Rush's hearing loss: Drug related?

[Faygo Kid]

Rush's hearing loss two years ago gained him great sympathy. Now, his remarkable loss may make sense; more than one publication has attributed hearing loss to prescription drug abuse, including Vicodan. Here's one snippet I picked up on the web; maybe DUers can find more:

Long term use of hydrocodone in combination with acetaminophen (aka: Tylenol) can cause hearing difficulties. Many doctors are not aware of this and do not make the link between the patient's hearing problems and hydrocodone use until it is too late. If an individual having such hearing problems continues using hydrocodone with acetaminophen long enough, permanent/irreversible hearing loss may result. Hydrocodone is an opiate generally used to treat moderate pain. Hydrocodone is the main ingredient in several prescription products, many of which also contain acetaminophen (i.e., Vicodan). The risk of hearing loss only exists when it is used long term. In most cases where hearing loss occurs, the individuals were taking fairly large doses for an extended period. For this reason, people who become addicted to hydrocodone are at greater risk of developing such hearing loss.
-"Rapid hearing loss--a side-effect to overuse of a prescription pain-
killer," Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meetings, Apr. 25, 1999.

[chookie]

1. Question about type of hearing loss

Do you know how hydrocodone and acetaminophen cause hearing loss?

Do you remember what Pigboy's hearing loss was diagnosed as?

Does anyone know why Pigboy might have needed/wanted to take large doses of these powerful drugs i.e. chronic back pain?

My first thought was that Pigboy got onto the pain-killers after his operation, but that was just a guess.

[Faygo Kid]

2. Good questions, all

That's why I posted. Could there be a link? It is not improbable. Hopefully, some digging will be done. I will do some, and hope others will, as well. Obviously, lots more to come.

[E Pluribus Unum]

9. I read in a local newspaper article

that his hearing loss was due to an autoimmune disease.

[Chryslin]

3. I put this up last night....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=452929

The LA Times article says a LOT......

http://www.nydailynews.com/10-02-2003/front/story/122839p-110349c.html

Talk-radio titan Rush Limbaugh is being investigated for allegedly buying thousands of addictive painkillers from a black-market drug ring.
The moralizing motormouth was turned in by his former housekeeper - who says she was Limbaugh's pill supplier for four years.

Wilma Cline, 42, says Limbaugh was hooked on the potent prescription drugs OxyContin, Lorcet and hydrocodone - and went through detox twice.


http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-091001vicodin.story

Misuse of Pain Drug Linked to Hearing Loss
Doctors in L.A. and elsewhere have identified at least 48 cases of deafness tied to prolonged misuse of Vicodin and other comparable prescription medicines.

By LINDA MARSA, TIMES HEALTH WRITER

A powerful and potentially addictive painkiller used by millions of Americans is causing rapid hearing loss, even deafness, in some patients who are misusing the drug, according to hearing researchers in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

So far, at least 48 patients have been identified by doctors at the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles and several other medical centers who have treated patients with sudden hearing loss. The hearing problems appear to be limited to people who abuse Vicodin and other chemically comparable prescription drugs by taking exceptionally high dosages for several months or more, doctors said.

<snip>

(Vicodin is a combination of acetaminophen and hydrocodone and is also sold under the brand names Lorcet, Lortab and Hydrocet.)

MORE

[amazona]

6. hey, great minds think alike!

Looks like we were posting at the same time...I may have gotten my link to the LA Times article from you.



Personally I'm convinced.

nice find

[Lars39]

8. Having just finished 2 weeks of Lortabs because of surgery,

I cannot understand why anyone in their right mind would take them recreationally.

They kept me blank-brained, and barely able to string words into a sentence. Ugh. How he was able to take them and still function is well worth looking into, ie. what kind of uppers was he also taking?

[amazona]

4. yes, it is almost certainly the cause

Here is a very long article on this subject from the LA Times:

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-091001vicodin.story

Rush claims his deafness was caused by autoimmune disorder. The report explains that autoimmune caused deafness is controlled or reversed by steroids. The researchers were finding that "mystery" sudden deafness in middle-aged people was not caused by an auto-immune disease or by antibiotic use (also a reversible cause of deafness) but caused by "a dirty little secret" -- vicodin abuse of around 20 to 30 pills a day for two months.

According to the housekeeper's logs, Rush was taking as many as 90 of these pills a day.

His deafness did not respond to steroids and required an implant.


the world's tiniest violin plays for rush, but he can't hear it, boo effing hoo

[chookie]

5. Limbaugh's deafness

Said to be caused by auto-immune disease.

The surgery he received was a cochlear implant, which was successful.
link
http://www.radiotalk.org/limbaughdeaf2.html

[amazona]

7. so say he, but docs say autoimmune deafness reversed by steroids

The opiate pain pills permanently damage the small hairs in the inner ear, which is why this kind of deafness would not be reversible without an implant.


it's soooo sad, isn't it? boo hoo