Tinnitus Temporarily or Permanently Worse After Seroquel and Hydroxyzine?

Hi,

I have scarring in my ear canal which worsened my hearing (and could possibly be contributing to my tinnitus). I am hoping to get surgeries to help with this. I developed mild tinnitus while I was taking Lexapro. I stopped when I noticed I had it.

My tinnitus worsened significantly when I took Sertraline and Loratadine together. I stopped them. My tinnitus seemed to slowly get a bit better, but I developed insomnia (or at least I cannot sleep well anymore) and have been taking medications and working on sleep hygiene to be able to sleep.

My tinnitus seemed like it was slightly better around when I developed insomnia/sleep difficulties and became very sleep deprived, and was starting to catch up on sleep. I tried multiple medications to help sleep. Recently, I've been taking Seroquel (Quetiapine Fumarate) and Hydroxyzine. After taking both at the same time for a few days, I can hear tinnitus much more often in my other ear (the right ear, which doesn't have as bad scarring); prior to that, tinnitus in my right ear was rare.

I am trying to get off the Seroquel safely, and I will try doing just the Hydroxyzine because it is safer and from what I see, is less likely to negatively impact tinnitus.

I am wondering if any of you have any idea if my tinnitus is temporarily worse or permanently worse due to medications I'm on now (or even medications I took before)?

I know tinnitus is complex, and a lot of factors can affect it, especially depending on the person, but if any of you have any insight or ideas to share about what I've explained, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

Doctors prescribing an antipsychotic for Parkinson's off label because a side effect is sedation is absolute madness to me.

I got worse tinnitus from Seroquel, took it once, instantly noticed the tinnitus got more "prominent," perhaps louder.

I do not think it was permanent or somehow screwed me forever... but if I were you I'd definitely stop with the Seroquel.

 

I've taken all of those in the past but was before I had tinnitus. Taken Vistaril and Zoloft since. They are minimal changes. If you have depression maybe try Nortriptyline. Half the people on this forum will say it makes tinnitus worse and have never taken it. I take 40mg of Nortriptyline a day and Xanax .25 once every couple of days. Xanax drops the volume significantly. Nortriptyline does a little more. I would start at 10mg and go from there. That Seroquel is so sedating I couldn't take it. I felt like a zombie.

Also I doubt the increase is permanent. I also took Prozac @ 80mg which is the highest dose anyone takes and I never had any tinnitus from it. I took it for five or six years at that dose. I guess everyone is different.

 

I have been on Seroquel for a little less than a month. I've been trying to taper off it because I seemed to develop tinnitus in my other ear because of it (or at least while on it).

Last night was the first night in a while I didn't take any Seroquel. I took 50 mg Hydroxyzine and 0.1 mg Clonidine last night. I wasn't able to sleep, at least if I got any, it was very little.

I have some Trazodone to try. Some weeks ago I took 50 mg of that with I think 25 mg of Seroquel, and maybe a little Hydroxyzine or Clonidine. It seemed to make my tinnitus even worse, but maybe I was imagining it.

Tonight I'm thinking of trying 50 mg Trazodone on its own, but I am not sure if it would be better to get back on Seroquel--because it was helping me sleep although it seemed to make my tinnitus worse--or to give the Trazodone a try.

My tinnitus started on Lexapro (it was mild then), then worsened on Sertraline and Loratadine (my tinnitus is severe now). I'm hesitant of taking the Trazodone because not only could it worsen tinnitus on its own, but I saw (although it might not be true/valid) that two medications together taken at the same time that have tinnitus as a side effect could significantly worsen tinnitus. This happened in my experience with Sertraline and Loratadine, and is why I only tried Trazodone and Seroquel together once.

I am concerned if the Seroquel is really out of me enough so that the lingering (hopefully not permanent) worse tinnitus doesn't interact with it.

I'm hoping my GP will prescribe me more medication that helps me sleep and helps with my anxiety and depression, but it seems like a lot of medication to help with those problems also worsen my tinnitus.

I've been trying to improve my sleep hygiene, be healthier, and so on, and I have upcoming appointments (although they are mostly a while away) with medical professionals so I can get more help, but I really don't know what to do. I don't want to permanently worsen my tinnitus (at least not any more than it has possibly permanently worsened) but I'm extremely sleep deprived.

Any help/advice/ideas would be appreciated so much. Thank you.