Ritalin Induced Tinnitus — Dexamfetamine Made It Worse

[Katie B]

I am 60. I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed Ritalin which gave me a very stiff neck and headache up the back right side of my head. Then I heard the crickets. My psychiatrist changed me to Dexamfetamine (very low dose) and after about 3 days the buzzing intensified.

I stopped all meds and I still have tinnitus. It's been 4 months now.

I also went through a stage where I could zone it out but now it seems to compete for attention. I am convinced it was brought on by the stimulants and wish I had never gone there. I survived 60 years with no stimulants. I am high functioning ADHD.

My doctor fobbed me off and said it was a coincidence. My psychiatrist agreed.

My hearing is fine. I have still got a stiff neck and the back of my head is tender on the right side. I have tried chiropractor, myofascial massage, Chinese massage, acupuncture, Thai massage and now I am at the physio. He gives my head a very firm massage and tweaks my spine which improves my tinnitus. I am convinced the stimulants made me tense up and I've trapped a nerve. My physio is away for 2 weeks and my tinnitus has got bad again. I am now trying the app "Curable" to see if I can reverse the neural pathway.

 

[Stuart-T]

Hi - have you had a hearing test? I know you say your hearing is fine - I thought that too - until a hearing test told me otherwise.

Yours may be connected with the drugs - sadly it would be virtually impossible to establish a connection to any high degree of probability. I think your doctor would be more accurate in saying "It MAY be co incidence."

But supposing it is not a co-incidence, what would you expect the doctor to do?

From a practical standpoint you are now doing the correct things - stopped the meds - and searching for treatments that work.

 

[Katie B]

Hi - have you had a hearing test? I know you say your hearing is fine - I thought that too - until a hearing test told me otherwise.

Yes I've had a hearing test and I have a very small loss in one range but apart from that my hearing is fine.

I found on Tinnitus Talk some information on cervical tinnitus and this ticks every box so going to talk to my physio about it.