Can anyone tell me what they know about hearing loss from chemo? It's not one of the things commonly listed as side effects? Maybe just some of the drugs?
I am going to look again on the site and see if I missed info, but any input would be appreciated.

Take care,
Dinah

Hi. My husband was on cisplatin and had a bit of a hearing loss in his right ear, the same side that he had his radical neck dissection, the doctors said it is a combination of the surgery (nerve damage) and the chemo. He plays with the change in his right pocket and can't hear it.
They never changed his meds because it wasn't too much of a loss and they couldn't prove it was the chemo and not the surgery.
Sherrie

Hi Dinah!
I was on Cisplatin and had a rather bizzare reaction. In one ear, everything was terribly loud, and crumpling paper was actually painful. This went away, but when I told the doc, he said a very, very small percentage of people react to Cisplatin that way, and to continue to take it would probably be the cause of complete hearing loss. He said that was not a good trade off for curing me of cancer. I agreed. I was changed to Carboplatin, and have suffered a small hearing loss at the extreme upper range. I know this from testing, but do not notice it in daily life. I do not play the flute (grin). I am not aware of any other drugs that can threaten hearing, but will post if I learn of any.
Joanna

Joanna,

I am on Carbo/Taxol combo with the OSI-774 investigational. I went into all this with a sinus infection and then my ears cleared, then I caught a cold and they have closed again.
I'm just getting concerned because they haven't opened again.
Any info would be great.

(I posted to you under hair.) Take care, Dinah

I was also on Cisplatin with radiation concurrently. Hearing loss is listed as one of the possible side effects. A month after my completion, I experienced sudden ringing sound (like that a train was moving right next to you ) for two seconds, several times a day. This lasted for about two months and disappeared unnoticeably. My oncologist told me that since the targets of radiation were not very close to my ears (mine is tonsil cancer spread to lymph nodes on neck), there shouldn't be any damage to hearing. I have heard that a nasopharynx cancer patient had his ear drum damaged when taking his flight due to enormous air pressure when taking off) a short time after completing the therapy. So ask your oncologist about this hearing issue.