Tinnitus After Shooting Colt 45 — Became Much Worse After Starting Plavix (Copidrogel)

Hi everyone... In 1997 I was foolish enough to shoot my Colt 45 without hearing protection. I felt an intense sharp pain in my left ear, was somewhat dizzy and in pain for 2-3 days. Didn’t go to the Dr.

I’ve had tinnitus now for well over 20 years so, I’ve just learned to overlook it. 12 months ago I had heart stents due to blockage and began taking blood thinners (DAPT). The main thinner had rough side effects so after 9 months that changed it to low dose Plavix.

Since starting the Plavix my tinnitus is almost unbearable! Going on 3 1/2 months now. Following my yearly followup they’ve decided they want me to remain on dual blood thinners and Plavix is about the safest one. I have an ENT Dr appointment this Friday to see if he’d like to do a CT / MRI etc to rule out some serious complication of the blood thinner or the “other stuff”... I HAVE to do something for this as it’s unbearable.

I would honestly be deaf in that ear IMMEDIATELY if they told me they could do a procedure to stop the ringing/but would lose my hearing in that ear. It’s that bad. I do have a lot of anxiety with my heart condition as I have a disabled son who needs me around for a long time to come.

What are the options for dealing with this? Extreme fix to minimally invasive fix?

 

How long have you had ear pain/pain from noise? Since the incident?

An MRI is extremely loud and can harm hearing more.

The ringing is coming from the brain due to a loss of hearing, not the ear.

 

I noticed the ringing immediately. It was very “annoying” but with time easy to overlook. What’s been going on the last several months is not something I’ll be able to function normally with. It’s so loud that it’s painful, if that makes sense.

 

@Earpain2019 -- I've done extensive research in all kinds of natural healing for many years, and during that time have run across at least a couple dozen refernces regarding certain foods or supplements that thin the blood and should be avoided if you're taking prescription drug blood thinners. Why not check into some alternatives to the meds? It would seem to me you'd likely have lots to choose from. -- All the Best!

 

Well, totally different topic... but maybe connected too so may as well discuss. I’ve come to the conclusion that my cardiologist is either A) a liar, or B) has multiple personalities. This guy has given me 4 totally different suggestions on what he’d suggest at 12 months post-stents.

Then, during my followup last week to discuss the 12k in tests/test results, he proceeded to “remind me” (he said) that I have a 100% occluded RCA. I actually had a 90%+ occluded LAD which is obviously worse however my body had grown a large collateral that saved my life. He’s a “specialist” who doesn’t do cath’s.

So, I went to Vanderbilt for my cath. You’re awake during a cath, and I was told on the table that my RCA didn’t need stents, then they found my issue when cath’ing the LAD. I have a stent above and below the occlusion now.

Anyway, this “specialist” decided to tell me 12 months post-stent that I have a 100% blocked RCA and says my heart is left side dominant so I don’t NEED the RCA to be open... Blew my mind! So I’ve ordered a cath lab report from Vanderbilt and await that before seeing a new cardiologist etc... etc... being treating my need to thin blood with 81mg aspirin and turmeric and/or some other means of natural thinning.

 

I've read in several places that cinnamon is a natural blood thinner. Just make sure it's Ceylon and not Cassia.

 

Some new treatments might be available to us soon:

https://www.statnews.com/2019/04/08/michigan-wins-stat-madness-popular-vote-tinnitus-treatment/

 

Thanks folks.

Something else I’ve noticed is that almost ANY stress maxes my noise out. Even exercise dials up the noise.

 

Normally, dual platelet inhibition with acetylsalicylic acid and clopidrogel (DAPT) after stent implantation only takes one year.

If causality is suspected and your symptoms are so severe, a risk assessment must be carried out and clopidogrel discontinued.

I myself doubt the causality between clopidogrel and tinnitus and suspect rather a coincidental temporal connection.

 

I agree, however I thought it important to hopefully rule out a connection. My “guess” would’ve been that Dr would have stated my CAD / Atherosclerosis was reasoning for continuation of DAPT however, he instead gave a total BS discussi0n of sorts which is why I have my actual cath lab report ordered now so I can see if A) he withheld critical info for 12 months or B) made up something to keep me on DAPT vs just being honest and telling me why HE would suggest DAPT beyond 12 months.

 

If your tinnitus symptoms are so unbearable, you should quit Plavix, especially as the stent was long ago and you continue to use acetylsalicylic acid to inhibit platelet aggregation. By the way, the latter - taken in high doses - is said to trigger tinnitus...

 

I’m only taking 81mg of aspririn, in addition to lowest dose plavix. I’m still waiting for my full cath report to arrive, so to decide my next step. As noted, my cardiologist either BS’d me to make me want to stay on DAPT or alerted me to a serious issue that I’d not been alerted to prior. If it’s the 1st one, I’ll be dropping plavix and making an appointment with a new cardiologist. If I do actually have a non-stented totally occluded RCA then I’ll stay on DAPT until I see a cardiologist to plan a bypass if that’s what’s required. I’m noticing now too that I suddenly have a lot of hearing loss in this tinnitus ear.

 

Well.. ENT visit is tomorrow but, cath report arrived yesterday. Don’t have, and probably have never had..a functioning RCA to my heart... Why my MD who “specializes” in cardiology found it necessary to withhold that information for 12 months post cath.. then use it against me to change med directions too is beyond me. I have a new to me highly recommended cardiologist to visit on 5/6 so I guess I’ll take the plavix for sure, out to that visit. Starting to realize that this left ear noise is escalated to its worst by bedtime for some reason. I don’t expect the ENT doc to do much honestly but thought it important to go nonetheless. Severe Tinnitus absolutely sux at a minimum, that’s for sure.

 

What I meant to ask is your ear always hurting or usually hurting, does noise cause pain?