Hi, all. Apologies if this has been the subject of any other threads. I have been on the forum off and on for many years, following my first major Menderes attack in May, 2002. I have had a fairly rugged health life since--17 operations in the last six years alone, several rather major. The last one was a redo of a massive spinal operation I had three years ago. My pain was so severe that for a few days after the surgery, I was on 120mg of Oxycodone and 3-4 grams of Acetaminophen a day in the hospital. I noted my tinnitus was astronomical and my hearing utterly awful, even with my two hearing aids. By chance, I did some brief research today. It appears that opioids and several other commonly prescribed drugs can increase various of our symptoms, including tinnitus and hearing loss. Others on the list include NSAIDs (I take a baby aspiring as part of a blood thinner regimen), diuretics (I take a strong one for Meniere's), and Valium (I take 5 mg a day to combat the dizziness). I emphasize "can" increase one or more of these symptoms, not "do" or "will". But if you find some of your symptoms worsening, and you are taking any of these things, it might be worth considering and talking to your ENT specialist about it. I really have no alternative. Too many problems, too much pain. I take as little as possible for all of it, but I fear the damage in hearing loss and raging tinnitus is permanent. Mind you, I am 75, have been disabled since Meniere's first gave me a smackdown, and doubt I will be around a lot longer, so I am prepared to live with it. My wife, alas, less so. But she is a saint, and will. Just passing this along as information.
For me its the opposite, opioid help relax my ear(i dont get intense pressure if exposed to noise), and numb whats left of it and really help me live with meniere without going into deep depression(without chemically castrating me with AD that work at best for 6 month and are full of side effect). I got opioid for bad chronic pain since early 2020, not for meniere but it really help for it a lot. I get little side effect, it still very effective for pain and took 6 month to steady my dosage, but now my dosage remain unchanged for the past 2-3 years (so the lie that it always take more is total bullshit when not abused and used properly for pain(physical and psychological relief and not for getting high)). Really help with stress and anxiety too, indirectly reducing dizzyness. I think psychological pain from meniere is left untreated by most doctors and that really is a big problem. But things like advil(ibuprofen) do increase pressure.