Weed-Induced Tinnitus?

I had a really bad trip (tinnitus + derealization + panic attacks + anxiety) by smoking weed.

Since then I've started getting flashbacks that occasionally induced tinnitus but it would eventually fade away after a day.

But from last week I've started developing this constant never fading high-pitched tone that sounds very similar to an aircraft engine. I've consulted my ENT, done my pure tone audiometry which they prescribed and the results are indicating that I am suffering from mild sensorineural hearing loss (PTA: 28.30). I've barely smoked weed in my life (maybe 7 or 8 times at maximum) and I've never done any drugs other than weed. As of now, I am suffering from anxiety, depression and panic attacks due to tinnitus.

Has weed damaged my hearing or brain?

 

Hello @Santhosh,

Marijuana is known as a drug that heightens your sensory systems and with several studies indicating that the ringing you hear is coming from your auditory system and much more, then it makes "sense", no pun intended, that you are able distinguish the sound much more. Your auditory system was heightened or in other words, the nerves and neurons that make up the neurotransmissions that take place with our hearing, were affected.

In my own words, I believe tinnitus is in relation to a "hidden hearing loss". Basically, noises from everyday life, headphones, concerts, etc. cause damaging changes to our ability to process noises while other sounds are going on. Practitioners in the hearing field call this "presbycusis" and it usually is associated with the elderly and usually they are told they have damaged hair cells that are causing them to not be able to process sound as well in noisy environments. They are then prescribed hearing aids and after forking over a large amount of money, the hearing aids some-what solve their issue. My grandpa for an example, still has issues processing what's being said to him in a noisy environment even with his hearing aids in. There is a hidden issue that's not being looked at.

An article from Johns Hopkins Medicine explains that we lose so called "in-going nerves" of the auditory nerve and that they are overtime, replaced by "out-going nerves" that don't allow us to "hear" as well. But my point in how this relates to you @Santhosh, is that you most likely have hidden damaged areas of your in-going auditory nerves. The neurons that make up the auditory nerve and allow you to feel emotions from sounds and hear those frequencies in a much more clearer and louder manner. Important nuerotransmitting neuronal disconnections between the brain and the inner ear. These connections that have been lost were and are SO important to your brain that you still "hear" ringing from these locations where the neurons should be. That's why a lot of people on this site complain about their "tinnitus spiking" when they become more stressed out from work, family, friends, etc.

In the end, introducing marijuana to your brain caused your senses to be heightened, the sensory inputs of your auditory system that were not connected to your inner ear (like in your past years) caused these areas of the brain to be used more intensely. Therefore, your ringing was much more audible in your brain.

Let me know what you think.

 

I live in a state that has recognized the benefits of medical marijuana and have legalized it for that purpose... I partake daily for severe arthritis in my shoulder... It does spike my tinnitus but considering my regular "high pitch" tinnitus, it's a small step up but temporary...

 

Same deal. I have never had tinnitus & I am almost 52 years old. I have not smoked weed in 7 years but took 2 hits the other night and right away I was overtaken with massive ringing in my ears (the right ear and back right side of my head mostly).

It raged LOUD for about 3 hours until I went to bed it calmed down a bit as I fell asleep but has been present ever since (about 5 days now) as a very high pitched non-stop ringing mostly on the right side.

It was so bad today 10/10/21 that it gave me a headache.

Terrible idea and will never touch pot again. I now feel like I have really messed myself up and now it looks as though I have given myself tinnitus & there is no cure for this apparently. I googled it right away and cannabinoids linked to tinnitus is a pretty common thing. Wish I woulda known.

Best of luck to you guys.

Denver Co.

 

I use cannabis, mostly for sleep. That said, I produce my own (legally) and I don't trust a lot of what's on the market these days, legal or not. But, it's unlikely that a little pesticide etc would cause any problems from a single use.

I think the most likely mechanism for actual direct damage would be some kind of vascular event, since pot does spike the hell out of BP/HR in some people. That would be a "bomb waiting to go off" situation, though.

Some people I know become a lot more aware of their tinnitus when stoned, and many people over the age of 45 or so have a tinnitus they can only hear in very quiet rooms which could be amped up, but I'd expect that effect to be self-limiting (a few days to a week or so?)

Er, what did you google? Both tinnitus and cannabis use are really common, but any actual correlations are pretty remote to the extent I've seen them at all. There's a lot of crazy claims that show up on google but actual clinical efforts have not yielded much, which tells me if there's an effect it's extremely uncommon.

The pot users I know are a mix of people with and without tinnitus, and the people I know with tinnitus are a mix of people who do and don't smoke weed. I know a lot of people in every part of this venn diagram.

To the extent pot provoked anything I would expect it to calm down substantially, but THC takes quite a while to be fully metabolized (days for a single use; a heavy user like me would need to stop using for ~a month to pass a urine screen).

 

Hey all! Sorry for the late reply! I've been staying away from tinnitus forums for quite sometime and I just read all your comments! I sincerely hope all the souls who had commented in my post are living their life with the best and sound health.

I am glad to say that I got habituated to my tinnitus and I am doing good with my life too! I do get the spikes once in a while but I'll always ensure that I make myself distracted with other activities in those instances.

I've never touched the weed or any other substances after the incident which I had described in my post.

Maybe one day we'll get a clear insights from medical experts on this subject, till then please advise your family & friends to not abuse any substances, so that they can live their life peacefully and that's what I'm doing now.

God bless you all.

 

That's great news! Love to hear when success is achieved.

 

While cannabis use may make tinnitus seem louder, there is no evidence that it ever causes tinnitus, makes an existing case of tinnitus permanent, or damages the ears or hearing in any way.

Also, you can't "trip" on weed, that term is for stronger psychedelics such as LSD, DMT, "magic" mushrooms, peyote or mescaline, etc. You had anxiety from cannabis, and that is not a drug "trip".

 

Everyone is different. I find that cannabis does aggravate my tinnitus, hours later or the next day.

How annoying this is. I first enjoyed hash & weed in 1969. I remember being a dues-paying member of NORML in the 1970s and always in favor of legalization. Now that it's legal/decriminalized/whatever it is here in California - so many decades later - I can no longer enjoy it.

 

Same. Really sucks.