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

Absolutely-my favorite movie of all time!

 

Now I know what movie I'll watch during my next HBOT treatment!

 

Yes intermittent fasting is awesome. I already started losing weight I have accumulated from antidepressants and damn did I gain a lot of weight from them.

I have gone from normal BMI slim and fit body to obese, but thankfully now as I see it it won't be a lifetime condition. I have full hope I will get my normal body back and the benefit from increasing BDNF to increased mood and sleep are just amazing. I am thinking about transitioning to OMAD eventually for even faster weight loss.

So just to update you guys I am now completely off Risperidone and I haven't felt this good in years. My energy is up, anxiety almost entirely gone, I even sleep better. Even without using Melatonin. My sexual drive is back, I even get some sort of sexual arousal from seeing beautiful women. I am no longer fully impotent. I haven't felt emotions in years and now they're back in full force. I am laughing again. I get happy from playing games and listening to music for the first time in years. Risperidone made me miserable, emotionally numb, dead inside and suicidal. Never use this poison people. It should be banned. Now I am so happy I didn't pull the plug while using it.

Also I saved enough money and finally bought a new 44inch TV and got 1gb/s internet so that was fucking awesome and brought me a lot of happiness. My financial situation is getting better thanks to my mom working in well-paying job for the first time since I got hearing loss and tinnitus. My life is going into upwards spiral.

People if you can and I know that not all of you can do that, stop using poison drugs that make you fat, impotent and has about as much effectiveness as placebo.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/12/psychiatric-drugs-more-harm-than-good-expert

I am so motivated and driven. I even started working out and looking for a job. I haven't done that in years. I also do see a slight improvement in my restlessness. I no longer have a need to move constantly. I can sit still for half an hour or even an hour now so even akathisia is getting better.

The only thing I wish I could change is my garbage hearing and tinnitus, but I have high hope that regenerative biological treatments will help me in the future and for the time being all I can think of is I AM BACK BABY.

 

I tried Amitriptyline (in liquid form) for sleep as well a few times, 5 drops the night. But I don't know, I didn't function the next day till lunch time. I was also kind of aggressive that day. The sleep came in kind of late but maybe I have taken them not early enough.

Bromazepam (Benzo) works better for me and gives me a better sleep as well. Too bad there's the problem with addiction. So I only use them in the worst situations.

But I'm glad the drug works for you and calms your tinnitus. Thumps up.

 

Should I use an AD? I am wary or afraid of it making my tinnitus worse.

But, if I don't take it, then what? What should I tell my doctor?

It's Sertraline.

 

This is a question I’ve asked myself many times. It’s a tough decision to make. If I eventually do it I probably won’t take an SSRI. I’ll post a link to a study that was done where I work. It’s about SSRIs and tinnitus. If I ever do take something I’ll push for nortriptyline.

https://news.ohsu.edu/2017/08/22/study-suggests-serotonin-may-worsen-tinnitus

 

Hi friend, hope you are keeping well.

Why nortriptyline?

 

Nortriptyline also causes tinnitus, as all serotonin enhancing drugs. Your best bet would be to avoid all drugs altogether.

Read this

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/life-screwed-by-nortriptyline-not-doing-well.22024/

 

If you decided to avoid them, how do you explain it to a ****** doctor? Physicians interpret declining prescriptions as being stubborn, refusing help and doubting the degree of your condition (the first two are definite and the last one is my guess at what they'll do).

If your tinnitus is severe and you make it clear how much you are suffering but decline drugs, how do you deal with the doctor's reaction? The average physician won't understand even if you try explaining it. They don't understand your argument that "it might make my tinnitus get worse."

 

I had to encounter a physician like that in the past, i refused and went off home. You have your choice, nobody is forcing any poison they might offer you down your throat. If you blindly do what they say, then you probably live a very miserable obeying life.

 

I already am minus the obeying part.

I don't know about you but my tinnitus is so severe and intrusive that I stopped working. I applied for disability but tinnitus is not an accepted reason so I have to apply based on mental illness i.e. depression, anxiety etc. Thus, it's expected I will be prescribed medications particularly ADs. So, there is a conflict or dilemma in declining medications as I hope you can imagine.

 

Feel my mental health has really got bad over the last 12 months because my left ear got worse from noise yet again. Such a shame because I kept it at the same level for 5 years prior to that. Forgot my earplugs one evening and didn't think it could get worse! Rookie mistake.

Luckily tinnitus isn't an issue, I have habituated to it and still remain to be habituated. However, I am finding it really hard to disconnect and detach from how overwhelming things with being at almost severe hearing loss in my left and am especially obsessing with sensations in my left ear.

Tried Escitalopram (Lexapro) before and hated it, Sertraline (Zoloft) for 4 months didn't do anything. Might consider another SSRI or maybe a different class of drugs altogether. Not really depressed but the anxiety is really having its effect on me.

 

I’am sorry for your pain. That being said each SSRI’s different and how they affect people varies. I know you can take some sort of a test that will tell you based on your genes which antidepressant might be helpful. I think even for that you may need to get a order filled from your doctor.

You can try Paxil, Cymbalta, Effexor or some of the TCA’s. And sometimes it really is finding the right one that works for you, so it really is trial and error. Have you tried benzodiazepines? Obviously benzos carry their own risks (addiction, withdrawal etc) however during bouts of anxiety and panic it has helped people on here.

Low dosages antipsychotics are prescribed for anxiety but the side effects scare me.

There are natural supplements but they don’t compare to the pharmaceutical stuff. You are more brave than I am-I wish I could take them. I guess if push came to shove I would, but right now I am trying to hang on by a pinky finger....

Let us know what you decide to do I’m here if you want to chat

 

Not sure where to post so I'll post here.

I got tinnitus from mold. While taking Gabapentin, it had been a pretty consistent single noise for quite a while.

For the pain, I was prescribed Cymbalta and they changed Gabapentin to Lyrica.

Since taking Cymbalta, the tinnitus now varies - to as many as five distinct sets of tones.

Oddly, while coming up from sleep or just before losing consciousness for sleep, I can get that down to just one tone.

But during the day, the tones vary in frequency and number.

Yay fun! At least I'm mostly out of pain now.

 

Are you on any medication? I'll most likely go back to try another one. Lexapro and Zoloft didn't do it for me.

 

Took generic version of Lexapro for 3 days, unfortunately I get a rare side effect (RLS).
Maybe I didn’t give it enough time and/or need to try something different. Did you get any side effects?

 

You can't get anything out of any SSRI in just 3 days. These medications take 6-8 weeks to fully kick in.

Yeah, lets just say sexually I can start the race but could never be able to finish it. It does that.

 

I know it is not a SSRI/Tricyclic type antidepressant but I just have such problems with them. I am on a low dose of Clomipramine for my OCD. But lately I have been prescribed Ketamine Troches. They definitely do not spike my tinnitus. People who are not on Benzos will have much better response for antidepressant affects. It might help anxiety to. I usually find the day after taking them, is so much more quieter. That might be because I believe my tinnitus was induced by Benzo withdrawals that I tried at one time and the Ketamine is helping block the Glutamate overload.

Just a thought if anybody is having issues with antidepressants. I obtain them legally through a Doctor. I basically called up a compounding pharmacy and asked if they compound Ketamine. Once you find one that does you can ask them for the names of prescribing doctors (Not a PHI issue doing this). Right now I am up to 40mg every 3 days, going up to 60mg before my next meeting. At such a low dose right now I don't "k-hole" or really hallucinate. At least at the dose I was at. I have done 600mg at one point doing an infusion for pain and for two days after the tinnitus was pretty quiet. This is my experience only.

 

After four years managing to cope with my tinnitus, not feeling any major anxiety or depression, I've decided that the time to give them a go has come. Despite my tinnitus being pretty severe I can have 8 hours of solid sleep every night.

After a worsening which started two months ago I wake up with an horrible feeling of anxiety in my stomach and disturbing suicidal thoughts.

I'm scared of antidepressants or anxiety meds making my tinnitus worse or giving me hyperacusis as I've read it has happened to some people.

Any advice or tips for this before I go to the doctor asking for help?

 

A test based on your genes? Elaborate.

I was prescribed Sertraline. I guess that's Zoloft. I didn't fill it yet. The only prescription I filled and tried was amitriptyline.

I think it should be said few doctors will believe that there is any chance of a drug worsening tinnitus as it doesn't occur to them. They are not concerned with your tinnitus, only your mental health and reaction to the tinnitus. The fact that one directly causes the other is lost on them.

An analogy is an injury to one foot makes a person hop around on their good foot, which inadvertently causes knee pain in that leg and then the doctor gives you a prescription for that leg.

If a certain drug could possibly reduce tinnitus volume and intrusiveness, I would insist on trying it but I don't know of any. I tried to get benzos but was denied. My doctor is only willing to prescribe ADs. It's ridiculous.

 

my experience with SSRIs was it caused immediate increase in my tinnitus. Didn't try to continue long term to see if it evened out or not, just stopped after trying them for the first time.

 

If you wish to get off of SSRIs here is a short paper worth reading. One of the authors is a psychiatrist who had been on ADs for years and had to go online onto support forums to find out how to come off of them as doctors knew little:

Tapering of SSRI treatment to mitigate withdrawal symptoms

https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/fi...treatment_to_mitigate_withdrawal_symptoms.pdf

 

Honestly, I would try everything else before deciding to go the AD route. I rue the day I ever went on them. Doctors know little about the side effects. And, as you say, ADs can sometimes make tinnitus worse.

Have you tried other things like more exercise, better diet and so on? I would exhaust all other options first, but utimately it is your call.

 

They’re not magic pills and the root of your anxiety will not be tackled by a small dosage of SSRI - I’ve been on them for years and can’t get off them now as I fear it will make my tinnitus worse... who knows if they contributed to it.

They have a small anti anxiety component and it was a quick fix by my GP years ago. Therapy was what helped at the time.

I’m not suggesting therapy for your t but that anxiety will subside in time as you get used to this new level of tinnitus and the SSRI won’t do much. You may still be left feeling down but the flight or fight will subside in time.

 

This is pretty much my situaton. However, I feel I need to get off of them now as I am near the point where withdrawal symptoms will happen anyway due to the poop out effect and I would then need to up the dose, which in itself may make my tinnitus worse.

Plus, I want to do it for my own self worth.

 

Well done! How are you doing now?

What's a typical day's eating for you? I'm thinking of intermittent fasting (also @Lane)

Are you still taking the 5-HTP? Did you introduce it only once you were off the ADs? And what do the Ashwagandha and Rosiolla Rosea do for you?

 

I've been on Ashwagandha for two weeks now and have experienced a very slight improvement in my morning anxiety. I also stopped taking a vitamin B12 supplement (Becozyme) which is known to cause anxiety in some cases, so don't know what has helped me with the issue.

I was going through severe anxiety right when waking up and is no longer happening at the levels it was happening a couple of weeks before. The rest of the day is pure shit, though.

 

I think i will have to include it at some point.

Feel like i'm doing my own experiments on myself.

 

I just want to chime in again and say I got tinnitus from the SSRI Amitriptyline.

From the papers I've read they say it messes with your bodies ability to produce Nitric Oxide(which helps blood flow) which then causes blood circulation problems. Vasoconstriction to your ears is a common cause of Tinnitus but its also one of the easier ones for getting relief from. Taking a supplement that boosts NO production and reducing salty+sugary food should have positive affects.

If your tinnitus was caused by blood flow problems then an SSRI has the potential to make it much worse.

 

Amitriptyline is not an SSRI.
It's a TCA.