Baclofen for Tinnitus?

hi guys

i'm just wondering if anyone has tried baclofen?
i've read it was giving some results on hyperacusis

how about tinnitus?


thanks in advance

 

some trials shown that it does not work.

 

how about this study?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22005094

edit:they are talking about l-baclofen and not baclofen itself

is l-baclofen available in the market?

 

I went to see Dr. Michael Seidman, tinnitus specialist. He prescribed me Baclofen, a muscle relaxer. He said it has lowered the volume in a lot of cases. Anyone had any experience with this?

 

It gets used a lot for chronic muscle spasm in MS. Maybe some practitioners are taking the myoclonus contribution to Tinnitus more seriously?

 

It's a GABA-B agonist therefore it might have some effect for t.
I've tried huge doses of the thing, got zero benefit.

 

My research showed me it can cause severe T (but I believe in higher doses)

..I have a whole bottle and never tried it.

If you can manage the side effects, I'd opt for Flexeril instead.

 

Yeah same here. I have some but im too afraid of the effects.

 

Baclofen is a racemic drug (mix of two different isomers). They compete with each other for receptors. There is some research indicating that one of the isomers is useless for tinnitus, and the other one is useful. So, if someone ever produced a drug which contained only the single enantiomer and not the other one, then this might be a great tinnitus suppressor -- but no one has ever produced such a drug commercially, and there would be regulatory hurdles to overcome.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3297816/

 

I just started having tinnitus symptoms last week. I blamed it on the fridge at work first. Only I was off for a week and I still had the ringing in my ears, then I realized I have a problem. I read about it when I was a student but I just never imagine I would be a patient. I have no risk factors. It was very daunting experience.
Anyway, I read some anecdotal studies about baclofen and I have some left over from my last surgery. So I tried one. Nothing happened first and the ringing actually got a bit louder. I was trying to concentrate to read a physics article and suddenly the tinnitus went away. I don't know if it was the concentration or the baclofen but something stopped the ungodly tinnitus. Later that evening, tinnitus returned but it was a lot softer.

I am going to my otolaryngologist and ask him about it. If it is really the baclofen, then I think I maybe okay. I have read the guidelines on tinnitus from American society of otolaryngology and many case studies. So many results are inconclusive. Guess I can only pray or start reading maths and physics articles very intensely.

 

It activates GABA. Tinnitus is associated with low GABA levels and many drugs which activate GABA help reduce tinnitus, like Xanax as an example. Oddly enough, Valium has no effect on tinnitus.

 

Is it possible to get l-baclofen for research purposes?

 

"Baclofen has been suggested to be useful in reducing responses in brainstem hyperacusis"
source: http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/hearing/hyperacusis.htm#treatment

What is brainstem hyperacusis?

 

So maybe it's the difference between GABA-A (most benzos) and GABA-B (baclofen) or something?

I only just read about baclofen yesterday and recalled a psychologist mentioning a long time ago, but she didn't know what it was for, just that some doctor was using it to help some people. I dismissed it because I had no idea about anything back then.

I wonder if the difference in what works for different people is the different genetics we all have. I think until we have a good data set of genetics of people who have tinnitus then we won't find the correlations between us. But most people don't want to do genetic testing I guess? It's only a few hundred dollars now. Obviously privacy is an issue with genetics, but if we could get a template report set up in livewello.com with genes that might be related to all this then maybe forum users could anonymously forward their data for those genes to someone doing research?

 

So has anyone else tried this? Not sure if it would work for me with the kind of tinnitus I have but just curious.

 

I´v started trailing it now. Mainly for extreme tremors I have had for the last three years that will never end. The tremors/spasms stems from Benzo and Mirtazapine withdrawal/interdose symptoms.
Hopefully it will have a positive effect on my T and H as well. Benzo, most of the time, totally alleviate my T and calms down my H. But I can not take it. It just upholds my withdrawal even low, sparingly doses.

My T is probably noise induced btw. My protracted benzo/mirtazapine withdrawal could have made it worse though.

I know from previous posts you also are interested in lowering glutumate levels for T. Just let you know . I´ve tried both Campral and Lamitrogine with no positive effect unfortunately.

 

So, I have to say: Baclofen worked like a charm for my T and partly for my H.
2*10 mg a day made my T totally livable. In fact I could hardly take notice of it at all. Also much more tolerant to noise. I did this for 4 days.

My tremors where also totally gone. So its seemed I´ve found the magic wand , then?
Well, not quite. I´ve done my research and it seemes to me baclofen is very similar to benzo regarding tolerance, addiction and withdrawal symptoms. It does affect different receptors( GABA-B instead of GABA-A) but I´m afraid baclofen is not anymore a viable option than benzo.

You just can´t win! W´ll see if I dare to take the aspirin approach, but that could easily get out of hand. I know everything about having downregulated GABA-receptors and what it does with your nervous system. I just can not fuck with that.

I also question if it is the gabaeric effect or the muscle relaxant/anti-spastic effect that is at play here.
I´m scedueled for botox injection in my neck/back. That will probably give me some answers.

 

Baclofen is almost the same as phenibut. It binds to gaba-b.
Phenibut is a otc supplement without serious side effects!

 

Phenibut definitely has side effects. Serious withdrawal symptoms if used continuously. Use it 3 days a week max, less even. Otherwise it's benefits diminish and withdrawals kick in.

 

I have been on baclofen for 3 years, was put on it for another condition. I notice if I miss a dose my tinnitus is often louder the next day. However, I would not recommend people try it because I do wonder if being on baclofen for a long time was a factor in me getting tinnitus - in the same way some people are put on valium for years and end up getting tinnitus, even though valium in the short term will lower tinnitus in many.

Anyone found their tinnitus got better after coming OFF long term baclofen?

 

Yes! I was on it for a year. 70 mg. Tinnitus hit hard and bad last May. I thought it was from other causes, So I stopped a lot of things and changed diet, started vitamins. Never thought it was the baclofen. Just thought my tinnitus was permanent. But then starting in January I decreased my dose down to 30... I got all the way down to 10. My tinnitus was lowering, but I still didn't make the connection until one night I popped 40 mg and my ears were like a drill for several days. After that I weaned off completely and I can sleep at night with just a fan. It's amazing. I can't notice it during the day mostly either.

I feel that taking baclofen was like taking tinnitus in a pill.

 

Just confirming what I wrote a few weeks ago. I stopped the Baclofen and my tinnitus continues to go down more and more after almost a whole year of the noise, I get silence too now.
WOW!! But if I take certain meds/supplements or drink alcohol it can be felt again for a day.

 

That is great news! As for alcohol, I'd gladly sacrifice drinking for no T, lol. Not even the best whisky in the world would make me want too risk it.

 

No kidding! I'd gladly sacrifice my right arm for no drinking obsession. Addiction can make idiots out of even the smartest people. I'm currently getting help and seeking to put my impulses behind me.
On a funny note, once, I thought the tinnitus was gone and I felt this quiet weird stillness, almost lonely... It was still there within minutes, but it made me realize I'd have to habituate to the silence now LOL! Something tells me that would be all in a day, not months. Crazy stuff.

 

That is so brilliant! You must feel really happy. Lol at habituating to silence. I will definitely have to try coming off the baclofen. Funny thing is mine always spikes after not taking it for a day and if I double my dose it’s quieter the next day. Might be a temporary effect though.

 

Haha, I've actually read two success stories where people have said it was strange and somewhat uncomfortable to hear silence again. I also read one where a guy woke up thinking he'd gone deaf, when it turned out the T had finally gone.

I don't think I'd be in that camp, personally, but I think some tinnitus sufferers may forget that we do actually spend very little time in true silence. Even my bedroom, which is the quietest room I spend time in regularly is about 35-40db. Since I stopped playing in a band about a decade ago, I've not been in a soundproof booth.

 

I have taken Baclofen off and on throughout the years usually between 30mg - 60mg per day. I have never had a problem. I was actually on it for well over a year at one point after a serious injury.

 

Did you start taking it after your tinnitus began? Did coming on and off the Baclofen make a difference to your tinnitus? Thanks.

 

I took Baclofen before Tinnitus but am also taking it right now for my back. I was on it before Tinnitus started in December. I will likely try going off of it in a month or two as I do not like to be on it for more than 3-4 months at at time. I will keep you posted.

As a side note, I have read that some people have found some Tinnitus relief in taking Baclofen as it acts similar to Benzodiazipines but hits a different form of GABA I believe. But we are all so unique and individualized, so any drug can reall do anything to anybody. Just as some people can get ‘Steven Johnson Syndrome’ from OTC meds that a lot of us and millions of others, have taken all their lives.

Hope this helps.