Diclofenac Is the Devil: DO NOT Take It If You Have Tinnitus or Hyperacusis

Whatever you do, DO NOT TAKE DICLOFENAC SODIUM. PERIOD.

I was making improvements lately and getting to the point where I could listen to rain for an hour and not get any reactive tinnitus. I have a herniated disc in my lower back and it has been flaring up again lately, so I took one Diclofenac which I was prescribed when I went to bed, and woke up a few hours later with HELLISH tinnitus. I had already looked up this anti-inflammatory before and didn't find anything about it being ototoxic. I guess I didn't search hard enough? Apparently it's the WORST anti-inflammatory you could ever take if you have tinnitus or hyperacusis, according to Reddit.

Now I'm back at square one, waking up every morning with 10/10 tinnitus, and when it calms down a bit it will react to every single little sound. It's simply unfathomable that ONE 75MG PILL can set you waaay back. They won't put warning labels on this stuff, tinnitus isn't even listed on WebMD as a side effect even though it's WIDELY KNOWN that it's one of its worst side effects. Can I even get back to where I was before I took ONE pill? I don't even know anymore. They all say ototoxicity is irreversible.

I'm sorry for the rant, I'm just so exhausted. Setbacks seem unavoidable and there is always something that happens.

P.S. Oh, and TTTS is back, which took 6 months to get better from.

 

Really sorry to hear that the Diclofenac set you back so bad. These ear issues truly are a minefield. I also took 75mg of Diclofenac and had an awful spike. This was quite some time ago for me. The spike did eventually subside. As far as TTTS, I had it when I took the meds and I still do so I can’t speak to the possibility of that improving.

 

I am so sorry you're going through this. Can you try to relax as much as possible and pile on the anti-inflammatory meals and herbs? Curcumin, magnesium, Zinc, etc.? I'm not sure if everyone responds the same way to those things but maybe it could help. I hope it improves soon.

 

Ototoxic reactions are the worst. I'm so sorry that you're going through this. I know what it's like to have an ototoxic medication turn your life upside down. I hope that your spike dies down soon and that your tinnitus returns to baseline.

@Lyris has a great suggestions about taking herbal anti-inflammatories such as curcumin.

 

Jesus, sorry to hear this. I also took this drug about a year before I developed hyperacusis. Must have done some serious damage (

 

My wrist has been aching lately pretty bad. I know that Diclofenac is ototoxic per os, but how much risk does it carry by topical use?

 

I just took a Diclofenac for general pain this morning, and it spiked my tinnitus and hyperacusis pretty badly, works for pain but seriously destroys the ears. No more!

 

@GoatSheep

I ended up using the topical Diclofenac for about a week once a day and no adverse effects until now.

 

Hi. Could you please tell me about the adverse effects, where you applied the topical Diclofenac, how much you applied, how often, and any other information about this you can think of? I'd appreicate it very, very much.

I'm thinking of taking some because diclofenac gel looks possibly safe from what I saw, but you are the first case I see of someone experiencing adverse effects due to it, but I don't know if it is worth the risk because my tinnitus is ototoxic induced (and it worsened due to more ototoxic drugs).

Thank you so much in advance.

 

How are you feeling now?

 

I did not experience adverse effects from the topical use, but some do from oral use. I only used it for a couple of days, once a day on my wrist and then later on my knee. Applied gently, maybe used around the size of a bean worth of gel, and it was absolutely okay. Keep in mind that my tinnitus is most probably not from ototoxic drugs. There is a slight chance, because I used topical Neomycin 4 days before original onset, but noise damage is much more likely.

Original poster got spike from Diclofenac pills. I think in gel form, it's not particularly dangerous, although I absolutely get your worries about anything ototoxic.

 

It sucks to say but most anti inflammatory drugs and supplements are ototoxic. Some much more than others. Hope you get better man.

 

Thank you so much for the helpful reply! I'm going to try a small amount of it like you did and see how it goes. Did you use gel or cream (or maybe some other topical)? I think the gel might be safer but I'm not sure.

 

Can you remember which anti-flammatory supplements are ototoxic ? I think I've seen information about ototoxic anti-inflammatory medication, but I haven't come across anything about anti-flammatory supplements being ototoxic.

 

Unfortunately not. Just be cautious and do research on whatever you're putting into your body.

 

No worries. I hope it goes well for you too. I used it in gel form.

 

After a month of extra bad spikes, things were starting to behave more like they did before I took it, except for the fact that now my left ear has some weird distortion that occurs when listening to tinnitus masking tracks. It gets much worse when I'm having a spike.

Things got devastatingly bad a couple weeks ago and my left ear got WAAAY worse for a while. Only now I'm back at baseline again but still with the minor distortion sounds occurring in my left ear.

I'm pretty sure at this point that all of my problems stemmed from ototoxicity and not noise exposure, and unfortunately I cannot take anything even remotely ototoxic at this point anymore.

 

Awesome to hear!

Hopefully even this will eventually dissipate.

 

Thank you. I'm hoping as well. If I go outside or talk to people it's nonexistent, but if I'm in a quiet room with some background track I can hear it. Not quite sure what to make of it.

 

Sorry for the dead bump but this applies to me. Apparently Diclofenac can give spikes so I want to be careful trying it.

How are you now? What's the distortion sound like? Or has it gone away or faded?

 

I've taken diclofenac for TMJ since my tinnitus started, it seems to help me. Definitely doesn't make it worse. But my tinnitus is allegedly from TMJ (plus a new tone in my right ear from blowing me nose too hard), so not noise induced or ototoxic induced.

 

Did the spike from Diclofenac eventually subside?