Maybe Atenolol, Maybe Not?

Hello, another new sufferer here. It hit me like a ton of bricks on October 1. I didn’t really even really know what tinnitus was before that. I had heard of it as my father told me years ago that he had it; he described it as ringing in the ears so I thought it meant a ding-dong bell sound. Well, now I know different.

On Sunday, Oct. 1, I was doing laundry upstairs. As I walked downstairs, the swoosh-swoosh of the washer and dryer didn’t fade. That seemed odd to me, so I walked back upstairs, then downstairs — then realized that the swoosh-swoosh wasn’t the machines, it was in my head. I went outside. Same swoosh sound. As the night went on, a high-pitched tone started to accompany the swoosh. I did some google searches and found youtube videos with tinnitus sounds that matched the sound I had in my head.

I’m a 57-year-old female with no history of exposure to loud noises. I have been on Atenolol for almost 2 years. More google searches turned up the website with the guy who insists that beta blockers cause tinnitus. My doctor says he does not believe beta blockers cause tinnitus, adding that if Atenolol were going to cause tinnitus, it wouldn’t have taken 2 years to manifest, but he’ll be happy to switch me to a different blood pressure medicine — Lisinopril — if I want. But still more google searches have led to sites saying that Lisinopril also causes tinnitus. So I’m left wondering if I’m in a google-land of crackpot theories about beta blockers and other blood pressure medicines.

Anyway, I have enjoyed reading this forum and learning about others’ experience with the condition and with habituation. I have found that my tinnitus fluctuates between hissing, crickets, and high-pitch tone, with some treasured moments and even hours of silence.

Probably I’ll try weaning off Atenolol to see if it helps. I will report back if it does.

 

Almost all medicine has ringing in the ears as a side effect. I'm on Atenolol and have no problem with it. If it would cause your T i dont think it would take 2 years to start maybe a week are 2 at the most. Mine was caused by meds and started 3 day after taking them.

 

A med can change its effect over the course of time...