Question: I have developed tinnitus and , to say the least, it is driving me insane. I take several medications for several different things. I have had severe pain in my knee so my primary care doctor referred me to an orthopedist. He gave me a shot and a prescription for pain. I took the medicine..one a day with food for five days and quit because my tinnitus seemed to get worse. I looked it up and found that it, along with several of my medications all cause tinnitus. I am so frustrated so I quit taking all of my medicines, including my blood pressure meds. My step daughter says I am playing with fire but I don't know what else to do. Why do they make medicines that are supposed to help, but , instead, hurt?

I have never been able to hear out of my right ear. I used to think that everyone was like that so I never questioned it. It wasn't until I had to have a physical for first grade that my parents became aware of this. The health nurse asked my mother to come into the room where I took the hearing test and when she asked my mother if she was aware of my hearing loss, she said she didn't but I could "see" light bulbs turning on in her head. She used to tell me I didn't listen. One night we were taking our "Saturday night baths" and after I got out of the tub, she wrapped a towel around me and told me to go stand by the furnace. But that's not what I heard..I thought she said to go stand ON the furnace. I turned to ask her "what" and my dad, who was a stickler for obedience, said to "mind your mother"...so I did. While I was laying on the bed as they tried to work on my foot, she asked me why I did it and I said, "because you told me to"...I was about 3 years old. Now, I am plagued with this and I am at a loss, to say the least. You say to stick to the medical chart, but I am afraid to do that totally. Sunday afternoon I felt like I was being squeezed in my chest very tightly and my blood pressure went up to 158/94. I got sweaty and it was hard to breathe, even though I had my oxygen on (I am on oxygen 24/7). I have never had a cigarette in my mouth, let alone smoke one. I have been on the O2 for about a year now. I don't have cancer, my lungs just don't work right. Anyway, I considered calling to maybe go to the ER but changed my mind, even though I had never felt that way before..SO I decided to take the BP meds, the potassium, my eye vitamin (have macular degeneration and take I-Caps or Ocuvite, whichever I have a coupon and can find it on sale) and also the lomotil, simply because to not do so means I live in the bathroom the rest of my life. I feel better today, but I haven't slept much in the past 2 weeks because I am not taking the trazadone. any more. I am totally afraid of all of that medicine after reading about it and really don't want to take it because of the tinnitus. I have a very low threshold for pain and do not have any idea what to do about it when the really bad pain starts to kick in , and it will...especially my headaches. My late husband was a service-connected DAV and because of that I could go to the VA hospital in XXXXXXX but that changed when I turned 65 almost 3 years ago this coming May 6. They gave me an MRI and said that I was loosing the white matter in my brain. They put me on gabapentin but somewhere along the line they changed it to hydrocodone, but that is when I started to get this ringing in my ears, which is now a big roar. I read in a magazine about a movie star who got it and said it was the hydrocodone so I told my doctor that I didn't want to take it anymore, so he gave me a prescription for Naproxen...all three of those meds are one this list. I am so angry and frustrated, I want to hit something but then, I would have another pain. I do respect your input but you don't know how afraid I am to take the medicine, in spite of what happened on Sunday. I am so isolated because I chose not to drive anymore and am quickly becoming a hermit in my own home but moreso in my own mind. I used to sell Tupperware and go camping and all sorts of things I don't or cant do anymore because of this constant roar in my head. In all probability my doctor would say what you did but it doesn't change how I feel and at this point, I feel like "I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't " ...

Thank you very much. I do appreciate your input. I hadn't planned on discussing this with anyone, professionally, because, sometimes, I feel like they don't have the time to take the time to really try to know exactly where I am coming from... but when I came across this site, I decided to try it out. I didn't even know there was such a site. I realize, after the incident Sunday, that I can't just quit taking everything. My medical degree hasn't been signed yet. I have been wearing an ear piece that I ordered from a catalog, but it doesn't really work. I can be standing next to someone and can hear their voice, but not understand a single thing they say. I attend church every week but wonder why. I quit answering the phone because it is just plain useless. I never thought my life would be like this. I have taken tests in the past, when I was younger and was always told a hearing aid would do nothing for my right ear...its gone. I would be interested in trying a hearing aid if I thought it would work, however, my Medicare and CHAMPVA insurances don't cover things like that. Somehow, I will just have to condition my mind to accept this but, right now, it is next to impossible to do. I do thank you for your support and I will have to figure out just what my next step can be. I do have an upcoming appointment with my Primary Care doctor in about 4 weeks and the orthopedist on the 15th. I have only seen him one time but will discuss this with him, as well as my Primary Care doctor. I just hope they listen to what I have to say because this hasn't been easy for me. You are a very nice person and I thank you for your time.