How Long to Refrain from Antihistamines (Allegra) to Rule Ototoxicity as a Cause of Tinnitus?

I've been taking Allegra on a daily basis since October 2019. In May-June 2020, I switched over to Zyrtec briefly but then went back to Allegra after the bottle was done.

For those who've had success in getting rid of tinnitus after stopping their ototoxic medications, how long did it take to see results? Did it slowly flicker away or just abruptly stop one day? Also, how long were you on antihistamines before your tinnitus started? I'm thinking of stopping antihistamines for 2 months.

My situation is odd. The tinnitus started after syringing but I also have some mild hearing loss even though my hearing range is normal. When I showed my Audiogram to one ENT, she said "good thing we can rule out any sudden hearing loss" on our first meeting, and then changed her narrative once I told her that another ENT said he definitely thinks it's that mild hearing loss that's the cause of tinnitus.

It seems like there's some ambiguity here and I'm trying to rule out other causes as well including eustachian tube dysfunction. It's too coincidental that my antihistamines use started a year prior to this.

I was fine with just using Nasocort in dealing with allergies before last October. I only got on antihistamines because my doctor said many people take it everyday. I only need it to deal with a bad itchy dry cough once every year so maybe I'll just take it for a week when that happens again. My allergies aren't too bad.

The much bigger problem is this tinnitus.

 

Could the allergy itself be causing tinnitus?

What frequency and decibel loss is the hearing loss?

 

I got tested for allergies years back. I'm allergic to grass pollens, tree pollens, and dustmites.

I don't generally feel like my allergies have escalated recently. They usually manifest in the form of itchy dry coughs which I use to get much more often. Even at its worst, I would get these 3-4 times a year. The other symptom is constant sneezing attacks in the morning.

Ever since I started to use air purifiers and sometimes humidifiers, I would get these allergy attacks much less often. I never really considered myself to have severe allergies.

Also, like I mentioned, I started to use antihistamines consistently since last fall (that was actually when my last bad dry cough was; guess it's been a good year). I also upgraded to a much stronger air purifier too (Blue 211). Another thing is I stopped smoking or vaping marijuana (I use to consistently) a year ago so my breathing should be better than ever too.

In theory, my allergy maintenance seemed better than ever this past year.

There are some red flags though. I'm not the cleanest person and often delay vacuuming for months at a time. That part is nothing new though. I've had the same carpet for 8 years now and do wonder if I might need a deep cleaning. My windows often get moldy too although my ENT told me long ago that only certain people have problems with mold. Also, since COVID-19 started, I work from home so I'm more exposed to my uncleanliness. If these really are problems though, they certainly aren't showing up more dramatically in the form of my typical cough symptoms.

I'm in the process of finding a new apartment, so we can see if my location was really a problem soon.

I stopped my antihistamines for 3 days now and still aren't feeling bad allergy symptoms. The tinnitus does seem slightly louder sometimes but I'm also feeling less anxious about it. All very subtle changes though. It's so hard to tell because of the fluctuations.

Here's my audiogram. I normally hear the high pitched ringing as seeming centralized, but when I hold my right ear closed and listen, the high pitch is for sure coming from the right side:

 

I've been wondering, does anyone here use antihistamines on a per-needed basis? Meaning just for a few days or a week only when you start to get a scratchy throat or if you have sneeze attacks?

Would it even be effective when used that way?

 

Actually, that's the most common and recommended way to use antihistamines, since they are only necessary when the body is overproducing histamine, which is generally only when it is exposed to allergens that trigger the response. And it's the way I have always used them.