Here's a Safe Benzo Drug for Tinnitus Sufferers: Tofisopam (Emandaxin, Grandaxin, Sériel)

I can relate. it's been 2 months and I'm still trying to break my fight or flight cycle. It has been brutal.

Grandaxin isn't available in the US but there's no shortage of places to purchase it online. I plan on being on it for a couple months before tapering off but the safety profile seems pretty good for tolerance and withdrawal.

I'm so glad you reached out to me because I'm your girl when it comes to cervical injuries potentially related to tinnitus. I have damage throughout my cervical but in particular at C1-C2. If you haven't already I'd recommend you tag Greg Sacramento on here who's a retired physiologist with a ton of experience with cervical tinnitus who can recommend a regimen for you to hopefully get relief.

Lastly have you thought about PRP? Before tinnitus I suffered a decade of severe chronic pain with spinal injuries throughout my cervical, thoracic and lumbar. PRP and Prolotherapy corrected all of that. No surgery needed. I am now about to start PRP for my upper cervical (C1-C2) which I have never done before but hope it alleviates my tinnitus.

Btw what does your tinnitus sound like? Is it located in your ear vs your head? High pitched or low?

Wishing you all the best with this nightmare. It's destroyed my life so far but I'm still going for now.

 

Do you have hyperacusis, too? And what caused your tinnitus? Mine sounds similar to yours. Thanks for the help.

 

Hey @Jerad, thanks for reaching out. Those electrical “zaps” you feel are exactly what I’m experiencing too. Our tinnitus sounds very similar. Yes, I didn’t realize I had hyperacusis until recently, it’s just sound sensitivity but loud noises like shouting or plastic bags/chip bags rustling bother me and cause ear fullness. I’m hoping my reactivity is tied to the hyperacusis so they can hopefully improve at the same time.

So there’s no specific trigger event for mine. It doesn’t appear to be an acoustic trauma/noise event (unless you count heavy headphone use over an extended period of time) but I have upper cervical spine injuries and autoimmune issues which I think are the root cause.

Is your tinnitus centralized, or reactive? I have read that once it is centralized it is then “brain tinnitus” which may not improve even if the cause is treated so I’m less worried about the cause now and more interested in treatments for the brain like bimodal stimulation (Dr. Susan Shore).

I do recommend Grandaxin which you can purchase online because it’s not available in the US. It cuts my tinnitus in half and while I’m still in a panicked state half the time it helps take the edge off anxiety. I also feel it reduces those awful metallic brain zaps which are really the most torturous thing for me besides the reactivity. The fact that we can physically feel our tinnitus is so fucking disturbing. It could also be because I’m calmer on the Grandaxin though. Either way it helps. It’s less intoxicating and addicting than other benzos as well.

Do you notice more zaps when falling asleep or getting upset?

 

It sounds like an "eeeee eeeee." It's high pitched and in both ears, seems to be a couple of different tones. Comes from my head, I think. I've actually had it for 20 years but my mind pulled it to the surface and focuses on it now. Never bothered me before.

I've had awful anxiety since I hurt my neck and the anxiety just latches onto whatever it wants.

Walking helps me get through the day. Just 20-40 minutes. I also drank chamomile tea last night and I *think* it helped me relax into a good sleep.

There's some very encouraging YouTube success stories that have a lot of hopeful comments when you get down. I read something yesterday that basically reinforced the notion that if you think you'll never improve then you absolutely won't. If you keep hope and putting on foot in front of the other that you will find improvement. It helps me but it can be hard to remember that sometimes. All the best in the heavens and earth to you!

 

@Lane, @Uklawyer, @Padraigh Griffin, @Gb3, @David S:

Hi all,

Just seeking the opinion of those of you who were kind enough to respond to me before and know their stuff when it comes to benzos. I sincerely hope I’m overreacting and please feel free to tell me so as that would be the best case scenario for me.

At this point I am back to struggling with severe panic and anxiety 24/7 (I can still sleep surprisingly but that’s from exhaustion). What I’m trying to hopefully get an idea of is to whether it’s at all possible that I might be dealing with a benzo withdrawal from Grandaxin:

While Grandaxin has been consistent in lowering my tinnitus (still is), it was only halfway effective for my severe anxiety and panic from the beginning. I have taken only 2 (or sometimes less) of the recommended 3x daily 50 mg dosage and even so I would cut the pills and take them in halves throughout the day (I hope this wasn’t a mistake in setting myself up for tolerance). I trusted this benzo to have a better safety profile when it came to addiction and side effects than the rest.

At this point I have been taking it for 3 weeks and decided I should start a taper today because the dose I am taking is not effective for my anxiety whatsoever any longer as of 2 days ago. Again, it was only halfway effective from the start and my anxiety has been increasing despite my efforts to counter it (for good reason as well with my life circumstances).

I just started to take Hydroxyzine (just 3 mg) this evening and that has finally given me some relief after days of constant panic.

I’m just curious (1) If it’s possible that I developed a tolerance/withdrawal in the manner that I’ve been dosing and (2) How does one even go about getting that checked out? I have zero experience with drugs so aside from the Ashton taper I’m not sure where to start. I know this is subjective but I know 2 users here who either quit CT after 2 weeks or tapered for only 2 weeks following 2 weeks of use. Both with no side effects or withdrawal issues.

 

@IntotheBlue03, which online pharmacy did you purchase Grandaxin from?

 

@JasonP, see above.