Amlodipine: Tinnitus and Sudden Hearing Loss Possible

Because my blood pressure was running a bit higher as I age, my FORMER primary care physician encouraged me to double my dosage of amlodipine from 2.5mg to 5mg per day (a "normal, moderate dose").

Much to my distress, the ENT doctor has informed me that the higher dosage of amlodipine is the likely cause of the immediate and severe - sometimes "screaming" - tinnitus I have just developed, 24/7, as well as SUDDEN severe hearing loss in my left ear and some in my right, which occurred within just a couple of days following the increase in amlodipine dosage.

Now I discover that amlodipine has been reported to the US FDA* by several hundreds of people as OTOTOXIC - i.e., deleterious to the inner ear, causing tinnitus, hearing loss, and vertigo.

I am told that any recovery from tinnitus and/or hearing loss could be within days, weeks, months, years, or NEVER (based on the reports made by patients to the US FDA*) - leaving me in total uncertainty and great anxiety about my hearing.

After reviewing the extremely long list of amlodipine side effects, I personally feel it should have been banned a long time ago, given the reports of

thousands who have suffered these serious side effects.

Tinnitus, hearing loss, and dozens of other side effects are listed under "rare" or "frequency unknown". However, I have found hundreds of statements by those who have suffered tinnitus and hearing loss after taking amlodipine - this is apparently not so "rare" - and so it seems likely that many of the other "rare" but serious consequences of this drug aren't either. It also appears that the occurrence and duration of these serious side effects are as predictable as a throw of dice, but nonetheless may be permanent.

*For UK/CA/AU/NZ/SA readers: FDA = "Food and Drug Administration" - a US government department overseeing the approval, safety, and reported side effects of all foods and medications.

[Happyrosie]

Hello havisham. I’ve had a quick look through info on your drug and couldn’t find deafness, so it’s clearly. It well k own.Absolutely all medications have side effects, and whether you get them or not can’t always be known in advance.

All that said, thanks for the warning!

[Hidden in reply to Happyrosie]

Center for Hearing Loss Help (the many replies are well worth a thorough read through - they are patients' own reports of hearing loss and tinnitus):

hearinglosshelp.com/blog/ca...

Drugs.com (a respected source of pharmaceutical information; see "hearing loss" in the second list of "rare" side effects): drugs.com/sfx/amlodipine-si...

Mayo Clinic (a leading hospital and medical research complex in the US; again, look at the second list labelled "rare" and you will again find "hearing loss": mayoclinic.org/drugs-supple...

Given my immediate experience with increased amlodipine and hearing loss - so apparently cause-and-effect, as nothing else was involved - it appears that this serious side effect is probably another example of many other "dirty secrets" of Big Pharma, kept buried as much as possible.

And considering the myriad of other side effects openly listed for this drug, it seems that one should strive to avoid using it unless it is one's last resort.

[springcross]

Hi havisham and welcome to the forum. I have tinnitus which used to be quite mild. In the last sixteen months or so I have been taking Amlodipine (although I did stop for a very short time earlier this year) and I now have increased tinnitus. I am, however, also taking another drug for rheumatoid arthritis which could be contributing to this. Earlier this year I was put on two other drugs for high BP (when I stopped the Amlodipine) and they made the tinnitus so much worse that I had to stop taking them. I also was taking another medication for the RA for about ten weeks but that made the tinnitus much worse too (but that is listed and well known to cause tinnitus in some people but not everyone). There are more medications that we know about that cause tinnitus for some people but unfortunately some of the GPs would argue that. I have seen the text you refer to above and will read the remainder of it with interest.

[Muso20]

Hi Havisham. Amlopidine kept me i muscle pain agony for 6 months. Finally I realised it wasn't me it was the drug! I switched to Losartan and although like everything it has its side effects (annoying lower limb itching) it was far better. I researched at the time and chatted to my pharmacist and I've since read so much about how Amlodipine has so many terrible and bad side effects. Id change medication asap. Regards from London

[Zbigniew8]

Did you reduce the dose or change medication?

[onadiet]

I was put on Amlopidine in June 2020.The next day my tinnitus started and now is still with me.