Clonazepam (Klonopin, Rivotril)

Thanks @Ben Winders, although a few say it makes their tinnitus lower or gone.

I've got hyperacusis/reactive tinnitus so I doubt it would even make me stop caring.

 

I've come to the conclusion that not only does Clonazepam do next to nothing for my tinnitus precept, but it appears to make my fingers tremble a bit. I think Clonazepam is another tool that I will be laying to rest in my search for something of use in living with tinnitus.

 

@AfroSnowman, that sucks. I want to try Flupentixol for a few days. Getting a week's trial will probably be impossible. @Mentos had no benefit from Clonazepam but did from Flupentixol.

 

Clonazepam does nothing for my tinnitus, and neither does Lorazepam. Am I the only person in the world who doesn’t get relief from tinnitus with benzos?

 

Me too.

 

Oh yeah, missed your post. I wonder why this is.

 

Me too. Then again my anxiety level has never had a say in my tinnitus severity, as far as I have observed.

 

Tinnitus is strange.

I take Gabapentin and it completely eliminates 1 of my tones, but doesn't do a thing to the others.

Neither Xanax nor Valium did anything for my tinnitus. I haven't tried the other benzos.

 

Yeah, but aren’t benzodiazepines supposed to not only calm nerve cells, but lessen inflammation as well? I’ve read that somewhere, a couple of places. So, the question becomes; if our case is neither anxiety, nor nerve cells, nor inflammation; then what is it?

 

It's not a beep tone, is it?

 

No it's like a really high pitched electricity/hiss/siren… really difficult to explain as I don't think I have ever heard anything like it in real life.

 

@kingsfan, was there are sound reactive component to the electrical hiss? Maybe a bit of hyperacusis, hence why the Gabapentin knocks it out.

 

Since I had COVID-19 back in January this year, I would spike very easily and that sound would appear during spikes. Simple things like dropping my phone on my hardwood floor would cause spikes that would last 2 weeks or more. It became more and more frequent, until now, it's just there all the time.

I've never considered myself to have hyperacusis, though I am certainly sensitive to sound. It's nothing extreme though. Conversations feel a little loud and uncomfortable, but I'm pretty much fine with moderate levels of sound. I just chalk it up to recruitment and the fact I don't expose myself to loud noise to try and keep from getting worse.

 

Interesting rationale about your sensitivity to sound. When you talk about recruitment, could you explain what you mean? Is it because you have hearing loss and the sensitivity is centered around your hearing loss frequencies?

 

Recruitment is, I believe, common with tinnitus. The tolerance threshold for certain frequencies lowers. I, for instance, have high frequency tinnitus and high frequencies now sound very harsh to me.

My car stereo was a pretty good indicator. I always had the EQ set to the common "smiley face" - cut mids while low and high frequencies remained unchanged or even slightly boosted. After a few weeks I noticed I had to keep cutting the highs when listening to my car stereo until basically I could not cut them anymore.

 

Once again I have to sing the praises of Clonazepam. After several discussions with my ENT and signing a controlled substance contract he agreed to give me an Rx for it for a maximum of 2 or 3 doses a week. The last two or three days have been particularly hellish. The eeeeee has been loud and with an annoying intensity. Finally broke down and this morning took a 0.5mg dose.

Two hours later I'd say there is a 50% improvement and the world is tolerable again. It sucks that it doesn't work for everyone but for me Clonazepam and Mirtazapine have been lifesavers.

BTW, another interesting development - I have a dental procedure coming up and because the latest research shows that chronic THC use can diminish the effectiveness of local and general anesthesia, I stopped all THC cold turkey. The spike in loudness and annoyance factor of my tinnitus has curiously coincided with this.

 

Just be extremely careful. 3 times of Clonazepam per week means you have some Clonazepam in your system 24/7 due to its very long half-life.

It's a slippery slope when you build tolerance, effect reduces, and you want to start taking more. Or you might end up like @BrysonKingMe and many others who were hurt severely from Clonazepam.

 

Yes you will 100% still end up being dependent on that.

I have confidence with lots of time away from the medication, I may return to a manageable level. Yesterday was 7-8/10, today is a 1/10. Fluctuations are encouraging that it can change for the better.

My taper is actually going much better than anticipated though. Cutting .005 mg/day, I'm at 0.3 mg down from a max of 1.5 mg/day. I was expecting constant worsening but it has been very up and down like it's been since January.

 

Your tinnitus will not fade if you're on a benzo.

 

Mine has. Stop terrorposting.

 

Terrorposting is an extreme use of words here lol.

His tinnitus, per his own words, is pretty mild, so why risk making it worse using/withdrawing from benzos?

Speaking from experience, going from plugging your fingers to hear it, to hearing it over everything, I think it's okay to warn people of the dangers of consistent benzo use for mild tinnitus.

 

But you’re not just warning him. You’re stating it as an objective fact that that’s what’s going to happen. That is terrorposting. It would be like me telling people to get on benzos because I personally had a good experience with it. I don’t know if there’s a term for that yet, but let’s just call it stupid for now.

"I just really need something to help me get through this." This doesn’t sound mild to me. Even if it is mild by normal tinnitus standards, if he literally feels like he needs something to cope with life, then terrorizing him into not taking benzos is not doing him a service. Had I believed in these kinds of statements from people who told me benzos were going to do me more harm than good, I probably would have killed myself.

 

The very long half life is precisely what makes Clonazepam safer and less likely to cause tolerance and dependence than other benzos like Xanax.

Ativan is another relatively safe benzo because of its half life. As a matter of fact, in some cases with patients that are going through benzo withdrawal, they will wean them off other benzos by giving them Ativan.

Unfortunately Ativan doesn't seem to do much for tinnitus from what I've been able to find.

And I doubt Clonazepam 0.5 mg 3x a week spaced out every other day or every two days will get most people dependent on it. But every person is different and if you're not sure, make sure you are under the supervision of a psychiatrist who is very familiar with benzos.

 

Terrorposting, my new favourite word. Anyway, @danielthor, do you mind sharing which benzo you use, the dose and how often you use it?

 

Ah, straight to name calling. I am simply trying to warn him that there is much worse in store for him than mild tinnitus.

I really don't know where you are getting me "terrorizing" people from. I am talking from my own experience. Long-term benzos past a few weeks can be very bad, bad news.

It's always the people using benzos who defend them religiously. But you are entitled to your own opinion.

 

I use benzos exclusively for a CFS/ME neuro-disorder syndrome thingy which there is no medical name for yet (my doctor just calls it neuroinflammation).

I was on 2 mg Ativan per day for a month, it didn’t do much besides calming me down, helping me cope. I quit cold turkey with no issue.

Then a month later my doctor and decided to try Clonazepam instead and that seems to help. At least to the point where I’m willing to become dependent on it. I take 2 mg a day, and have been on that for a couple of months, no real increase in tolerance. It’s not something I want to be on for years. In a way it’s motivating me to do more research and seek out cures for my illness, so that I can be well and finally get off of benzos. The sooner, the better, obviously.

 

I’ve been in a setback for months with reactive tinnitus (2-3 months). Granted, it took many months of uncomfortable noise exposure to get me to this place, but my setbacks have never lasted this long. It also seems to be getting worse despite total isolation from noise, which is the only thing that has ever gotten me better.

It’s been a 6/10 all day, but I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water just now, and because I only had on one layer of protection (Peltors), my tinnitus is now 10/10 with 3 different tones; the most uncomfortable tone being the musical / auditory hallucination tone. I’m literally hearing voices in my head at 10/10 right now.

This should not be happening to me after months of rest. There’s something going on, and I’m starting to suspect it might be the Clonazepam. I’ve been pondering this, and I remember reading studies which showed benzos to inhibit neurogenesis. I’m thinking if they can inhibit neurogenesis, which is a normal healing process of the brain, it is very likely they can hinder the brain's ability to heal itself from tinnitus. It is also very likely that that can make it worse, in the sense that if you’re not getting better; you can only get worse. Reactive tinnitus is not something that just stays the way it is. In my case, I either rest from sounds and I get better, or I keep exposing myself to sound (any sound) and I get worse.

In that case, I’m sorry about my previous statements. @BrysonKingMe is probably right.

I seemed to get off Lorazepam easily, but Clonazepam might be a whole another beast. Both are probably beasts, and I’m deluding myself.

I’m in a tough situation, because if I’m not on benzos; I have to suffer with my CFS/ME neuro-disorder, which I can’t. But if I stay on them, I risk having my tinnitus get worse than it already is, and then I will have to live with that, which I can’t either. Getting off of benzos is probably also going to make both of them worse, so yeah, fuck.

I’ve decided to wait until the 24th of February (my 30th birthday) to conclude anything. If I have not improved just a tiny bit by that time, despite this isolation; I think it’s safe for me to conclude that either 1. @BrysonKingMe was right; tinnitus will not fade as long as you’re on benzos, or 2. I’ve wasted my last chance of natural healing because of too many setbacks, and I will never be able to heal naturally again.

 

I feel you are so right about Clonazepam. No way to heal while on it. I am absolutely sick of it. So sick I am planning on doing a fast taper and getting off it by the end of the year. Might be the worst thing I can do, but I am getting worse while on it anyway and my brain is screaming as bad as it was when I was tapered to zero and jumped off for 8 days. Man I wish I hadn't reinstated it. Clonazepam should never be suggested for anyone to take on these forums unless they are dying. I strongly advise not to take it long-term, only once or twice a month.

Will a fast taper or cold turkey kill me? I can't take being on it anymore. I'd rather battle through the days to get close to healing. Rip the band-aid off faster?

 

How much are you taking at the moment?

 

1.5 mg and I'm ringing so bad I want to die. I want to get off and see if I can somehow get some sound tolerance back. I can't believe this.