Hi all. Me again. I posted the other day saying that the last 3 weeks with T have been dreadful. Yesterday I saw my GP here in Spain. She took a full history and examined inside my ears, which were clear. She has raised a petition, as they call it here, to get a consultation with an ENT specialist. This should come in about 3 months.
In the meantime she has prescribed me Betahistine, which is primarily used to treat vertigo. Well as that's the inner ear it seems logical.
BUT the side effects are horrendous! I got 2 out of my 3 tablets in yesterday. I began getting pain in my liver area and kept belching. The pain got much worse when I went to bed; it felt like my liver and gall bladder were going to explode! I kept drinking plenty of water to try and flush it through as quickly as possible. Eventually the pain settled and I was able to sleep. I'm still get stabbing pains, like needles in my liver area.
I've not taken any this morning but will take just one with my lunch in the hope that any discomfort I suffer will be this afternoon and not when I'm trying to sleep 🙄
On the positive side, the tablets already seem to have reduced the severity of the T considerably☺ It's still there but very much high pitched and in the background, not the loud, clanging I've been suffering the last 3 weeks.
Has anyone else had a similar experience with Betahistine? How did you get on?
I'll keep you posted. Thanks for reading.
My best to you all,
Tracy
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TurboTrace
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It lasted a day 😔 The pain in my liver area was so severe, I can only take one tablet a day after lunch; to get the quietness I achieved yesterday, I need to take at least 2 tablets. I cannot bear the pain of taking a higher dose.I will persevere for a week and see if the pain improves.
This evening, the T is back. It's not as severe as before, but its definitely louder than this morning. Such a shame 😔
I've got my Calmer inserts in and the T has quieted down again.
Hi TurboTrace
I was prescribed betahistine by an ENT consultant in June for vertigo but it flattened me. I tried cutting it down but was still tripping over my feet so I stopped fully after two weeks. I am hypersensitive to tablets and have a lot of probs with them but I could not even tolerate a quarter of my tablet! It is strong. I also have tinnitus and the ear pressure builds up, culminating in a vertigo attack every fortnight or so.
Hope you get on ok. After betahistine I tried prochloperazine from my GP but it was much the same. I now just take cinnarzine which was also prescribed for me but is available to buy as a travel sickness tablet (brand name Sturgeron). That has been helping a little though my vertigo has still not settled, it is minimising the symptoms a little. I'm just trying to watch my diet and pace myself.
Hope that helps, Tracy, wish I could be more positive on the betahistine situation but sadly, no. My tinnitus WAS silenced by betahistine but I felt like I'd been hit by a sledgehammer and could hardly walk or think straight...
That is very good you are due to be seen in 3 months time at ENT in Spain!
Hi Tracy. I was prescribet Betahistine and thankfully throughout my three months trial I suffered no ill side effects. However I found that Betahistine did not help me in any way whatsoever and I have stopped taking them. I hope thing improve for you soon. Kind regards from Richard.
I was on Betahistine for Menieres for a long time. Didn't do much to settle my vertigo and didn't bother my tinnitus at all. In fact they are the only medication that I can think of that as not caused any spikes in my T. You have to take them for a while to gain the benefits. Buena suerte!
I initially tried Betatistine (I have vertigo as well as T) and didn't help me at all. If the side effects outweigh any positives maybe go back and talk to your GP. Its great you have an ENT referral as this really is a positive step in understanding why you may have T (although as with some of us there is no reason they can find), maybe have a think about the questions you may want answered when you see the ENT, I find it useful to write these down before I have a clinical appointment so it reminds me to get them answered (I posted a list of questions I used for audiology a while ago if you want to search for it). Please keep us posted.
I take Betahistine long term for Meniere's although I don't have vertigo any more (it was in remission before I was even diagnosed with Meniere's! I was on 3 x 16mg a day but I cut it down to 2 x 16mg as I didn't find it did anything one way or another. It's also a hassle to get here in the USA as it has to come from overseas not being FDA approved. It made no difference to my hearing, or to my tinnitus. The hearing fluctuates with or without Betahistine and it has had no effect whatsoever on my tinnitus which is usually about the same, occasionally much worse. Try it for a few days but if you don't feel it's doing much good, I would talk to your doctor and suggest you come off of it. At least Spain has a pretty good health care system, although I'm surprised you're going to have to wait three months to see the ENT.
Thank you Pablr.The wait is due to the fact they are still catching up with non urgent appointments here after Covid.
However they carried on with all cancer screening and treatment right through the worst of the pandemic plus referrals for any heart issue; I saw a cardiologist within 2 weeks of seeing my GP a few weeks back for a suspected heart problem; I'm fine on that count thank goodness. The ticker is A ok😊
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