I'm New to Tinnitus — I Wonder If Ibuprofen Could Cause Tinnitus?

I am almost 70 years old, really healthy, I walk over an hour each day. I don't understand this. About a week ago I woke up in the middle of the night and my ears were ringing.

I had taken ibuprofen before this for pain in my hands---and I wonder if ibuprofen could cause this.

I have a stupid question, if I drink several glasses of wine, the tinnitus stops. What does this mean.

A few years ago I had a couple of days of ringing and it stopped.

Monday morning when I went walking, it stopped.

I am so scared that this is never going to go away.

Do you have any thoughts? Help!!

 

Hi there

Do you have hearing loss?

NSAIDs; including ibuprofen has been known to be a problem for some.

What dose and duration were you taking ibuprofen for?

NSAIDs deplete zinc. Perhaps try taking zinc. Not sure of mechanism by which NSAIDs can cause tinnitus, but it's worth a try.

As is nicotinamide riboside (there are threads on this here)

Not a stupid question. Alcohol acts on the GABA receptors in the brain (CNS depressant) Many on here note reduction in tinnitus; either directly via action on GABA receptors, and/or indirectly on perception of tinnitus. (Similar effect on brain as benzos).

I know it's hard but the more attention you give it, the more you'll heighten your awareness and distress.

 

That is what is strange. I have hearing like a bat. I have really wonderful hearing. No loss at all. I hear things making sounds in my house that my husband never hears!! I am really healthy. I have taken ibuprofen on and off for a long time. A couple of years ago during a health problem, I had tinnitus briefly but it stopped. I have been feeling so really well and doing so well. The thing that happened is that about a week ago, I woke up with pain in my hand--nothing big but annoying--and I took 600 mg of ibuprofen. I went back to sleep and woke up with ringing in my ears. I have researched tinnitus over the years and I know that nsaids can cause tinnitus. But I have never had any problems.

I thought of it because it seemed like a possible cause. I do not take any other pain medications. I am really sensitive to so many things. I never would take narcotics, opioids, or anything like that. They make me dizzy, sweating, really sick. So for pain I use ibuprofen and it has always agreed with me.

The thing that is making me crazy is that I read that tinnitus never goes away. Ever. I know about alcohol acting on the GABA receptors. I see why it helps tinnitus. But obviously I cannot drink all day every day!!

I have read about zinc. It is among most supplements that make me really sick. The only supplement I take is Vitamin d drops which I can tolerate and which my doctor really believes in.

I guess I need hope that this could possibly go away. It has started and stopped over the past week since it first began. I don't understand what it going on in my head. I read that hearing loss and sinus problems and all of those things are an issue. But I don't have any of that and as I said, I am ridiculously healthy. Help! Thanks for being there.

 

I took two BC powders and played guitar really loud the night mine started. I've been playing guitar for years and never had a problem. I suspect that the aspirin weakened my haircells and the guitar playing then killed them.

 

Looks like in the past 20 years, only 695 people reported getting tinnitus as a side effect of taking Ibuprofen to the FDA.
https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/ibuprofen/tinnitus/
It is possible, but rare.

 

There is still a good chance that this is temporary. Three or six months from now, it might be gone. If it is not gone, there is still a chance that it will get quieter.

 

Thank you for all of the replies. One reads over and over that nsaids, ibuprofen etc can cause tinnitus but no real interesting facts. Plus I can only imagine how hard it is to diagnose or live with since it seems that it does not just occur in a vacuum, but probably happens after some sort of incident or abuse.

That is why it is so frightening to me, as have survived lots of stuff and now am the healthiest I think I have ever been. Maybe it was just coincidence that the tinnitus seemed to start in the middle of the after I had taken iboprofen earlier in the evening. I need to get in to see my doctor. He is good at peeling me off the ceiling and letting me know what is true. Like all of us, I do much too much "research" for my own good I look forward to know you nice people better in the future.

 

DebinAudtralia--you said something I totally get. Alcohol can quickly mute tinnitus. Long story, but I totally understand the gaba receptors and especially what benzos do to them--and then when one tries to withdraw, death is pretty likely. I don't like to use alcohol for a tinnitus, but sometimes I don't know what else to do. I don't understand or know if alcohol makes tinnitus worse in the long run. Of course, the ability to calm it down as opposed to sticking a large sharp steak knife in my eyes certainly has its appeal. I guess we are not supposed to say these things but don't we all thing them?

 

Hi @wonderingwoman,

Just to mention, some people get sick when they supplement with zinc because it can cause heavy metals to be quickly released into the blood stream. Apparently, heavy metals knock zinc out of zinc receptor sites, and when zinc is supplemented, it can knock those heavy metals back out of the sites. I don't know whether heavy metals could be impacting your tinnitus, but the fact that zinc makes you sick makes me think it's entirely possible. -- Best!

 

That is an interesting thing about zinc. I will look into it. But as a matter of fact, I am truly and horribly sensitive to so many things, so many supplements, so many drugs people think are usual and I cannot take them. I have a fabulous naturopathic doc who is a fabulous medical doc, pediatrician, treats the whole person. For 8 years we have been working together. We have a running joke about the huge list of his favorite things that he uses all of the time on other people--they all make me nauseated, sweaty, pretty much out of my mind. The only supplements I can tolerate are vitamin d3 drops and powdered magnesium at very low doses.

I get all of my nutrients, vitamins, whatever from very basic foods. Thank you for the suggestion--I will see what I can find.

 

Good news. I will continue this thread or post here---whatever you call it--I am not really good at stuff on places like these. But you have been so open and helpful to me I wanted to share my latest experience. It was only about 11 days ago, on a Thursday night--that it seemed out of the blue and after taking 600 mg of ibuprofen when going to bed--I woke up with tinnitus all over my head.
I was so shocked because I have been so well lately, in good shape. I have taken ibuprofen for a long time. Never had a bad reaction. Since then I was so miserable and thinking I was going to be in such bad shape forever.
It can help to be on a forum to gather some experiences, but there are also many horror stories it can make you so upset.

Well I know my history and myself well enough to know--a VERY long story--and my doctor knows it too--that I know that the ringing is caused from the gaba receptors---not noise, not inner ear--but my brain which really makes it scary.

Over the weekend, from past experience, I took lorazepam---if you want more private info maybe there is a way to send me a private message. I am very hesitant to post personal info for so many. In any case, by this morning I felt the tinnitus truly easing. I finally got into see the doctor who knows me so well---and he agreed, it could have been set off by the ibuprofen but we agreed I am so sensitive I won't take it again----I am really sensitive to so many things, so the less the better.

He said my ears are fine. If there had been issues for an ENT he himself would have been able to see them---he says it would have taken time to eventually get rid of it---but now it is gone and he does not expect it to come back.

He says he has personally had tinnitus and it simply took some time to get rid of. I am so grateful that is seems at though I am pretty mended for now.

Let me say I would never take lorazepam for any time more than a couple days. I know too much about benzo drug withdrawal and can be life-ending.

Thank you for all of your comments. I will continue to watch and see how everyone does. It is such a fine line on the internet between helping one another and setting out info that is simply scary and not true. I am so lucky to have a doc who knows me really well and who is so open to all things.

 

Well, poop on me as I like to say. I was so pleased to see my doctor and my tinnitus was apparently gone. Then last night I went to bed--as I was trying to go to sleep, all of a sudden the horrible high pitched ringing appeared in my head again. It was horrible. I could not sleep. I know I am new at this but I want to stick a knife into my eyeballs. I even vomited a couple of times. This is unbearable. I guess I deserve it for thinking I was better. My doctor did say it would take time. He didn't say what to do in the meantime. Help again.

 

Get a white noise machine to help mask your tinnitus. Perhaps see a doctor about a sleeping aid if the white noise machine doesn't help.

 

Jack Straw--thanks for answering. I already have a large box fan which I have used for years and years to ge able to sleep. I cannot sleep if I don't have this. I hear so much that I have to have this background, I have turned it up to the highest force----it is sort of soothing but with the really high pitch in my ears I cannot ignore it. With experimenting with my doc, I have found something that usually makes me sleep well. I used Natural Calm which is a powdered magnesium. It dissolves really well. I don't use much. Magnesium in pill form makes me really sick. But this magnesium makes me relax and helps me sleep if I don't have such racket in my head. With that I take 25 mg of doxylamine. That is the brand unisom. It is like benadryl except I cannot take benadryl Doxylamine is much more sedating than benadryl---and it has a longer half life--8 hours. So it helps me sleep better.

I would never take any other kind of sleep aid. And all of the things like melatonin and stuff like that simply make me crazy and sweat. I am down to the very basics. I have to say, and this may be crazy, but I had a glass of red wine--I usually drink white--about 4:30 a.m. along with 1500 mg of chewable Vitamin C. Then I slept a bit and I realized th high pitch is gone. A slight background noise but nothing bad. And I just went for a 45 minute walk. Maybe bit by bit I will figure this out.

I had an experience a couple of years back of withdrawing from a benzo drug a renowned pyschiatrist had given me 10 years go. He was horrible as I now know. Going through the withdrawal almost killed me. But I am now the healthiest of my life--except of course for this ringing in my head. I would never go again down the road of a benzo drug. They are appropriate before surgery or something like that--but more than a couple of days and they are deadly. Thanks for being there.

 

I fixated on my tinnitus for about a month and it was terrible! It is louder now than it was then, but it no longer bothers me (I still hear it most of the time) because I quit fixating on it. I'm not sure if yours is quieter or louder than mine or what pitch it is. These can all surely impact how long it takes to get used to it. But once you accept it and quit fighting it, you can become free again. White noise app on my phone was a life saver for the first couple months to help me sleep.

I remember thinking that my T was gone several times. When it would come back I viewed it as a cruel trick that it would go away for 10 minutes. My favorite place is outside! I almost never notice my T when I'm outside.

You can get through this! I'm praying for you right now.

 

ksbanker--thanks for your words. My doctor who knows me really well tells me it is a matter of time for it to go away. I am trying to figure out how to live through this. I asked him if he had ever had it and he said yes--I asked how he got over it and he said, just time.
People have said to see an ENT--but as when I had vertigo, an ENT cannot do anything about this. He says my ears look great--he would be able to see easily if anything was wrong and he knows how keen my hearing is. I know it is the gaba receptors that are the issue.

We pretty much figured out that it was probably the ibuprofen I took two weeks ago----I have taken it for years and never had a problem, but I guess the time had come. I have not taken any since then, never will again. He talks about healing from the ibuprofen but I have no idea how long that will take. Does anyone know??

I see you got tinnitus from medications. Do you have any idea what the time frame for healing is? Thanks you all for being here. I need to talk to people who understand what I am going through.

 

I do not know the time frame. Mine is still very much there about 5 months out. Cipro seems to fries your GABA receptors. I try not to anticipate it ever going away. I tell myself, it is there, but that is fine. I am ok just like this. I do my best to not think about wishing it would go away, but rather being glad that I can still hear well. Some people lose most of their hearing as well as having very loud T. I am blessed to still be able to hear distracting noises and music. Try to focus on the positive!! Most people your age are in much poorer heath than you sound to be, so count your blessings! Our mental state is something we can at least attempt to control.

 

Something that is so hard is that I went through some years of a lot of crap with my health--mostly thanks to doctors. I have an amazing doc who has worked with me for 8 years. It is mostly my own doing with his help, but I am so really healthy now. In great shape, volunteering 6 days a week, loving life. And out of the blue this tinnitus happened almost 2 weeks ago and is destroying my life. I cannot sleep in spite of so many things like fans and white noise. I am exhausted. I was so happy and now I sort of feel as though my life is over. My doc says I will heal. It will take some time. Each day is such hell. I have pretty much healed myself of a lot of bad things and here I am---and now it feels as though it is all going away. I have fabulous hearing--through many things I have had a jillion tests including an MRI, every heart test in the world---etc etc etc. It just seems impossible that someone as healthy as I am now would suffer like this. Thanks for being there. That thing about control. I cannot control anything when that noise is in my head. Blessings to you.

 

Get an extended audiogram. You could have a hidden loss.

Zinc might be making you ill if you are copper toxic (a stimulant). Whenever I take zinc, i experience nausea because it causes copper dumps. I've always wondered if my preexisting copper excess contributed to my tinnitus.

The recommended dose for ibuprofen is 400mg every 8 hours, not 600mg! Your tinnitus may be the result of cumulative ototoxicity/hidden hearing loss. I think it has to do with how your body deals with the med. With all due respect, as we age, we become more sensitive to meds. I'd be attempting to boost your glutathione levels (major antioxidant) . A depletion in this may have contributed to your susceptibility to developing tinnitus and a possible hidden hearing loss. (Guessing.....)

I'd also consider nicotinamide riboside as a long term measure of otoprotection.

 

Thanks again. I haven't taken any zinc for years---I only know in the past it made me sick so I have not tried lately. Since I last wrote some hours ago, I have been taking some vitamin c tablets--500 mg each----it is 1 a.m. right now. I went into my bedroom at about 6 p.m.and fell into a deep sleep for an hours and a half. I was up for a while and went back to sleep for a couple of hours. I cannot believe I slept so deeply. The noise in my head is only a slight buzz in the background and I am going back to sleep now. Good heavens. We shall see. I will let know you-
I tried to make an appt with an ent my therapist rccommended and only got a run around they are so busy they could not even talk to me about an appt yesterday. Also the same with an ent my doc practice recommended

I decided to see an ent even though my doc didn't see anything he thought would call for that. But again good grief. I cannot even find someone to see me. I may have to heal myself again. Thanks for the input
y

 

It is 5 in the morning. I slept a lot last night. As I had just written, I fell into a sleep at 6 last night and was zonked for an hour and a half. I got up for a while and went back to sleep at 8:30. I was up at 1 and was able to go back to sleep and was up at 3, back asleep and now it is 5. I typically go for an hour or more walk in the morning--I have continued to do this even through all of this.

The ringing in my ears is lower and feels much more in the background. One thing I changed yesterday is that I have some vitamin c chewables which are 500 mg. I was looking for something to help heal the gaba receptors and early yesterday morning I started with 1500 mg of c, then during the day took some every few hours.

I also have had a lot of fresh lemon juice over the years. There is a Minute Made product I get at Walmart--it is frozen lemon juice in a plastic bottle. 7 ounces or so I think in each bottle. It is real lemon juice, not like in those plastic lemons---frozen. And I put it in big glasses of sparkling water with nothing in it but natural flavor and it is delicious, It helps me to drink a lot of water.

I cannot believe the change since yesterday afternoon. I feel good with so much sleep. I am getting some hope. Yesterday afternoon I saw my therapist I have had for a couple of years. I was screaming in her office that I wanted the noise to stop. it is still there but not so loud or high. And it sure makes a difference to be able to sleep.

I hope maybe the vitamin c idea helps other people, too. More later. Bless you all for being there.

 

I don't know where to write this so I will continue here. I have some good things to talk about. So it was a little over three weeks ago that I took ibuprofen and woke up with bad ringing in my ears. No reason to think it would happen, no illness, no loud noise, etc. I have seen my doctor twice and been to the ER once because it made me so anxious that I had a panic attack and my heart raced and my bp went up.

After talking with my doctor again and my favorite pharmacist, I am pretty sure that the ibuprofen caused this. I have taken it over the years, not to excess , but it seems to be the thing that started it. My pharmacist says that is really likely but that since I stopped it, I should heal.

I have had some periods of peace several times. My doctor knows me and he wanted me to take a very small dose of lorazepam for a couple of days. Benzos used for a short time can be okay. I would never take one on a regular basis. I have some really awful horror stories of my own that are now over. Never again on a benzo for any regular basis.

Earlier this week I took a mg at night. I got silence for a while. Last night I took .5 mg and I got a lot of sleep. I also take doxylamine, an anti-histamine which is good for tinnitus, at least for me.

Since I got up this morning, I have had silence. I also think the 500 mg of chewable vitamin c helps. I have heard that flavonoids help and I think vitamin c is that.

This works for me because I do not have issues in my ear or noise damage or any of that physical stuff. My issue is simply in my central nervous system and that is only helped by specific things. I am almost afraid to think about it but I do think I am healing.
It is Saturday afternoon about 2 here. I will let you know what happens.

 

It is Sunday afternoon. I had a wonderful day yesterday. Friday night I took some lorazepam as my doctor said to do-more for the panic I get from having tinnitus and my bp which can vary when I panic. I slept really well and yesterday I woke up to silence and it was wonderful all day. I walked, went to volunteer, we went to an impromptu family barbecue and I felt great---no noise at all. I go to bed early. I went to bed at 7:30 and things were great. I woke up at 11:30 to a slight noise. When I woke up this morning it was back, although not too bad. I don't volunteer on Sundays so I walked almost two hours and I feel really good. Except the ringing is there---sometimes it seems to go down. I don't know what to think. As I said, my pharmacist was pretty sure it happened because of the ibuprofen. She also said not to read anything on the internet. She said she thought I would be getting better.

It is afternoon and I feel so good---I have been so bad not just because of the tinnitus but because of my heart racing and tinnitus. I am just thinking things will improve. I hope so. I know I do everything I can to heal myself and that has worked for a lot of things. I know this does not come from my ears but my central nervous system.

We shall see.

 

I went through a broken shoulder back in January 2018 that required surgery and a ton of PT. I was given pain meds and volumes to cope and was told to take ibprophen for imflamation. The shoulder ended up being frozen and a manipulation was done in June..with more PT and more ibprophen. End of July I finished PT and the pain of continued force on the shoulder. I then developed fluid behind both ear drums and ringing in ears. Doc put me on antihistamines and nose spray. Did that for 1 1/2 months and still ringing but fluid was gone. We are now in November and I still have the ringing..some days it is so loud I can't think straight and other times its faint. It gets louder when I bring my jaws forward. So I'm at a loss of what is going on..I just want it gone. ENT did a hearing test and its almost perfect. I think the few I got wrong was due to the noise in my ears and I couldn't make out if it was a pitch or my ears. I'm just lost n what my next move is. If ibprofen induced will it eventually go away??