Antidepressants (SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOs, TCAs, TeCAs)

I guess he meant that T and emotional problems are often related, and that's true. I kinda agree to that logic, in my experience many people with an anxiety disorder or depression, has some degree of T, I mean, apart form scientific data, personally I know 9 of them and 4 of them have T, developed after their emotional issues, that's a lot for young people (22-35) without hearing problems. I should say 5 insted of 4, because I'm one of them, T set in immediately after my second panick attack, but before I took any med for them. But it is important to remember that both emotional issues and T can arise from several different causes, maybe summing up. That's why in both of these problems there is not 1 single working treatment for everyone, and everyone has to find their way to manage or recover or heal from them.

 

Having some form of PTSD and panic attacks (i think 10 of them over years) with potential over exposure to sound and medication there's many possible causes.IMO it's definitely my panic attacks that messed up my brain.
(well in certain neurological pathways).

 

My T started two years ago this month. I'm 44.

I developed an anxiety issue a year before my T started as well as some occasional insomnia issues. While I do have some slight hearing loss, I always felt my T is somehow related in that perhaps it exacerbated the issue. I do know my T is worse when I am not sleeping well.

 

OK, so, as far as I can tell, most ADs are otoxic. I imagine that it was me being on Ativan for anxiety for three months and then stopping cold turkey that may have caused my tinnitus. I also suspect that zoloft might have done it too, but I was only on it for eight or nine days. currently I take gabapentin, which I was told that may have caused it as well.
My point is that I have diabetic nerve pain, constant headaches that resist treatment and insomnia. which all makes my T worse. in anyone's opinions, is there a safe than most anti-depressant? I am tired of fighting this battle...I need sleep! oh and otc sleep aides don't really help...

 

Not sure if ADs can cause T, in my opinion it is possible but it's much more likely the other way around, the problem you are taking ads for can cause T, it is possible that someone who stabilizes neurochemistry using meds is left with an even more severe imbalance once he stops taking them if the issue is not fixed, causing neurological disturbances. Safer than ADs ? There are several things that clinical test have found equally or more effective in this cases, but just like AD, they don't work the same way and well for everyone, and of course they need more effort than just taking a pill. What you gain is that finding an active way to work on your issues you are working on a deeper level, while passive way like a benzo works on symptoms but has no change on your actual brain structure, if possible they can mess it even more in the long run. About supplements, a good combo seems to be rhodiola rosea plus omega3 plus a strong natural antioxidant like ubiquinol and maybe some vitamin b complex, also meditation or yogi practices like Sudarshan kriya yoga can effectively lower depression and anxiety workin on balancing central nervous system, 15min each day can make huge changes (but if your condition is actually severe I would suggest to first stabilize it wether with supplements or AD, otherwise neuroplasticity is severly impaired and possible you will generilize fears [tipycal of generalized anxiety] even over healthy things thinking they are making you harm), make sure to combine it all with some phisycal exercise. Anyway, anxiety is mostly neurological but usually originates from psychological stressors, so also some kind of therapy is usually needed to address and prevent the same psychological issues to continue trigger and worsen the neurological maladaptation.

 

Im currently prescribed gabapentin to help my anxiety and T. I guess from your standpoint you wouldnt reccomend it? Also who told you Gabapentin could give you T?
Thanks!

 

That might be true for those that are only having thoughts, but anxiety, agitation, and a constant loud noise in your head that wont go away, is more than just having thoughts, these are physical symptoms, I have never been on AD,,, but thinking serious about it,,,,see neuro doctor today,,,,because suicidal thoughts are not a good thing, ive tried the positive thinking, but is my willful positive thing gonna change a problem I might have in the brain? I agree one needs to stay positive,,,by the way, i have had lots of head trauma in my life and noise induced T,,,,, I had manageable (T) tinnitus for 20 years and no drugs needed for it,,,,but coming off pain med (Gabepentin)could have contributed to it getting worse, although I was starting to feel rough before that drug, from a tree limb hitting me in the head,,,anyways try to go the non drug route first,,,esp if your tinnitus is kinda new, but for those who are thinking of hurting themselves, go get help,,,thats where Im heading today,,,,I hope I find it,,,,good luck to everyone in these journey for happiness!

 

@Pumpkin2005a ,
Nortryptaline or Amitryptaline are both AD meds and can help sleep on a low dose and both are used to help sever tinnitus as they help stop nerves missfireing and used for pain.
Have a chat with your doctor...lots of love glynis

 

Exactly...

Try on raw turmeric and ginger for the pain. You can find them at some asian groceries or at some shops selling organic foods. I took some pregabaline for physical pain. Didn't do that much. Keep us posted please.

 

Out of curiosity how was T before, when it was manageable, when did u used to hear it.

Good plan getting help, take care.

 

@Florida John ,
Let us all know how you got on and the help your getting.....lots of love glynis

 

Neurologist I saw today, recommended that I get back on the gabapentin (Neurontin) , it was this drug that I came off that sent me to ER with the loudest ringing I have ever had in 20 years of having tinnitus, I now know I went to a high dose to quick and then came off to quick,,,,because it was making me feel bad,,,,I had been given it for neck pain,,,,and the original doctor did not warn me of side effects said very safe,,,,,this doctor today said take 300 mg every day for 3 days then up it another 300 mg,,,,untill i reach 900 mg,,,,,not what I was expecting to hear from him today,,,,wants me to see a psychiatrist for depression,,,,I have been off the gabapentin for 6-7 weeks and still feeling lots of anxiety,,,i know some from the higher T,,,,but I think some might be from withdrawl systoms,,,,,I am really bummed and losing hope fast

 

what dose of gabapentin do you take? and how long have you taken it, I am wondering if it recently spiked my T by a bad withdrawal from it. Good Luck!

 

Mirtazapine is generally viewed as THE safest antidep around this forum for T, in front of Amitriptyline, which has way worse side effects, and i found stimulated my T after just 3 dose (also made me feel suicidal, and sweat that gross chemical drug sweat). The Mirtazapine is a world of difference. Best pill a doctor ever gave me. Whish I was given it instead of that stupid cipralex back im 2009, that AD put me into 4 years of darkness. it should be called an antiantidepressant...or just a depressant, but I bet people would still buy it if they called it an anti-antidepressant

 

I found amitrptyline increase my tinnitus, but it may have been due to the effect it had on my nervouse system, after 3 doses i did not feel well, suicidal thoughts like with i started cipralex (those thoughts when starting an AD are not the same as the normal day to day ones), and weird chemical smell sweat/oily palms. I got of amitrptiline ASAP.

If anything in hindshight, I'd say Remeron is the only one I've ever had that works well for me, better than I ever thought an AD could do, with no noticable side effects, besides that you take it at night, twice a month or so I forget to take it, and don't notice any problems. I can;t say it lowerred the T, but it has lowerred some form of depression I guess, but in general I feel the only way to describe it is "less retarded" I'm not exactly a high fucntioning individual, I find it helps me focus and learn and make small steps in the right direction, rather than constantly be doubting myself and being afraid of things, and not getting anything done and then getting angry at myself for not getting anything done etc.

I'm also a lot nicer to her mom, and a let less bothered when she tries to bother me.
Still a lot of depression but its like, I can sit with the depression and feel it's company, and not try to change it, or fix it or, or be afraid or angry at it, just chill with my massive depression like it is the cushion i'm sitting on. It;s actually the first antidepressant(?) that hasnt ever given me aggravated suicidal idiation at all, for some reason the celexa cipralex, and amitryptyline did but the doctors would say i would get past that just keep taking them, but i took cipralex for 4 years, and then they doubled the dose and i go the same agitated suicidality, and they are like yeah its like before you just have to ride it out until its built up in your fat tissues. When i got off that stuff I felt much better psychologically, but was left with absolutely crippling anxiety exponentially worse than i ever had. So then i took no meds for 4 years, and got into health food, and holistic health paradigms trying to get my mind and body back to equilibrium after being used as lab rat for psych pills for 4 hears.

 

I've been on Mirtazapine 15mg for about 6 weeks now and it has made such a world of difference, as you say! Have had no side effects whatsoever either.

 

So my psychiatrist gave me the freedom to choose my own medication. She doesn't have experience prescribing meds for tinnitus patients and I have more knowledge about tinnitus than she has. My audiologist advised me to contact some professor about which medicine would suit me best: but this professor didn't do any research on medicine in tinnitus patients and he can't help me. My next appointment with my psychiatrist is already next Wednesday and I have little time to find out which medicine would suit me best: therefore I need your advise.

My tinnitus is intrusive at times (especially in the evening). Sometimes I still have a stress/anxiety reaction which seems merely physical, the mental anxiety seems to have gone since I know what tinnitus is. It is this stress reaction and my overall feeling of tension which I hope to suppress with medication. I want medicine that are not too heavy and it would be great if the drug improved my sleep as well. For now I stick to 25 mg quetiapine (Seroquel) for sleeping, but I'd rather stop with that drug as I have read many negative things about its long term side effects.

Any suggestions? All are welcome!

Thank you in advance!

 

I was on Effexor for a year due to stress related to tinnitus and ear pain, this drug made me extremely hostile, aggressive and restless.

Other side effects included weight gain, racing heart, confusion, short term memory problems.

This drug did absolutely nothing to help my tinnitus issue, it only served to make things generally worse. Coming off this drug was a problem as well, my tinnitus was actually worsened.

I don't think these AD drugs work very well for anything. I was really hoping I could somehow lower my raging T and ear pain, no luck unfortunately.

Anyone else experience the same or similar?

 

That's exactly why I stayed away from the AD that was prescribed to me, under the assurance that "there aren't any serious side effects". I quickly debunked that statement when I got home and decided it wasn't worth it, as I wasn't depressed or had any imbalance in my brain. I also read about side effects that didn't go away after cessation of the treatment, so that deterred me even more.

And to add insult to injury:

 

Nortriptyline has really helped me with tinnitus at a low dose.
It's easy tolerated and helps sleep also...lots of love glynis

 

Instead of guessing, I would recommend having a genomind test done. I will tell you which antidepressants you should be genetically compatible with. Then from those, you can pick the one most likely to help with T like Mirtazapine or Nortriptyline for example.

@Telis If you're still considering medications, you might want to try this, it may help to avoid a possible agitated/aggressive reaction.

 

I am on fluoxetine 20 mg every morning since october. It has helped a lot. I feel better and less anxious. I have OCD ( Pure ) and GAD. I am sleeping better, feeling better and doing exercise very day. My pschyatrist adviced me to take fluoxetine and that it won´t worsen my T. I was suffering, and that was not a way of living, not for me at least. I used to take 4 pills of clonazepam 0,5 mg per week. Since I take fluoxetine, i haven´t touched not even one pill of clonazepam.
What will happen tomorrow when i quit the AD ?
Only god knows. But I am not here to suffer.

 

did it spike your tinnitus when you first started? any info appreciated? good luck!

 

Hello Florida, it did not. Fluoxetine is listed as non-ototoxic in the spanish forum www.acufenos.org. On the contrary i started taking it because another T in my right ear ( healthy one ) came out of nowhere. So i felt pretty anxious, devastated and scared. But the T itself did not was my worse enemy at that time, it was ( and is sometimes ) my anxiety and obssessions with sounds around me ( alarms, fridge, tv, or whatever ). Sometimes, when my anxiety rises, i believe that any noise is my T. Yes, i know, it sounds funny . But i began to tap my ears and check sounds, level, intensity. That must be avoid at all cost.
I think i could pretty much do a comic movie about my issues
Fluoxetine has helped me, but of course, it is not the magic pill.
Even tough I do therapy, exercise and try to relax, I keep on having anxiety and obssessive compulsive crisis, time to time.
Hope my words can help you, and god bless you Florida.
We will be fine.

 

one last thing, did it help or hurt your sleep? also wonder if you grind teeth at night as I do, I think it might be from anxiety,,,Thanks

 

Yes i am sleeping better Florida. between 7 and 8 hours a day. Before i had fluoxetine, i was taking sertraline. The good thing about sertraline was that i could stay in a very calm state, but had stomach issues and other secondary effects. So, my dr changed it for fluoxetine. I do grind teeth at night, yes. That is anxiety. I suffer mild pain in my jaw, ears, and cheeks...it is very strange. I do not Know if this is as a result of grinding teeth or the AD itself.
you are very welcome!

 

I have been prescibed mirtazapine but I have read so much negative feedback on weight gain with a handful of people in comparison who didnt gain weight on it, how do you gain weight on it even if you don't over eat?

 

I took Mirtazapine (commercial name Norset in France) for several years with Sertraline (yes two AD !), Amisulpride (anxiolytic) and Alimemazine (sedative). No effect on tinnitus, no side effect (no weight gain). I discontinued it because of it was useless. Now only Sertraline and Alimemazine remain.

 

I have been taking SSRIs escitalopram (trade name Lenoxin / Elicia) for the fifth month already. Because there was anxiety and tearfulness. But recently I came across this research and thought about whether it's worth continuing? ...
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319077.php

 

I have had fairly mild tinnitus for many years and it did bother me at times.

I've been on Prozac now 3 years (not for tinnitus) and I must say I think it has helped me a whole bunch, both in anxiety and panic attacks....and with tinnitus, too.

First, the prozac did not cause an increase in my tinnitus.
And best of all, seems the prozac reduced my concern, worry, and even noticing I have tinnitus. I can still detect it, but it is now like my hearing aids...I forget they are there.

So, I must report that prozac, I'm convinced, has had a very positive effect on my tinnitus.
Of course, that is just me.