Fentanyl Detox Tinnitus

I suffered an injury to my spinal cord which led me to many surgeries and they threw the medicine cabinet at me.

Fentanyl for 11 years, benzos for sleep and anti depressant medication. I bit the bullet after Narcotic Bowel Syndrome set in and I lost 60 pounds and could not eat any meaningful food.

After a stint in detox which was really a violent withdrawal, the tape hiss sound set in and is not any better, maybe worse 9 months after.

Sleep is all turned around, anxiety, feel like I have aged 20 years in this time. Ear ringing is driving me crazy.

 

Welcome to the forum. You have our empathy having to deal with so much problem with health and then having this tinnitus. Have you seen any doctor on the tinnitus to determine if anything wrong with the ears? Have you been able to mask your T such as using sound machine at bed time to help sleeping? Try to use some natural stuffs for sleep, such as Melatonin, Lemon Balm, Valerian, Hops, Catnips, Passion Flower, Chamomile, Lavender, Kava, etc. You can do google search or check Amazon.com for each of them to know how people review these products, and see if you can take them as a supplement. Check out this site on using natural herbs for helping to sleep or to calm the nerves. Take good care. God bless.

http://www.christopherhobbs.com/lib...ealth/herbs-and-natural-remedies-for-insomnia /

 

Jeez @Life Lessons, you really have been put through the medical wringer. You must suffer a lot of chronic pain to be prescribed a drug like fentanyl for so long. Detox sounds brutal and it's a fairly common complaint of some folk on this site who speak of tinnitus coming on after a period of drug withdrawal, usually benzo or anti depressants. I'm no expert, but the takeaway appears to be that a long gradual taper is required with these sorts of meds. Doctors don't seem to tell you that part.

You suffered a spinal injury, but I'm wondering if have sufficient physical mobility and pain tolerance to indulge in some kind of exercise. People report good results in breaking the vicious cycle of anxiety and altered sleep patterns by physically tiring themselves, plus the bonus of all those endorphins etc. Good sleep hygiene seems to help make tinnitus more bearable. I know when my sleep patterns are out of whack, the hissing always seems so much louder.

 

Thank you all for your kind replies. The best I can understand now is that it is part of Post Acute Withdrawal Syndrome. I haven't been to an ear doctor yet but have tried almost every sleep aid available to no avail. My heart had been checked out before entering detox and was very strong... now they say I have a murmur and an autoimmune condition along with dealing with pain. Yet if I can put together an hour or two of sleep when I awake the tinnitus is almost enough to drive me insane. I have heard acupuncture may help... literally just trying to survive. I greatly appreciate everyone taking the time to answer my post.

 

I hope you can get the careful management you need at this time @Life Lessons. PAWS can manifest for quite a while I read. Hopefully, tinnitus symptoms may lessen with time as your body slowly overcomes withdrawal symptoms. Some people report older anti depressants such as Nortriptyline helpful for both tinnitus and sleep, with not too many side effects. There is some research to back it up, but it is a bit hit or miss. I know you don't need anymore drugs, but you'll need something to get you through this difficult period.