For years now, people on Tinnitus forums have said that it was Benadryl that caused their Tinnitus. Does Benadryl cause Tinnitus? Is Benadryl Tinnitus really a thing? Let’s find out.
It Could Be Your Allergies Causing Tinnitus, Not the Benadryl!
Benadryl being blamed for Tinnitus could be a classic case of Shoot the Messenger. To explain that, let’s first look at what Benadryl is and what it does.
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When you are affected by allergies, a bad case of the common cold or by a condition called hay fever, your body fights the infection by making blood vessels expand. Mucus production goes into overdrive. As a result, pressure in the sinus cavities increases. You feel stuffy, clogged and miserable. What do you do? You pop in a Benadryl? What does the Benadryl do? It’s a diphenhydramine or antihistamine. It basically tells your body to stop producing so much mucus, so your sinus cavities are not overloaded with mucus and expanded blood vessels. The stuffiness goes down and you feel relieved.
Now, this is where Benadryl gets a lot of the blame. Tinnitus is a condition that can be caused by, among several other things, changes in pressure around your ear. When your sinus cavities expand and become stuffy, there is pressure on your ears. Beyond a certain threshold, the pressure in your ear canals also become affected. When the middle ear gets damaged by this pressure, your brain gets a signal that your ear is not working like it should. So, what does it do? It tries to temporarily compensate your ear’s lack of ability to process a few frequencies with a phantom sound. So, essentially, Tinnitus is thanks to your brain.
Coming back to the topic of Benadryl Tinnitus, what we are basically trying to say is that your allergy, stuffy nose and sinus problems could have caused the Tinnitus. But, Benadryl looks like a culprit because you took it right around the time Tinnitus came on. Remember, Tinnitus doesn’t come on the moment you get a cold or sinus infection. It takes time for the sinus cavity pressures to build up, then affect the ear, then affect the coordination between the brain and ears, before finally showing up as ringing in the ears. While all this was happening, you might have popped in a Benadryl. If Tinnitus shows up promptly after, it is natural for you to blame your Tinnitus on the Benadryl.
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So, does Benadryl cause Tinnitus? Most probably not. Tinnitus is not even listed as a potential side effect in the literature that ships with Benadryl. But, if you are still doubtful or not sure, just stop taking Benadryl to be on the safer side. The last thing you want is to be stressed about medication you are taking every time you have a cold or sinus infection.
Is there any way Benadryl can cause Tinnitus?
Yes. There are rare instances where Benadryl can actually cause Tinnitus. Benadryl is an antihistamine that dries out the mucus in your sinus cavities. Depending on how much mucus is already clogging up your sinuses, an antihistamine can Benadryl can make it messier by drying everything up.
This is why it is recommended that you drink enough hydrating fluids or water after or while taking Benadryl. You also don’t want to wait till your mucus production goes into overdrive before taking Benadryl. Taking it earlier will allow you to enjoy its benefits rather than suffer from stuffiness that actually gets worse. Added congestion from all the drying out can worsen or even cause Tinnitus, sometimes. Learn more about Tinnitus and antihistamines here. Besides antihistamine medications, people also resort to the use of corticosteroid sprays to try to seek Tinnitus relief. This too must be attempted with moderation and caution. Learn more about Flonase and Tinnitus here.
Cases Where Benadryl Seems to Help With Tinnitus!
There have been a number of cases and anecdotal references on the Internet where people have said that Benadryl has helped them with their Tinnitus condition. Many have even said that they wake up with almost no Tinnitus, after having taken Benadryl the previous night.
But again, Benadryl is probably hogging the limelight for all the wrong reasons. A very common side effect of Benadryl is drowsiness. So, when Benadryl seems to help you with your Tinnitus, it probably just means that you slept better and your stress and anxiety is put on the back burner.
Stress is a strong driving force behind Tinnitus. And, lack of sleep adds to a lot of that stress. So, when Benadryl gives you a good night’s sleep, it reduces your stress which in turn takes the edge off your ringing in the ears.
But, if you are thinking about taking Benadryl to reduce your Tinnitus intensity on an ongoing basis, we would strongly advise against it. Benadryl is not a drug that is meant to be taken everyday. Though it is OTC or over the counter medication, it must be taken only when you want relief from allergies, a bad cold or hay fever. Taking it continually will cause your body to become dependent on it, resulting in a myriad of side effects, even if one of the side effects is better sleep that is helping you with your Tinnitus.
If it’s better sleep that you want, you can consider non-addictive sleep aids such as melatonin. Melatonin is a natural compound that your body produces to help you sleep. But, because of all the excessive screen time we all have, our circadian rhythms (our biological body clock) are disrupted and the body doesn’t always produce enough melatonin. When it’s 11 PM and you are in the middle of some serious Netflix binge watching, the blue light from your phone or tablet is going to tell your body that the sun is shining outside. Melatonin production is decreased or even stopped. You stay awake longer. Sleep goes for a toss.
So, synthetic melatonin can kickstart your sleep and hopefully reduce your stress that can then possibly take care of your Tinnitus. Here’s a post where we discuss the Melatonin Tinnitus connection more.
We hope were able to clear up a few things about the connection between Benadryl and Tinnitus. Please remember that what we provide here is just a logical opinion. This is after reading through thousands of forum posts on the matter.
Whether to take or stop Benadryl to treat or relieve your Tinnitus condition is something you must best discuss with your doctor.
