Beconase?

After two months of doctor appointments, sore throats, swollen glands, headaches, earache, jaw pain and tinnitus, doctor has decided I've got blocked eustachian tubes (thanks doc) and told me to use beconase steroid nasal spray from the pharmacy.

Conflicting information online about whether this can aggravate tinnitus or not? If anyone has any answers or insight, much appreciated

 

@GeorgiaRose1812 ,

I do not know if anyone can answer that question for you. The best source would be the paper that is provided to the pharmacy (you may get it if your prescription is for the same amount that it is received by the pharmacy, eg. if you are prescribed 100 pills, and the pharmacy received it in bottles of 100 pills, you may get the paper with all the information).

The other option is to ask the pharmacist. The problem with asking us here is that, unless someone is trained and can reply based on knowledge of the known side-effects, you would be receiving antidotal evidence. And, as we all know, everyone experiences tinnitus differently. And this could work against you both ways: The only people who respond say "Nope, it didn't give me a problem", and you take it and it makes your tinnitus worse, or they say "Yes, it really made mine worse, what ever you do, stay away from it", and you don't take it but it may have helped you and not have affected your tinnitus.

I wish I could give a better, clearer answer, but I think the best course of action is to consult your pharmacist or doctor (I list pharmacist first because that is all they study, the medications, a Doctor may not be as current on drug side effects as I would expect a pharmacist to be).

 

I think the results reported on
https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/beconase/tinnitus/
are encouraging. Out of all Americans who took this drug beginning in 1999, only 18 people had reported getting tinnitus to the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration). It appears that the risk is low. The only part that would make me uneasy is that all of those people got tinnitus after taking that drug for less than a month...

 

More good news
https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/beconase/ototoxicity/

For comparison, here is the report for Prednisone (the drug you are advised to take to decrease the chance of a spike following a new acoustic trauma)
https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/prednisone/tinnitus/
I wish we were to know the relative number of people who had been prescribed beconise and prednisone...

 

Interestingly I've been using Beconase for a long time now as advised by a couple of ENTs I've seen. Basically I need to use it regularly as my eustachian tubes have a tendency to just close up for a few days which is extremely annoying. Keeping on top of the Beconase stops this from happening, or at least I've not encountered any major issues with my eustachian tubes since using Beconase.

Can't say I've ever had my tinnitus get worse though. I'd love to try a week of not taking it but I fear I'll just be stuck with blocked ears for a week or so...

 

My doctor actually prescribed me the exact same thing for my tinnitus, I used it for a week and my T did get slightly worse, but I think that was more down to my stress levels than the spray itself. The reason I stopped is because I developed blue sclera (the whites of my eyes), but this is a very rare side effect and I wouldn't let that put you off. In my experience it is worth a try as it simply reduces inflammation and so I couldn't see a rational reason as to why it would cause T to get worse. If your Eustachian tubes are blocked (like mine are) this might help, but I think steam inhalation and similar home remedies could also be beneficial in clearing it all out.

 

This. I found steam inhalations with a pinch of menthol crystals in works just as well, if not better, than a nasal spray for my eustachian tube issues. Nasal sprays are just a little more convenient every morning .

 

you say it got worse, did it go back down again?

 

Well my T has got progressively worse over the two months I've had it, it's gotten worse even after I stopped using the spray. That would suggest to me that the spray didn't really play a role, I think it was more my stress levels and some other factors (god knows what!) that caused it to worsen. So I suppose the spray didn't really help, but then again I only managed to use it for a week.

 

@lucluc you and I are on a similar timeline then, I've had mine for 2.5 months now - I'm sorry to hear yours is getting worse although glad to see your mood says fine do you mind if I ask if you've had any other symptoms along with it, ear pain, blocked up tubes and the like? Just curious.

 

Well they say up to 6 months it has a good chance of going so i'm hoping mine is just getting worse before it gets better! I have had absolutely no other symptoms other than occasional ear popping and this strange 'fluttering' sensation on my ear drum. I'm hoping it's all down to pressure/fluid imbalance as that can take a few months to clear up. Strangely, I can make the T quieten to almost unnoticeable levels by lying with my head on a pillow in the ear that's pressed agains the pillow. Not sure what this could mean, but i've got lots of university deadlines coming up so just trying to not focus on it too much and hope it fades over time!

 

That's so strange, what a weird condition this is! I've had a few other symptoms besides, but they could be totally coincidental (who knows ). I can do that with the pillow sometimes, it's very odd. All the pressure in my head is definitely off so I'm hoping same as you! Yeah deadline season is truly upon us I haven't started any assignments good luck!

 

This is a myth that has no basis in medicine.

 

Antihistamines and nasonex can help.
Love glynis

 

I know! I think it's more promising that you've had other symptoms, as if it was a fluid imbalance you'd expect to have other symptoms as well as T. I honestly can't think of why having my ear pressed to a pillow quietens T, Maybe its more the fact that my head is tilted to the side? God knows... I'm in my final year so dissertation deadline is soon, it really doesn't help having to think about the constant ringing but i'm trying my best! good luck to you too!

 

So would you say most people that have had T for less than 6 months will have it for the rest of their lives?

 

I was trying to say that there is a good reason to not lose hope, even after 6 months.

 

I'm hoping that's the case, I'm no medic but I'd hazard a guess that the fact you can make it quieten is probably a good sign so don't lose faith I'm in my final year too, never been more stressed so that can't be helping hopefully it'll all be okay x

 

Yeah hopefully it is a good sign, I think final year of uni is probably the worst time to develop T haha, but if we can get through this then surely it can only get better! Hope yours gets better too

 

That's certainly true, my dad still has hope that his will go even after three years! I suppose anything is possible.

 

"Hope is the last part of a human being to die"...