Do You Think Campral Could Reduce or Eliminate Benzo-Induced Tinnitus?

I am just curious because I was thinking about asking the doctor for a prescription for it if it will work.

 

It could, yes! I tried it 14 days. Didnt do much. But according to a trial the effect(lower T) is supposed to be achieved first after 90 days. Campral is supposed to level out the GABA-Glutumate balance without being addictive itself. But Im no doctor!

 

Hell Yes. If I can find a doc prescribes it to me I'm ready to even be addicted to it. Even 50% reduction can give my life back to me.

Jason, if you want to try it let me know. We can start this experimental study together.

 

I tried Campral years ago. From what I remember it was for alcohol withdrawal and a small Brazilian study was done for tinnitus. It was in the local newspaper. It didn't work for me. Sounded like a jungle in my head from what I recall.

 

Weirdly enough I have been able to accept my tinnitus lately but I'll see what happens. The Lamictal calmed me down after the initial huge boost of energy and what I call being "slammed into reality" after taking tranquilizers for so long. I was able to say, I am not going to let it bother me and my brain actually accepted it. After that I have been able to tune it out way way way more and when I do notice it, I just tell myself that it can't hurt me, and I will tune it out again, and not be upset about it. Last night, I even was listening to it on purpose and had relaxed muscles and was very calm about it. Very very cool. I might look into Campral though but I am not sure if I can take it with Lamictal.

Here is a some kind of study posted about Campral and tinnitus. From what I read somewhere (can't remember where), people had to take it for 90 days or something.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3271548/

 

Yeah I have seen it but unfortunately not many people are included in that study. This afternoon I have read somewhere that this drug can be ototoxic but I do not know how. Also Lamictal is the reason why my friend got her T. Please be careful with it.

 

Thanks for the warning. So far, so good. I think as long as I don't overdose on it, I should be fine. How long did your friend take it before getting the ringing and at what dosage was she on?

 

I think she was on 100 mg for a short time. I think she took it sporadically.

 

Oh okay. I don't think I have that issue at all. I am taking around 225mg a day now. However, I read there is no benefit for bipolar or depression beyond 200mg according to the datasheet(?) I read. (Maybe it has changed) The doctor said he would up to me 300mg but beyond that he didn't think it would help. When I took 300mg it didn't make much of a difference. I do have a question for you. Can your tinnitus be masked completely by hearing aid maskers?

 

Yes. I tried them but for me the maskers sounds are way more worse than my tinnitus.

 

Did the doctor say if you got back on benzos that the tinnitus will go away?

 

I'd like to point out that benzodiazepines are a GABA-glutamate manipulator, for this exact reason it causes tinnitus. Personally I would shy away from attempting to relieve it with another GABA-glutamate drug.

 

I tried benzos again when I was having T for 2 months and it did reduce the volume 70% but never vanished it.

 

John, I believe you know a lot about glutamate storm. So what do you think about this drug and benzo induced T?

 

my experience was that it did nothing at all

 

The verdict on the Campral would seem to be a Hell No.

 

I wasn't aware that Benzos could cause T. Several doctors I saw said it was highly unlikely. My T started about 7 months after being on Klonopin (Nov 2014), but I associated the cause with having some mild hearing loss and an event where the volume was really loud for a brief moment on headphones. My Dr. switched me to Valium and I'm around 5 mg on most days. If I weaned off valium, is there really a reasonable chance the T could disappear or lower substantially?

 

@Cityjohn I'm trying to taper Xanax. You said that doctors in the Netherlands are very careful with benzo's, well I guess I encountered the exception to that rule. I was prescribed 2 x 0,5 mg Xanax for tinnitus by a psychiatrist. He even wanted me to take more. It sure did help at the time but now I'm going through the painful proces of trying to taper. Fortunately I have a psychiatrist that knows about tinnitus now. He is the first one that told me that benzo's can cause tinnitus and hyperacusis. He has me on a very slow tapering schedule. He wants me to taper 0,5 mg Xanax three month. Do you thinks this is slow enough? Is there anything you know of that might help my brain recover?

 

I think it all depends on how long you have been taking Xanax, but your psychiatrist would know this best. As long as your body has the time to adapt it should be fine. My advice would be; make sure you have those big 1 gram vitamin C pills in your house, and always with you in your handbag. If you start feeling like you're floating off the ground and your tinnitus spikes (glutamate cascade), take two of those, and keep taking two every day until you're o.k again.
It's really a simple thing but it's the most likely method to date to help against glutamate toxicity.

 

@Cityjohn Thanks so much! Vitamine C, I would have never thought 0f that! I've been on Xanax for four month now. Way too long, I know. I quite the first 0,5 mg cold turkey because I resented te drug from the very moment it was prescribed to me. Now I finally have found a (tinnitus) knowledgeable psychiatrist I am tapering 0,125 every three to four weeks and am thinking about going down 0,0625 every two weeks. What ever is best. Tapering 0,0625 is a bit difficult because it's quite hard to be precise at breaking the 0,25 mg tablet.

Enne ... dank je wel

 

Vit C for benzo tapering. Maybe some chicken soup would help as well?
And 1000mg of it, when the recommended daily dose is about 90-100mg for adults.

Seriously, there is a proper way, well documented, to taper benzos and then there is nonsense (possibly harmful) that anyone can post on random internet threads.

I don't really understand why is it suddenly such an issue (the glutamate storm), cutting small portions of your benzo dose on a regular basis is certainly not going to cause a glutamate storm.
Maybe you'll get one if you go from 10-20mg of kpins to zero, but other than that... no.

 

I totally think that is my problem. I think I have some kind of glutamate/gaba imbalance because I can take some supplements that work on both and if it works right, it seems to make my tinnitus a lot lower. Othertimes, I can take them and it might have no effect or make things worse. I really don't know the balance formula and I doubt I could ever achieve it anyway long term unless there was something in my brain regulating the balance. Do you have a source for campral balancing out? I might be able to send it to my doctor.

Hey Beste, I tried to get my doctor to prescribe me Campral but she said it was for alcoholism. I knew that but was hoping she would give it to me to try out. Maybe if I find some info I could send it to her and she would prescribe it.

 

You might have to do the water titration method. I totally know what you mean about the pill thing.

 

I don't know. I wish I could try Campral. I had T before klonopin but klonopin seemed to make my T worse. Once I started taking Lamictal it can reduce the klonopin based T some and other times not. It could be because I am still taking Klonopin but I am not sure. Also, I took NAC too sometimes so I don't know if that had an increased effect sometimes or not.

 

Hey, have you looked into NAC? It is a supplement that you might want to look into. It has to be taken on an empty stomach and with fruit juice (I am assuming because of Vitamin C). I think some people take it and not on an empty stomach so it doesn't have the full effect. It is an over the counter supplement in the U.S. You can probably read about it on the internet or this forum if you want.

 

I never looked into that. I will give it a try soon I think. Thank you

 

I really hope you can get your T lowered or eliminated. I hope we all can.

 

I don't know if you can drink alcohol because of your religion but if you can, does a drink lower your T? I basically mean 1 drink not a bunch. I would never want you to get drunk.

 

Often Valium is used to wean someone off a benzo - especially such a short acting one such as Xanax. Valium has a very long half-life and a very gradual weaning of it is usually more tolerable. Google Heather Ashton and her methods for doing so.

 

Hi dh42, I know but my psychiatrist told me valium is not good for my heart condition. Valium it seems influences on all "horizontally striped" muscles (including the heart).