Effects - Ecstasy ruined my Life by giving me Tinnitus

[ruined]

4 years ago, I did 2 ecstasy pills at home. I had taken a single pill about 6 times before. I am not a regular user.
The high wasn't great but I felt ok. 3 days later I wake up in the middle of the night, with both my ears ringing really loud. It's a condition called Tinnitus.

It made me so anxious and unable to live a normal life that I ended up in a psychiatric hospital for 6 weeks. I eventually learned to live with this and lived a normal life again, even thought the Tinnitus never supsided.

There is no documented link between Tinnitus and ecstasy. I searched every where but could not find this being listed as a side effect of ecstasy. It was also weird that it happend 3 days later. I was not exposed to loud music (I did it at home), so that couldn't have caused it either.

This year I made the biggest mistake in my life: I took another ecstasy pill at a party, for the first time since the above event.

And the same thing happened again: 3 days later my Tinnitus got much worse. I now have it so loud, that I can no longer live a normal life. My life is ruined for ever. There is no cure for it! Every second of every day for the rest of my life is now lived in agony with a piercing sound in both ears.

My life is ruined. And Ecstasy is to blame.

Stay away from this shit!

[sterling77]

That sounds crappy man, you may want to give piracetam a try, as it has been prescribed for tinnitus.

[DietBlonde]

SWIM wonders if the MDMA triggered a latent condition instead of being the root cause. Either way, that is no consolation to SWIY. Terrible to hear of SWIY's condition. SWIM hopes SWIY is someday cured. Godspeed.

[rhcpeppers1234]

Damn.....swim has to agree with dietblonde, but still thats no good. Swim hopes swiy gets better.

rhcpeppers1234 added 6 Minutes and 29 Seconds later...

Swim doesnt want to double post but found this info on wiki....

- Tinnitus is also a side-effect of some oral medications, such as asprin, and may also result from an abnormally low level of serotonin activity.

Swiy probably knows ecstasy fucks with serotonin. But this could be a reason that you got it after taking E.

SWIY should definitely try getting some 5-HTP (sold in GNC stores everywhere) or any other medication that helps level out / increase serotonin.

Swim doesnt know if this will help but thinks it couldn't hurt to try!!! Good luck man

Reputation Comments on this post:

very cool of SWIY to do some research for this poor guy, very nice! Good on you.

[sterling77]

Originally Posted by rhcpeppers1234

- Tinnitus is also a side-effect of some oral medications, such as asprin, and may also result from an abnormally low level of serotonin activity.

Swiy probably knows ecstasy fucks with serotonin. But this could be a reason that you got it after taking E.

SWIY should definitely try getting some 5-HTP (sold in GNC stores everywhere) or any other medication that helps level out / increase serotonin.

Swim doesnt know if this will help but thinks it couldn't hurt to try!!! Good luck man

Hmm, this does correspond to the drop in serotonin levels after rolling. I believe the day after it's ok, but on the second and third days is when the serotonin really decreases.

[rhcpeppers1234]

Originally Posted by sterling77

Hmm, this does correspond to the drop in serotonin levels after rolling. I believe the day after it's ok, but on the second and third days is when the serotonin really decreases.

yeah, whenever swim takes it he notices he is normally not sad or apathetic the next day but a few days after.

Swiy said he woke up 3 days later both times. It must be that the serotonin levels dropped a huge amount. Which then caused the tinnitus.

Ruined, swim hopes you read these replies. Definately check on getting something that can help level out swiys serotonin. It could help swiy a lot!!

[freshacejay]

Swim has tinnitus also. Swim is young and swim got it gradualy before ever having tried mdma. Swim knows the anxiety when first experiancing a strong ringing in the ear. The only cure is to accept it, swim feels sorry for everyone that has to deal with this condition. Swims feeling is tinnitus arises with inner conflict and stress. Swim thinks swiy has unresolved conflicts in swiys life that lie very deep and are brought up one level through mdma.
Swim recommends a disciplined life, thats what helped him.
Hope this helps.

[psychedelaholic]

SWIM has tinnitus but it's thankfully very mild. Just like the ringing you get 2 days after having been to a really loud gig or really bassy club. SWIM thinks it may have been caused by his extensive ketamine use. The ringing gets worse when he is on K. He barely notices it in the daytime though, only really effects him at night. He hopes it doesn't get any worse but at the moment it isn't causing any problems. He went to the doctors who told him it's from your brain misinterpreting sounds and turning them into an electric signal. He said it may just stop one day.

[Routemaster Flash]

I'm afraid I can't really help the OP, except to off my sincerest hopes his/her condition improves over time. But it sounds like a very idiosyncratic reaction - I mean, millions of people have taken ecstasy and haven't developed tinnitus. No great comfort to you, I guess, I'm just saying it in response to your "stay away from this shit" message. Maybe it's a rare form of allergy? Who knows.

SWIM actually gets tinnitus too, though only in one ear and it comes and goes. He thinks it's probably not got anything to do with drug use, as although he's used quite a lot of different drugs, there's no one drug he's ever really overused in a serious, chronic way. SWIM was stressed last year and had hair loss too, so maybe it was linked to that.

[chillinwill]

I'm very sorry to hear this and hope this gets better. One thing Red Rock first thought of after reading this is that does SWIY test their pills? If not, it could have been an interaction with any number of other chemicals other than MDMA. It depends on what the pill manufacturer pressed the pill with.

[powerrobbie]

SWIM has tinnitus as well and has always beilived it was due to his XTC abuse in his teen years. When swim was just 15 years old he did xtc pills several times a week for about 6 months. One day he took some pills and the next day woke up with his ears ringing, although thankfully pretty mild SWIMS ears are still ringing to this day. It actually went away for abit, but then randomly came back. SWIM has done XTC pills several times since his ears started ringing tho and it has not made it any worse. Maybe SWIY and SWIM are two very unlucky people who had unusal reactions to XTC, or maybe it has nothing to do with the XTC at all. SWIMS doctor said he had never heard of anyone as young as 15 having tinnitus unless exposed to extreamly loud noise, so swim does believe XTC played a role in his conditon.

[TheMainException]

Hey Ruined...Ecstasy didn't cause it, but I know what it's like to have that anxiety related to the ringing. I have inner ear problems and things related to vertigo and strange headaches/nausea and very often random ringing in my ears. Unlike those people who get it for a small amount of time, I'll usually get it for more than a few seconds...but thankfully just in one ear. It really freaks me out. Thank you for the warning. I thought that I might one day try ecstasy, but I think I'd better not if since I have a pre-existing condition that could be made worse by something like ecstasy.

And to the other very helpful posters...thanks for finding that good info.

[Vesey Marx]

Pure MDMA pills are extremely rare. It's entirely likely there was a large amount of something else in it that triggered your condition. Still, that sucks to hear! Best of luck, man.

[Nature Boy]

Tinnitus is very common and unfortunately there are hundreds of potential causes ranging from otologic difficulties and metabolic disorders to neurological and psychiatric problems. There are, however, plenty of treatment methods so there's no point giving up hope. Everything from prescription drugs to surgery to therapy. Consult your doctor and if possible, see an ear specialist because the main difficulty with this condition is pinpointing the source of it.

[dspacemonkey]

The first thing SWIM thinks of is that perhaps too much loud music was the cause, if you were even a tiny bit rebelious on your E then you must have been going to clubs equals too much doof doof which = tinnitus.

[rhcpeppers1234]

Swim doesnt think this guy plans to come back on this forum....He is just trying to get people not to do it...

[port 21]

Originally Posted by rhcpeppers1234

Swim doesnt think this guy plans to come back on this forum....He is just trying to get people not to do it...

I agree.

If this is an honest thread, i offer you my sincerest apologies.

But something screams bullshit to be honest.
Just a spam bot which, ironically, joined to offer the post saying how his life is ruined, with a name called Ruined. Screams spam bot to me.
Imo, a paranoid parent or a person strongly opposing drug use.

My personal opinion.

[ruined]

Loud music was not too blame. SWIM hasn't been going to raves at all. SWIM only took E at home. Maybe that's why E wasn't connected to Tinnus before: Since most people take E at raves, if they develop Tinnitus, the obious thing is to blame the loud music at raves.

The 1st time round SWIM couldn't be sure to blame Tinniuts on E. It could have been coincidence. But 2nt time tound made it obvious: SWIM took E 2 times in the last 5 years, SWIM got Tinnitus 2 times in he last 5 years, in both times exactly 3 days after consuming E. Lightning doesn't strike twice!

[crunchyblack]

I don't see why you are blaming ecstasy for ruining your life when you where the one putting unknown drugs into your system. Take responsible for what you have done and stop blaming the drug.

[blipblop]

Originally Posted by ruined

The 1st time round SWIM couldn't be sure to blame Tinniuts on E. It could have been coincidence. But 2nt time tound made it obvious: SWIM took E 2 times in the last 5 years, SWIM got Tinnitus 2 times in he last 5 years, in both times exactly 3 days after consuming E. Lightning doesn't strike twice!

Correlation =/= Causation.
There could have been something going on in your brain chemistry that led to both *wanting to take mdma* and *developing a medical condition*. If you had an underlying mental illness or medical condition, it could have caused you to look for something exciting like mdma and caused the tinnitus seperately.

Reading this "Tinnitus is also a side-effect of some oral medications, such as asprin, and may also result from an abnormally low level of serotonin activity" in a previous post I wonder if maybe you had an abnormal level of serotonin to begin with, sought a high as a result of the mood caused by this abnormal level, and the use of mdma either exacerbated the underlying condition and caused tinnitus, or else the underlying condition was just waiting to cause tinnitus anyway even if you hadn't taken drugs.

It seems odd that someone would strongly believe a certain drug led to such severe side effects that they required psychiatric hospitalisation for 6 weeks, and then go back for more...

[Greenport]

SwiM's baking soda is wondering if it was something else in the pills, not MDMA, that could have played a role in the tinnitus.

Since swiY states that (s)he only had an 'ok' time off two pills, this leads the baking soda to believe that there was not real MDMA in these pills, rather a knock-off chemical. Why? Because if there were MDMA in those pills, the time would have been much greater and happier than just 'ok', it would have been orgasmically super happy yay good-time stuff.

The baking soda is wondering if this effect could be caused by piperazines or the like.

[ruined]

Of course, I cannot be sure if it was the MDMA that caused the Tinnitus, or another substance that was in it. Still it was the Ecstasy pill that contained the other substance.

It was 4 years between the two instances so chances are small that the pills came from the same "batch".

The Tinnitus also appeared 3 days after I took the ecstasy (on both occasions), so it looks like is not direct effect of the MDMA or whatever, but more like a knock on effect, e.g. low serotinine.

But still: I got Tinnitus 2 times in 5 yeas, both times exactly 3 days after I took the E. And I haven't taken E any other times.

[blipblop]

But still: you decided to take E both those times because your brain felt like it wanted to. Maybe your brain wanted E because you had low serotonin levels in your brain to begin with, and taking E (a serotonin releasing agent) would help balance this out. Maybe your low serotonin levels caused the tinnitus.
If you were experiencing extremely low levels of serotonin in the days before these two occasions, it could lead to (a) wanting a boost in serotonin in the form of E, and (b) developing tinnitus completely separately to any effect the drug may have had.
It could be that your brain chemistry in the days prior to wanting to take drugs, your serotonin levels were already at a stage where you were going to develop tinnitus, and if you had not managed to find drugs, it could have happened anyway due to your serotonin levels.

So instead of "decide to take drugs" -> "take drugs" -> "tinnitus", couldn't it have been
"low serotonin" -> "want to take drugs"
|
v
"tinnitus"

[Routemaster Flash]

Originally Posted by blipblop

But still: you decided to take E both those times because your brain felt like it wanted to. Maybe your brain wanted E because you had low serotonin levels in your brain to begin with, and taking E (a serotonin releasing agent) would help balance this out. Maybe your low serotonin levels caused the tinnitus.
If you were experiencing extremely low levels of serotonin in the days before these two occasions, it could lead to (a) wanting a boost in serotonin in the form of E, and (b) developing tinnitus completely separately to any effect the drug may have had.
It could be that your brain chemistry in the days prior to wanting to take drugs, your serotonin levels were already at a stage where you were going to develop tinnitus, and if you had not managed to find drugs, it could have happened anyway due to your serotonin levels.

So instead of "decide to take drugs" -> "take drugs" -> "tinnitus", couldn't it have been
"low serotonin" -> "want to take drugs"
|
v
"tinnitus"

That's a good thoughtful post, but I feel I should point out that plenty of people (myfriendwhotakesdrugs included) don't have low serotonin or depression or anything like that but take ecstasy anyway just because it's, y'know, fun.

We're all speculating wildly here in this thread, of course, but my own thought on the matter is that it was probably a highly idiosyncratic reaction to the 'ecstasy' pills (whether they contained MDMA or what) that triggered some latent disposition to tinnitus. Idiosyncratic reactions are rare, by definition, but that doesn't mean they don't happen. Hell, some people can drop dead from eating a tiny bit of peanut, right?

I can only wish Ruined the very best of luck in recovering from his condition...my only advice would be to avoid ecstasy in future, but I guess he's worked that out already.

[blipblop]

Originally Posted by Routemaster Flash

That's a good thoughtful post, but I feel I should point out that plenty of people (myfriendwhotakesdrugs included) don't have low serotonin or depression or anything like that but take ecstasy anyway just because it's, y'know, fun.

Mmm, definitely, there are a huge amounts of reasons to take drugs besides low serotonin, but in a case where the person (a)very rarely takes drugs (b) has a huge medical issue around the time of use and (c) the medical condition can be caused by a lack of the chemical sought out by the person, it seems more likely that there would be a correlation.

Ruined is saying that the reason for taking the drug was opportunity, so perhaps the brain chemistry thing isn't true in this case, who knows.

It just kinda was starting to sound like "well I starting taking this cold medication, but soon after taking it, I got diagnosed with the flu, cold medicines must cause the flu" (which most people would see right throguh and say "er, maybe your cold symptoms were the beginning of the flu, so your diagnosis was due to an underlying medical condition, and your use of cold medicine was due to the illness as well, the medicine didn't cause the flu"), but it just seems like people are only too keen to accept that every bad thing that happens after the use of illegal drugs might be the fault of the drugs, and even people on DF etc seem to put all their attention into saying "oh but it hardly ever happens" or similar...

Whoops, rant:P