Steroids: Prednisone / Dexamethasone / Others (Oral and Intratympanic Injections)

Fuck Prednisone. I took it for 14 days following a work injury I had in my left ear. I’ve since been 3 weeks off the Prednisone and I’m experiencing the worst (possibly permanent) spike there is.

I’m not sure how long the effects of taking steroids last in the body but my right ear has gotten worse and I have to habituate all over (again). I was in a good place till I took Prednisone. I shouldn’t have taken it from the beginning. I quit drinking as well. Nothing is masking my tinnitus. While I was on it, I noticed that in the quiet places where I didn’t use to hear my tinnitus, now I could hear it constantly in both ears as well as in my head. I’m tired of my tinnitus getting worse and worse and never getting better.

I’ve literally ruined my life now and I’ve also developed Visual Snow from Prednisone as well.

 

Are there any risks (like tinnitus worsening) to getting an intratympanic injection? I've read on the forums that it can worsen hearing, is this true?

 

I don't see any evidence that Methylprednisolone, etc., is ototoxic. For people claiming that it is, where did you get that information?

 

There are no studies on that. You won't find a scientific publication stating it is ototoxic.

Reason why some people (mistakenly) say it's ototoxic is because there are anecdotal reports of it making tinnitus worse (as well as making it better or not doing anything at all).

Your mileage may vary. If your tinnitus started in December 2022, you are already well past their potential window of effectiveness.

 

My tinnitus started around December 30. I just finished my Methylprednisolone pack. I didn't really notice any changes. Hard to tell because my tinnitus changes so much. I believe my tinnitus is from a viral infection or something like ETD, not from noise trauma.

 

Holy Moly. The ENT put me on a month long tapering dose of Prednisone to combat tinnitus.

How long will it take until the side effects go away? I have been off the steroids for 3 weeks now and I can't sleep and am having strange mood episodes. My heart 2 days ago decided to beat at 80-100 bpm all day; it feels like my body is destroyed.

Obviously I should be thankful for the progress I made with my tinnitus but does anyone have any experience with steroid withdrawal? Google is useless and, doctors just laugh.

 

This is how I felt when I took it. What helped me combat the majority of the symptoms were exercise and working out. Even though I was on it for 14 days, it still had somewhat of an effect for roughly a month for me to get over.

 

What effect did the Prednisone have?

Did it eliminate your tinnitus or was it a percentage reduction?

 

I would like to formally report that I have been taking Prednisone for a duration of three days, and I have observed a notable decrease of at least 50% in the intensity of my tinnitus on both sides. Moreover, the quality of the sound has shifted from a complex, multi-tonal noise to a faint hiss.

This significant improvement in my condition has greatly enhanced my overall well-being, and I remain optimistic that continued usage of this medication may further alleviate my symptoms.

However, even if the reduction in tinnitus persists at its current level, I am content to live with this level of improvement, given that the severity of my previous experience was unbearable.

 

@justguts, great news! Did you have a recent sound exposure? Is that why you got the Prednisone?

Keep us updated if the positive change stays after finishing the course of Prednisone.

 

To the best of my knowledge, I do not recall any significant exposure to loud noises that might have contributed to my worsening tinnitus (recently or even when it first started), which has occurred on 3 to 4 separate occasions since its initial onset.

Initially, I would only notice the noise at night, but over time, it has become an incessant distraction that has affected me throughout the day. Despite attempts to alleviate the symptoms with white noise and similar strategies, the condition only seemed to worsen. In search of a viable solution, I explored various drugs that had proven to be effective for others and decided to try Prednisone because it was recently used by my relatives, and they still had some left over. I can confidently say that it was the best decision I've ever made since I've gotten this stupid ear parasite, given the significant improvement I got.

I'll keep you posted if I see any further improvements or when I eventually finish the the medication to see if it goes back to its original form or if it hopefully just stays like it is now.

 

Back in 2010, I suffered an acoustic trauma which started my tinnitus. It was loud and ugly. I had intratympanic Dexamethasone injections around 2 months after the onset, followed by a few months of small dosage of Xanax. After around 3-4 months, my tinnitus was barely noticeable and I have been enjoying a normal and successful life.

In summer 2022, I had a massive spike with no apparent cause. I was traveling so I took a high dosage of oral Prednisone for around one week along with Stugeron and Xanax at night, in addition to daily multivitamins, Zinc and Melatonin. Few weeks later my tinnitus drastically improved and I’m back to (almost) normal and enjoying a normal life.

 

I should have responded sooner. I had probably an 85% reduction in volume, still omnipresent but not unbearably loud and intrusive. Just in the back drop for now; hopefully progress continues with time. My initial volume was louder than anything I could find to mask it, so I guess 110 dB as a ball park number. Though I am holding out hope for Dr. Shore's device regardless of my situation; life is loud and I expect a resurgence if i am not careful (age is a factor as well).

I never had sleeping issues because of tinnitus, I have slept with agonizing pain and all sorts of fun stuff since about 12. It was the volume and lack of a chance to recover that made me death spiral. So nothing to really report on there.

The Prednisone itself caused a weight gain of 15 pounds, insomnia and, mood swings. I'm still dealing with these issues but they are drastically better than a few weeks ago.

 

So have you finished the Prednisone cycle?

 

@CarlosEstan, @justguts:

How long after your tinnitus got worse/was triggered did you start steroids?

 

Hey everyone,

I've had tinnitus for 5 years now. It's always been manageable but a week ago I developed noxacusis and my tinnitus spiked. My best guess is from headphone use, although I had severe bronchitis a few weeks ago and a lot of stress these last 2 years.

My ENT told me I could try cortisone treatment since there's a small chance it might help.

However, two hours ago I found out that Prednisolone is ototoxic. I've seen posts here from people stating it helped them, but also a lot of posts saying it spiked their tinnitus, although for most people the spike wasn't permanent.

Since this is not the onset of my tinnitus, I've been wondering if it's worth it at this point. I already downed 100 mg but I am supposed to take 100 mg a day for 4 more days.

What are the odds it is going to help with a spike and do you think it's worth it?

 

Prednisone is NOT ototoxic. Most things do not damage the ear. A few do.

 

The pinpoint of my own worsening was extended high volume headphone use back around 2016/17. I remember a sense of having an inflamed auditory system just before feeling like something had broken.

As I was fully habituated to tinnitus at the time I didn't consider taking something like Prednisone, and to be honest, I wasn't that knowledgeable about this condition back then.

I can't advise you on whether or not taking the medication will be of benefit, however, knowing what I know now, had I visited an ENT back in 2016 and been prescribed Prednisone I would have taken the full course. Hope things stabilise for you.

 

My GP told me the same. So far no effects at all except for maybe a small increase in the volume of my tinnitus. But I could also easily attribute this to stress.

 

My tinnitus has reduced in volume by at least like 80% now. I have only taken 2 doses so far.

Do you guys think there's a chance it'll not fully bounce back after tapering off?

I don't want to get my hopes up yet. The silence I am currently experiencing is heaven. And I fear it'll me crush once I taper of and fully bounce back.

Has Prednisolone helped anyone here permanently by reducing their tinnitus, even if just by a bit?

 

Did you take the 100 milligrams at once? I have some Prednisolone at home but it's expired by two years. I'm having really bad issues after seeing a dentist in December with no relief in sight. I probably shouldn't consider taking Prednisolone given the time frame and the incident wasn't particularly loud, no drill or anything, it was just a suction tool for a few seconds here and there.

 

Don't do it. The Prednisolone won't do much now, in fact, the side effects could spike your tinnitus further. It made me very stressed for example. Hard to say if it even would've done anything in the first place. Seems like it only works for SSHL somewhat reliably. I mentioned earlier this day that my tinnitus was significantly reduced but I think that was just a quiet morning. Like 2 hours afterwards everything was normal again. And yes, my doctor told me to take all 100 mg in the morning to reduce side effects.

 

Sorry to hear about your recent tinnitus worsening and onset of noxacusis Do you feel like the steroids have helped your noxacusis at all? Hopefully you experience more improvements in your tinnitus as well.

 

I don't think it helped with noxacusis, although I am luckily a mild case so it may have helped. I am not sure. My tinnitus, however, has drastically lowered by about 80%.

Maybe I do have SSHL or maybe the steroids will wane off and all will be back to 7/10 with 3 tones minimum (currently 1 tone only!).

I will report back in a few days to tell you if it worked.

 

Wow, glad to hear of the improvement! I bet it will stick once you stop the steroids.

 

Has anyone got any experience with using Prednisone after getting medicine-induced tinnitus (in my case, Wellbutrin)?

I can’t find any literature. Scared of messing with dopamine versus helping with inflammation? I have a lot of ear pain and fullness. I’d do anything to get to a level where I can function again.

My tinnitus started one week ago.

ENT prescribed the Prednisone without asking (he said he can’t promise it won’t make me worse but it helps a lot of his patients. I’m guessing they don’t have tinnitus caused by medicine.)

Any thoughts? Much appreciated.

 

3 days after the injury, I would give anything to have not taking the Prednisone though. My mental health is still all over the place. The ringing would have been more manageable than this.

 

Any update?

 

I'm confused why ENTs treat tinnitus differently based on if you show hearing loss on an audiogram or not, when tinnitus from an acoustic trauma widely exists regardless of the audiogram results (hidden hearing loss).

I had an audiogram around two weeks ago. It showed no hearing loss. Obviously it doesn't make much of a difference as this is very common with tinnitus.

I'm just wondering how you guys find doctors to do intratympanic Dexamethasone injections with no hearing loss on the audiogram? Did you guys have to fake the audiogram or are there otologists willing to do certain treatments regardless of audiogram results?

Thanks for the information.

 

Was anyone else’s anxiety and mental state completely through the roof whilst tapering off Prednisone?