Could Taking Wellbutrin for 30 Years Have Caused My Tinnitus?

Hi, I have tinnitus. It's pretty loud and constant. Sounds like a cicada. I've complained about it to my primary doctor a couple times during my annual physical and she blames it on my "toxic medications".

I do take psychotropic medications for my bipolar. One of them is Wellbutrin which I recently noted it can cause ringing in the ears. I've been taking the medication for almost thirty years. I will be discussing this with my psych doctor at my next appointment.

I read recently that if you've had ringing in the ears for more than six months it won't go away. This worries me. It has not gotten to the point that it distracts me in my activities of daily living but does bother me at bedtime.

I wonder if a white noise machine will help.

 

Welcome to the forum. If you have taken Wellbutrin for 30 years but your tinnitus is only recent, then it may not be the culprit of the tinnitus. Even though some drugs do have side effects, not all people will experience the side effects. Drug reaction is a highly personal thing. I have also an ultra high pitch tinnitus like cicadas but my cause isn't from drug side effects. It is more likely from hearing loss in the high frequency and so my tinnitus is high pitch.

It is only a general statement about tinnitus that having it for 6 months is going to be a lifetime of suffering from ringing. If you read the success stories you will see that many people recover beyond 6 months. Recovery may mean fading or disappearing tinnitus or that people habituate to the ringing and that will usually take 6 months to 2 or 3 years. So don't worry too much about it as stress and anxiety are not good for tinnitus. If it bothers you try masking the tinnitus with nature sounds especially at sleep time. That was what I did a lot during the initial time. Try to stay positive and stay calm. Try to live your life as normal as you humanly can so your brain will learn that tinnitus is not an end game. When the brain begins to think tinnitus is a distraction but livable then habituation will slowly happen. Eventually you may not be aware of the ringing as the brain tends to ignore things unimportant and not threatening. I lived through nightmare before but now enjoying my life even with a recent sudden hearing loss on my left ear.

Good luck. Take good care. God bless.