Extreme Anxiety & Depression, My Body Is Restless & Fatigued, Antidepressants Make My Tinnitus Worse

I'm suffering real bad from tinnitus. My body is restless and fatigued from constant stress, anxiety and sleepless nights. I have recently tried a variety of antidepressants but all I get is long lasting increase in tinnitus baseline even from the first dose.

Most days and nights my mind is constantly filled with dark thoughts and at times I feel I am a danger to myself.

I desperately need help. I would appreciate some advice/suggestions on how to deal with my current mental state.

 

It may seem trite but get out into nature. Watch movements. Breathe fresh air. If you can, take a break from work and stress. Take meds if you need to sleep. Take one day at a time.

They are the only things that worked for me.

 

You could try some Lorazepam just to give yourself a break. But please be very careful as they are a nightmare to get off if you become dependent... which sadly is much easier than you might think.

 

Can you try and mask the tinnitus with sound? Either with YouTube or on your phone. I know it's not fun to do. I wish there was something I could do or say, I know what you are feeling and going through. Nothing seems to help when in this state.

Is there someone you are close to you can talk to for support, just to let them know what is going on?

 

Mirtazapine / Buspar combo.

I've been on everything. That combo works for me.

 

Hey I’m considering Buspar as my anxiety (mostly unrelated to tinnitus) is off the charts and I think is making my tinnitus worse. I’m already on Mirtazapine and it’s great but I don’t think it touches my anxiety at all. Also on Gabapentin and I don’t think it does anything at all.

What was it like getting on Buspar at first? How much has it helped you?

 

Yes, fortunately. My mother is my greatest supporter, but she doesn't understand what I'm going through. She feels so helpless sometimes. I sure am grateful to have her.

 

I will look in to this. Thank you.

 

Buspar takes several weeks to work. Its great for generalized anxiety. Doesn't take it all away but enough to function.

 

For sleep I'd recommend Lemborexant (Dayvigo).

 

@Sayeed, is Buspar not recommended for severe anxiety aka the panic attacks that ensue with having tinnitus?

That’s what I’d like to evaluate long term with this awful condition.

 

I took Buspar and my tinnitus went nuts that night. It increases dopamine, and apparently that's what makes tinnitus spike.

It could be something else but it seemed like an ototoxic effect. Watch out.

How many are taking Buspar here, without it spiking the tinnitus?

 

Deep belly breathing helps me a lot, but my tinnitus is probably moderate, not severe.

 

This is just from what I've read and my personal experience. Buspar won't help with panic attacks. It's more for general anxiety disorder. Like when the anxiety is always there. For panic attacks I would go with Xanax, for short term use. With Buspar I also take Mirtazapine. You have to give these 2 weeks to kick in. During that time you can use Xanax.

I realize all meds can cause tinnitus to get worse. Flonase, Seroquel and some others have spiked my tinnitus.

It's a numbers game. In terms of risk, I would say Buspar and Mirtazapine are the best and safest. They have been around for a long time and are not SSRIs. Everyone reacts differently but these have the least risk. Keep in mind most always document their bad experiences with meds and tinnitus. There are exponentially more people that have improved and have had great experiences with these meds and have moved on with their lives, not having the need to document their experiences on chat boards.

 

Not sure if my tinnitus improved but rather maybe I was able to deal with it better and ignore it because I was better able to keep my anxiety in check.

 

Thanks @Sayeed. This was super helpful. I’m guessing the Mirtazapine doesn’t really help much with severe anxiety, correct?

I plan on staying on Grandaxin for the next month or 2 as I’m still working to fully break this panic cycle I’m in.

 

It does help with anxiety. It's helped mine. Also helps with sleep on low doses.

 

What does anxiety mean? Are these panic attacks out of nowhere or permanent situations?

 

The panic attacks I speak of are in direct relation to severe tinnitus that I am enduring.

I’ve had anxiety before but never panic attacks until the tinnitus. I was locked in fight or flight mode for weeks up until last week.

Worst thing I have ever experienced.

 

Did you take any medicine to end the panic attacks? And how did you sleep?

I feel very restless and nervous, even at night due to tinnitus and hyperacusis. I'm considering a hearing aid or psychological help but to get an appointment, you have to wait for months and this is really acute.

Glad to hear it got better for you.

 

Hi, yes, sorry to hear you are suffering. My tinnitus is constant, centralized and reactive on top of being high frequency so it’s been impossible to mask. In addition it has an oscillating zinging sensation that I can feel which has been terrible. I mention all this just to point out I don’t think most people experience this severity so they do better in the long run and don’t have to resort to meds. I had to resort to benzos and am taking Grandaxin which has absolutely helped calm the anxiety but also lower my tinnitus somewhat. It’s a safer profile benzo but also cannot be taken forever.

Longterm I am considering taking Buspar but haven’t committed yet and don’t know much about it as others do in this forum.

Have you tried masking your tinnitus? Having this ability should reduce a lot of anxiety if you can.

 

When I 1st got tinnitus I tried everything to sleep. Breathing exercises, Chamomile tea, Melatonin, pot.

Nothing really worked until a friend gave me a few of her Xanax. I started with 1/2 a Xanax to see if it would calm me enough and make me feel drowsy and it did! It has helped immensely.

 

You should at least try SSRI. They have been around for a long time. Unfortunately they can take a month or more to really kick in.

For benzo there is a softer one called Oxazepam. They should be easier to get off of.

I am on that medication now because of a recent setback. It also helped me in the past. I know how terrible the fight or flight mode is.

 

Oxazepam has a shorter half-life than Clonazepam and Valium. If acts more quickly, but because of the former, it is more risky on the addiction side. Take care with it @David S.

 

Hey, I started taking 10 mg 2x a day last Thursday. In the last two days my tinnitus seems more intrusive but I’ve also been hyper vigilant because I was expecting some change. Did you experience any spike when you first started taking it?

I want to stick it out because it’s starting to work on my anxiety when nothing else has but I’m worried about making my tinnitus even worse than it already is.

 

No spike on my end. It might be because you are expecting a change. I would stick with for a few weeks at least.

 

This morning, I woke up with a very loud tinnitus/spike. I have not been doing anything different. I protect my ears when I'm out. I have also been taking 5 mg Amitriptyline and 3 mg Ambien every night for sleep for the past 3 month.

Could those meds be causing damage to my ears?

 

@Kenilworth, how are you now?

 

I cannot help you with medications as I have no recent experience and none for tinnitus, I will leave that to the others here with more experience. That said, medications can be a great tool to get a critical situation under control but they have a few potential problems, especially with chronic use. Some of them are addictive, I know I went through Benzo withdrawal in the 90's for panic attacks. They are also toxic substances that your body has to deal with so they come at a cost for some of us such as aggravating tinnitus for some. There is a place for drugs that can help you get some sleep and calm you down but in the long run it is better to find things that can bring relief that get you back in better balance. These things don't work for everyone and some severe cases need whatever will bring relief but thankfully, most people do not fit into that category. I am sorry for all severe sufferers.

I had severe panic attacks in the 80's and 90's and they scared the shit out of me so bad that I thought that drugs were the only thing that could handle this type of problem. They worked for a while but then at least for me, the Benzos turned on me and getting off of them was very unpleasant. I learned later that mastering techniques to calm myself down and eliminating triggering situations, foods, medicines, etc were the only lasting relief. I probably would have had a better experience if I had used them initially to contain the situation and then started the other work. Nobody talked about this stuff back then so the only guidance I got was drugs. I have no experience with antidepressants or sleep aids.

We are all different, we all have different sounds and volume and we all react differently to what we hear. So that means that some experimentation is required to find what may work for you. I have tried plenty of things where I am sitting or lying there and eventually said this is stupid, nothing is happening. Cranial Sacral Therapy, certain body work and massage in general are examples. But, in my 30 years of exploring this stuff I have found many things that work for me and help me have a better life from stress, chronic pain, grief and tinnitus. The list is too exhaustive for one post but in general:

You have to break the fight or flight response cycle and calm down. There are many things that can do this: deep breathing, yoga, exercise, positive imagery, counseling, hypnosis, support groups, ... You have to find what works for you.

You have to get proper sleep. I know, that is a tall order when these sounds are screaming in your head but this is really important. Light exercise early in the day, stretching, eat light at night, no sugar or caffeine after 4pm, watch medicine that rev you up, a cool comfortable bedroom, noise generators if that works for you, ...

For some, this eventually goes away thankfully so time is your friend but for others these sounds will never go away so we have to learn to deal with it the best we can. It is hard initially because these sounds that don't belong there and that we have no control over just go on 24/7. For some like myself, we can eventually almost completely ignore them. I started with really loud tinnitus, multiple tones, reactive to everything, initially it shocked me at how loud it was. It is natural to keep focusing on it, wonder what if this does not go away, what if it gets worse? Now it does not bother me anymore except a few nights a month it keeps me up an extra couple of hours after the shower. There are many techniques that help you make peace with the sounds and start making them less important. Back to Silence, mindfulness, CBT, etc. These things don't work for everyone but many have reported success here including me. It needs to be explored so that you don't risk leaving this on the table. There is no cure today, hopefully some day that will come but for now these are the things that we have.

Good luck, use this resource for learning and support but be careful in the more serious threads, severe sufferers talk about some very heavy things there and initially this may not be a good place to start, even though for some it helps.

George