From Klonopin (Clonazepam) Induced Horrors of Tinnitus and Hyperacusis to Approaching a Better State

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A VERY DEPRESSING STORY WITH THOUGHTS/ACTS OF SELF-HARM.

Hello,

I wanted to make a post, and although it may be a bit pre-mature, which I will explain in a bit more detail below, I feel as if it's a good idea to give an update and a ray of hope to people who may be suffering.

My real name is not Bryson, but Dana, and I want to firstly say thank you to the many people who told me to keep pushing through this continual nightmare. This began a week after my 28th birthday, and I will be 30 in about 4 months. I truly do not think I would still be here if it weren't for a few people here. On the other hand, there are a few others who truly need some self reflection, as tinnitus and hyperacusis is not a suffering contest -- they are horrible afflictions that need medical research and a treatment/cure.

What Happened?

I won't go into too much detail in my story, but the condensed version is I began taking Klonopin (Clonazepam) after a noise exposure/panic attack in January 2022, and I got this weird electrical noise in my head. I had had mild tinnitus since 2016 that had faded substantially over the next year. I chalked the new noise up to the noise exposure and kept taking the Klonopin as EVERY doctor I went to said it was my anxiety. The electrical sound turned into a full head unmaskable, super intrusive scream within a couple of months.

I flew to South Korea for the "nerve treatment", which literally did nothing but make it temporarily worse. I came back desperate, as the tinnitus kept getting worse with horrible, terrible screaming/hissing in my head within about 2 months. It turns out I was paradoxical on Klonopin due to my previous prescribed use of this drug (4 years, discontinuation via cold turkey) which means the more I took, the worse it got. There are some instances of this happening if you look hard enough online (Tinnitus Talk and BenzoBuddies). I will never be able to describe the sound at its worst, but the best description was a high frequency buzzing/screeching that moved all around my head, not in my ears at all.

I withdrew from Klonopin for 6 months, and the end of the taper was God awful. I suffered with burning hands, burning feet, total insomnia, total panic/sense of doom, suicidal thoughts/acts, exploding head syndrome, depression, paranoia, a complete loss of self, uncontrollable sweats, convulsions, and much more. When I jumped (stopped) this drug at 0.0375 mg, I got SEVERE hyperacusis. I mean SEVERE. Horrible pain from low level noises, stabbing, burning, orbital bone pain, all of it. In addition I had anywhere form 15-30 tones on any given day, in addition to HORRIBLE dentist drill type sounds in my head from the Klonopin. I could not leave the house or drive due to how bad the pain from the hyperacusis was, I basically sat in a quiet room all day crying and wishing I was dead. I attempted to end my life twice unsuccessfully, and thank God for that because I am doing much better. Unfortunately I have completely broken things off with many friends and all of my family, as they would not come to visit me, support me/did not believe me. It was a total fucking nightmare that I could not have drawn up worse if I tried.

When I COLD TURKEYED Klonopin in 2020, I suffered literally 0 side effects. Kindling was a huge factor for this entire situation, and it is a REAL and DANGEROUS phenomenon.

Where I'm Now

The tinnitus from the benzo is gone about 75% of the time when I wake up. When it is present, I can pretty much ignore it, and it continues to fade every day, with more "quiet days", and the "bad days" being extremely manageable.

The hyperacusis is still very present, but I no longer wear earplugs driving, or anywhere really. I am in some amount of ear pain most days but it is getting better every day. Sometimes I have very bad burning, and then the next day it is completely gone. I am assuming it is waxing and waning from the benzo withdrawal. I have gone on dates, returned to my job, and moved back to my home state to be closer to my friends until I make a *full* recovery, which I know I will. I am still avoiding any sound that could be considered loud.

I do still have "normal" tinnitus that everyone thinks of in my right ear, which is crazy and erratic due to the hyperacusis, which was previously an extremely low level sound. I would rate it as high mild/low moderate. I can hear it clearly outside when in my backyard, but most music and other noises cover it. I am working on ignoring the daily changes and getting back to life.

I lost a lot through the past 1.5 years. Girlfriend, friends, job, family and most importantly myself/peace. I truly have some serious trauma due to this, and when I have tried to explain it to others it's completely useless as no one will ever understand -- that's okay. I feel as if I am being reborn as I get a little more back to normal every day.

Some Key Points

This is extremely rare. I found 3 other cases, one on Tinnitus Talk, one on YouTube, and one on BenzoBuddies. All Klonopin, by the way. But it CAN happen. If you are taking this drug or any other benzo, you NEED to know exactly what it does to your body, and understand that there is NO LOW DOSE OF A BENZO. I'm sure I will be labeled a fear mongerer, but that's fine. I am telling you what happened to me and how it destroyed my life.

LOOK AT YOUR MEDICINE. It is extremely sad to think that if I had just stopped the Klonopin after a couple of days, none of this would have happened. I try to tell myself that it was not obvious -- doctors including Dr. De Ridder, my own psychiatrist, and many on Tinnitus Talk did not believe me.

This drug turned me into a COMPLETE PSYCHOTIC LUNATIC. I look back on things I posted here and it seems like a different person. In my "normal" life, I am a fairly successful young guy with many great friends, never having any suicidal thoughts, ever. I consider myself a "chill" person who is easy to get along with.

This one will be controversial, because I know people find benzos useful for tinnitus, but THIS IS LITERAL RAT POISON. It DESTROYS your central nervous system, ESPECIALLY if you have taken it before like I had. I don't really want to argue about this point because I can see the other side of having severe tinnitus, having been let down by the entire medical community and only having this drug to keep sanity. But in my case, this drug literally almost killed me.

THE BIGGEST THING I CAN STRESS IS DO NOT COMPARE YOUR SITUATION WITH OTHERS. I have learned that tinnitus and hyperacusis are two EXTREMELY individual things, and all this did for me was stress me out and throw me into a horrible panic.

I was going to put this off until I was "completely" recovered, but I have made such drastic improvements over the past 4 months that I don't see how I wouldn't completely recover at this point, knock on wood. I'm prepared for the remaining issues to take another 6 months to a year to get better. I have been staying away from Tinnitus Talk, but will certainly return when I am doing even better.

 

One of the best success stories ever. So happy you are back to something resembling normalcy! Go get those girls and enjoy your life

 

Dana, thank you SO MUCH for sharing this story of hope. I am super fearful of medicine because of stories like yours and if you weren't here to share your experience, we would be left with gaslighting doctors who all say that any unexpected side effect of their precious meds is anxiety induced. They ALWAYS say that, they NEVER take responsibility. So THANK YOU FOR TELLING YOUR TRUTH.

I am so happy to hear you are better today. To me this is proof that medicine induced tinnitus can improve.

May I ask how long after you started taking Clonazepam in January 22 did you start having the head noise? Days, weeks, months?

Thanks a lot in advance for your reply and congratulations on your recovery. I am convinced you will reach full recovery. I am also strengthened in my belief to always listen to real people who have suffered instead of doctors who could care less about you outside their consultation hours when making important decisions such as starting on a certain drug or not.

So once again: THANK YOU. If it means anything, all your suffering has not been pointless because you are here to warn the rest of us. That is very valuable.

 

I'm over the moon for you, mate. Well done!

 

@BrysonKingMe, so glad to hear you’re on the road to recovery. I quit Xanax/SSRIs cold turkey and I think it made my hyperacusis and tinnitus way worse. My ears feel like someone is messing w/ my nerves and I can’t even stand silence at this point. I got hyperacusis from an MRI. I think tinnitus and hyperacusis combined w/ withdrawal and severe anxiety/panic from not having meds will kill me. I consider ending it frequently. I just live each day to survive and attempt to endure torture which only seems to be getting worse every day or at least staying the same.

Does worse hyperacusis/tinnitus from withdrawal tend to get better? Trying to give myself time but I think the original trauma might have pushed my ears too much, and stopping meds was the worst decision of my life, plus the MRI made it way worse.

Your post gives me a bit of hope. I won’t be here much longer if nothing improves at all. I’m sorry for being selfish and putting a damper on your post.

So happy for you - these meds can be great but they can also cause issues and it’s scary to think about.

 

I asked about Xanax in the past. My doctor wouldn't prescribe it. I didn't get any benzo - probably for the best. Sticking with my Z drug (Zolpidem) for sleep.

 

Frigging quacks and butchers. Anxiety, my ass.

Congrats on your progress, sounds amazing given where you were only recently.

Question: how is your hyperacusis? Just burning pain? No loudness hyperacusis at all?

From what it seems, recovery from medically induced tinnitus is far more likely than from noise-induced, so your odds remain great. Very envious (well, perhaps I should not be given what you went through).

 

@BrysonKingMe, I agree with you. I also took Clonazepam and it was a terrible drug. I did not know about benzodiazepines until after I started the drug prescribed by my doctor. Your assessment of what it does to the central nervous system is correct. I think my tinnitus initially started after I took this. I wish you the best in your recovery.

twa

 

Congrats on getting better.

Are you still using hearing protection when going out on dates? How is the dating game when you have hyperacusis?

Do you now protect only from loud environments?

 

A few days.

In my case and most others, it seems so.

My LDLs are probably around 80 if I had to take a guess right now, they were probably below 40 or 50 in March.

Nothing really sounds too loud to me, but burning and at its worst really bad stabbing/face crushing pain was indescribable.

If I'm having a bad ear day, I might throw in my molded musician earplugs if I'm going somewhere like a restaurant with music. I try to just sit outside on a patio. I've met someone who seems to be very accepting of my current limitations, but really it's just no loud bars/concerts for now, so it's not too limiting at the moment. I'm in the mountains so I've been doing more outdoor things for now.

 

It just confirms hyperacusis and noxacusis are completely different things. One can have both, of course.

 

Thanks for replying. A few days... OMG that was quick...

 

Congrats on finding someone who accepts these limitations. It gives me hope someone out there would accept me as well. But another thing if you don't mind me asking, how do you go about getting a haircut? Do you think you are able to go to the barbers now or in the near future?

 

Many do, loudness hyperacusis is often presented with noxacusis.

 

I would suggest speaking to a doctor about tapering off Xanax, depending upon how long ago you stopped cold turkey.

 

I am so happy to read this Dana. I know how hard things have been for you, but I am positive you will continue to heal.

As for doctors not believing you, I do not find that unusual at all, especially psychiatrists and neurologists are often the people who prescribe these drugs the most. It's hard for people to understand how these drugs can have devastating consequences for some of us.

I think it's wise to warn people these drugs can make things worse. You are right that some people will call it fear-mongering, I call it a warning and hopefully people can then make an informed choice.

I wish I had been warned.

I think you told an honest account of what can go wrong, and you should be proud for sharing it with the Tinnitus Talk community.

 

I wish I had known what tinnitus was before I took the medication that may have caused it.

 

Stopping meds cold turkey versus titrating slowly down can have very different effects. I started Klonopin when my tinnitus and hyperacusis were catastrophic. After several years and multiple therapies (Hypnosis, Cranioscracral, Acupuncture, Ayurveda, Meditation, etc.) I titrated down from 1.5 mg Klonopin and had little immediate side effects. The tinnitus did increase after a couple of months. Perhaps this was related to quitting the Klonopin. I'm now back on 1 mg.

 

So proud of you dude! I am glad you made it! I really wish so many doctors and people wouldn't push this rat poison on anyone, let alone tinnitus sufferers. I feel I would have a survivable situation if I had never got pushed from so many angles to take this shit. It is exactly what you said it is... POISON. I hope your thread saves someone else from taking benzos or any meds.

Much love to you and yours. I am glad you got a second chance at life. Leave this all in the past man! Warn anyone you can about ear damage and benzos! You are an amazing person!

 

How's it going, @BrysonKingMe?!

 

Fantastic, yet paranoid that any of these issues can come back any second!

Hyperacusis still slowly getting better.

 

Ä
Good to hear it! How is your tinnitus?

 

So stoked to hear that mate, you deserve nothing but the best after what you’ve gone through.

 

Reading this may save my life. So thank you

I'm so deep in this shit though.

Kindled like you can't believe. Started tapering, summer 2019. Reinstated three times and probably close to a hundred rescue doses. Everytime because of noxacusis.

The saddest thing is I've been soooo close too. But haven't really connected the dots between the withdrawal and noxacusis until it is what seems like being too late

You give me some hope though!

 

It's so up and down that I try to not think about it. The electrical buzzing tinnitus from the Klonopin rears its head a few days a week but it is usually low level, down from a 9-10/10 to a 2-3.

 

That's great news! I feel like I'm at a 7 with my tinnitus volume but I'm "only" almost a year in. Maybe in more time it will settle down more?

So, if I’m understanding right, your original case of tinnitus was from Accutane, and then made worse from Klonopin?

 

No, I have never taken Accutane. Noise induced since 2016 made unbelievably bad by Klonopin.

 

@BrysonKingMe, it's a great story - to hear yours dropped from a 9 to a 2-3 will give so many like me and others hope (mine is currently averaging 9-10 every day, up from 7-8 every day for the past 12 weeks - and also because of loud rain on the roof!).

Do you feel it was just time that worked to your advantage here and reduced the hyperacusis and tinnitus?

No fancy medication, treatments, vitamins, holistic therapy - just simply time?

 

Hi Dean,

I hope you are feeling better soon. I am still a work in progress, so I don't want to give you or anyone else the false impression that my life is peaches and roses right now -- but to answer your question, just being off of Klonopin was the only thing that has helped.

I don't take any medications besides Adderal for ADHD -- this does seem to help my mind get off of the tinnitus and hyperacusis to some degree. I also just finished a round of antibiotics for a long-lasting stint of bronchitis, which I feel may have worsened some things, as the Ashton Manual states:

 

How are you now, @BrysonKingMe?