Best Antidepressants with Least Side Effects on Tinnitus?

Hi everyone,

Along with a real problem with loud and intrusive tinnitus over the last year, I was recently diagnosed with moderate COPD. I’m having a very difficult time with anxiety and depression with these things hitting me all at once.

I’m contemplating going on an antidepressant to help me get a grip and was hoping for some input on an anti-depressant with least side effects on tinnitus.

Thanks for any input...

 

My psychiatrist is urging me to try antidepressants or antipsychotics to help with my OCD, she is confident it will lessen my (tinnitus related) anxiety and compulsive thoughts. I’m quite desperate. If I do start I will be taking Xanax with it (I take 0,25 mg twice a day now) to lessen the side effects over the first few weeks.

Does anyone know if there’s one out there without tinnitus as side effect?

 

My GP says that Trazodone is safe and not habit-forming. She knows people who have taken it for over 30 years, and she also takes them. I take a small dosage for sleep (which isn't helping too much). However, I think tinnitus is a side effect, but my GP denied it.

 

There's no way I would take an antidepressant. I was prescribed them for my OCD long before I had tinnitus and the side effects were so horrible that I don't like to talk about it. I took one of those awful pills and flushed the rest straight down the toilet. I don't know what effect they have on tinnitus because this was all before my acoustic trauma.

@GWW I don't know what drugs are normally prescribed for COPD. Maybe ask the physician how these drugs are supposed to work on your illness.

@Lynny OCD can be treated without drugs. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is good for OCD. It's what I do. Even the patients who take the drugs do CBT because the drugs alone do not alleviate the symptoms. There's simply no way to avoid the work. OCD cannot be cured, but it can be treated and the symptoms can be reduced. But it takes really hard work and dedication.

 

You’re correct @Lilah as it being a possible side effect though very rare but at the end of the day all meds basically pose risks. Just because it is possible doesn’t mean it will happen to you though. Everyone’s body’s different. I hope this is helpful

Trazodone Hydrochloride 2e,3e

a Very common (≥ 10%)
b Common (≥ 1% e < 10%)
c Uncommon (≥ 0,1% e <1%)
d Rare(≥0,01%e<0,1%)
e Very rare (< 0,01%)
f Unknown, because available data is insuffi-
cient


1. Ototoxic drugs (ototoxicity may include both the possible associated symptomatology of labyrinthi- cal alteration vertigo and the possible generation of tinnitus);
2. Drugs tinnitus-generating (there is no mention of ototoxicity);
3. Drugs vertigo-generating (there is no mention of ototoxicity);

Here is the source
https://www.europeanreview.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/956.pdf

 

30 years and it still hasn't worked? Something is seriously wrong here.

That explains it.

I used to have a friend who was depressed and he started taking ADs. Many years later, he was still depressed and still taking ADs. He couldn't see that the pills weren't curing his depression. How long do you keep taking a pill that doesn't do what it's supposed to do?

 

@Lynny Mirtazapine seems pretty popular around here and doesn’t list tinnitus as a side effect from what I understand. Seems to be pretty safe though but it wasn’t for me. Lots of threads on here regarding ADs.

 

@GWW
There’s pros and cons associated with all of them bro. I’m sorry you’re going through a difficult time. My tinnitus is loud and intrusive also. I hear it above all else these days. Yesterday it sounded like a UFO was in my head, I had to stay home and just try to relax hoping to wake up to a better day.

There are lots of threads here about ADs.

 

That's a good question. She was telling me this so I don't worry too much about the side effects.

 

Honestly, if a GP told me she was taking ADs I would want a second opinion. Firstly, she is not a psychiatrist. She should probably be referring you to a psychiatrist. Secondly, if she suffers from such severe depression that she needs to be on ADs, I would wonder if that was affecting her decision to prescribe these pills.

Are you only taking these pills as a sleeping aid? If so, perhaps try some natural techniques. At least if they don't work, they also don't harm.

 

I have tried melatonin and valerian pills. They have not worked. They make me calm but don't make me sleepy. Any recs? I do want to taper off trazodone. I am only taking it for sleep.

 

@Lilah In the past (pre-tinnitus) when I couldn't fall asleep, I would shorten my sleep hours. I figured if I'm not sleepy at bedtime, I should wake up earlier in the morning. At first it was difficult because I would be so sleepy in the morning, but eventually the early mornings caught up with me and I started falling asleep earlier.

Other sleep aids might be medical cannabis, CBD oil, or a single shot of liquor. Also, avoid caffeinated drinks.

 

Meds possibly can be quite helpful for the short term, but I would never advise to remain on them. The side effects of them can be just nasty and just horrible. Some are pro meds and some are not, hope it works out for you. Exercise, talking it out, remaining busy can work just as well , if not even better than meds.

 

The question that you ask will give you many different answers in this forum.

Try to get your anxiety under control. Maybe taking medication for this, for a short time, is all you need.
But you have to talk it with your doctor.

Every person is different and reacts different to medications.
What may give you a spike may not give me a spike.

I hope you find the help you need.

Once

 

@SugarMagnolia Still the stigma of mental illness... if the Dr told you she took insulin for diabetes and it was really helpful, would that be acceptable? I agree as a professional she should not be disclosing meds she is taking, but it really depends on the nature of the relationship, perhaps she discussed this on her personal time. Yes, even health care professionals are not immune to illness. My ENT has tinnitus... I find it encouraging that he works full time as a professional with tinnitus.

 

Does sweet f.a for the mood and makes you stupid.

 

I don't. Because my ENT has it too. But he copes by not reading or not researching about it at all, because it triggers it for him. I end up lecturing him about it and then pay for the session. Seems to me, most ENTs in Norway have more heart for the nose than the ear.

 

@Allan1967
How are you holding up these days bro? I remember you mentioning you were going though a rough patch?

 

I'm at the moment taking citalopram and bupropion combination and either of them (taken together or alone) haven't affected to my T in any way. So at least for me both of these ok to use with T. And they have helped with anxiety really well.

 

@Stu1983 Still having that rough patch... thank you for asking. When my tinnitus gets high it gets ultra high pitched. I had a manageable day last Sunday, Thursday and most of Friday but today it is drilling my f**king head like nobodies business.

It's times like this that I just can't cope with it. And I'm still no further forwards in determining if the anti-depressant is to blame. Or maybe it's my blood pressure meds, I just don't know.

 

I've been switched from Fluoxetine today to Citalopram... the reason being that you can increase Citalopram in smaller doses than you can in Fluoxetine.

Here's hoping my perception of my tinnitus increase goes.

 

My anxiety and depression after acquiring tinnitus left me suicidal and unable to get more than 3-4 hours of sleep each night. Doctor placed me on 2 mg Valium plus 100 mg Sertraline which were the first steps to regaining 100% help. After 2 months on both, I weaned myself off the Valium and 3 months later I weaned myself off the Sertraline.

Throughout this time I wore tinnitus programmed hearing aids which gave the time and lower stress level to enable my auditory nerve to eventually chase the white noise generated by the hearing aid rather than the tinnitus.

Within 3 months of dropping both the Valium and Sertraline, I was able to cease wearing the hearing aids as I was substantially habituated.

One year later, no drugs, no hearing aids, full habituation and morale sky high. In a nutshell, the combination of drugs (taken under the direction of a doctor) and the hearing aid expedited the habituation process. I’m so blessed. My advice-don’t give up. There is a solution out there for you.

 

You might recall I've been asking about Venlafaxine and Fluoxetine. I switched from Venlafaxine to Fluoxetine about 9 weeks ago.

About 4 weeks into Fluoxetine my tinnitus pitch seemed higher and slowly but surely my tinnitus started to get progressively reactive and my hearing seemed more sensitive.

So today my doctor switched me back to Venlafaxine.

Way I see it, either Venlafaxine prevented reactivity or Fluoxetine caused it or, as I'm about to find out, it was neither.

But these last few weeks of reactive tinnitus eventually started causing me stress.

 

I am looking about adding anti-depressants to my routine. And since I've been over many natural options for quality of life including: better sleep, meditation, mindfulness, exercise, etc. (which have actually helped), I've been looking at something to maybe supplement mood.

If you Google anti-depressants like SSRI's, there are many many many posts about the horrors of withdrawal and negative side effects. I'm wondering if it has to do with the fact that there are only posts because people have something negative to say (much like a YELP review on an apartment) or that they are actually bad. So I'm looking for something like a pros and cons list for them.

If you take an anti-depressant and it works for you, what do you take with dosage and how does it help?

If you took an anti-depressant and it didn't work for you and maybe you even switched to something else, mention why and how you got off of it.

And also, mention the effect that it has on tinnitus or hyperacusis.