Increasing Number of Tinnitus Tones — From Blood Pressure Medication?

I've had tinnitus since 2011 and always had one tone (short of occasional multiple tones which came and went).

About 6 months ago I started noticing a second tone and this week a third. They all seem to be permanent. The only change in my life has been my blood pressure medication, an increase in one and an added one. The result being my blood pressure is now normal.

Could it be the medication or is this something that comes with age?

 

Hi @Mike_CA.

It is very important your blood pressure is kept under control. If your doctor has prescribed medication to achieve this then take it, as uncontrolled blood pressure risks kidney damage, heart attack, stroke or even one's early demise off this mortal coil.

My blood pressure medicines are listed as can cause ringing in the ears but they haven't affected my tinnitus in the slightest, even though it is variable from complete silence, mild, moderate and severe. This is not to say the medication you are taking is not affecting your tinnitus, but it's best to discuss this with your doctor who may recommend changing it to another type.

Before pursuing this route I want you to consider a few things that might be of some significance. You have had noise induced tinnitus for a long time. This type of tinnitus will usually remain stable for many years. However, a few things can cause it to increase, namely stress or more common is further exposure to loud noise, using any type of headphones even at low volume. This includes earbuds, headset, noise cancelling or bone conduction headphones.

If you have been working in a noisy environment, playing a musical instrument in a band or engaging in an outdoor sport such as firing a gun, even whilst wearing earplugs it's no guarantee your auditory system is safe from further irritation to loud sound.

Please click on the links below and read my posts that you might find helpful.

All the best,
Michael

Will My Tinnitus Get Worse? | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum
Can I Habituate to Variable Tinnitus? | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

 

Out of interest, what are the meds?

 

Hello @blamingeverything. I'm prescribed Losartan and more recently Hydrochlorothiazide (a diuretic).

 

Hello @Michael Leigh, thanks for your response and advice. I'll read your posts.

I gave up all forms of headphones years ago thinking they were the cause. I still use Bose sunglasses which have speaker elements forward of the ear canal. Bose claims they're not bone conduction but still could be contributing to the cause. Food for thought.

Cheers,
Mike

 

If I were you and I am not your doctor or a doctor, I would experiment with dropping the HCTZ.

 

@Michael Leigh, question, what is the evidence for low volume noise-cancelling headphones causing issues? If the volume is low, and given an equal safe dB level coming from a speaker vs a headphone, what would be the harm to the auditory system? Or are you just referring to possible exacerbation of tinnitus itself and not harm to hearing?

 

I attend this forum to help people that are having difficultly coping with tinnitus, specifically when it is noise induced, with or without hyperacusis, because I have lived with it for many years. Fortunately I am no longer affected by hyperacusis as it was cured over twenty years ago using white noise generators as part of TRT.

Over the years I have corresponded and counselled people affected by tinnitus and hyperacusis. Their experiences have helped me to gain more knowledge and understanding of what typically makes these conditions worse. It is further exposure to loud noise or listening to audio even at low volume through any type of headphones including noise cancelling, earbuds and headsets.

I have always said that my advice is for guidance and is not absolute. Please type headphones in the search box at the top of this page and read posts from members that have used headphones including noise cancelling and regretted it because their tinnitus has increased. It is mostly people that have noise induced tinnitus that are at risk of their tinnitus getting worse, if they return to using headphones.

Please be aware after a person habituates to noise induced tinnitus, there is no such thing as a safe dB level when using headphones. A person can make a good recovery after a noise trauma but should keep in mind the auditory system has been compromised and is never quite the same as it once was. I have explained this in many of my articles on noise induced tinnitus that are available of my started threads. Please click on the links below and read my posts.

If a person's tinnitus becomes worse due to further exposure to loud noise or headphone use, I believe the auditory system is affected to some degree. I prefer not to use the word harm.

After my second noise trauma my tinnitus changed drastically and became variable with large fluctuations in intensity. From complete silence, mild, moderate, severe and very severe. It took 4 years to habituate for the second time. Fourteen years has passed and it's still variable and at times problematic but much easier to live with.

I wish you well,
Michael

Will My Tinnitus Get Worse? | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum
Can I Habituate to Variable Tinnitus? | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

 

You are welcome Mike. My advice is not to use the Bose sunglasses.

Take care,
Michael

 

@Michael Leigh, I appreciate your thoughtful and thorough response but I am not convinced of the link between “any” level of headphone use and exacerbation. I know you don’t need me to be but your confidence seems misguided. The occurrence of increased tinnitus could be due to anything. Anecdotes given by notoriously unreliable human accounts should be taken as just that.

 

I won't be commenting further on this matter @blamingeverything and wish you well.

Michael

 

Hi @blamingeverything, thank you for your response and helping figure out what is causing my increased tinnitus tones.

The problem with the Losartan alone is that it appears to have a limited shelf life (if I'm using that term correctly) and doesn't help reduce the blood pressure for a full 24 hours. That's why my doctor added the HCTZ. So I take one in the AM and the other in the PM. That seems to work.

I do plan on discussing replacing it with another (if one is available).

Thanks again,
Mike

 

Dear @Michael Leigh, you may be right about the Bose. Ditch them. It is better to be safe than sorry when it comes to tinnitus. I'm walking proof of that. My thought is that whatever gave me tinnitus, could make it worse.

Thanks again,
Mike

 

@Mike_CA, regarding the medication, you should read the information leaflet/prospectus of the pills to look for tinnitus or anything related to the ears that could be listed as a side effect. Also, look online to see if they are ototoxic. You can ask your doctor to change your pills, because there are hundreds for keeping your blood pressure down!

 

Hi @Mike_CA,

The most common cause of tinnitus is exposure to loud noise and typically, it is listening to audio through headphones, earbuds or headsets at too high a volume that causes it. Exposure to other types of loud noise can cause it too. My advice is not to use any type of headphones even at low volume and this includes earbuds, bone conduction, noise cancelling headphones and the Bose sunglasses you mention, as there's the risk of making the tinnitus worse.

I take Amlodipine and Ramipril to control my blood pressure. Both are listed as being able to cause ringing in the ears. My tinnitus hasn't been affected in the slightest. My advice is not to look up medication and side effects. Far too often this instills negative thinking and a person can believe a certain medication is causing their tinnitus to increase when it actually isn't.

Unfortunately this is the problem with reading too much research material into tinnitus. If one searches deep enough, they will find almost anything can cause tinnitus to increase. This is the main reason I stopped reading up on tinnitus studies many years ago, because of the psychological impact it can have on the mind.

Michael

 

Forgive me for being pedantic, Michael, but your comment "it can have on the mind" is clearly a redundancy after the phrase "psychological impact" and entirely unnecessary (it is already entirely taken for granted that that's solely where a "psychological impact" could reside).

Perhaps you should refresh yourself with an 8th Grade Primer regarding the Elements of Composition.

 

Hi @Gabriel5050, I'm in the process of discussing this very thing with my doctor. Little is mentioned as far as ototoxicity with either medication so I may need to rely on his advice.

Mike

 

Comments like this portrays yourself in a very negative light as it shows you have no good arguments against your opponent, hence the reason you resort critique of the opponents composition, rather than objectively rebuking any of their arguments. You have lived a few decades longer than me, you should know better.

Good day,
Stacken

 

I've been prescribed Valsartan (Hydrochlorothiazide) for hypertension. Is it ototoxic?

Does anyone know of a drug of this type that is safe?

 

Obviously you should keep working with your doctor on this, but I had a very swift and sudden reaction to the Hydrochlorothiazide. My tinnitus changed tones almost immediately and became very prominent in my good ear. I think my body was just responding to a rapid shift in fluids. But everybody's different. Maybe it will ease up if you give your body some more time to adjust.

 

It's one of the safer hypertension medications. Hypertension needs treatment as it can either directly or indirectly cause many physical problems including hearing loss.

All heart and hypertension drugs can increase tinnitus, but it depends on the individual - including being older and what other medications are being used.

With most hypertension and heart medications, you should know of an increase of tinnitus by day 6. If there's an increase quit and try another medication.

When wanting to know if a medication causes or increases hearing loss and tinnitus, place the name of the medication into a search and then tinnitus with a space between the two words.

Hydrochlorothiazide:

Hydrochlorothiazide and risk of hearing disorder: a case series

 

I'm sorry, but once again you seem not to grasp my point that @Michael Leigh's clumsy, inexcusably amateurish style (or lack thereof) is only one of the manifest indications of the totality of his ineptitude.

I was only pointing out that although he claims to be such a proficient writer, the example I gave belies the truth regarding this assumed competency as well.

And what do you mean that "I have no good arguments against my opponent?"

I have exhausted myself in previous posts that describe precisely the breath and extent of such ineptitude.

And don't forget that all along I was minding my own business; he was the one who fired the first shot by ripping into me about an innocuous comment.

Don't think for a single minute that I am going to pussy under to such a pigheaded bully.

 

Sorry you are going through this. Loop diuretics are known to cause tinnitus. Talk to your physician.

 

Curious if you are still experiencing this, particularly in your good ear? My new tinnitus tone has become my dominant tone as well but in my bad ear. My doctor took me off the HCTZ as it was determined I don't need it. Unfortunately, still no change. Ugh. Thankfully my good ear is still spared.

Thoughts are with you,
Mike

 

Thank you. Just to update you, my doctor took me off the diuretic as it was determined I didn't need it, thank goodness. That said, no change in new tinnitus tone. Ugh.

Mike

 

Give it some time.

 

Hi Mike,

The diuretic induced tinnitus in the good ear only lasted about half a day, and by the next day I was back to the "usual" tinnitus in my bad ear. I hope you figure out the cause of your new tone. Maybe something else spiked it and it will settle down soon.