I Can't Identify the Cause of My Tinnitus — Could Olanzapine (Zyprexa) Have Caused It?

So I have Tinnitus since August this year. I was prescribed Olanzapine for severe anxiety and depression.

I had a bit of an episode one night where I experienced a sharp pain in my neck and then ear for a few seconds, and then I heard a very low sounding vibration and this was the tinnitus. It happened so quickly.

I believe Olanzapine gave me the Tinnitus, BUT my doctors deny it has anything to do with it.

I went to an ENT, no otitis, or fluids in the middle ear, and no hearing loss.

I want to ask, could Olanzapine have given me the tinnitus, if yes, is it a very rare side effect that other people don't experience?

It has subsided now (like 90 % but my left ear still feels very different than the right ear - aural fullness) but I just need to know what caused it.

I am seeing a neurologist next week. I hope they shed some light. I am freaking out because the tinnitus itself is more like a vibration in the left side of my head and that cannot be habituated with.

Thank you so much.

 

Hi Audiophile_bg,

I was looking at a possible connection with starting on Olanzapine and tinnitus, and came across your post. Since taking a very low dose of Olanzapine (2.5mgs) on 3rd November this year, I ‘ve started to experience a high pitched hissing in both ears. I saw a Psychiatrist on Friday (16th November 2018) and mentioned this to him, although he didn’t seem to think that this was a side effect of taking the Olanzapine. I had actually taken a slightly higher dose of Olanzapine (5mgs) between the beginning of April and the middle of August and didn’t experience the problem then. The only difference then was that immediately prior to this I was taking 150mgs of Quetiapine for a couple of months.

I have an appointment with my regular doctor next week to see about this. It is proving a real nuisance and something that is quite difficult to live with. I’ll post again once I have any more news. Take care

 

http://hyperacusisfocus.org/innerear/#hiddenloss
You actually do have hearing loss their test are inaccurate.

 

Based on Dr.Neil Bauman's book,
Olanzapine is on the ototoxic items list.

 

Based on his book everything is ototoxic.
Dr. Neal Bauman isn't a medical doctor. His PHD is in ancient astronomy.

I have no comment on Olanzapine itself. A lot of medications can cause tinnitus, but I still find Neil Bauman's claims rather dubious and his approach is not scientific.

 

Seconded - the "book" is basically just a list of all medications ever without any science to back its claims. If you enter any drug name + "ototoxic" in Google, the damned book comes up. It's a great strategy to sell that crap to anxious people, but it is also immoral to the point of criminality because it scares people away from medication that could help them. I hate that it exists.

 

Hey, Codemunger. I hope the psychiatrist doesn't just brush you off. Please get back to us when youd discuss that Olanzapine with them. Thanks.
Good luck.

 

This is the same feeling I got when I stumbled across the book. Pretty much every medicine that was used by people was listen on it, and it made it very hyperbolic and alarmist.