Chronic Tinnitus after using Asacol to treat colitis

I've had tinnitis since age 11 (62 now)....and aspirin certainly exacerbates it, but the mesalamine does not (which I've used for 28 years).
Each of us is sensitive subjectively....if you are yroubled by it, then you should find alternative meds.

Keep in mind that salicylates are in foods as well.....so you might consider that as a way to help your tinnitis if it continues.

What permanent damage?

q

Hi, perhaps if I relay my story you might see some parallels in it to your own.

I was taking mesalamine (Pentasa) a few years ago and stopped it when it became clear that I had become intolerant to it. I had some obvious signs of allergy, and then some Tinnitus which confirmed it. Tinnitus in the ears is a classic sign of problems. It is the salicylate in the medication.

Unfortunately for me I then became intolerant to all foods containing salicylates, which is where I find myself now. I am not going to lie this changed my life and not in a good way....it makes gluten intolerance look like a walk in the park as many foods contain salicylates.

If you find you are having problems with almost all vegetables and fruits then it is likely you are reacting to the Salicylates in them. I would suggest stop taking anything with Mesalamine and alter your diet and I think you will find that the Tinnitus will almost certainly disappear, although you may always have to watch what you eat.

It might be an idea to test yourself with some foods to confirm that you do indeed have a problem with salicylates in food. Tea is extremely high in salicylates and so you could try testing that. I have found that most people with salicylates problems cannot take it at all and feel very ill afterwards. For example If I take tea I will start to feel slightly dizzy which is usually followed by my hands shaking....it is like taking poison.

Tomatoes are another high salicylate food which I note you mentioned having problems with. We all react differently, but it might be worth keeping a journal for a while and making a note of how you feel afterwards as this is a serious problem which won't go away. I wonder if you have had problems with smells, things like perfumes and household products as often the two issues go hand in hand.

I have had mild tinnitus for 20 years before I developed UC. I never noticed that mesalamine or any food or anything else made it better or worse.

Hi Poppie,

Thanks for your response.

I experienced a lot of sleeping problems due to the tinnitus especially in the recent month after my specialist doctor prescribed me Balsalazide as he thought they might not trigger the tinnitus as the chemical formula is bit different compared to Mesalazine. Unfortunately it did trigger the tinnitus and actually made it worse.

As I struggled throug the month I only quite recently realised that there is a connection between the food I eat and my tinnitus. As I like salads I ate a lot of it. As I watch now what I eat and avoid certain food like Tomatoes, Brocolli and several others the tinnitus is more manageable. But it does not seem to go away fully. To my experience it is always there however at a lower volume where I find it easier to ignore it especially at night. Therefore I hope that my sleeping problems will be more manageable in the future.
I noticed if I cook vegetables a bit longer then this lowers the effects on the tinnitus. It seems to reduce the salicylate in the vegetables.

Unfortunately the other problem I have is that I will have to take a lot stronger medication to treat the colitis which is actually quite a mild version. Currently I am on Prednisolone suppositories however they are not able to control the UC fully which means I will probably soon have to use steriod tablets. And my doctor already warned me that I can't use the steriod suppositories / tablets to often due to the long term side effects. That means I will have to probably take immune suppressants like Azathioprine which I find quite worrying.

But coming back to the original topic I did not experience any tinnitus from household products or perfums yet nor did I experience apart from the tinnitus any other effects from salicylates.

But you might be right if I totally avoid any food / drinks containing salicylates perhaps the tinnitus would go away eventually which would be a blessing. I am actually also somebody who drinks tea. So I might have to give that up as well. As you said it is quite difficult to avoid salicylates as they are in so many foods.
I also don't think this salicylate sensitivity will ever go away because I live now with the effects of it since over 3 years.

Ah ok, thanks Rudi.....hey, there was a thread here a few years ago and a few the active users mention they experienced something similar to you , check it out :

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2997657

Good luck, I will keep this post in mind (just in case) ;-)

Poppie said...
MarjieKay. Wine is high in salicylates how are you with that?

I am actually a recovered alcoholic coming up on 18 years without a drink.....no worries on the wine, lol. I googled a salicytes food list though and gosh....they are EVERYWHERE .

I don't know what is causing the rosacea, but it has gotten way better the last few months (along with my UC symptoms) so I am sort of wondering if they may be tied in somehow?

Thanks Poppie & good luck, Rudi !

@Poppie, I get that. Even though these things bother US more than others, still tough to handle and remain positive sometimes....my rosacea (when at it's worst a few months ago) would just ramp up under any sort of stress and become almost purple. Then I'd be conscious of it---making it worse, lol. I am normally that "cool under fire" sort.....so this was very strange. Glad it's all calmed down now and I can operate under the radar again....good luck on the pred taper, you'll be off soon!

Poppie said...
It might be an idea to test yourself with some foods to confirm that you do indeed have a problem with salicylates in food. Tea is extremely high in salicylates and so you could try testing that. I have found that most people with salicylates problems cannot take it at all and feel very ill afterwards. For example If I take tea I will start to feel slightly dizzy which is usually followed by my hands shaking....it is like taking poison.

What, no, this is a disaster!

Does mesalazine intolerance mean you are more likely to have a salicylate intolerance? Because I was extremely intolerance to mesalazines in the past (something that nobody took seriously).

Poppie - What you said, basically. Symptoms getting worse. But in my case the difference was quite dramatic and mimicked a severe flare-up in the days before I had any idea what a severe flare-up felt like: watery diarrhoea, going to the toilet loads more often, chills, having a high temperature. Might have been nauseous too, but I don't think I ever vomited. As soon as I stopped the mesalazine the symptoms went away in a day or two.

Chemically, I know mesalazine is very close to aspirin, which is a salicylate drug. In fact somebody did ask me once if I was allergic to aspirin, but I couldn't answer it. I'm not sure if I've ever taken aspirin. In the interests of science, I might buy some aspirin and try it out though... <_<.

I've just remembered alka seltzer, which I've taken occasionally. That contains aspirin and I've been fine. Seems a bit weird I would have such a strong reaction to mesalazine (and a few times at least, so it can't be written off as a coincidence), and none to aspirin. But that seems to be the case. I still might try an aspirin tablet, but I suspect if I can tolerate the liquid form I can tolerate the tablets.