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

How are you doing? Are you feeling better? Hope so.

 

I'm not sure.

love glynis

 

Has anyone's tinnitus caused by SSRIs gotten better after stopping? I've been on Prozac for a week and mine is super loud. Thinking I'll stop tomorrow.

 

Are you still on Lexapro? I just started it.

 

I've been on it for years, and it may have caused my tinnitus. I would love to come off it to see if it makes my tinnitus disappear, but coming off of it last time led to the mess i'm in now.

If you've only been on it a week, then I would come off it. Not only can prozac bring on tinnitus, but it can also make it worse. But, i'm no dr, although my dr didn't know about these side effects either.

 

Oof, mind if I ask what is going on?

 

I got tinnitus from taking Amitriptyline which is a Tricyclic, I was taking a low does for pain for 2 weeks when my left ear started ringing. I stopped and it mostly went away a few days after. Came back when I tested it once again. Then set in constantly once I took a low dose of Valium and Naproxen for a few days.

After a lot of research I think I've made the connection of nitric oxide inhibitors causing tinnitus. Which is why NAC, Curcumin and countless vitamins like Zinc, B6 and B12. I need to do more study but there could be a reason for low Nitric Oxide from a B12 deficiency causing tinnitus. Everything seems to keep looping back. When I was on Amitriptyline it dried out my mouth. You need saliva to form nitric oxide and what's the most important function of it. "Vasodilation, meaning it relaxes the inner muscles of the blood vessels, causing them to widen and increase circulation"

I haven't looked into SSRIs but whats worked for me is. NAC in the morning and sometimes at night. B vitamin supplement late morning. Nitrate high foods such as raw spinach, lettuce, beetroot etc. All this aids in the production of nitric oxide.

Healthy diet of meat, vegetables and fruit. Heavily limiting sodium foods such as bread, sauces, packaged food and absolutely now sodium rich food. Also reducing sugar and a high potassium intake to counter the affects of natural sodium in food. Exercising everyday.

I'm got my tinnitus way down enough that its not there for most of the day, when it is there its quite low so I can ignore it and at this point my brain has learned to ignore it. Like when I wake up I tell myself not to listen out for it, its pushed back and it mostly stays there. I was super strict one weekend with supplements and healthy foods, I also took a Zinc supplement and I had no tinnitus for about 5 days. Unfortunately it came back but it did make me realise how much my diet, digestion, lifestyle etc was having an effect on it.

I'll make a big post when I know more swell as detailed steps that worked for me

 

@ThomasW -- You mention a number of good points. -- The amino acid l-arginine can increase nitric oxide production. The amino acid l-citrulline apparently does it even more efficiently. Watermelon is one of those foods that is especially high in l-citrulline. He's a bit on some of WATERMELON's Remarkable Health Benefits.

 

I would just like to give thumbs up for Zoloft (Sertraline). I know most people are scared shirtless regarding Antidepressants, as was I. But it surely saved my life. I think I was lucky with the AD I got but also another thing. If you have constant anxiety, panic and literally tinnitus in every cell of your brain + hyperacusis and haven't tried any antidepressant I would recommend trying Zoloft. Under care of family and your doctor. It literally saved my life.

Also my tinnitus was from loud noise + stress.

 

I just started Lexapro! Fingers crossed!

 

Did your tinnitus spike from Sertraline? I couldn't stand it! Mine spiked 2 days into treatment, taking half of 50mg and then I took it for another 2 weeks after that but it was horrible. I got off it, but ever since then (months later) my tinnitus has remained higher. I can't test whether it's just my perception, or whether the volume did indeed get higher, but I truly believe it. I even took Xanax a few times with the SSRI and it did nothing to help with the tinnitus. I got more anxious obviously because the tinnitus spiked and there was new pitches/tones.

 

I indeed got some new sounds but it took away so much of the panic, hyperacusis and also lowered alot of sounds. And in a choice between going crazy and not being able to listen to any sound it has been a godsend.

 

I think Amitriptyline may have been what started my tinnitus as well. I had however been taking a low dose 25 my for pain for a few months prior to the tinnitus onset. However the week the I first noticed the intermittent tinnitus noise was the same week my Amitriptyline dose was increased to 50 mg, unfortunately it took me a couple months to put it all together as the tinnitus was super infrequent from May to July. When I finally did make the possible connection I decreased dose back to 25 mg and finally stopped it altogether. In July however thanks to a test at the ENT's office my tinnitus spiked to loud and constant and I have been dealing with that constant sound to date. I have been researching and trying supplements which is why I came upon your post.

 

Hi all

I must admit I’ve not read through the whole thread . I’ve had T for just going on 9 months now . Started out the blue when I was 15 weeks pregnant , baby is nearly 3 months old.

Ive never been given any medication for it while being pregnant , I’ve recently had a MRI . The T was manageable but these last few days it’s increased in volume and I always seem to be aware of it . I’m at the stage now where I’m anxious/upset. I am under a ENT and go back in November for MRI results and update . I think Iam slowly realising this isn’t going to go away which makes me feel more anxious and upset ! It’s a vicious circle !

Question being what would you recommend as a first medication option ?

Thanks x

 

@Momma28 -- I consider medications to be used as last resort, not a first resort. A number of people on this forum have gotten tinnitus relief from taking various supplements and/or doing various treatments/exercises to address structural issues that are either causing or contributing to their tinnitus. Since you t started while pregnant, I wouldn't be surprised if it was caused by a structural issue.

Others have changed their diets with remarkable success. Going this latter route may lead to discovering the root of the tinnitus, whereas medications tend to cover up those roots, which can then likely get worse over time. -- Best...

 

I had a huge increase in my tinnitus after one day of Prozac. I've been off it for 2-3 weeks now and haven't seen any improvement. Is there anyone that can give me anything to look forward to? Anyone in a similar boat?

 

Has anyone tried Vibryd (Vilazodone)?

 

Here's a link to an article that's quite critical of the how widespread anti-anxiety, anti-depression, and other similar medications are distributed. I've long had deep concerns about this, but had no idea the extent to which these "medications" (poisons in my mind) are being given to toddlers. Below the link to the somewhat lengthy article is a snippet on what's being given to children. I find it all quite shocking to say the least.

How Did 274,000 Babies End Up on Psychiatric Meds?

Considering the many serious psychological and physical risks associated with psychiatric drugs, it's shocking to learn that hundreds of thousands of American toddlers are on them. In 2014, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a mental health watchdog group, highlighted data showing that in 2013:41

• 274,000 babies aged 1 and younger were given psychiatric drugs — Of these, 249,699 were on anti-anxiety meds like Xanax; 26,406 were on antidepressants such as Prozac or Paxil, 1,422 were on ADHD drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall, and 654 were on antipsychotics such as Risperdal and Zyprexa
• In the toddler category (2- to 3-year-olds), 318,997 were on anti-anxiety drugs, 46,102 were on antidepressants, 10,000 were prescribed ADHD drugs and 3,760 were on antipsychotics
• Among children aged 5 and younger, 1,080,168 were on psychiatric drugs

These are shocking figures that challenge logic. How and why are so many children, babies even, on addictive and dangerously mind-altering medications? Considering these statistics are 6 years old, chances are they're even higher today. Just what will happen to all of these youngsters as they grow up? As mentioned in the article:42

"When it comes to the psychiatric drugs used to treat ADHD, these are referred to as 'kiddie cocaine' for a reason. Ritalin (methylphenidate), Adderall (amphetamine) and Concerta are all considered by the federal government as Schedule II drugs — the most addictive.

ADHD drugs also have serious side effects such as agitation, mania, aggressive or hostile behavior, seizures, hallucinations, and even sudden death, according to the National Institutes of Health …

As far as antipsychotics, antianxiety drugs and antidepressants, the FDA and international drug regulatory agencies cite side effects including, but not limited to, psychosis, mania, suicidal ideation, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and even sudden death."

 

With the internet research everything and double research!

 

Ok long post but worth reading.

I'm late to reply here because I went on holidays recently. I worked quite hard getting my tinnitus down as much as possible. As soon as I got to the airport I realised it wouldn't be possible to stick to a strict low sodium diet nor avoid loud noises so I said "Screw it!! I'm just going to enjoy my holiday and deal with my tinnitus when I get home". To my surprise I didn't spike once to very loud noises and was able to eat all sorts of salty and sugary foods. There was only one point in the holiday where I got fleeting tinnitus in my right ear for about 20 seconds. I went completely deaf but just stayed calm and took deep breathes. A minute later it was all ok. I was talking 600mg NAC morning and evening and making sure to eat a lot of fruit, plus sweating constantly must have kept all my electrolytes in balance. Because I was so busy I only noticed my tinnitus once or twice over the whole holiday.

When I got home I was fine too. I was expecting to find I had worsened it. I did end up going out for a lot of beers the next day and by next evening my tinnitus was back about 40-50% which I put down to dehydration, electrolyte imbalance and whatever the alcohol did to my blood pressure + circulation.

I've stuck to my supplements and diet then last week so right now I'm sitting here in a quiet room straining to hear my tinnitus. I'm not sure if its the low hum of my computer or I've got a low hiss. When I wake up in the morning I have a slight hiss if I concentrate but I can easily put that into the back of my mind. Maybe I've always had that and once you know to listen for it you will hear it. Like getting into exercising, you suddenly find muscles you didn't even know you had and how they get tight or sore.

So my method has reproducible effects and I'm confident its permanently lowered my tinnitus. At my worst I had a dentist drill in my right ear and a punctured tire in my left.

Thanks! I'm not sure if people are reading my posts, they aren't getting too much interest on this site but I do need to make a full one instead of posting in already existing threads.

L-arginine is meant to be poorly absorbed BUT L-citrulline is a precursor to L-arginine so it works much better. At the moment I want to finish my current supplements before buying any more.

Hi! That's great you came upon my post. I could find very little info about Amitriptyline and medicine caused tinnitus. Does your tinnitus respond to anything? If you have too much salt? If you eat a lot of potassium rich foods like potato and bananas? When you drink alcohol? When you are hungover? Dehydrated? Exercising? Lying down vs standing up?

 

If I log out and check my post above isn't there but I can see it now that I'm logged in. Whats going on? Why isn't my post viewable? I spent a long time writing it and its really putting me off contributing to this site again if my posts are hidden.

 

Hi...FYI I can see the long post you are referring too.
Sounds like you are much better with diet and exercise than I am. I need to work on that. I usually eat low carb and never sit down (always doing something active though not necessarily cardio) but this tinnitus/hypercusis is trying to stop me in my tracks. I will address the questions I am able to respond to. Alcohol quietens my noise why drinking it (rarely drink more than a couple IPA's) but later that evening I believe it worsens the noise in the brain. Many things such as loud tv, vacumn, loud talking,and my dog barking, increase the volume of my tinnitus. It is very hard (impossible) to control many of these things. I really have not focused much on diet although I suppose that will be my next step. I have always eaten fairly well, stayed away from a lot of salt...sugar is definitely a problem for me as I have a sweet tooth but I usually manage it pretty well. Diet may be more of a key to this than I have given it credit. I have started taking Curcumin, b complex, magnesium, and a multivitamin. I haven't really looked into NAC but it seems popular as a supplement. I am sorry I am not more help. High fidelity earplugs in noisy settings and noise machines at night are now my close friend.

 

@ThomasW -- I've noticed that too. I've chalked it up to a glitch that occasionally occurs, but it usually resolves within an hour or so. -- Also, if you've looked at a thread, the thread won't show up in the new posts (I hate that feature). But if you hit "recent posts" (on the far right), a thread you had just looked at will reappear. -- Hope that helps.

 

That makes sense. Its a little annoying since people might pass over a thread not knowing it has a reply.

How are you responding to the supplements? I should point out that Magnesium causes a very noticeable spike when I tried it. I tested it 3 times and every time an hour or two later my T would suddenly jump in volume. One night I had two beers along with a Magnesium supplement earlier in the day and I had an extremely high pitch ring in my left ear as result. Magnesium helps lower blood pressure, paired with laying down causing another drop in blood pressure along with 1-2 drinks also causing a further drop in blood pressure it must have reduced circulation in my inner ear causing a spike. I may also have had a salty meal beforehand.

This is why T is so tricky. Its a cumulation of things which is why I see so many people not responding to just one thing and then giving up on it. When I took Nac first it gave me silence until the afternoon, so I incorporated B vitamins and that pushed it into the evening.

If my T is bad it respond to sounds. Like when a plane passes over I get a few seconds of high hiss before it comes back down. I've been super strict this week with supplements and diet and its worked wonders. I had two days around noisy machinery and then went to a comedy gig where I was unfortunately in front of a noisy speaker but I had no spikes or reactive T from any of it.

I keep second guessing myself when it starts to creep back but I'll make a big post this week on how I'm consistently lowering my T and all the other info I've discovered about T that will help people.

 

Thanks ThomasW, appreciate your posts.

 

That is eye opening article. It's sickening that useless drug dealers, also described as psychiatrists, prescribe this poison to young children damaging their brain and thinking in the long run and making them depended on dangerous drugs with a laundry list of side effects.

I personally can attest to dangers of antidepressants having used Mirtazapine, Risperidone and Paroxetine. i have gained 30 kgs of weight. I have gone from normal healthy weight of 80 kgs to 106 as of now. I have gone from reasonably attractive person to being extremely overweight close to borderline obese and my diet hasn't changed. I still workout so I can safely assume it was the result of antidepressant significantly slowing my metabolism. I also became pretty much impotent. I literally feel nothing in that area. I can't orgasm. I feel no pleasure and that's a fucking torture since that was one of my only escapes from brutal life.
I also have some insane arm twitching constantly. I never had that before using antidepressants. Now I look like I'm disabled.
My memory is impaired. I can remember only like a few episodes of the past, but most of my memories and happy moments with my family are gone. My drug dealer - psychiatrist - even admitted that the medication he prescribed me hurts memory.

I also developed insomnia which wasn't fixed by any sleeping medication they prescribed me. I used to sleep normally before starting on antidepressants and antipsychotic medication. I also developed extreme anxiety. I literally can't deal with it. I pace around. I drink a lot of coffee, but nothing helps, it eats me up inside. I also feel literally no emotion, only rarely anger and sadness, no happiness, no joy, nothing positive. I feel like a zombie or a robot more then a normal functioning human being.

And that's just a fraction of it. My life has been completely and utterly fucking ruined by antidepressant and antipsychotic medication so I'm just here to warn you, don't take them, it's not worth it or at least try every other possible natural alternative before taking them.

So now I am slowly tapering off it. I don't take my sleep medication anymore. It doesn't help me anyway. I don't take my medication for muscle twitches. Now comes the hard part as I have to taper off Paroxetine (Paxil) and Risperidone, which has such serious withdrawal symptoms that it should banned. I am replacing them with 5-HTP which is natural amino acid responsible for serotonin production and GABA which calms the nervous system, but doesn't have serious side effects like antidepressants.

 

Just seen this. Who the hell prescribes these drugs for babies, toddlers and children? The prescribers should be shot on the spot. I would say the same about some of the parents, but they often aren't educated about this stuff and are only following the doctor's orders. These kids are going to have screwed up lives. How the hell is it law to give babies these drugs?

It's outrageous!!! Any doctor who think that it's OK to give youngsters this shit must me an idiot and/or in it for the money somehow. It's a totally fucked up situation. And here we are wondering why doctor don't care or know about tinnitus... it's hardly surprising if this is the best they can do!!

The more I know about the retardedness of doctors, the more I wonder why we have for so long given them so much gratitude and monetary wealth. They may be able to do some great things sometimes, but that counts for nothing when they are giving babies anti-depressants.

Makes me well angry just thinking about it!! Any doctor who ever suggests these drugs to my children will forever regret it.

 

The truth!!

 

Did you get new tones because the Sertraline?

 

What you are experiencing are some pretty common side effects actually for antidepressants, Anorgasmia, also happens frequently, but doctors often fail to explain this as a side effect to both men and women. Weight gain, usually a given especially from Mirtazapine and most anti-psychotics. Memory impairment also can occur from this class of drugs, but at least your doctor has admitted this one.

Make sure you taper off antidepressants and anti-psychotics slowly, withdrawal from these drugs can be horrid just like benzos, which I know all to well. Doctors sometimes pull people off these too quickly.

I hope everything settles back down for you after withdrawal. Trying natural things to help with anxiety etc, way safer option, you are on the right track.