Tinnitus - Hearing Loss

[Dave40306]

Ever since I finished my first week of treatment last Friday, the 26th of May, I have been experiencing some moderate ringing in my ears with occasional severe ringing from time to time. I can also tell that I've lost a good deal of my high frequency hearing. I general, it feels/sounds like I have a very bad cold and I'm just waiting for them to "pop" so I can hear normally again. My sinuses are clear (clearer than usual even) so I doubt it's related to allergies.

I told my Onclologist about this today and he's definitely concerned about it. He's going to send me to an Audiologist in a day or so to get checked out. He said he's worried that I'm having such an immediate and noticeable reaction to the Cisplatin and that I elected to go with 4 cycles instead of 3 to avoid the Bleo. He's even talking about the remote possibility of switching to Carboplatin even though it's not nearly as effective as Cisplatin. (I don't think he's really considering this and I'm not sure that I would agree, it was just something he mentioned.)

Has anyone else had a similar experience with their hearing? The ringing I can handle but the hearing loss and muffled hearing have me worried.

Is this usually a temporary thing, like hair loss, that will eventually recover with time once I finish chemo?

Dave

[dadmo]

Dave:
The the ear ringing should be temporary. Jason had moderate ringing the second week of every cycle and as soon as the chemo was do he was fine.

[Dave40306]

Dave:
The the ear ringing should be temporary. Jason had moderate ringing the second week of every cycle and as soon as the chemo was do he was fine.

Did he also mention that his hearing was "muffled" along with the ringing?

Dave

[dadmo]

No he never had the muffled effect. Just simple ringing.

[TSX]

Dave,

I think my experience was similar to what you're describing. I had some symptoms that started right after the first five days, ringing and reduced high-frequency hearing. It seemed to mostly disappear before the start of the next cycle, then would come back a bit after getting more chemo. It was worst for me in the week following the first five days in my third (and last) cycle. I still have some ringing, and sometimes things just sound weird to me, particularly listening to others talk.

I'm only two weeks removed from the end of my 3xBEP chemo, but from the improvement I've already noticed, I expect all or most of the hearing loss to go away eventually. Even if it didn't improve at all from where it is now, I don't think it would affect my quality of life at all.

Something weird I've noticed: to me it sounds like the very high-frequency stuff (> 5 kHz) is still there along with the low-frequency stuff (< 1 kHz). If anything, I'd say it's like a bandpass filter where some of the middle frequency range is blocked.

I'd be very concerned about making any changes mid-chemo. Definitely get a second opinion on that.

-TSX

[Don]

My hearing was all screwed during chemo.. I remember the muffeling of sound the most..everthing sounds like Charlie Browns teacher....I still remember my wife yelling at me every night to lower the volume on the TV.. I finally had to by a pear of wireless headphones for the TV... Don't worry to much as all have said it will go away.. However you can always have a reoccurence when your wife is giving you a hard time or something.. WHAT???WHAT??? I CAN"T HEAR YOU!!!!!!! Stay Stong and Positive Dave!!!!! DON

[Dave40306]

Guys,

Thanks for the quick responses.

TSX - I understand what you're saying about the bandpass filter effect. I'm really into music and home theater and have always valued my good hearing and "discriminating" ear when it comes to sound quality. That's probably why I'm worried about it and told my Onc. that I am loosing some hearing. Other people might not even really notice it. And,there'll be no changes in my chemo unless someone has a VERY good reason for it.

Don - The TV thing has already started to happen to me too. Last night my wife must have said "turn the TV down" at least 3 times and I usually listen to it at a good level anyway so it must have been loud.

Thanks again. This forum is great!

Staying Strong and Positive,

Dave

[huckchef]

i have had ringing in my ears for a couple of years now. which was before i was diagnosed and i didn't have chemo. i was checked by an ear, nose and throat doc before being diagnosed and he said he couldn't find anything wrong and prescribed me with steroids, that i never took. it still comes and goes sometimes worst than some but i always thought it was some kind of sinus issue even though i really don't have sinus problems. could this all be something related to the cancer we had in the "boys"? oh well.....anyone hear me??????? huh, what!!!

[Apache]

the ringing for me started within the first cycle and it continues today, 8 months after treatment. iit's pretty high pitched and it's annoying as crap but there are worse things in life.

[mrb1980]

Dave,
I had some mild tinnitus before chemo. After chemo, it was much worse and I've experienced the "muffling" that you describe, especially when I'm riding in the car with my wife (though it may be due to the reason Don has cited).

I'm 7 months post-chemo and the tinnitus ranges from barely noticeable to a loud gathering of ringing and clicking noises in my head. I have read that cisplatin can cause hearing damage. To agree with Apache, after having stage III cancer I've come to appreciate just walking around, tinnitus or not.

[dadmo]

Dave:
When Jason began to have ringing the doctor told him to drink more fluids. Just keep sipping on something all day and flush that poison out as fast as you can.

[rlhawk]

I had ringing in the ears all through chemo -- a low-level ringing that would randomly get louder in one ear for about 30 seconds at a time -- but no noticeable loss of hearing. It was worse right after a week of treatment. My doctor gave me ethyol to combat the the tinnitus, but that's not typical. I've never heard of anyone else receiving it and I can't say for sure if it helped. Maybe the ringing would have been worse without the ethyol. It's not as bad now, five months post-chemo, or maybe I've just gotten used to it.

[ryan1]

yes, i'm a week from my 3rd cycle of 4XBEP and i have the 30 second ringers with hearing loss as well. and, i hope listening to music at an escelated volume doesen't make that worse or i'm in trouble.

[JoePSU]

yes, i'm a week from my 3rd cycle of 4XBEP and i have the 30 second ringers with hearing loss as well. and, i hope listening to music at an escelated volume doesen't make that worse or i'm in trouble.

I have been experiencing this as well - just finished first week of BEP and had second Bleo today.

Dr. Vaughn recommended that I avoid any loud sound. I am inferring that increasing listening volume of electronics is not a good idea.

[Sercan]

hi

i want to add something about these ringings! on the last day of my first 5 day cycle of bep day, these ringings began and they affected me very differently. i had no hearing loss and they had tested my ears are preety good (for now) the sounds around me not diminished; on the contrary, they started to annoy me. i shouted at everyone at home not to scream or shout. it was really different experience for me. i will start second cycle monday and i pray that i wont have ringings in the last two cycles or hearring loss.