have to be really, really sick to even reach for tylenol.

I think the list of common drugs that are really known to cause significant hearing loss, is somewhat well known and not huge. But, it seems like the list of things that can cause or worsen tinnitus to some extent for some people, is vast.

 

[LifesABeach]

I hate to admit it, but partially as a result of T, and mostly as a result of bad earlier experiences, I'm just incredibly skeptical overall of drugs, especially ones I haven't taken before. I have to be really, really sick to even reach for tylenol.

I think the list of common drugs that are really known to cause significant hearing loss, is somewhat well known and not huge. But, it seems like the list of things that can cause or worsen tinnitus to some extent for some people, is vast.

Hey linearb:

Yes, I agree that the list of biggies is usually reported as relatively short, something akin to this list here: http://www.tinnitus.org.uk/drugs-food-and-drink.

The reason for my original post, though, is rooted in the fact that I have some other issues going on now that just aren't going away by themselves (e.g., for over the past three months I've had headaches every single day - some quite severe - plus nausea/vomiting, neck & jaw pain ....)

I've tried just sucking it up and going without meds for that stuff, mostly out of fear of adverse reactions to the meds. But it seems pretty clear at this point that those problems just aren't going to go away on their own, and having them - along with the raging T - just makes sleep and relaxation and feeling like a real person with a life that much more impossible.

I need to get a little relief somewhere and thus my concern over having the best resource available re: drugs that are ototoxic and/or cause/aggravate T.

 

[Geo]

@LifesABeach i know what you mean.. my H came back with a vengeance on late december already with my bad t and that combination is killing me. everyday i get spikes and it comes with bad headaches and ear aches and sometimes nausea..and my head feeling its going to just blow up.its hard to take pain like that and my T has just been getting worse.. i wish i can just take drugs for the bad ear and headaches but im scared of drugs also even certain herbal ones...

 

[LifesABeach]

@LifesABeach i know what you mean.. my H came back with a vengeance on late december already with my bad t and that combination is killing me. everyday i get spikes and it comes with bad headaches and ear aches and sometimes nausea..and my head feeling its going to just blow up.its hard to take pain like that and my T has just been getting worse.. i wish i can just take drugs for the bad ear and headaches but im scared of drugs also even certain herbal ones...

I hear you, Geo.

That's why I'm hoping the more experienced folks on this forum will let us know the best resource(s) - whether books or online or wherever - for determining which meds to stay away from.

Part of me says, "Just stay away from the biggies that everybody knows are ototoxic," b/c that will make the decision-making process much simpler. But it seems pretty clear that a significant minority of people get tinnitus (or aggravate existing tinnitus) from a much, much larger group of drugs.

And that's hard to ignore when in our position.

 

[Geo]

@LifesABeach i have actually have really loud T and really bad H...the thing is that a lot of people exaggerate on their T being really loud when its not...If you cant hear your T over the tv or outside i dont consider it being loud. i damaged my T by taking advil for a injury that sucked. and i got a bad spike from taking a drug my doc gave me for T and him saying it wont affect it..so all drugs scare me now..i wish theyll come up with a cure already i dont care how many pills i gotta take a day or what i gotta do as long as it decreases or fades away.

 

[ruben ruiz]

Im taking two drugs from the list, Venlafaxine and Trazadone. Im addicted to both. Ill bet the my doctor who prescribed them did not even look. Can someone recommend the replacement for Venlafaxine for depression.
Also what can take the place of Trazadone for sleep.

 

[linearb]

The reason for my original post, though, is rooted in the fact that I have some other issues going on now that just aren't going away by themselves (e.g., for over the past three months I've had headaches every single day - some quite severe - plus nausea/vomiting, neck & jaw pain ....)

this sounds unpleasant, and I am very sorry to hear! Speaking personally, I will admit to using some cannabis for headaches and nausea (and actually seems to relax my TMJ muscles, especially if I use a little shortly before sleep). It does tend to make the T more noticeable for the duration of the drug, but it doesn't usually bother me, and often the next morning will be quieter. But, it does have downsides, and during periods when I've been really anxious I have not been able to tolerate it at all.

The old antihistimines like benadryl are often used for nausea, and I don't think they're connected to hearing issues.

Actual painkillers are a lot dicier; I have experienced temporary spikes from tylenol, NSAIDs, and narcotics -- which pretty much covers everything. But, many people seem to use some of those drugs without problem. I am especially wary of tylenol because of research showing that regular use is a strong predictor of hearing loss later in life.

Have you gotten any medical advice about these problems? TMJ can actually cause most of these problems (plus tinnitus) by itself, but obviously you might have something different going on. I tend to see everything through the TMJ lens because my own issues seem to stem from there.

 

[geg1992]

That list worries me, there's so many drugs which can worsen T.

I have to take Malarone when I go to West Africa, I'm worried this will make T worse.

 

[erik]

Just because a drug is on the list doesn't mean you will get tinnitus or it will make your tinnitus worse. Some things like aspirin or Ibuprofen can give you tinnitus but usually it is temporary. Same with other meds. Unless you are taking meds on the short list (the ones that are likely to give you hearing loss), high doses or taking them for extended periods of time, it probably won't affect you.

When you break it down, it seems like everything causes tinnitus from too much noise to prescriptions (84 of top 100) to over the counter meds (aspirin, allergy meds etc) to caffeine. You hear the phrase "everything in moderation" when it comes to healthy eating. I think this also applies to tinnitus. A little of this and a little of that shouldn't cause you harm. Too much of this or too long of that might.

Be smart about how you manage your T and you will worry less and live a happier life.

 

[LifesABeach]

this sounds unpleasant, and I am very sorry to hear!

...

Actual painkillers are a lot dicier; I have experienced temporary spikes from tylenol, NSAIDs, and narcotics -- which pretty much covers everything. But, many people seem to use some of those drugs without problem. I am especially wary of tylenol because of research showing that regular use is a strong predictor of hearing loss later in life.

Have you gotten any medical advice about these problems? TMJ can actually cause most of these problems (plus tinnitus) by itself, but obviously you might have something different going on. I tend to see everything through the TMJ lens because my own issues seem to stem from there.

I've used a lot of acetaminophen in my time and I don't doubt in the least that it's responsible for at least some of my hearing loss and thus secondarily for at least some of my T. Today, I'd skip it for that reason alone, but add in the fact that it didn't touch the headaches a bit when I took it back in December, and it's like, "why bother?"

As for getting medical advice, yes, my primary - who I've seen for maybe a dozen years and think quite highly of - did an exam and told me I really needed a neuro workup and so she referred me. The specialist ran tests and did an exam and says I have New Daily Persistent Headache (either with or without migraine ... he hasn't narrowed that part down yet.)

I've done a lot of reading about it since I saw him last week, and it's clearly a crappy syndrome to have. Perhaps 50% of those with it never get treated successfully ... sounds depressingly like T, huh? The rest tend to find some relief somewhere, but they have to wade through experimenting with lots of drugs to find one that works b/c there's no one generally accepted Rx - or hope it just spontaneously resolves. Kill me now!

Also seeing a dentist who specializes in myofacial pain for possible TMJ-type issues. So far she's just having me do jaw exercises and I haven't seen any improvement.

Have you gotten any relief with jaw issues from docs or dentists? If so, what did they do? Has TMJ treatment helped your T?

 

[LifesABeach]

That list worries me, there's so many drugs which can worsen T.

I have to take Malarone when I go to West Africa, I'm worried this will make T worse.

Hi geg1992. I hope you get by without any side effects from the Malarone. I don't have any experience with that one.

 

[LifesABeach]

Just because a drug is on the list doesn't mean you will get tinnitus or it will make your tinnitus worse.

I know, believe me. It's just the unlikely few for each one. I tend not to be so lucky, though, which makes taking a new medication a difficult proposition.

Some things like aspirin or Ibuprofen can give you tinnitus but usually it is temporary. Same with other meds. Unless you are taking meds on the short list (the ones that are likely to give you hearing loss), high doses or taking them for extended periods of time, it probably won't affect you.

I understand that the more (per dose and number of doses) you take the better your chances are for having a bad T-related end result, but from all of the reading I've done, there's simply no guarantee that taking a modest dose over a short time won't end up doing permanent T-related harm. Hence, my concerns over treatment of the headaches I described above in response to linearb's question.

When you break it down, it seems like everything causes tinnitus from too much noise to prescriptions (84 of top 100) to over the counter meds (aspirin, allergy meds etc) to caffeine. You hear the phrase "everything in moderation" when it comes to healthy eating. I think this also applies to tinnitus. A little of this and a little of that shouldn't cause you harm. Too much of this or too long of that might. Be smart about how you manage your T and you will worry less and live a happier life.

I'll try, Erik. Thanks for the words of wisdom.

Unless somebody here comes up with a reasonable listing of medications that I haven't seen, I'll probably just have to come up with a benchmark of my own to use when a doctor wants to prescribe X drug for me. FactMed http://factmed.com/index.html has sort of an interesting tool that allows you to enter a medication and it pops out all of the potential side effects from it that have been reported (based on FDA reports). Then you can search to see if T is one of the side effects. If it is, you can then check the % of the time that it has been reported.

For example, if you search for hydrocodone, you see that T has been reported as a side effect in 81 cases out of a possible 9112 cases. That's 0.8889% http://factmed.com/study-hydrocodone-causing-TINNITUS.php

I was thinking of taking the risk on anything less than 1%, but who knows?

Thanks again.

 

[geg1992]

I know, believe me. It's just the unlikely few for each one. I tend not to be so lucky, though, which makes taking a new medication a difficult proposition.



I understand that the more (per dose and number of doses) you take the better your chances are for having a bad T-related end result, but from all of the reading I've done, there's simply no guarantee that taking a modest dose over a short time won't end up doing permanent T-related harm. Hence, my concerns over treatment of the headaches I described above in response to linearb's question.



I'll try, Erik. Thanks for the words of wisdom.

Unless somebody here comes up with a reasonable listing of medications that I haven't seen, I'll probably just have to come up with a benchmark of my own to use when a doctor wants to prescribe X drug for me. FactMed http://factmed.com/index.html has sort of an interesting tool that allows you to enter a medication and it pops out all of the potential side effects from it that have been reported (based on FDA reports). Then you can search to see if T is one of the side effects. If it is, you can then check the % of the time that it has been reported.

For example, if you search for hydrocodone, you see that T has been reported as a side effect in 81 cases out of a possible 9112 cases. That's 0.8889% http://factmed.com/study-hydrocodone-causing-TINNITUS.php

I was thinking of taking the risk on anything less than 1%, but who knows?

Thanks again.

Summary Statistics
Reports of malarone causing TINNITUS: 11
Reports of any side effect of malarone : 1600
Percentage of malarone patients where TINNITUS is a reported side effect: 0.6875%

Interesting! But, if our ears are already damaged, won't this cause them to get worse?

I guess these are figures based on healthy ears, surely our ears are more susceptible to damage?

 

[LifesABeach]

Summary Statistics
Reports of malarone causing TINNITUS: 11
Reports of any side effect of malarone : 1600
Percentage of malarone patients where TINNITUS is a reported side effect: 0.6875%

Interesting! But, if our ears are already damaged, won't this cause them to get worse?

I guess these are figures based on healthy ears, surely our ears are more susceptible to damage?

I can only restate what the website says:

"About this FactMed analysis covering adverse side effect reports of malarone patients who developed TINNITUS.
FactMed provides MD-approved analysis to help both patients, researchers, and physicians accurately assess the risk profile for more than 20,000 different pharmaceutical products. The below report offers compiled information from Food & Drug Administration and FactMed user submissions. Between January 2004 and October 2012, 11 individuals taking malarone reported TINNITUS to the FDA. A total of 1600 malarone drug adverse event reaction reports were made with the FDA during this time period. Often the FDA only receives reports of the most critical and severe cases; these numbers may therefore underrepresent the complication rate of the medication. " http://factmed.com/study-malarone-causing-TINNITUS.php

It's clearly not a perfect tool for us, but what can we do? That's part of the reason I started this thread ... to find out what the best research tool for this purpose is. Hoping some others will chime in with the resources they use.

 

[EddieMar]

@LifesABeach i have actually have really loud T and really bad H...the thing is that a lot of people exaggerate on their T being really loud when its not...If you cant hear your T over the tv or outside i dont consider it being loud. i damaged my T by taking advil for a injury that sucked. and i got a bad spike from taking a drug my doc gave me for T and him saying it wont affect it..so all drugs scare me now..i wish theyll come up with a cure already i dont care how many pills i gotta take a day or what i gotta do as long as it decreases or fades away.

Can you advise on what drug it was that you took gave you a bad spike?