Forum Discussion
Does Anastrozole cause tinnitus?
.....WHAT'S THAT?? CAN YOU SPEAK UP?!?!
About a week ago all of a sudden I became horribly aware of having tinnitus. I have had ringing in the ears occasionally in life, as you do. Never like this though. I feel like it's now suddenly 24/7 and it is shitting me literally to tears.
Any evidence that this is a side effect of AIs or what?
I know chemo can damage hearing...but how? Is that what's happening to me?
I can't live with tinnitus. I've got too much other crap going on. UGHHHHHHH I don't see my oncologist for a couple of months, but I want to talk to her and say Hey! What is this!
About a week ago all of a sudden I became horribly aware of having tinnitus. I have had ringing in the ears occasionally in life, as you do. Never like this though. I feel like it's now suddenly 24/7 and it is shitting me literally to tears.
Any evidence that this is a side effect of AIs or what?
I know chemo can damage hearing...but how? Is that what's happening to me?
I can't live with tinnitus. I've got too much other crap going on. UGHHHHHHH I don't see my oncologist for a couple of months, but I want to talk to her and say Hey! What is this!
14 Replies
- Just got back from the oncologist and he said tinnitus is a side effect of Anastrozole. At least it’s not another thing wrong with me.
- You're right @LibbyA, I can recall it cropping up here from time to time. Curious.
- My hearing is good, as are my ears. I noticed a few posts around the place with hormone blockers and tinnitus. Now I’ve realised it’s me and not cicadas.....I can’t stop hearing it.
- I stopped hormone therapy 5 months ago and still have Tinnitus. I am starting to think perhaps it was brought on by chemo treatment? I had my hearing checked. Nothing wrong with it.
- Not something that I've heard of, but hearing is precious. I'd suggest a trip to GP to get your ears checked out
- I’ve been on Anastrozole for about four weeks and gave noticed the last week or so the worst tinnitus. I’ve never really had it before so didn’t take much notice, but it’s now constant.
- Chemotherapy. Medications that can damage the inner ear are called ototoxic. Certain types of chemotherapy are ototoxic. These include platinum-based drugs such as cisplatin (Platinol) and carboplatin (Paraplatin). The first sign of ototoxicity is often tinnitus. Hearing loss usually occurs when the drug damages the sensory hair cells in the inner ear that help process sound. Typically, it occurs in both ears.
Those little hairs in the ears and the nose are there for a reason but we haven't yet got a chemotherapy that can differentiate. At least in the nose, my only long term result so far, after months of a bloody, crusty nose, is a tendency to same whenever I have a sniffle. But apparently damage to the ears may be more crucial.
I hear hear you about warnings. Problem is, that at the other end of the process, if my oncologist had laboured every possible side effect, I might have not agreed to have chemo. The list he went through was scary enough. And I didn't get any of the common ones. This end of the process I live with the side effects I have, and am glad I didn't have to make any harder a decision. But it's all highly individual, and almost impossible to know at the time what you are prepared to risk. Nearly everyone looks back in some amazement with what they have encountered and dealt with, somehow. - @arpie Thank you, I wish I had a magic cure for you too.
I have to say right now I’m FED UP with the never ending bloody list of side effects that we have to live with. If I find out that tinnitus is related or caused by these drugs, and I have evidence....I’m gonna have a lot of stern words for the docs who never warned me of this particular effect >:) - Hmmm has anyone out there been on and off hormonal therapy, and during the off period found that tinnitus went away?
Has anyone had any info from their onco team or docs about tinnitus being a direct result of chemo drugs?
