My name is Matt – I'm about 50. My tinnitus started last August and in late September became continuous in both ears. I have had a rough year to say the least.
Last March, I had a brain hemorrhage and stroke. The brain hemorrhage was surgically repaired with a stent. At the time I weighed about 240 and have lost about 100 pounds down to 145 since then. I did not have tinnitus right after the stroke. I was a musician for years, played guitar in a band, and did not wear ear plugs usually. However, about a month ago I did have an ENT test my hearing and I do have some hearing loss in the high ranges, but not enough to cause tinnitus he said.
Here are some possible reasons: I was on a host of medications after the stroke many of which could be ototoxic. I began having the tinnitus after I decided to withdraw from Klonopin which I had taken at 1mg per day for around 3.5 months. I "jumped off" at .5 mg a day which was probably a mistake. The tinnitus began, very loudly, about week 2 of this withdrawal, and I did have pretty bad withdrawal symptoms.
I withdrew because over the summer I developed severe nose bleeds from blood thinners along with psoriasis and inflammation inside my nose and on my face, and probably in my ears. I do have psoriasis in my outer ear canal and also have psoriatic arthritis. I take Otezla for it. I also have severe allergies and cannot take medication because it dries out my nose severely (a dose of Allegra severely damaged my nose and flared the psoriasis), and I have a lesion in my nostril so I cant use Flonase etc.
I was desperate thinking medication was the reason for this flare up. I also withdrew from multiple blood pressure meds: Clonindine, Minoxdyl, Hydralizine, Amlodipine. The last I withdrew from was Metoprolol after the Klonopin. The only one I am currently on is down from 320mg Valsartan to 80mg Valsartan per day. My blood pressure is under control, and I have diabetes controlled with 18mg Lantus per day – am hoping to get off the Valsartan and Lantus (through Diet). So now I just take Otezla, Valsartan, and Lantus.
My ENT said the Klonopin could cause tinnitus, but here is the thing, I know it went away for a time. I believe that after taking Levaquin for a bladder infection in late September it reappeared. There was also a weekend I became depressed and decided to crank each Black Sabbath album I have, pretty loud, about 5/10 on my big Hi Fi. After that day, the tinnitus appeared in both ears 24/7.
I though it might have been better, but a dermatologist put me on Linezolid , an MAOI antibiotic, for a lesion in my nose that wont heal. It helped my nose some, but not totally, but spiked the tinnitus.
I had a pretty decent day finally last Sunday, but something spilled in the oven and smoked up my house, and spiked the tinnitus bad.
At worse I get probably 8/10. I can occupy myself and not notice it sometimes but not always. I am able to go to sleep. In the night I wake up and for a moment it is not present, but as soon as my brain activates, it comes on. I have multiple tones in both ears, both high pitch 'weeeee' sounds.
I am praying this goes away – but I fear with my laundry list of problems that could cause it I may be in for the long haul or for life, at least after two months I am trying to begin to accept that. I have been taking B12 and magnesium. I am afraid of the Ginkgo due to my blood thinner problem I described.
I am looking for support and encouragement, and I have found some company in reading others stories on this forum. Thank you for reading.
Last March, I had a brain hemorrhage and stroke. The brain hemorrhage was surgically repaired with a stent. At the time I weighed about 240 and have lost about 100 pounds down to 145 since then. I did not have tinnitus right after the stroke. I was a musician for years, played guitar in a band, and did not wear ear plugs usually. However, about a month ago I did have an ENT test my hearing and I do have some hearing loss in the high ranges, but not enough to cause tinnitus he said.
Here are some possible reasons: I was on a host of medications after the stroke many of which could be ototoxic. I began having the tinnitus after I decided to withdraw from Klonopin which I had taken at 1mg per day for around 3.5 months. I "jumped off" at .5 mg a day which was probably a mistake. The tinnitus began, very loudly, about week 2 of this withdrawal, and I did have pretty bad withdrawal symptoms.
I withdrew because over the summer I developed severe nose bleeds from blood thinners along with psoriasis and inflammation inside my nose and on my face, and probably in my ears. I do have psoriasis in my outer ear canal and also have psoriatic arthritis. I take Otezla for it. I also have severe allergies and cannot take medication because it dries out my nose severely (a dose of Allegra severely damaged my nose and flared the psoriasis), and I have a lesion in my nostril so I cant use Flonase etc.
I was desperate thinking medication was the reason for this flare up. I also withdrew from multiple blood pressure meds: Clonindine, Minoxdyl, Hydralizine, Amlodipine. The last I withdrew from was Metoprolol after the Klonopin. The only one I am currently on is down from 320mg Valsartan to 80mg Valsartan per day. My blood pressure is under control, and I have diabetes controlled with 18mg Lantus per day – am hoping to get off the Valsartan and Lantus (through Diet). So now I just take Otezla, Valsartan, and Lantus.
My ENT said the Klonopin could cause tinnitus, but here is the thing, I know it went away for a time. I believe that after taking Levaquin for a bladder infection in late September it reappeared. There was also a weekend I became depressed and decided to crank each Black Sabbath album I have, pretty loud, about 5/10 on my big Hi Fi. After that day, the tinnitus appeared in both ears 24/7.
I though it might have been better, but a dermatologist put me on Linezolid , an MAOI antibiotic, for a lesion in my nose that wont heal. It helped my nose some, but not totally, but spiked the tinnitus.
I had a pretty decent day finally last Sunday, but something spilled in the oven and smoked up my house, and spiked the tinnitus bad.
At worse I get probably 8/10. I can occupy myself and not notice it sometimes but not always. I am able to go to sleep. In the night I wake up and for a moment it is not present, but as soon as my brain activates, it comes on. I have multiple tones in both ears, both high pitch 'weeeee' sounds.
I am praying this goes away – but I fear with my laundry list of problems that could cause it I may be in for the long haul or for life, at least after two months I am trying to begin to accept that. I have been taking B12 and magnesium. I am afraid of the Ginkgo due to my blood thinner problem I described.
I am looking for support and encouragement, and I have found some company in reading others stories on this forum. Thank you for reading.
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