Hi I'm new here. I had mild/ moderate tinnitus caused by loud noise since Sept . It was scary but I was managing to get on with my life however it was effecting my sleep. My doctor prescribed Mirtazapine. I took one 15mg dose and woke up to a loud hissing noise and other new tones as well as my original tones being louder. I had ear pain for two weeks and high pitched sounds are still distorted. The loud hissing continues still too. Has any one suffered a similar problem from medication making their tinnitus worse? It's been 10 weeks since I took the sleeping pill and I've had no real improvement. I'm worried it may have some how damaged my hearing. I have a hospital appointment but its not till April and in the interim I'm worrying more and more about the possible damage and how long this loud hissing will last. Just looking for some support from fellow tinnitus sufferers.
Tinnitus made worse by medication. Anyone in t... - Tinnitus UK
Tinnitus made worse by medication. Anyone in the same boat?
Hi P2023 I'm sorry you've had a bad experience with meds. ENT will be able to tell you if there's anything wrong with your ears. Audiology will check for any hearing loss. Tinnitus can be distressing - especially if it changes all of a sudden. It's not easy waiting (I've been there) but you have a relatively quick referral. Try to stay as calm as possible. Things may well improve before you see anyone. You could use sound therapy and relaxation techniques to distract yourself.
thank you, yes I just need to try and stay calm! Will try some relaxation techniques. Just so scary to have such a massive change. Thanks for your support
I really feel for you. I lived quite easily with mild/moderate T for a decade. Then one day I woke up to loud T . It was so scary! I went to pieces. Happily I discovered Tinnitus UK and the forum. Everyone has been so helpful. It's taken time to get back on my feet but the good news is it's possible.
thank you that’s really reassuring 
how long did it take to feel a bit better ? I'm a month in and still feel so hopeless
Hi Kelly. It took me about six months to feel a bit better but it's different for everyone. I remember the hopeless feeling well. Please know things will get better for you. It's just a matter of time.
Thank you . I'll hang on to that thought x
Sounds horrible. But one dose of anything very very unlikely to have caused this. Have the referrals to check for hearing loss.
it was definitely the sleeping pill.
well 5 statins did mine . it might depend on the strength as well .
Hello P2023
I have had the exactly same experience !!!!
I had to choose between sleep and Mirtazapine
I chose the latter
The M did stir up the neurons in my case but did make me sleep
It hasn't affected hearing at ALL so personally I would'nt worry about hearing
I have had 3 hearing tests over 12 months since being on M and no deterioration at all .
The secret is to get off the M ,get the tinnitus back to baseline and get your sleep back.
I started at 7.5mg and tapered down to 2.5 mg while still sleeping
I stopped at 2.5mg and sleep issues returned
I went back on M a week ago
I am now going to have a second crack at it and taper below 2.5mg
what is yr T like - do u hear it all the time in the daytime , or can u distract from it ?
mine is worse recently and more instrusive in daytime and difficult to distract from it
I hear it 24/7 unless I am engaged in an activity that completely takes my mind off it such as abseiling over a cliff!!!
Mine can be horribly loud at times
I keep a diary of how I am going which is helpful
I have Oticon hearing aids to mask the noise
I have found a sweet spot very occasionally where if I sleep soundly and am not on mirtazapine it quietens down .My problem is that I need the mirtazapine for sleep
does the hearing aid work ? I am considering them
I have the Oticon top of the range hearing aid
It certainly takes the sting out of the T
thank you , I will try them
I'm in the same boat with zopiclone and promethazine. I have to take it or I won't sleep but I will have 24/7 tinnitus
I have an excel spreadsheet diary
I record daily dosage , then (quality of sleep in 3 columns ) great ,average ,crap
I also the next morning describe the previous nights sleep in a separate column to expand on good average crap
I also have a column to record what I did through the day and also describe the level of noise perception
I colour code the last column as follows " Blue" noisy ,"white" T there but unremarkable ,"yellow" hasn't been instrusive The last colour is gold standard and what I wish every day was like
You will see patterns develop in your diary which are useful
You will see the dosage that maximises the whites in particular and minimises the blues
I’m sorry you have to chose between the side effects or sleep but I’m glad it’s helping you get some sleep at least. I stopped taking it after that one dose, I’m too scared to touch any meds now, but it did knock me out completely and most of the next day. Luckily I’ve managed to get my sleep back on track now with our medication. It’s a relief to know it’s not affected your hearing too. Maybe mine will have calmed down a bit by the time i have my hospital appointment, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for some improvement, it would be nice for the birds to sound back in tune again! Wishing you the best of luck with your taper
i had no option but to take M as I was on a downhill spiral with no sleep
Yes sleep is the most important thing. Lack of sleep was instrumental in me developing tinnitus in the first place (as well as a loud noise). And thanks for replying to my post. It’s really reassuring to know someone else has experienced the same thing I have
I find a walkman type radio of talk programs better than music.( haven't got the knack of streaming) I use over- ear headphones even to sleep with .
I'm just now ready to go on sertraline I have read all the online negativity about . I would like to say I had a metal breakdown 5 years when I started getting tinnitus so at the end I decided to use sertraline and I never got any spikes but god did it help my anxiety and that helped deal with the tinnitus after a year or over I slowly came off sertraline over 5 month period I went upto 150 mg but now my anxiety as gone up again and tinnitus as got worse still apprensive using it but I'm going to give another try before I get worse which will happen as my family notice that I'm going that way .
I have had tinnitus for 5 years and I had a mental breakdown over tinnitus 5 years ago . All my family and doctor wanted me to go on sertraline I said no as it makes it worse or get it . But at the end I had no choice as I would not be here today . Started off at 50mg ended up on 150mg my anxiety was really bad and depression. I didn't get tinnitus getting louder but my anxiety definitely got better using it so I think that helped . And for the last 4 years I had it but didn't worry about it. Now my tinnitus as got louder and my anxiety is through the roof and I'm going the same way so even now I sertraline can make it worse I'm going back on it to help with the anxiety part and I hope it doesn't spike. Also been told I have moderate hearing loss but all I could hear in my exam was my bloody noise . But obviously. I didn't have hearing loss 5 yeas ago I think it came from being depressed then the tinnitus came and then the anxiety from tinnitus. Some people can get rid of anxiety with breathing techniques but I need that little help from sertraline. If it gets worse I will come off of it .sorry for the long post.and thanks for reading if you got this far .
yes I was given Atorvastatin for cholesterol . Took for 5 days . My tinnitus is back . Got T about 25 years ago and over the last 10years hadn’t noticed it . Very depressing . Statins are ototoxic and can cause T or make it worse ,. Several friends on same drug also have T
Hi! I’ve had the same problem, my T getting worse because of medication, but I don’t think it’s the sleeping pill. I’ve noticed that my diuretic Tertensif increases it. I also know that aspirin can trigger T.
At the moment, I ‘ve no ideea what Sortis(Statin) can do, but I’m going to keep it under observation.
Good health!
Yes, statin cholesterol meds cause severe tinnitus and unfortunately from what I have read it's not reversible.
wish someone had told me that before I started my statins. For at least 10-12 years hadn't noticed my T . Started the statins , on day 6 woke up to that noise again .That's all it took. Yes I researched after that and it says irreversible. Just hoping it will quieten down again, but that took years.
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