What Is the Cause of Your Tinnitus?

I guess every body is different and what will cause t for some wouldn't in others. Mine was caused by pleasure of complete over indulgence :-(

 

Thanks Karen!! That's really helpful because I was on Lisinopril and my doc switched me to Propranolol about 7 months ago, and my T has been raging the whole time!! something I definitely need to take a look at. Thanks for the info! I'll let you know what I do and what happens.

 

Thanks Seal!!

 

Hey Karen,

Yup, that's exactly what my T sounds like!! Super high pitch and volume, piercing! Almost metallic if that makes any sense. Around 7500hz. My psychologist hinted at maybe I should try going off the BP med for awhile and see what happens. But that just makes me a bit nervous about my BP spiking!! Vicious circle

 

Hi Karen,

You are such a great resource, I really appreciate you BTW!! Great info! I want to get off the BP med and you are an encouragement that it is possible. I will, of course, consult my doc first, but thanks for the info on CardiTone and fish oil & magnesium. I have been reading a lot about magnesium lately for both BP and T. Intrigued. I also have a BP monitor at home and keep an eye on it. I will let you know what happens. Thanks again!

 

For months before the onset I went through a very stressful period, I believe that stress and anxiety played their role, "clearing the ground" for T (a virus? damages to the auditory complex by stress-related hormons? high blood pressure?).

 

I thought mine was tied to blood pressure and ended up buying a blood pressure monitor. When I got spike of T I just checked it and it was normal. Easiest way to check your stress levels too.

 

How do you know that? Don't know if it works quite like that. Some may say that certain meds can create T but then it should come whilst being on the drug, not when you stop taking it. I stopped many things prior to my T, one of them was tuna fish. I ate it every day for 15 years. Don't think tuna was the instigator. My point is it's complex. I recently saw the med list of possible T instigators and its getting way over the top now.

 

Well, stress is known to cause migraine, muscle tension, pain, highened blood pressure (potentially fatal), fatigue, stomach problems etc. It can affect your mood and behavior, give you depression, etc.
It would be surprising if it affected the entire body but tinnitus = )
Personally I think mine was partly noise induced, and specifically it was triggered the day after one of the most stressful and silent events in my life.

 

I know noise is the underlying cause of mine, and is what gave me my first bad flare-up about eight years ago. but as for the most recent flare-up, I have no idea. My ENT thinks it's sinus-related (I am feeling lot of pressure in my head so maybe he's right), but I'm worried it's just the T coming back to be all like, hey, what's up, I'm still here!

Also guessing stress and anxiety have played a role, as well as just day-to-day life. (NYC is like a minefield for tinnitus triggers.)

 

Noise...first two times. (Fire-cracker blowing up near my left ear at age 6...Then 24 years later hammering and pulling old squeaky nails all day demolishing a small room in an old barn).

Ototoxic drugs...third ramp up in volume. Neomycin and Amphotericin B for infection. (Big mess up by doc! Should have known these are both some of the most ototoxic drugs on the planet and that I had tinnitus.)

Sound...fourth ramp up in volume (2012). I did not even know it was happening this time! Too long in a small meeting room with bad/hard acoustics.

Sigh!

 

I had ONLY baseline, bilateral T of which truly never bothered me. It was very faint and I hardly ever noticed it unless I was in a quiet place and I happened to think about it. About two weeks post my jump from Xanax I began experiencing this LOUD, AWFUL, HIGH-PITCHED, whistling/hissing sound mostly in my left ear. It was so loud that I could hear it with my car window rolled down while driving in excess of 60 MPH. At first it was a 24/7 thing. It has settled into an almost predictable pattern of two days where it backs off and 1 day where it's screaming loud.

 

As a matter of fact, yes... a very ill informed MD put me through that hell. It was, hands down, the most horrifying experience of my life. I would warn anyone currently taking a benzo that has been prescribed them for extended periods of time that trying to discontinue that medication can be a real challenge for some. It certainly was for me.

 

I was transferred to a rehab center two days after open heart surgery. While I was there I was only getting 2 hours of sleep a night. I had the same exact reoccurring nightmare every signal night there for 10 days. I came home and the nightmares went away the same day, but still had sleeping problems for a month. after I got my proper sleep and was feeling better I was on my way to recovery. Then two months later at 2:00am while watching TV the T started. I connect mine to mental trauma suffered through my open heart surgery ordeal.

 

I agree that the list of ototoxic medications is pretty ridiculous and I don't think much follow up research is done on a large majority of the drugs listed, however rapid benzodiazepine (xanax, valium, etc) withdrawal is absolutely notorious for inducing tinnitus and hyperacusis.

 

I agree on that. But I believe it's the stress of the withdrawal that is the T instigator and not necessarily the drug itself. As all benzo users know, going cold turkey after that long of a user period with that dosage could create stress inducted T with anyone, if there IS such thing as stress inducted T. As with anything T we don't know, by personal believe I say yes.

By the way, I've been on and off Xanax for 17 years myself -

 

Noise..However my hearing loss has been the same for the past 25 years or so..I did not have T back then and only mildly about 10 plus years ago..It worsened suddenly about 4 years ago with no change in my audiograms. I was under a lot of stress at the time and perhaps this is what set it off..

 

I started taking benzos first Xanex and then knopolin just for the Tinnitus..I was up to 6 mg a day which I now know was a high dosage but to the doc. I saw nothing out of the norm..I decided to come off the benzo since I really did not think it was doing any good..I tapered off over a period of several months..I started having full blown panic attacks after coming off the drugs as well as floaters in my eyes.. It has been over a year now since I fully stopped the benzo and things have settled down..I would highly recommend anyone think twice about starting on a benzo drug. A mg a day might not be harmful and easy to taper off from but I started at just a low dosage and before I knew it was up to as high as 6 mg a day.

 

Just a couple thoughts for the conversation involving taking benzos and if they cause tinnitus:

1. I think it's kind of splitting hairs to say taking the drug vs, withdrawing from the drug caused tinnitus. The bottom line is that the Xanax CONTRIBUTED to the tinnitus in this case. I think there often is multiple factors but this can be one.

2. I agree, that ototoxic drug list that gets passed around on the Internet is ridiculous. It includes any drug where someone has reported to the FDA that ringing ears is a side effect. In many cases, the reports equal far less than 1 percent of all those taking the drug. And since the reports are self-generated, not coming through a doctor, that ringing could be caused by anything. If you are prescribed a drug and are concerned because its listed, go on FDA.gov and check it out for yourself. Don't refuse medication that could help you just because its on someone's list. On the other, do be careful of meds that are truly ototoxic (like chemo drugs). I don't want to imply that ototoxcity is a myth.

3. Sorry, but isn't really fair to compare eating tuna fish to taking Xanax. Xanax alters your brain chemistry. Tuna fish doesn't. Tinnitus is a brain disorder.

4. Having said the above: Xanax can help you -- IF used under the care of a proper medical professional (psychiatrist) and taken with great caution. Studies have shown benzos, particularly Xanax ( generic is alprazolam) are beneficial to T patients, in terms of reducing anxiety that leads to loudness reduction. So while some on the board here don't approve of them, I disagree. Alprazolam saved me in my early days, The secret is to take VERY low doses (I never took more than 1.5 mg total daily) and be aware that they are not meant to be taken forever. After seven months, I now am slowly tapering off and finding other meds for sleep.

5. You MUST stop taking these drugs very slowly and carefully. The doctor who told @mytsucks that he could go from 4 mg to 0 in one month should be disbarred, or whatever you do to bad doctors. Wonder if this doc was a psychiatrist? My guess is no --and if yes, double shame on him/her! Also, you should never be taking more than 2 mg daily of Xanax unless it's emergency time. If that amount isn't working, you should work with a mental health professional to get a medication mix that will help. Xanax is very quick acting but short lived in your body...some people need an antidepressant too. It is OK to say to a doctor, no I will not take 6 mg of Xanax a day. We need to find another solution. I told my psych from the beginning that I would not exceed 2 mg and we made it work.

Ok so it turned out to be more than "a couple" thoughts. My only wish is that you all find peace and wise counsel from your doctors.

 

6mg a day of Xanax or knopolin?

 

I am also sure my hearing loss has been same for last 20 years. T is certainly triggered with different circumstances. The trigger leads or causes the damage.

 

It just dawned on me that when I first noticed my T about 8 years ago that I had been experiencing severe right eyelid/eyebrow twitching for several days before. The twitching went away suddenly but I was left with T, bilateral and atonal. Just throwing that out, not saying there's a connection in any way. My new T within the last month however has been tonal with no causal circumstances that I can pinpoint. Strange stuff this T!

 

@LadyDi,

I agree with your resume.

I want to add that I didn't mean to compare tuna with Xanax, I was trying to make a point about the uncertainty of pharmaceuticals versus T. As mentioned I've been on and off Xanax for 17 years, so I'm not without experience in that area. I've also been on a multitude of other drugs that's classified in the same family. The tuna analogy wasn't too far out tough, cause you'll find many food types that's on the growing list of T instigators. I think we need to be more realistic in terms of lists like that. What puzzles me is that T comes AFTER usage and rarely while taking the meds. In case of benzos my personal believe is that T comes from the stress of either quitting (withdrawal) or from the reason the patients is on the drug, and that's normally psychiatric causes.

Here's a sample of Xanax side effects:

depressed mood, thoughts of suicide or hurting yourself, unusual risk-taking behavior, decreased inhibitions, no fear of danger; confusion, hyperactivity, agitation, hostility, hallucinations; feeling like you might pass out;
urinating less than usual or not at all; chest pain, pounding heartbeats or fluttering in your chest;
uncontrolled muscle movements, tremor, seizure (convulsions); orjaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes).
drowsiness, dizziness, feeling tired or irritable; blurred vision, headache, memory problems, trouble concentrating; sleep problems (insomnia); swelling in your hands or feet; muscle weakness, lack of balance or coordination, slurred speech; upset stomach, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea; increased sweating, dry mouth, stuffy nose; or appetite or weight changes, loss of interest in sex.

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur.

Ps: Many of these side effects are also listed on vitamin products and food supplements.

 

Started with xanex at 1 t0 2 mg daily and then only on knopolin as doc. said it was less addictive and stayed in your system longer..I noticed an almost instant "high" with the xanex which lasted only a few minutes though..These "highs'' disappeared after using for a couple years.

My tinnitus was just as bad before and after taking the benzos..I have noticed no increase nor decrease while taking the drugs nor after stopping..I took the benzos just as an anxiety helper but help seemed to disappear as I became more tolerant to the drugs.

 

Ok, but you wrote 6mg a day - of what?

 

Started on X. at 1 to 2 mgs a day..Switched to K. at same dosage level but gradually increased to the final dosage level of 6 mg daily of K..I never went back to the X after switching.

I think I started with a max. dosage of 2 mg daily of xanex, as needed, but soon was taking the max prescribed of the 2mg daily limit as I became more tolerant to the drug.

 

Heu @Per didn't mean to be giving you a hard time about your metaphor. I do agree there is much we don't know about our drug and food onnections wit T. And we all are different; what bothers me may not bother you. Sorry, hope I did not offend. Was not my intention.

I do want t mention, though: the Xanax side effects listed, including suicide, are pretty much the same for every benzo and antidepressant out there.

And Relic Hunter, you are right. One problem with Xanax (and other benzos)is that some people rapidly build up a tolerance and 2 mg daily is not enough. Klonopin would be the next logical step. Not sure of dosage levels there. Basically I was just lucky that I was able to get relief at continue lo Xanax dosage levels, although I did combine it with CBT, meditation and exercise.