Prednisone Made My Previously Barely Noticeable Tinnitus Much Worse!

Long story short, I’m a long time sufferer of tinnitus. I got it after a concert in 2008 and from listening to loud music while cutting grass.

For the most part it has gone away and I only notice it after smoking pot and when really focusing on it.

I have recently been getting cluster headaches and the doctor put me on Prednisone which helped me in the past, however this time around I have horrible tinnitus in my left ear and is making me want to kill myself. I told my doctor and I stopped the Prednisone today, so hopefully it gets better!

Has anyone else experienced anything like this from taking a corticosteroid?

 

What's strange is that corticosteroids are prescribed for tinnitus onset and hearing loss.

It's rare that it makes tinnitus worse, although it's clearly possible.

Anyone else have any insight?

 

Kinda odd from my own experience and others. Prednisone dramatically lowered my tinnitus. Maybe as it leaves your system it lowers back down.

 

Yes. Prednisone seemed to make mine far worse but it got better after the course.

 

Always taper off Prednisone. It made me way worse.

 

Taper it now. Don't stop cold turkey. I'm still having worsened tinnitus 3 months after Prednisone cold turkey.

 

Same here. I'm tapering slow. Been on it a while for things unrelated to tinnitus.

 

Sorry I’m just getting back, been going crazy trying to make appointments and dealing with Cluster Headaches on top of this.

My doctor said to stop the Prednisone cold turkey since I have only been on it for about 5 days. Today is day 2 off of it and still have the tinnitus in my left ear... just so weird.

 

How are you now?

 

Do you have updates on this?

Today I had a new audiogram that showed a 50 dB loss at 14 kHz and 16 kHz compared to a 30 dB loss in July. All the lower frequencies seem more or less the same. Unfortunately, due to the urgency, I had the audiogram test in a different place from the usual so not sure if the changes might be justified.

2 weeks ago I went to a loud karaoke and forgot my earplugs, but I only entered the ambient in my turn to sing. I estimate more or less 25 minutes of 110 dB but with pauses/intervals.

Now I am over the fence on taking Prednisone as I am already tapering a benzo and the side effects from Prednisone seem tough even for people with a normal CNS. Also, it's been already 2 weeks since the karaoke event.

So, can Prednisone really worse hearing and tinnitus permanently? What is the optimal schedule of tapering? Does it mess with GABA?

 

...why would ever risk doing something like this if you are worried about getting worse?

I don't think you lost any hearing from that and honestly Prednisone has worse side effects. Prednisone does not mess with GABA.

 

It's because my tinnitus onset was almost surely caused by Sertraline and I avoided loud places just for precaution.

You think that I didn't lose any hearing even with the differences presented in the audiogram I did today compared to July? My tinnitus sounds more piercing but not sure if I am obsessing more about it. What a tricky condition.

I am afraid about starting on 60 mg of Prednisone and getting psychotic or something. I am afraid about the worst case scenarios of new tones or making tinnitus worse as already posted here. But at the same time, those cases are rare and I wonder if I lose the opportunity if I will keep banging my head against the wall. I am so tired of these hard decisions with all the battles I already face.

 

I think hearing has little to do with how severe tinnitus is, honestly. The worst cases I know have perfect audiograms. So I don't think Prednisone is worth the risk. Stop obsessing about it and going to loud places and you'll be fine.

 

@Skryze, are you any better by now?