I Was Prescribed Medrol (Methyl Prednisolone) Steroid — Scared of Side Effects

Hi all!

I'm 3 weeks in a pretty bad spike caused by an acoustic trauma (motorcycle exhaust backburn pop). I only noticed the spike 3 days later after an ear candle wax removal that my tinnitus went from 4/10 to 7/10. I have no perceived hearing loss, only a stuffed feeling in left hear, but the latest audiogram shows left ear 50 dB, right ear 40 dB hearing loss but only at high frequency.

I took Nasonex as I had a slight negative pressure and some inflammation, but that's resolved. I have reflux on the other hand, which sometimes gives me Morse code tinnitus but that's another story.

I wanted to take Medrol (Methyl Prednisolone). My ENT even prescribed it. However after reading the side effects, especially the nasty eye things (glaucoma, cataract etc.) plus the possible psychotic episodes, I'm not too keen on taking it.

But as an only somewhat proven remedy for SSHL, I fear if I don't take it, I'll lose the opportunity to repair some damage. I was opting for intratympanic local steroid but my ENT is not too convinced it would be the best option and it's very hard to get it since almost every hospital is a COVID-19 hospital now where I live.

I'm a 40-year-old male and about to plan a child, which also tips the scale against the steroid as it has RNA altering effects.

I'm kind of torn by the pros and cons. What would you do?

Thanks.

 

Even the votes are not unequivocal.

 

Hey @Robin21.

May I ask how long your course of steroids is?

So, I take Prednisolone fairly frequently (I have very bad asthma).

The first time I ever took them though, was for tinnitus - my asthma wasn’t a thing at the time.

However, because I was new to tinnitus, I was already in a very distressed state, and the steroids definitely made my anxiety go through the roof!

But since having to take them for my lungs, I haven’t had any negative side effects whatsoever. In fact, I believe they have been a great help for my tinnitus. They really calm down any spikes I experience, and I truly believe they helped lessen my tinnitus when I first developed it.

If I were in your shoes, I would take them. I totally understand your worries, but after a year of using Prednisolone, I believe the benefits outweigh the negatives. There are also other people on the forum who take them for asthma, and they say the same things as I’ve just told you.

I know it seems a scary option taking them, but what have you to lose - they could really help! But of course everyone is different. Some say Prednisolone made them worse, but they are in the minority. Put it this way, I am grateful that I took them that first time.

Anyway, I hope that helps. Feel free to ask me anymore questions if you need to.

Steph

 

I have had the same experience. The first time I took Prednisolone, I had just lost my hearing and my anxiety was already elevated. It was a rough experience.

The next time I took Prednisolone - due to asthma and severe allergies - I did not even give it a second thought. No anxiety taking it and no negative impact on my tinnitus. I’ll have no hesitation taking it again. My allergies and asthma have been horrible lately and I am actually hoping my doctor prescribes steroids to help calm down any inflammation that’s contributing.

 

Hey @Tinker Bell, yeah, taking Prednisone when you’re feeling low is a terrible experience, but the ‘not knowing’ if it could have helped, would have been an even worse feeling. Glad we decided to do all that we could have done.

I was exactly the same! My lungs were absolutely shot to bits, and my breathing was awful. I took the steroids without a second thought.

Have you always suffered with asthma/allergies Tink? I’ve had asthma since I was very little, but last year I had a reaction to something, after I’d been on a bike ride, and unfortunately my lungs have never been the same since. I am finally under the respiratory clinic, so hopefully they can help me because no inhalers or steroids seem to do the trick anymore

And I’m sorry to hear your asthma is playing up. Not being able to breath properly, sucks big time!

 

Yes, I do not regret doing all I could when I lost my hearing. I even underwent intratympanic steroid injections into my affected ear and many MRIs to rule out possible autoimmune conditions. It was difficult at the time, but it gave me assurances to move forward.

I did not always have asthma and allergies, they developed after a virus. Paraphrasing my allergist, but the virus caused an overreaction by my body that triggered everything. I hate having an asthma attack, it’s really scary when you cannot catch your breath. Hope you see improvement soon!

Oh and Robin21, I have significant eye issues and my doctors have had no concerns with me receiving steroids. The risk of the side effects you mentioned is very low.

 

Thank you @Tinker Bell and @Steph1710!

I still haven't started it yet, but it would be 5 days 64mg and then tapering. I also was opting for intratympanic injection because it would be better side effect-wise. My biggest concern is the possibility of psychotic side effect. I am mentally healthy but had a very bad experience in my 20s with marijuana that caused a temporary psychosis.

 

@Robin21, trust me Robin (lovely name btw), you’ll be fine Also, there is absolutely no point in tapering for only 5 days worth. I’ve never tapered once. I think it’s more of an American thing to do, because in the UK, doctors say a 5 day course is too short to bother with the taper.

Also, the dose you’ve been given, and number of days to take them, is the same that I’m always given.

If you’ve never taken them before, you will feel a bit funny, but it’s only for a couple of days. It will be mainly anxiety. But Robin, if you want them to work for your ears, you have to take them ASAP! The longer you wait, the less of a chance they will help.

If you take them and feel strange at any point, speak to me on here. You can talk to me if you need - I will offer as much support as I can.

Good luck buddy! X

 

Speak with your doctor about your concern of psychotic side effects. Given your past experience, I would recommend having someone checking in on you or with you when you taper off and for a couple days after. Because my anxiety level was so high before I even took a steroid after my hearing loss, my ENT made a similar suggestion. It was very helpful to have distractions then too. If you have a therapist, setting up an appointment during that time could be helpful.

 

That's a good idea! Thanks for taking the time to respond. I'm probably overreacting and everything will be fine. I will check back in and report how it goes.

 

Thanks for the compliment on my name @Steph1710

I want to thank you and @Tinker Bell for encouraging me on the forum I've been constantly hesitating for days whether to take oral steroids or not. So far I opted not to.

I'm still torn by the decision, but the 5-10% chance of developing some sort of psychosis (which can be from depression to full-blown la-la land, it's basically a coin toss) is just too much for me. And out of those cases, 5% will be permanent. I had a very brief episode a very long time ago, but the statistics also say that marijuana-induced psychosis also occurs around 5% in drug consuming population, which I happened to fall in :/

I rather keep my mind and sanity, than possibly gain back 10-15 dB of my hearing. I had L 40 dB - R 30 dB hearing loss already in high frequencies, now it worsened another 10 dB but maybe it's just aging.

It's a really hard decision, but as you can see that if there's something that scares me more than tinnitus, then it must be something truly frightening, well at least for those who experienced it in some form.

I am super obsessive with sounds nowadays for example yesterday I sneezed in my car, and it was a very loud noise. I instantly regretted letting a good achooo out It did spike my tinnitus...or my anxiety? but either way, the ringing went louder. Being logical a short noise burst around 90-100 dB shouldn't cause any damage, but a lot of people on this forum would beg to differ. It's hard not to be paranoid about these things when we already burned our hands. So for me, motorcycles are pretty much out of the question even with super duty 37 dB dampening earplugs and a quality helmet (because of bone conduction) until electronic bikes will be a decent alternative.

I still have an option for intratympanic steroid this week, without the side effects I'm afraid of. It's a tad bit late, some literature says the time window is 2-4 weeks, but I read 36 days and 6 weeks elsewhere. Who knows...

I wish I could just pop the tablets and let them work, but I couldn't cope with the possible consequences if my fears would turn out to be a reality.

 

So a little update.

I had 2 Intratympanic Dexamethasone steroid treatments last Friday and this Monday.

The first one was a breeze, in 2.5 hours I was back to work at home. But the second one made me puke for 4 hours.

Was it worth it?

No change in tinnitus, and I guess it hasn't helped with the hearing loss either, but maybe it's too early to tell. On top of it, I have slight dizziness, which might be because of hard depression in the last couple of weeks or at least I hope so.

Would I go again? Not in a lifetime. It still baffles me, how the same treatment can produce so different reactions.

 

I too am sensitive to the effects of meds, really anything I take including caffeine I have to be careful with. I have not taken steroids in 5 years because of a bad reaction to a steroid injection in my spine. This time I have taken a steroid taper pack and felt ok mentally until the 9th day and then I stopped. The advantage to a tablet or pill is that you can stop if you start having negative side effects. With the steroid injection, I was unable to stop taking it because it was injected into my spine and the life-altering side effects took 6-8 months to subside.

 

In spine? Ouch! That must have been terrible.

With oral steroids you can stop, that's true, but once the chemical makes the switch in your brain I fear there's no easy way back from lalaland.

 

Do it once.

Taper super duper slowly. For real.

Then it would be worth it at this stage.

If it doesn't work or you get worse do not try it again.

If you spike while on it give it a day before quitting it. You will likely have volume reduction but new permanent sounds are possible if you taper too fast! Tapering ludicrously slow did not do this to me. Fast tapers made me permanently worse.