And here is my second question although I think I’m clutching at straws here!
My hearing was getting worse (age related, sadly) a few years before I started on my AF journey but over the past year/18 months the tinnitus and gradual worsening has accelerated to an extent where the ENT consultant sent me for a brain scan to check nothing nasty inside my head - came back normal thankfully 😅.
I take: Flecainide, Bisoprolol, rivaroxaban, and Losartan for my BP. Does anyone know whether any of these can affect your hearing?
Not sure that stopping any of the meds is an option for me but it would be nice to know what caused this
Pardon??
Liz
Ryan
Written by
Tako2009
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I have pulsatile tinitus and take losartan. (Pusatile= shoosh shoosh noise with your heart beat. Not uncommon with AF anyway regardless of what you take from anecdotal evidence on here.
Soon after being diagnosed with AF and being prescribed Flec and Bisoprolol l developed the most distressing Tinnitus imaginable...This resulted in a MRI scan which showed no abnormalities...
Pretty soon during a period of three years my hearing has deteriorated to such an extent l am being considered for cochlear implants..
Only one consultant has agreed that there is a possibility these hearing concerns may have been due to the drugs - Flecadine in particular...
My high frequency deafness and tinnitus predates any regular medication I have taken, and is probably due to using chainsaws, power tools etc in the days before elf’n’safety. One advantage of hearing aids for me is complying with my wife’s insistence that I wear my aids, and then turning them off surreptitiously as necessary, to make them effective earplugs.
My audiologist told me that if you have been exposed to more than 97 decibels for any length of time you will have hearing damage and likely tinitus. Typically in the 60s and 70s race cars were unsilenced and made about 120 db unles it was a rotary (MAZDA RX7 in the early 80's which made about 145. louder than Concorde!) The Mazda actually hurt when it went past. My youngest had one on the road once and I texted him on one occasion to tell him I could still hear it. He was two miles away!
My wife ruined her hearing in clubs and wearing headphones to listen to music. I could hear it across the room she used ot have it so loud. These days my boys both wear ear defenders when doing any kind of noisy work with drills or other machines. I just take my aid out.
Regarding your last sentence, I did that and then it suddenly dawned on me that although sound/noise was apparently greatly reduced they were still at a volume that those with normal hearing might find uncomfortable so I now remove my aids and wear wear earmuffs in an attempt to preserve any residual hearing that I have left.
The cause of tinnitus is hard to pin down but, from personal experience, mine (constant 'aircraft' sound) started 40 years ago, many years before I started on Flecainide, Metoprolol or Rivaroxaban.
The only drug which I've had consistently throughout those years is Diazepam, but the tinnitus only began at age 35 by which time I'd taken Diazepam for 12 years with no auditory issues.
I'm having investigations next month in the hope there's been some progress in treating it...……..but not holding my breath as everything I've read suggests it's still basically 'Cause unknown'.
Certainly looks like you're not alone Tako if that's any consolation...….
I have been taking Flecainide and suffer very badly from Tinnitus.
I have no idea if Flecainide is to blame but suspect that more likely it is a combination of maturing years and a mispent youth going to listen to live music on a weekly basis.
Interesting, as mine seemed to start after they increased my losartan from 25mg to 50mg then 100mg last April, asked the gp, but he dismissed it being connected to meds. I still think its too coincidental and more so after reading this today.
My background mild tinnitus took a major hike when my Bisop was increased from 5mg to 7.5mgs. It's now a constant ringing, screaming noise. I am currently in the process of weaning myself off the Bisop after a third, successful ablation and am now on the final week at 2.5mgs and am hoping to have an improvement in things like tinnitus, weight gain and zombification. I already feel more alert and have more energy but will have to wait a bit longer to see what else improves.
I have had ongoing hearing problems for a long time before my heart probs, however, Mine seems to have worsened since taking all the meds that I do. For months now, It feels like a goldfishbowl over my head, echoey sounding, ear canal often closes up most mornings and gets itchy. Back to dr’s for me. I read one of Bisop’s least side effect is ear congestion!
Yes me too mine started i reckon with family history of deafness and exacerbated by an ACDC gig in the 70's and being with a bass guitarist at the time. But it has definitely worsened since regular bp meds and AF. I now have private hearing aids as i have cookie bite hearing loss which is notoriously hard to treat with NHS aids and its hugely better.
All beta blockers have a greater or lesser degree of ototoxicity. My hearing has deteriorated since taking Bisoprolol and I have some tinnitus but it has improved snce reducing my dose to the absolute minimum.
I was advised ages ago by a cardiologist that there is a link between hearing loss and heart disease. There are lots of articles on the web which support that view. My own hearing loss and tinnitus has got worse since a heart attack in 2001 and the onset of PAF in 2010.
I’m so sorry that you’re having such difficulties. I don’t have an answer, but what I can say is my own experience.
I had a car accident in 2015, quite bad with concussion.
My head literally hasn’t stopped spinning or ringing since that day. With extreme tinnitus, nausea, severe eye tracking issues and AF bradycardia and tachycardia... I simply assumed it was all related as the symptoms all started at the same time, immediately after the car stopped moving during the crash.
My GP put me on propranolol and betahistine the summer of 2017 and at the time my BP was so worrying that I was scared of having another brain spasm like the one I had in 2016 which apparently was probably a small stroke! Meh
The betahistine works to take the edge off the level of tinnitus for me, but I discovered that the maximum dose simply wasn’t enough and after nine months of clinical research discovered that in certain cases of tinnitus the NHS allowed maximum daily dose could be overruled by an ENT specialist.
I began taking triple the maximum dose and regained a huge chunk of my life back from the brain and heart problems.
However if I run out of my heart tablets I am immediately overtaken by a severe increase in the tinnitus (regardless of how much betahistine I use) and other associated symptoms; too many to list here.
I don’t have an answer for you but can tell you that for me my heart medication is intrinsically linked to the level of tinnitus etc I experience and my GP messed up my heart meds last week which left me without for almost a week. This week I’m tachycardic with very low BP with multiple AF’s and my tinnitus is so extreme I cannot hear people on the phone or in person unless they speak up!
It may be very different for you as my symptoms are all from the head and neck injuries I sustained in the crash but in my case there is a very present connection between my AF and my other symptoms which includes extreme tinnitus, not the side effects of the medication per se.
Good luck finding an answer I hope you do. Namaste Mel
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