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

I was just wanted to make it sure it didnt make it worse, which it didn't and am glad to hear.

 

For ear pain? Burning coolong pain? What should I take???

 

If anyone is thinking of taking Escitalopram (Cipralex / Lexapro) please do some research first, maybe there are other options. I am almost certain it is the reason I have tinnitus now as I never had it before taking the medicine and there are no other events I can associate my tinnitus with. Ringing in the ears is listed as a 'rare' side effect and you can also easily find other people who got it from the same medicine (on this forum but not only):

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-due-to-meds-lexapro.19988/#post-231034

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-after-12-5mg-of-lexapro.27865/#post-321256

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/ssri-lexapro-induced-tinnitus-is-it-reversible.22860/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/need-a-little-help.28893/#post-333729

https://www.drugs.com/answers/developed-tinnitus-after-3weeks-on-lexapro-will-185334.html



Please do some research before starting this medication, these are only scraping the surface... I am sure there are testimonials of people that got tinnitus from Escitalopram in other languages as well. The 'good' part is that it seems to fade for most of them after they stop the treatment (but after the 6 months mark).

Cheers,

SkyHigh

 

Sometimes antidepressants are needed for some people but I think people are afraid to take them due to reading bad situations.

I have taken them over the years for pain and low mood and the last month have been tapering them and off the VENLAFAXINE 150mg. Also came down from one for sleep from 50mg to 25mg.
In TOTAL 175 mg with no problem.

Never be afraid of medication if it's needed as it won't be for ever...

 

Have taken both Mirtazapine and Amitriptyline at different times. Both helped me to sleep better but both made me gain weight and made me feel a little out of it during the day. In the end, I felt the side effects were worse than the positive effects. I will take a benadryl, tylenol PM or even an ocassional Xanax to help with my sleep if I really feel like I need a good nights rest. Mostly rely on meditation and CBT at the moment.

 

Antidepressant medication can help backed up with counselling and not left for years on end popping pills.

I came off AD meds this year originally for pain and now realise they just made me feel numb and tired 24/7 on 200mg in total.

I feel back to my bubbly self and due to not having vertigo for a long time due to Meniere's I'm actually looking into buying a car again after not been able to drive with vertigo attacks.

I really have missed driving around and the independence it brings and not having to plan a bus route or pay out for a taxi.

I need to look into what this will mean regarding my driving licence and medical clearance but it's so exciting...

love glynis

 

@glynis did you give up nortriptyline? You had said it was so helpful in reducing some of your tinnitus, did those parts of your tinnitus come back when you stopped? (if you have given it up)

Thanks in advance for any insight!

 

@lymebite
l still take the 25mg of nortriptyline for sleep.
love glynis

 

I've had the round and oval window operation for my Hyperacusis on one ear ,but I've now got tinnitus in both ears .but the opp hads helped a lot I'm saving up to have the other ear done

 

It does sound like amitriptyline is bad news for tinnitus.

 

Do you notice any improvements / worsenings with nortriptyline?
Or only help with sleep?

 

How do you notice that you feel better?

 

Has anyone tried or know anything about Pristiq (Desvenlafaxine)?

 

Just for sleep.
love glynis

 

I used Lustral for quite some time back in the day and had no adverse effects. It helped me to cope better with the tinnitus and helped keep my mental and emotional wellbeing on an even keel. When tinnitus becomes loud and intrusive and this level of intensity is sustained, it has the ability to dramatically affect a person's mental state for the worst. This needs to be protected because a person could find themselves to be in a catatonic state or other type of mental disorder due to the severity of this condition. Some people that do not experience prolonged intrusive tinnitus, do not understand that when tinnitus becomes debilitating, what it is capable of doing to a person's state of mind.

Michael

 

This is one of the main reasons I didn't want to go on ADs, along with the myriad of possible side-effects, especially because their efficacy is still in question (see https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/12/upshot/do-antidepressants-work.html ).

In my opinion, my anxious mood was a "normal response" to my health situation: this is what I'd expect of a "normal brain" feeling this much sound stress that can't be squelched and wondering about the future. So I didn't feel like I needed to "fix my brain" with chemicals.

We are all different, so do not generalize from my personal anecdote.

Congrats! You've become yourself again!

 

The new science is that SSRIs make tinnitus worse. Stick with tricyclics. I went off Nortipilyne for a few months trying to tough it out and it was mistake. I'm back on now, 20mg daily, and it really helps. So much so that in the past year since this nightmare started I've seen 3 drops. Now I consistently have better days on the whole, but I still get those real sonofabitch ones, but not as often. Of course, mine is somatic and tied in to my neck problems and now it looks like the cause of my pulsatile tinnitus - yes I suffer from Pulsatile Tinnitus AND Tinnitus - is bone deterioration in my left inner ear. I'll find out about that in the next few weeks.

It maybe your particular mixed bag of genetics of why something that works for someone else doesn't work for you but all I can say is that Nortriptyline literally saved my life.

 

How did you end up diagnosing a bone deterioration in your left inner ear?

Have you looked into cochlear otosclerosis?

 

Actually it was the new ENT I'm seeing. He was rec'd by the neurologist I saw. Wish I would have seen this guy first because he really knows his stuff. I'm actually just going to go post a new thread in the Pulsatile Tinnitus section so other people may consider this when getting scans done.

 

I suspect that my T onset is due to Zoloft 50mg, but I will never be sure. The reason is: the day I 'discovered' tinnitus, I was trying to find the source of other annoying high-pitched sound that ended up being my PC. Then I turn off the PC and kinda analyzed the silence looking for more noises: that's when I noticed that there was this faint high-pitched sound in the background... coming from inside my head.

I remember having a very faint high-pitched noise when I was younger, but I never gave attention because I thought it was only natural and that everyone does listen to this 'sound of silence'. Things just went wrong after that moment that I analyzed the environment after turning off the PC: I started obsessing about the noise, researching on Google just to discover that there is no cure for it, that Zoloft might trigger it, and reading lots of horror stories.

Well, that was the beginning of some months of turmoil... as an OCD suffered, I was constantly checking the noise. This kind of behavior only reinforces the perception and maybe even the true volume of the sound... something that relates to the 'fight-or-flight' mechanisms to the brain. I mean, our brains gives more focus to potential threats, as sounds of wild animals by the pre-historic period I guess. At least, that is more or less what I have read on the Laura Cole's book. Totally makes sense to me.

Now this makes me uncertain if my own obsession 'caused' my T, or if it was triggered by Zoloft.

One important detail: days before the T onset, I was learning mindfulness meditation. One of the exercises was about 'listening to the environment sounds without judging them'. I don't remember the T sound while practicing this. But then, maybe I was already used to the sound and I was filtering it out with my previous mindset.

Anyway, I went paranoid with ADs and decided to quit Zoloft cold turkey (after a cross tapering from clomipramine). I endured 3 months without any AD, until my OCD and anxiety started skyrocketing. I was then put on Prozac for more than a month with a raise from 20 to 40mg. Man, the anxiety was unbearable: I was almost unzipping myself out of my skin, I was in a restless state without focus the entire day.

My T didn't fade out when I was 3 months without any AD, and Prozac didn't seem to help with it, but I was struggling so much with the unbearable anxiety that I wasn't giving a f to T I guess.

My psych suggested a switch to Effexor. After some research I decided to deny it: saw the short half-life, horrible withdrawal stories, tons of stories of T onset and found out to be the AD more likely to trigger T in a formal paper.

I then decided to give Zoloft another chance with the mindset: 'well, sertraline is kind of the best for ocd and anxiety... maybe it was all about suggestioning... maybe I found out a sound that already was with me'.

Started back on 50mg for 5 weeks, raising the dosage to 100mg (I am 2 weeks under this new dosage), and I don't think my T changed volumewise, maybe I am less obsessed with it. It's a relief that with the raise the med didn't triggered anything. My anxiety and my obsessions seems under control now, so I guess I will stick to the med avoiding raising the dosage again.

I promised to myself that this would be the last AD I would give a try: all of them are ototoxic in theory, and I don't want to trigger something louder or another noise. If my treatment with Zoloft fails, I will try nootropics like Inositol or maybe CBD oil. I am starting CBT sessions (not for T), so I am more hopeful today.

Today I wonder if I would be in this forum if I would have not checked for sounds beyond my PC, and then start obsessing. Ignorance is a bliss I guess. But if it 'increased' with the obsessions and anxiety, that means that I can 'decrease' it when I stop giving a f about it.

TL;DR: I suspect that Zoloft triggered my T, but I am not sure if I got it when the faint noise I always had became an obsession.

 

Great... I think I've got a spike.

 

It's kinda funny that SSRI's are also used to treat Tinnitus.

Cipralex/Lexapro was the cause of my mild tinnitus going into more intense tinnitus.

 

So, I got my tinnitus before taking Lexapro, and then it didn’t change really after I started on 10mg.

I was thinking of jumping up to 20mg but I’m worried about the ototoxic affect. Has anyone SUCCESFULLY taken SSRIs to help?

 

Do you mean to lower the T or to help mood? I have been on Remeron and it has not helped the T but helped my mood a bit. I can't say it's magical as I am also considering going up on my dosage. We in similar boats again my friend...

 

Both kind of. I’m thinking that by fixing my mood I can habituate better. But I’m worried going up can make tinnitus worse.

 

It seems like the only way to tell is to go up and see if it effects you. I don't think there is a simple answer to it.

You figure / hope that if it goes up due to the AD then you can tapper back as needed. I know that's slow with these drugs though.

 

Yeah, I guess it's hard because my spikes are clearly related to my anxiety (when I'm stressed or overwhelmed) but everyone on here is telling me Lexapro is very bad. So I'm just confused and wondering if others have taken this class of SSRI and had good results.

 

I find Marijuana and CBD oil help me far more than SSRIs ever did. Weed actually silences my tinnitus, contrary to most people on here.

Paxil and Cipralex/Lexapro were a nightmare for me. They made me feel numb, made it harder(though not impossible) to climax, and were a pain in the ass to get off of. And I was only on 10mg of paxil for a couple weeks. Tapered down to 5 for a week and still had brain zap for a day or two even though I was only on them a few weeks.

SSRIs really don't sit well with me, those drugs suck so much it makes me wonder if big pharma isn't trying to get people stuck on them so they keep downing the pills. I know that's conspiracy thinking but I think it's the truth, they want people sick or they go out of business.

I'll stick to Weed and CBD. They relax me far more.

 

I've seen research that SSRIs can increase tinnitus, so I'm not sure how I feel about this. I've personally taken mirtazapine (didn't help with depression or T, helped a lot with sleep though), some people had success with amitriptilyne and nortriptilyne so maybe you should consider other options.

 

I am on Remeron (Mirtazapine) and will likely be so for the next 6 months. I think it does help stabilise my mood and sleep. I did read that some people get a spike from it, some people find it lowering their tinnitus. I think my tinnitus has lowered a bit, so it could be the Remeron. Either way, it's a good sign for me.