Hi Everyone! Originally Got Tinnitus from Cipro — Lexapro (Escitalopram) Made It Worse

Hello everyone, I’m glad to have found this community where you all offer such kind and thoughtful support for each other through their journeys with tinnitus. And hope everyone is doing well! What a difficult year it’s been.

I’m here today because I feel I’m in need of some advice, as I just am not sure how to proceed with addressing my anxiety without causing my tinnitus to get worse.

I originally got mild tinnitus from an antibiotic (Cipro) back in 2017, which overtime went away got much better. Recently, with stress of the pandemic as well as other stresses brought on by the quarantine, my anxiety and depression became completely unmanageable, so I sought help. I have already been taking Seroquel 12.5mg for several years which helps with anxiety and sleep, but unfortunately going up to 25mg didn’t help alleviate the new anxiety.

I was put on Lexapro 5mg, and started by cutting in in quarters to mitigate side effects. Even at a quarter of that dose, I experienced a major spike in my tinnitus. Once I stopped, it went back down, but it’s still noticeable. At times it can be higher, but can go back down too. I was disappointed because I am so desperate to get a handle on my anxiety and depression. I informed my psychiatrist of this and he said we can try something else. Not sure if he is well informed on this as a bad side effect mode people with existing tinnitus, but he did do a genetic screening test to help narrow the ideas of medications that will work for me (however it doesn’t say whether these options will cause tinnitus).

I’m trying to be proactive in handling my mental health, but I know that elevated tinnitus is a dealbreaker for me. What has everyone experienced in terms of trying to treat their anxiety/depression and have you had any success? Thanks in advance!

 

If the prescribed drugs are too much with side effects, then perhaps try the natural way, such as natural supplements like Lemon Balm, Chamomile tea, Kava Kava, Passion Flower etc. You can also search Amazon on these calming supplements to see how people rate these products. You may want to do more relaxing exercises or activities, such as short hike, leisure walk/jog, yoga, qi gong, etc.

When my tinnitus was new and very intrusive, I often carried some sublingual Ativan in my pocket for anxiety. This is only used on demand as needed and at .5 mg it was not enough to get me addicted to it. So it is a trade off for me to get some relief from the sharp edges of extreme anxiety. If you are going for benzos for anxiety, make sure it is short termed and you need to get your doctor to help you taper out of the drugs.

Another thing to bear in mind is that most spikes tend to go back to baseline, especially if you don't get too freaked out by it.

All the best to your recovery. God bless.