Benzo Withdrawal Tinnitus Success Stories

I am looking for success stories of people who have had tinnitus worsening from benzo withdrawal, BUT experienced it calming down and getting better over time.

I am about 5 months out of the benzo and my tinnitus has been worse this past 1-1½ months... When did yours get better? I know it can take a really long time.

PLEASE NO HORROR STORIES, IF YOUR TINNITUS STAYED WORSE PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME ABOUT IT

 

Before the addiction my tinnitus level was between 5% and 100%.

After rapid tapering it gets to 1000%.

Now less then a year after restarting on benzos, it goes down to a level of 5% to 300%.

The more time passes, the weaker the tinnitus becomes.

 

My tinnitus lessened but what happened was that I got a new type of tinnitus from withdrawal (a static type). I believe it had something to do with glutamate because Lamictal and Riluzole could take the static away. I had to use small amounts of Lamictal because if the Lamictal was too strong, it would mess me up. The Lamictal only seemed to work on the static type tinnitus though. Eventually, once I got off klonopin, I stopped noticing any static after 3 weeks I think.

 

At one point I got curious and emailed literally everyone on BenzoBuddies I could find who had complained about tinnitus during withdrawal.

Of that group of 10, I think 6 people got back to me. 3 of them said the tinnitus went away completely, 2 of them said it improved dramatically within a year, and one person said they still had it but it was a lot better, and had taken 2-3 years to improve.

Personally, I take daily Klonopin these days, so I don't have too much to offer except I'll say that the last time I withdrew from benzos completely (and stayed off for years), the tinnitus was the worst for the last 6 months of the taper and the 6 months after, and did then settle down substantially. It wasn't "good enough" for me, but, my tinnitus wasn't caused by benzos, they are just a complicating factor (and ironically one of the only things that provide decent relief).

tl;dr based on the data available from both anecdotes online as well as research papers, tinnitus which shows up entirely as a result of benzo withdrawal is usually temporary, especially in the case of slow tapers (cold-turkey or overly fast withdrawal can be damaging). People like me who had tinnitus before messing with benzos -- are probably not very likely to have it magically go away just because we stop taking benzos

 

Two years later... do you have a success story?

 

I am 12 months benzo free and going through a bad wave. My tinnitus is so bad. I have loud head noise and full ear feeling. Over the past year it has been background and not bothersome but this has now been 3 weeks.

I started on Magnesium glycinate 2 weeks ago and it has got worse. Could Magnesium cause this? Does anybody out there think it's withdrawal related?

Thank you.

 

Maybe? 12 months is a while. Did you ever ask for a trial of low dose GABA antagonist?

I've read a few papers saying it could help with protracted withdrawal.

 

Yes, it’s possible that Magnesium could be aggravating your tinnitus. You wouldn’t be the first to report this on the forum.

Magnesium making tinnitus worse?

Any time I’ve tried taking it my hyperacusis has gotten more sensitive. Again, I’m not the only one with this reaction.

Magnesium supplements = making hyperacusis worse?

As someone points out in the first thread, it could be the type of Magnesium you are taking that isn’t agreeing with you. However, I tried several different types and they all affected me the same way.

 

Thank you all.

I have stopped the Magnesium. By the way it was the glycinate type, and then later I tried the 3 in 1. I have ordered some Zinc so will give that a go tomorrow.

My ear is not as full now but I still have head noise.

All of you stay safe.

 

Weirdly I have noticed I get tinnitus spikes from occasional use of Magnesium, but if I take it consistently, not so much.