3 Months Into Bupropion-Induced Tinnitus

[InMyHead]

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.

 

[T_Almost_Gone]

I'm so sorry. This happened to me, too; you can check my thread. Mine did improve.

And yes, there's a buzzing-like energy with the tinnitus. I think overactive neurons cause it.

 

[Ashen_Rat]

Has your T improved since you posted here? I developed tinnitus caused by Bupropion at 300-450 mg dosage increase (started the day I increased my dosage, has become chronic since the day after that) in April of this year. I'm hoping it's not permanent since I've been examined by a couple doctors, ENT, and an Audiologist and haven't found any issues with my ears or hearing. I've also had a CT scan with contrast done on my head and upper chest to rule out vascular issues or tumors, neuronomas, etc.

Neurological tinnitus is so incredibly under-researched and under-reported it's actually ridiculous. It's ruined a good portion of my life since it started, I was a healthy 21 year old with no prior chronic tinnitus history prior, and no doctor I've visited seems to give a shit.

I'm browsing forums on here and can't seem to find any true success stories of it going away, just getting more bearable over time.