Clonazepam (Klonopin, Rivotril)

Nevermind. I thought you meant daily. Yeah, you aren’t having withdrawals, that’s all in your head.

 

I am very sorry to hear that @GoatSheep. Do you think that, perhaps, the effects could be related to the noxacusis and/or the resulting anxiety? And what happens now if you take the Clonazepam? Will you try again? I hope that it, or something else, can provide you with some comfort.

 

Anything is possible. I doubt it’s related to the noxacusis. It may be related to the anxiety. Admittedly though, I’ve never experienced anything remotely like it and I’ve had an anxiety disorder all my life.

I don’t know if I will take it again to be honest.

Unfortunately, for me it is the only thing that has ever helped my anxiety and tinnitus. I doubt I’d have made it through my first year and a half of tinnitus without it. Especially because I wasn’t sleeping at all when my tinnitus was fairly severe.

When I ended up improving and my tinnitus dropped from probably a 7/10 to about a 2-3/10, I got to a point I felt I didn’t need it any longer and tapered. By that time the quieting effect it had for me was gone and it no longer improved my noise sensitivity for my hyperacusis. It still helped as a sleep aid and with anxiety, but after I came off I just switched to Melatonin.

 

While I’m a newbie here, we are in the same boat somewhat. I can testify to having experienced a level of anxiety that I’ve never had before that I thought was due to withdrawal, but in reflecting on my symptoms I had all of them before I started any benzos at all. That seems impossible for you to have developed a tolerance at that spread out dose over 4 months. So sorry you are suffering though.

 

I replied yes - go for this first.

I had suggested when first talking to have this area treated first.

Did you get it yet?

When you do, you may feel calm again. I bet you will.

 

Hi @Greg Sacramento, thanks for checking in. Yes, my Prolotherapy guy just treated me to my first injection this morning. It went very well in that there were no adverse affects besides some brain fog I am currently dealing with (though this could be from my own previous symptoms as the brain fog was present during the severe panic of the past few months). In short it proved very effective for reducing my physiological symptoms of panic and agoraphobia so I spent the remainder of the day outside. However, my mental symptoms are still there which I’m sure are contributing to the “brain fog” aspect.

I’m hoping I continue to see improvements over the next month. It’s my understanding that if it didn’t go well or was neutral, I would’ve experienced adverse effects immediately following the injection. The only concern I have is people who have reported experiencing derealization following this injection but I don’t believe I’m in that camp hopefully. No effect on tinnitus.

 

Lidocaine or Botox?

 

Lidocaine.

 

Does anyone know if pinpointed pupils is a symptom of benzo withdrawal? Seems like it can occur in sustained severe anxiety/panic but I’m not finding anything on this outside of opioid withdrawal. My SGB shouldn’t affect this either and it was there prior to the injection in both eyes.

 

Definitely.

 

Yes of course - take a look at physiological changes that happen when it a sympathetic state (fight flight freeze) - pupils do that.

You know that is only going to scare this person, right? Its also VERY much linked to sympathetic states (fight flight freeze).

 

Thank you kindly @Linari5. I’m wondering now if this is linked to an eye focusing issue I’m experiencing. Long story short, I’ve been dealing with PTSD from severe tinnitus for 3 months and it’s caused me to withdraw rapidly from my life (I’ve been homebound for 3 months and spent the first 2 1/2 without sound like TV, music or visitors because of severity and I’m sure staring at my phone 20 hours a day as a coping mechanism with very little sleep could have done some damage).

I notice when I walk around now I’m disorientated and it seems to have to do with my eyes having poor focus. Heading to the eye doctor today and will ask about the pupil issue.

 

I don't think it's a pupil issue per say, I think it's trauma, PTSD, extreme stress - I'd consider seeing a pain psychologist or therapist who treats chronic sensory disorders.

You are isolated and in extreme fight or flight all day - intervention is needed.

 

I was on quite a high dosage of Clonazepam when my tinnitus reached new levels. I’d just started taking it again, too. I don’t believe it was part of the cause, but I’m back on the previous benzo now, and everything’s the same. I really hope it works for some.

 

@Linari5, thanks so much for the feedback. You are absolutely right. I have finally broken out of the severe PTSD with Neurofeedback but I am now dealing with a vestibular ocular condition. I know all this ties together, I’ve started vestibular and vision therapy along with prism glasses. This thing is such a monster. I am doing better though.

 

Hello! Has anyone here used Clonazepam (Rivotri/Klonopin) long term, more than a year, at a low dose like 0.25 mg, 0.50 mg? Did you notice your hearing went bad over time? I was doing an online hearing test and noticed I can't hear high frequencies up to 13,000 Hz, while in my previous test I could go up to 16,000 Hz.

Will hearing come back when you go off of it? That could explain why my tinnitus is worse lately. Or can it be due to drug tolerance? I knew Clonazepam can make tinnitus worse in withdrawal or tolerance, but I did not know it could cause hearing loss.

I need advice what to do next. I took it mainly for sleep and now it has probably given me much trouble.

Is it possible to have underlying anxiety or sort of PTSD from tinnitus? How do you naturally handle this? My tinnitus is on many days just all over my head, sort of windy sandy noise.

Thank you so much!

 

What was the interval between the hearing tests? How old are you? Are you sure the hearing test is accurate and reliably reproducible? What are you using to test?

Also, I doubt Clonazepam caused that much change but that's just a hunch.

 

Yes I have been on 0.5 mg for more than 2 years. Tapered slowly to 0 once but had to reinstate. My hearing and tinnitus are both worsening but it's hard to say whether it's Clonazepam. We have forum members who lost hearing and got tinnitus when quitting cold turkey. However, all the research I found says Clonazepam should affect the vestibular system but not hearing. I think there is not enough research on this. All doctors I talked to swear Clonazepam does not cause hearing loss.

Nobody knows. Even BenzoBuddies has very little on hearing loss.

It definitely is. Very hard to handle. Tried everything, including mindfulness, CBT, a ton of different medications, supplements... but I have a worsening trend in hearing and tinnitus and we can't find a reason.

 

I know it's a long shot but have you been Lyme tested or looked at mast cell activation disorder?

Consider bioresonance as a diagnostic?

 

No I haven't. I talked to my GP about it but he says I don't have any other typical symptoms. A second doctor said the same. I cal look into it more though. What specialist should I consult?

 

I secured a diagnosis via an integrative/ functional doctor interested in Lyme.

Many naturopaths (Lyme literate) can order the testing.

Where are you located?

You could ask your doctor for a CD57 - that can be a useful blood test to look for immune suppression - if you do, then that may trigger your doctor to order Lyme and coinfection testing.

Dr. Horowitz (US Lyme specialist) has an online questionnaire, however, that he uses to help diagnose, as testing is notoriously unreliable.

You could do the questionnaire and show it to your doctor maybe?

I was tested through ArminLabs Germany as well as Igenex in the United States after a positive result for Borrelia locally.

Mast cell activation disorder is a downstream consequence of chronic infection. Testing, again, is unreliable.

Maybe try a low histamine diet.

You could try adding in Quercetin to mop up excess histamine.

I wouldn't give up till you've turned over every stone.

 

Thank you Deb, I need to find the strength to keep trying things even in the middle of all this worsening. Will look at this.

 

How do you get benzos? Here in Germany no doctor wants to prescribe such strong stuff. Just antidepressants.

 

Strange. Just say you are getting panic attacks and you need something to calm them (and antidepressants are not working).

 

Become a patient of Professor De Ridder and he will prescribe it for you no problem. It only costs €80 for a consultation and he is a top tinnitus researcher. Here is the link to his secretary/assistant:

Email: tina.maheux@brai3n.com

Website: https://www.brai3n.com/en/

Tina is a nice lady and will sort a Zoom consultation for you. Alternatively if you would like to travel, you could meet Professor De Ridder in person.

Note: Diazepam is less of a riskier benzo than Clonazepam due to its much longer half life and research states it is better used in patients who are already depressed.

Personally I have found Diazepam better than Clonazepam, but that is just my own personal experience.

 

Is there any acute alternative to benzos? My situation is difficult right now. On the weekend, during pandemic, you have nearly zero chance to get some doctor to talk to here. Anything I can buy for free?

 

Cardiac coherence app on mobile phone (breathing exercises). YouTube meditations. Melatonin. Magnesium Glycinate. Sleeping pills. Benadryl. Antihistamines.

 

Alcohol...

 

How much do I need, a few beers or strong stuff?

Hyperacusis and tinnitus getting worse every day, no matter what I do, it's the tolerance level in the brain.

 

Everyone is different. I find that a drink a day helps keep my tinnitus noise suppressed (yet ever-present). Others find it makes it worse or has no effect. As soon as I abstain for two days my loudness ramps up, and a seecond morse code beeping sound I've developed intensifies. I will continue experimenting w/ not drinking as I'm pretty into fitness, but I've also resigned somewhat to thinking a drink or two a day is my future. For me it's better than taking benzos and antidepressants.