I have for the past weeks been experiencing mild to moderate constant Tinnitus. It sounds like low level ringing combined with an intrusive moderate level high pitched sound.
I’ve had my hearing checked by a specialist up to 8000hz and she said my hearing was near perfect and it wasn’t being caused by any loud exposure to noise.
This leads me to believe it’s something else, and the first thing I have turned to is my heart medication.
I have been on Lansoprazole, Bisoprolol, Aspirin, Ticagrelor, Ramipril and a Statin since March 2020. I have experienced numerous different mild side effects from these drugs already but haven’t had the confidence to complain as I’m overly concerned that I may have another heart attack if I get off them.
I am also now concerned that whatever drug I feel may have caused this Tinnitus has potentially permanently damaged my hearing and I’ll never be able to experience normal hearing again.
I don’t have any reason to believe it’s not the medication. I have done some thorough investigation this past few days and it all keeps coming back to this.
Does anyone have any advice? As I’m honestly at wits end with the noise and I don’t know what to do.
Thanks.
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GABaracus
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After open heart surgery for Aortic valve replaced and bypass I found I was hearing my heart beating in my ears. Doctor said form of tinnitus, I thought something to do with my valve! the doctor said very common, this went on for over a year, it sometimes sounded like hobnailed boots marching over cobblestones worst at night when the house was quiet. 4 years on and I occasionally get it but thankfully not very often. I am on Bisoprolol Cardistartan ( used to be Ramipril) aspirin and furosemide. Told nothing to do with my medication. Hope you can get some relief, I know it’s terrible used to stop me from sleeping.
Thanks! I’m a strong willed person so I will learn to deal with this accordingly. Obviously being so new to this, there’s a lot to adapt and habituate to.
Hi, you've described exactly how my tinnitus manifests itself. The pounding got worse each time I needed some stenting and also before my recent valve replacement, but disapointingly, I still have it post op together with a high pitched sound that also seems in time with my heartbeat which is now less than when I was pre-op. Maybe I'm less stressed now. GP is a arranging an appointment for a hearing test and investigation of the tinnitus. Interestingly, I am on asprin since May which some have suggested could be a contributing factor.
I read that antidepressants (Zoloft) can cause it also. My hearing is ok. Vicks vapor ointment on a cotton ball at night. I tried it once. It was 1 night. I'd have to be more consistent.
I wish mine would go ! Had it about five years now. Took the dog for a walk last night . It was quiet and still . Stopped to gaze at the twinkling lights of Wales over the water and the stars were visible in the cold clear sky . All was silent ....,,,,,,except for the whoosh , whoosh , whoosh on the left side of my head ! My friend was ticking along at about 60bpm . Lol . I still live in hope it will settle down , very glad yours has
I have permanent tinnitus but luckily only aware of it when quiet so mainly in bed. Hearing checked and ok. I have read that aspirin can cause it and I have been on it since stenting 3years ago. So my hunch is that it is the aspirin. If it’s pulsatile it can be associated with arterial disease.
What kind is it? I don’t really hear the slight ringing I have in a normal environment, it’s the end of the high pitch fluctuations I can still hear in a quiet room. In fact I can hear that in a regular street environment whilst everything else is drowned out.
Mine is a constant at the same pitch like I radio interference. I can bear it with background noise if I think about it. I like to have a background noise all the time eg radio, music or telly unless I have company. I have resigned myself to it. I think an MRI may give answers so ask if you dare. My GPS are sick of me asking for things but I hadn’t over the recent years I reckon I’d be dead now.
Would it be too late to come off the aspirin now or go with an alternative medication? It’s only been 10 months for me with on set of symptoms approaching 2 weeks. I honestly would rather have a higher risk of heart attack than this.
Don’t think you can stop it then. Dare I suggest speak to GP and ask g for further investigation. Unless you e got damage due to work or loud rock concerts in the last I believe it’s not to do with ear damage.
No guarantee it would go if you stopped . The process is in motion. If you’ve been told there is no sinister cause and no obvious culprit the best way is acceptance . The other way lies madness !
I too have tinnitus which has been with me since shortly after my HA and stents in 2017. Mine is both low pitched and high pitched and is noticeable when it is quiet. I get a third mid-tone when I am tired which comes on mainly late evening, so when I go to bed there's a right noise going on. Thankfully I have learned to shut it all out and get to sleep.
I developed tinnitus and don’t take aspirin. Pretty sure it’s just one of those things and we have to learn coping mechanisms. The Tinnitus Association website is a useful source of information. I can usually just zone it out. But if it’s very quiet and it becomes intrusive I wear headphones and have ‘white’ noise to counteract the tinnitus. There are many apps you can download for free. I like one called Rain which has a good range of soothing sounds.
What do you think is the link between Tinnitus and heart disease? Because obviously there’s something there when people (like myself) are developing this without any hearing loss, which is the most common occurrence.
Hi I also have tinnitus and this was before I knew i had a heart problem. But I hadn't realised I had been losing my hearing gradually over time. My family got fed up with the TV being up really loud. Which i was adamant it wasn't. Ended up seeing my GP and four hearing tests later, I have mixed loss hearing, sound sensitivity and awful tinnitus. I now wear hearing adds, that were too noisy, have got use to them now. Even though they should help with the tinnitus, they don't. I still have it while wearing them and as soon as I take them out it's there. I hear all sorts of noises. And to begin with wasn't sure if it was in my ears or my head. So I would go and speak to your GP, if possible and get a hearing test done. Regards Dee.
Hi GABWell when I say I can feel for you, I really mean it! For some time now Tinnitus just locked in with a continuoue low level radio inteference noise in my left ear and continuous low level ringing tone in both ears. It got so bad recently that I took myself off to a private ear specialist. The Steramar spray advised by my GP did not have any effect. The outcome was an ear syringe wash and some ointment. This did clear some wax. I also had a CAT scan (MRI not possible with an ICD). The outcome has improved, i feel, the whooshing in the left ear. However, at the quietest times, the Tinnitus persists. Truthfully, I think it is an age thing and the stress related to all my heart procedures (ongoing) and I have had to manage the intrusion of Tinnitus. Often, try to listen to soft music as suggested or read until I am dog tired and end up dropping off to sleep. If I make a conscious effort not to concentrate on it too much, hey presto, weeks come and go and I become unaware or forget it completely. I hope this helps and I wish you all the best.
Bi, I think you have started on a great subject here that a lot can recognise, I too have tinnitus, I think mine started when I started Asprin and statins in 2018, then I had a mild HA and a stent in May 2019 and put on the ream of normal meds, since then it worse, left ear so heart side, high level constant ring and pulsating with my heart rate, I don't notice on the day much but I know its there but at night if I cant phase myself out of listerning to it, it becomes scary as you notice every beat of your heart and after a heart attack that came on at night, thats something you don't really want. I recently went for a fu hearing test for it and They have said hearing loss a certain frequencies in on ear but nothing that stops me hearing normally and the as it was pulsating a full ear, neck and head MRI to see if it was ocakagaes or stenosis in head arteries but all was clear, it is apparently just one of those things I have to get use to but can look at aid that counteract the frequency, I have yet to look into these, I did buy the recomended 'Flare' ear inserts but for me a wasted £20 they didn't help but for some if ypu belive the write up they can work. so sorry, but I think like so many its one thing to learn to live with, I can hear it in a pitch when I walk also as though it is connected to body movement, I can recreate it with jaw movement and rolling my neck I can find a position where it is releaved so always makes me thing its something to do with muscles also.
I have been diagnosed with Tempero mandilar joint TMJ and 24/7 tinnitus with hearing loss. Also tried flare but just waiting for hearing aids to try and help. Might be worth exploring TMJ as you have it with jaw movement. Hope this might be useful.tinnitus.org.uk/tinnitus-an...
Pulsatile tinnitus can be associated with tight muscles around the head neck and jaw and that itself can be caused by drugs. When I first had it and was doing a lot of research I came across someone whose SCM muscle snapped and his pulsatile tinnitus stopped .
Have you had a covid test? I read just yesterday that they have discovered tinnitus is a new covid symptom. Just tinnitus- nothing else. Here's one report; not he one I saw. webmd.com/lung/news/2020110...
I thought about that, but I haven’t been around people outside much last year. I work from home normally anyway and I also haven’t had any of the other symptoms whatsoever.
I've been suffering with tinnitus for about 30 years. I was having an inner ear problem which was variously described as "menieres disease", "a form of menieres disease", and "definitely NOT Menieres disease" by different ENT specialists. The point is that I was suffering from tinnitus but had no hearing loss. Since then my hearing has continued to be excellent - certainly for my age. So there's not necessarily any connection between the two conditions.
Regarding the tinnitus it is a continuous high-pitched "hissing". I found it frightening at first and I became a bit obsessive about it. But it gradually faded into the background and for many years now I hardly notice it. It only becomes "loud" when I am particularly tired and/or stressed, and to that extent it can help me to recognise how tired I am.
This might sound difficult for you now but you need to "let it go" , focus on other things and tune it out. If you can do that you'll be able to easily live with the tinnitus. Good luck and take care.
Hi. I was on ramipril for a short period of time before developing such severe side effects I had to come off it. One of the side effects was my hearing and tinnitus. I've been off ramipril for six months and still in the recovery phase of the severe angioedema caused by the drug. I'm still struggling a bit with the deafness/ tinnitus and hope it isn't permanent, it is mostly on one side and very annoying. I have read of other people being affected in this way due to ramipril. For me it was poison, and it may well be the cause of the problem.
As you are taking lansoprazole ask your GP to check your vitamin B12 and folate levels. PPI’s taken for an extended period of time will reduce the acid in your stomach and prevent you from extracting b12 from food and absorbing it. You store b12 in your liver so the effects are slow to appear - it’s only when the store is running low as it’s not being replenished that symptoms start to occur. Tinnitus is just one of many symptoms of b12 deficiency that may be put down to other causes.
Ok thanks I’ll certainly ask, but the last blood test I had for it a few months ago? My doctor said nothing appeared wrong. I am currently awaiting the results to a lipid blood test I had, a week before these symptoms showed.
Once you are having injections then blood tests for b12 are pointless unless you have a very long gap between injections. Try taking a b12 tablet daily as well, hubby takes a 1000mcg tablet daily.
I started with tinnitus ten years ago. In left ear sounded like a lorry engine. Over time my other ear started pulsating. It stressed me out at first which makes it worse I was given betehistine it lessened it now I got used to it it doesn’t keep me awake hope you get answers to your tinnitus
Hi there, 30 months ago after an Nstemi HA I discovered I had a genetic disorder which had caused blocking of the arteries and after which meant I had to undergo emergency triple bypass surgery. As a result, along with other medications I take low dose (1.25mg) bisopralol and ramipril.
On returning home from hospital, I found I was getting a ringing & humming noise in my ears when I went to bed. At one point It got so bad I thought the old post plane night service had resumed and I asked my husband to shut the windows. It wasn’t until he said he couldn’t hear any noise and there was no plane that I contacted my GP. After research he thought it may be a type of tinnitus linked to ramipril or bisopralol. Fortunately, over time it’s improved and I’ve learned to ignore it on the occasions it happens.
I do hope this helps but if it’s bothering you it may be worth talking with your GP to clarify what’s causing it and if there’s anything you can do to lessen or stop the ringing in your ears. All the best and take care. xx
I don’t know why? But my Tinnitus always seems worse upon first waking in the morning. It isn’t so bad during normal activities throughout the day and even late at night. The ringing is “really” noticeable and irritatingly loud in the morning though. Ouch.
Hi. I am sitting here completely flabbergasted. I too developed tinnitus this year since having heart failure and permanent a fib. It came on slowly then got really loud then died down again till I hardly noticed it but suddenly over the past few weeks it has again become very loud again. I also take bisoprolol and lansoprazole.....now get this, I had stopped the lansoprazole as I had been taking it for indigestion caused I think by digoxin. I went back on digoxin and the burping started again so went back on lansoprazole and lo and behold time wise this has coincided with the tinnitus returning. I will stop taking the lansoprazole from today. I can live with the burping or try something else fir that but the tinnitus drives me mad. I will post in a few weeks if it stops the tinnitus. Xx
I am reading the post from trog 1 re bisoprolol could cause tinnitus as I also take it and really can't stop it as need it for my a fib/ heart failure I am concerned as it is so loud at the moment o can't ignore it. Xx
The sound itself has remained pretty consistent, not too loud nor quiet, just there. However, I have recently started losing the hearing in my right ear suddenly for a few seconds, and then moments later it will gradually come back.
Now I’m quite sure I use to have this happen to my left ear (maybe once a month) over a period of anywhere from the past year, to the past few years. It’s hard to know for sure.
These past few days this sudden hearing loss in my right ear has gotten to the point where it appears to now be happening a once or twice a day.
Am I overthinking the symptoms of tinnitus?
I am unable to book an appointment with my local GP at the moment, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
It’s over a month later and I still have the Tinnitus in full swing.
It’s overall not been too insufferable and I thought it might have started backing off, but these past few days it has been pretty loud all of a sudden and a real pain to deal with. I’m not sure exactly why, I can’t think of what I might have done?
I just hope it backs off again and rather soon.
I don’t think I could take another week of this level of pitch ringing in in my ears.
Well... the ringing has mostly become low volume now BUT I’ve today started hearing what sounds like blood flowing through my right ear, at a low to moderate volume.
Just when I think I can live with this thing some other sound comes along, and almost two months exactly to the day now this all really started.
Obviously this has me stressed because I’m wondering A) what’s wrong with me and B) How much worse is it going to get?
Just yesterday it was starting to feel like there was light at the end of the tunnel.
I’m really starting to feel guilty about not adjusting my statin dose (for example) when I had the option to. I was anxious about my heart, so didn’t want to risk lowering it from 80mg to 40.
I’ve been now taking that (along with the other drugs mentioned) for almost a year now.
I’ve had tinnitus for years. A few months ago it changed to a rumbling noise like a boiler and like you it was worse at night. I had an MRI scan but nothing was found. I’ve learned to live with it as stress makes it worse. Paracetamol makes tinnitus worse for me and even Gaviscon. I take aspirin every day and that might also be the reason it changed gear. The important thing is to stop worrying . Millions of people have tinnitus and live to very old age
Thanks! As always I appreciate yours and others advice.
Mine right now is 3 sounds:
Ringing (low) both ears
High pitched frequency (low) both ears
Rumbling (mod) right ear only
The thing is I wonder if I’m having some sort of ear infection, because I keep getting weird itching from within my ears, and I can also feel a sensation within the ear making the rumbling noise. That only comes from my right. The rest comes from both ears.
I first heard it late Wednesday night when the ear in question started having some sort of muscle spasm and I could hear my blood flow loudly, as anyone can when purposely twitching etc, or something like that.
I only noticed it again when it appeared audible to me suddenly yesterday night, and so far hasn’t gone away, nor changed in anyway.
If you are still anxious ask your doctor if you can be referred to a ear, nose and throat specialist . They may stop you feeling anxious and reassure you
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