Effexor XR — Tinnitus Doubled in Loudness — Are the Ototoxic Effects Permanent?

I'm looking for some hope here guys. It's been 3 weeks since I stopped taking the Effexor XR due to it doubling my tinnitus sound. Is this going to go away and return back to my baseline?

PLEASE anyone with experience, particularly with Effexor, would love your advice.

 

As a person with severe anxiety, who is considering going to a new psychiatrist, it's very concerning that I'm seeing these posts about antidepressants increasing tinnitus. Like, is nothing safe...

@Stu1983, I don't think it's a permanent increase. Antidepressants are not ototoxic in the same way as some antibiotics are. That being said, I know that even if it's a temporary spike, it feels horrible.

I'm confident it's gonna go back to baseline.

 

Yes, some anti-depressants are known to cause tinnitus.

This cannot be allowed to continue. Something must be done.

 

Thanks for replying gentlemen, I appreciate it. Really stressed and that makes it worse on its own.

 

My experience with ototoxic drugs was with Amoxocillin a couple of years ago. It doubled the volume of my T and it never went back down I'm sorry to say. However, some people do recover and do have their T go back to baseline. It all depends on the individual so there are no hard and fast rules.

I'm now dealing with another massive increase in my T volume from Doxycycline which I'm in the midst of dealing with by taking oral steroids. The jury is still out on whether they'll work. I was also late in being to find a doctor who would prescribe them to me, so it remains to be seen if they will be effective or not. After 1-2 weeks (estimates seem to vary by doctor), the window is pretty small for an intervention using steroids.

 

Thanks for sharing racerfish and I'm sorry you're going through another major spike.

 

I'm on Effexor (Venlafaxine) as it's known here in the UK. (XR means extended release) 125mg. Just upped it from 75mg.

I wonder if this has anything to do with new noises/severity.

It's such a vicious circle... depressed because of tinnitus...take antidepressants to cope with tinnitus, tinnitus gets worse because of antidepressants, take more antidepressants to cope with tinnitus.

Might lower it to 75mg.

 

I don't want to freak you out, so take this with a grain fo salt. I had T before I ever started Effexor, but when I would miss a dose, I would get brain zaps and could hear a phantom sound when I moved my eyes. When I was tapering off of Effexor (with my doctor's help), I had brain zaps for a long time, anxiety, and that same sound when I moved my eyes. All that went a way, and I don't believe it contributed to my T suddenly getting worse a year after stopping. But the tinnitus I have now does sound like the sound I described when I would move my eyes, just constant now.

It's probably unrelated, but I did read that Effexor is one of the hardest SSRI's to get off of and there have been rare cases of people developing T after stopping the medication.

 

Thanks for the response CricketEars.

I took Effexor XR for around 10 years and weened off of it over the period of a year. That was close to four years ago. Yes the brain zaps were weird and it was hard to come off of the first time. I decided to go back on it because I needed some help and then this happened.

I wasn't taking it long enough this time around (under 4 weeks) for any withdrawal symptoms to really bother me to much.

 

I missed Effexor XR once for 2 days and I was like a woman on her period.

 

I took Effexor XR for a number of years and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I have had nothing but bad experiences and long lasting side effects with pharmaceuticals. I weened myself down to the lowest dosage for 6 months before going off of it, and I had the brain zaps for 3 months following.

 

I'm nearly two weeks off Effexor or Venlaxafine as it's called here in the UK.

No notable change.

 

Please let us know if things settle down, I can totally relate to your experience.

 

I also take Venlafaxine 150mg each day and now I found out why I experience these brain zaps! If I miss a dose it comes, same as posted here. By moving the eyes. It is also described in German Panels. I consider to drop it step by step.

 

I´m in the process of tapering Venlafaxine. Just got down from 225 mg to 150 mg during a 6 months period. I´m still sick beyond belief right now. Extreme nausea, burning skin, tremors and severe anxiety.
Been on them 20 years. But please go slow tapering guys. It can be HELL. Even benzos doesn´t help shit.

 

You may want to consider self-acupuncture and/or self-acupressure to help relieve some of your anguish. Lots of information on this on youtube and elsewhere. -- Wishing you the best as you navigate your way through your withdrawal. -- BTW, I found a microcurrent device (Alpha-Stim) to be helpful for when I tapered off my many years of clonazepam (benzodiazapine). (Took me over a year).

 

I took Pristiq for 1 month and I have had tinnitus for 6 terrible months off the drug. I am angry I ever took the drug and I hope to god the tinnitus goes away.

Has your tinnitus gotten better? Hopefully yours went away. I'm terrified after 6 straight months of constant ringing in my brain after stopping the drug and trying everything I can to stop the ringing and it is still going.

 

Hi @PeanutButter, I’m sorry that this has happened to you. I have severe intrusive tinnitus that is unmaskable and it has gotten worse not better since two years ago. I have moderate to severe hearing loss also. Please remember that this is a anecdotal report so take it with a grain of salt. Most people’s tinnitus improve. Most people learn how to have a good quality of life despite there severe tinnitus. I am one of them. My life is awesome

Love and respect,
Stu