Clonazepam (Klonopin, Rivotril)

Yes.

 

I'd rather be an NPC than a tinnitus wreck to be honest... then again, they don't seem to have this effect with me, even combined with the antipsychotics, they just lower/soften the volume so I can actually function on most days. Which is a nice change.

 

Antipsychotics are literally pro-depressants.

They reduce natural serotonin.

 

Uh, okay? I never said I was taking this combo for depression lol. Not sure what you're trying to say.

 

I took both for a while. I forget how long but too many side effects. It may be different with other people because everyone reacts differently with meds like these. I read an article in some publication years ago (PubMed?) and asked the neurotologist to try these. Ever since then he says "no cure yet!".

Duh...

 

I was taking Gabapentin for a bit to see if there was any effect. My neurologist had some success with it but he said it was pretty hit and miss.

I tried combining with with a BENZO myself and neither had an effect on the tinnitus.

 

I think the combo works best when taken together at the same time. Also, one has to start at a low dose and increase it slowly until desired effect is achieved. IF you get the desired effect, that is.

 

How are you doing on the combo? Finding some relief?

 

Hi there,

I have not started the Gabapentin yet. I just started taking 1/2 of .5mg of Klonopin, (1 week ago).
I do feel much calmer, like myself again. Doctor wants to see how I do in this med first. So far so good.

Thank you for asking.
How are you doing?
Once

 

Nice to hear you are doing better, having ups and downs myself currently.

 

NPC?

 

Are you taking meds or thinking about taking something to help you?
Once

 

It's video game slang for "Non-Player Character". It's also used as a derogatory term/meme.

 

Very informative thread! I have been Klonopin 0.5mg for 15 yrs for anxiety and they help me sleep with my tinnitus. I have never increased the dosage and have never abused Klonopin - I got a years worth leftover when the doctor said she couldn't prescribe them anymore - I had to go to a psychiatrist to renew my prescription - I thought it would be a great time to get off them! What a nightmare - 6 months into my no Klonopin - sleep is always a toss up every night, I get anywhere between 4-6 hrs a night.

The real horror is stopping Klonopin has caused my tinnitus to increase alot! It is in my head, both ears as well as having hearing loss in both ears... Klonopin was a save for me but getting off has been a nightmare.

Don't start if you can!

 

@GLJ

Sorry to hear you are having a hard time, did you taper your dose?
Did you originally start taking it for tinnitus or did you get tinnitus later on?

 

Thanks - the is the first time I have ever commented in a forum on tinnitus, most people including doctors don't have a clue what we go through 24/7!

Klonopin was first prescribed for anxiety and trouble sleeping - I could tolerate the tinnitus then but a few years later a Doctor prescribe me Prozac for anxiety as well, and she knew I had tinnitus and being a Dr she should be familiar with the Physicians Desk Reference that says that Prozac causes tinnitus and/or makes worse....within 2 months of taking Prozac my tinnitus shoot through the roof - I was on Prozac for 12 months before I took myself off it. That was in 2015, and the increase of tinnitus never subsided after coming off Prozac. Now my increase in tinnitus is due to coming off Klonopin, I am really scared because I can't see the rest of my life like this... I have a hard time remembering, keeping a thought in my head, makes talking extremely difficult. ENT's are of no help whatsoever - they audiologists say my tinnitus sounds are probably in the 10 -12mhz range (if I said that correctly) and probably worse since I haven't seen a ENT since coming off Klonopin.
The ENTs say I also have hyperacusis!

I am just so grateful to still be able to hear my family and loved ones. I 100% hearing loss in my right ear and 50% hearing loss in my left ear. Doctors say tinnitus comes with hearing loss but I have spoken to lots of people who say they have hearing loss and no tinnitus.

It's all a mystery!

 

Sorry to hear all this, but there are a lot of promising treatments in the making, a few of them involve the healing of hearing loss.

If you look in the Research News and Treatments section you will find interesting and promising information.

 

@gorzakus,

Hey, did you start to get headaches around the time for your Clonazepam dose?

 

No - I never had headaches that I attributed to Klonopin. I get migraines from time to time and throbbing ears! I tell my husband that "my woofers are woofing" when I get the throbbing in my ears. I pray that I could go back to the tinnitus level before Prozac 2014 - that level was manageable.

 

Oh, I truly hopes so too. I'll say a prayer for you!

 

For how long did you take Prozac? I also got a spike from it this year Now 3 months later, and it didn't go back to baseline level.

 

I took it for about 18 months - I started tapering off at 12 months. Prozac is a scary drug - it spiked my T within 2 months of started it (and didn't drop off at all) but I had no idea it was the Prozac until 10 months later, which was when I started to taper off. My doctor told me that alot of people in the medical community want to put Prozac in the water supply. SCARY!

 

For real???

 

Hi @GLJ, so sorry to hear how difficult your Klonopin withdrawal has been. -- I took Clonazepam (generic Klonopin) for about 12 years or so, and also had a difficult time withdrawing from it (prior to tinnitus onset). It took me over a year to get down to my last little "speck" of it, and I thought I'd be good to go in another couple weeks or so.

Well, it actually took me several more months of feeling on edge before my system finally came "close" to being done with it all. What really helped me was that a few months after taking that last speck, I started using a micro-current device called Alpha-Stim (around $600 or so). I found it very relaxing, and wished I would have had it available when I first started withdrawing from the Clonazepam.

After my tinnitus onset (caused by a severe reaction to a single dose of a drug), my sense of being on the "edge" was many times worse than when I was withdrawing from Clonazepam. A couple months after onset, I got into an HBOT chamber, and after about 30 minutes, was able to actually relax (after wondering for two months whether I'd ever be able to relax again).

Long story short, I got my own home mHBOT chamber several months later, and my sleep went from pretty terrible, to better than it had been for the past many years. I now reliably get 8+ hours of sleep/day, and really don't know where I'd be at with my tinnitus and my sanity had I not had this available to me. -- I've posted fairly extensively on my mHBOT experiences on this forum, which a quick search would locate.

I sincerely hope you can improve your benzo withdrawal symptoms, and can start getting better sleep soon!

All the Best!

 

Thanks so much Lane - I will look into MHBOT chamber.

 

Wow @Lane that's a long time. How much were you taking?

I hear great things about the mHBOT, can you show us a picture of the one you have and model??

@GLJ How are you doing?


Once

 

I have read that Gabapentin and Clonazepam can cause Hearing loss and Tinnitus. Now I fear to take this drug
https://www.ata.org/sites/default/files/Summer-2018-62.pdf

http://hearinglosshelp.com/blog/gabapentin-does-not-work-for-tinnitus/

 

It is amazing how medication works differently on everyone! I was on Klonopin for 15 years plus, it was calming and helped me sleep, BUT when the doc added Prozac for daytime anxiety -that was when my T spiked big time.
Thanks for the links EDDTEKK I was thinking about asking my doc for Gabapentin but won't now!

 

Hi OnceUponaTime
How are you? Thanks for asking, I'm doing well - I have been sick with flu and that spiked my T and I had very little sleep during those days, making the stress and T worse. My T is so loud I have had my husband put his ear against my ear to see if he hears it but no luck.
Very difficult to sleep - that causes stress - T is louder - can't sleep, lack of sleep and stress causes the body to break down - I have had more colds and flu and even ulcers since 2014.....day to day is a vicious circle. During the days of being sick this past week I broke down and took 0.25mg of klonopin that I had leftover - it helped alot.

 

Hi @GLJ ,

Sorry you are going through a rough patch there.

Glad that the Klonopin helped you. I hope you start to sleep better soon.

Once