Can Ibuprofen exacerbate the symptoms of tinnitus?

[Melons70]

I had weeks of a blissful episode of no tinnitus due to changing my diet and also recovery from what was a bad sinus infection for weeks. However, it has come back with a vengeance as I now feel as though I am in a constant tunnel with what feels like a zooming noise in both ears. This started when I had to take ibuprofen for my monthly cycle. Unfortunately, I cannot take any other pain killers as the pain is so severe. I have previously read that it is thought ibuprofen may exacerbate the symptoms of tinnitus. Has anyone else come across this please?

[Happyrosie]

There were comments on this about a month ago on this site so you might find something helpful (put ibuprofen into the search box,I think). Some American sites say that ibuprofen can do this, but it’s not on the pack insert.In your position I’d ask my pharmacist for a ten minute or so consultation as pharmacists know more about drugs and their effects and inter reactions than doctors do.

[Melons70 in reply to Happyrosie]

Hi Happyrosie!

Thank you very much for your advice.

I am going to pop into my local pharmacist today for a consultation.

I was told by a GP some years ago to stop taking ibuprofen but he would not elaborate on why. He was quite insistent and stated that it was not a good pain killer.

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, some people do report side effects from using painkillers, and those can include issues like elevated tinnitus. I think it's important to add some caveats to that statement.

Ibuprofen, like Aspirin, is often identified as having the potential to cause issues for some people who take this type of medication over a significant time period - the extent of those problems and their duration is much less clear. It's also unclear whether the use of painkilling medication is the primary cause or part of a wider picture.

Our advice is always to discuss the use of medications with your GP and explore alternatives if you reach a consensus that painkillers are contributing towards tinnitus spikes.

As a picture of what has been reported by GPs and patients using the Yellow Card scheme, this collects reports of tinnitus being worsened by ibuprofen use (bear in mind that these are reports rather than verified cases explored and subsequently confirmed):

info.mhra.gov.uk/drug-analy...

[Happyrosie in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

And as has been said before, no one is going to report an improvement of their T after taking painkillers.

[amelie123]

Yes I’ve noticed that ibuprofen and naproxen exacerbate my tinnitus.

[GarryOKeeffe]

I take ibuprofen for neck pain and it makes no difference to my tinnitus.

My tinnitus started just over 1 year ago after I strained my neck exercising. The GP gave me ibuprofen max to the pain which (I think) helped the pain but did nothing for the tinnitus.

One year on the neck pain has reduce dramatically but the tinnitus is still there. It's different and still loud.

[Philip6]

I’ve not found any foods or drink or medication that affects my T. I’ve had it over 20 years, ibruprofen makes no difference to it, but it’s not good for your stomach.

[mmmgggsss]

Hello I have pulsatile Tinnitus in my left ear. I had Covid the past 2 weeks and was taking a lot of Tylenol and had no flare ups. I was taking 6 tablets per day so I would say no it doesnt cause it for me. Similar to you though my tinnitus also goes away for long periods which can last week. I have been in a good phase lately and have had this for almost a year now. I am finding the overall trend to be that it is getting better so hopefully the same with you. Lets hope we can all figure out what our triggers are.

[Melons70 in reply to mmmgggsss]

Thank you very much for your words of advice. I had over 3/4 weeks of peace but then it started again. I hope with my diet and exercise regime, it may get better slowly.

[mmmgggsss]

Yeah mine can go away for like a month too and I think when I exercise a lot it helps. I assume you have regular tinnitus and not pulsatile -where it goes swoosh in synch with your heartbeat ?

[Melons70 in reply to mmmgggsss]

Oh my goodness yes. The tinnitus started just like that one evening on my way home from work in September 2019. Severe dizzy spells and imbalance and then the ongoing zooming and whooshing noise in my ears. I have bee Lon diagnosed with reduced hearing in my right ear and have been given a hearing aid but it makes me feel odd because I do not have one for my left ear! It is distressing at times but I just get on with my day.