Hearing loss.

[Gram26]

Has anyone taking Plaquenil experienced any hearing loss?

[sflynn84]

I have ringing in my ears that began with the plaquenil. No hearing loss though.

[Gram26 in reply to sflynn84]

I went to my primary care physician today thinking I just had a build up of earwax. But no my ears were clear. Then he did a hearing test and found I am completely deaf in my left ear.

[zzcat in reply to Gram26]

Please see a rheumatologist as soon as possible. I had the exact experience, saw an ear, nose specialist with same results as you. They put me on steroids right away and the hearing returned. As soon as the steroids were discontinued the hearing was gone again.

Long story short, my rheumatologist was sharp enough to find Giant Cell Vasculitis. I am left with just a slight vision loss but a whole lot of answers.

Don’t fool around with this!

[Gram26 in reply to zzcat]

What is Giant Cell Vasculitis?

[zzcat in reply to Gram26]

It is an inflammation of the vessels in the brain in and around the eyes and face causing a wide variety of symptoms. I found it is not exactly like described on the Internet, as mine started with a stroke that they could find no cause for, the hearing and eye site loss is what pointed them in the correct direction. I went from no symptoms to many.

I am here in the US so perhaps it is called something else in the UK?

I go to John’s Hopkins, the link to this vasculitis is below, I hope it opens for you.

hopkinsvasculitis.org/types...

[overnighthearingloss]

I lost my hearing completely and permanently on one side whilst I was taking plaquenil. I don't know if it played a part but have refused it ever since that event. You can't hear in the same way with just one ear, but at least I still have one working ear.

I had had perfect hearing in both ears prior to my sudden loss.

[PMRpro]

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

says "A few cases of hydroxychloroquine-induced hearing loss have been reported. All of the cases were non-HIV positive individuals. Irreversible hearing loss was developed following long-term therapy with hydroxychloroquine. The present case was a HIV-positive man who developed hearing loss following short course (one month) hydroxychloroquine therapy and his problem was resolved following discontinuation of hydroxychloroquine and continuation of prednisolone."

You should be started on high dose pred asap - that is the normal approach to sudden hearing loss of this type and it does sometimes work. I have a couple of friends who suffered it without being on Plaquenil - any attempt at reversing it is worth trying.

[Jennifer251]

I don't experience hearing loss, but I suffer from hair loss, dry mouth and dry eyes while taking this med. You should consult with your doctor about this problem.

[Tiras]

Hello;

Yes, I have but, I can’t contribute it to Plaquenil, or just plaquenil? I worked in extremely noisy places in my career, so this may be most if not all of my hearing issues?

I know this didn’t help nor did it answer your question. Just relaying my experience.

Wishing You The Best!

[nanno]

Yes have a hearing loss that started at age45. Doc said it was due to having lupus. I started plaquenil at age 24. Still have ringing in ears, but not all of the time. Good luck.