How Can Benzo Fully Remove Tinnitus and Hyperacusis and Hearing Distortion for a Few Hours?

Can you show me where I stated this?

 

I have severe hearing loss and have been trying out a hearing aid this week. It's a Widex with Zen tones that I can turn on/off.

It would need to be adjusted more for my hearing (I've been told by several people with hearing aids that it can take a few tweaks until it's correct) but it is an odd sensation to have more sound coming in my right ear.

I haven't played the Zen tones as much as I thought I would because just having more sound to hear sort of distracts from the tinnitus. It's still very much there for me, but suddenly now the sound of the hum of the dryer, the AC running in my car, the fan in my bedroom, etc. is there too.

If you have a severe loss, I'd recommend trying one out. My loss is frequencies above 4K and some Widex models can account for up to 10,000K.

Editing to add: And even without a hearing aid, I have a family member with hearing loss and tinnitus from acoustic trauma. They told me their tinnitus quieted down over time, it was much louder after the initial trauma.

 

I agree with you entirely @MidnightOilAudio

 

I want to pass along my experience with both benzodiazepines: Valium and Xanax .

30 years ago when I was in therapy for major depression (not having anything to do with T since I didn't have it then) I was prescribed an antidepressant. When I was stabilized, I went off antidepressants and then was given both together.... valium and Xanax: mistake! I was prescribed 5 mg. valium 3 x daily (total daily dose Valium: 15 mg) and .25 mg. Xanax 3 times daily which I took for a long while without fail. At some point much later on, I had read that dependence/addiction with valium can occur when taking total daily dose of 30 mg daily (10 mg. 3 times daily) but in my case.. having a pure system, I became addicted to the lesser dosage (Valium total dose 15 mg. - 5 mg. 3 x daily and Xanax 3 x daily). I was so accustomed to taking both meds 3 times daily - that when I tried to skip even one dose during the day I got this awful buzz, became jittery and began to pace around; I realized I was very dependent upon these and my psychiatrist should never have prescribed similar medications together. I had stopped seeing the therapist and after taking both of these for a long time, I made the decision to completely stop without tapering off: another mistake! I had a very difficult time, experienced withdrawal and it was horrible. It would have been prudent on my part to gradually taper off in a sensible manner but I was foolish.

I view benzodiazepines with great respect, know they can sufficiently attend to anxiety (as they did in my case) however, I understand too they can be highly addictive and must both be prescribed and monitored carefully. I want to caution that taking valium on a regular basis day in and day out for anxiety can cause dependence and to be careful. You need a physician's guidance throughout and especially at the point when you want to stop taking these medications; it should then be done in a very gradual manner. I will now only occasionally take 5 mg. of valium for anxiety and only rarely if I can not sleep although doctors don't encourage this as a sleep aid.

P.S. Since this experience happened so many years prior to my getting T, there is absolutely no correlation between the medications and tinnitus. I believe my T occurred due to extreme emotional stress.

 

.25 a day 3 or 4 times a week sounds pretty reasonable considering some people take .25 twice or 3 times a day.

 

I will just chime in quickly, as I don't want to restate what others have said...

Benzo use always is a hot topic on this board and rightfully so. They have the potential to be addictive and have caused some people great misery. They also have saved some people's bacon. I am in camp number two. My tinnitus triggered horrible rolling panic attacks. I honestly considered killing myself. I ended up using Xanax in fairly small but daily doses for about a year, under a psychiatrist's supervision. I then tapered off with very little trouble. To this day, I always carry a Xanax with me, in the event panic rears its ugly head. I have maybe had to use it twice in four years? I don't feel the need to abuse it or take it on a regular basis.

A few observations:

* Benzos act on your brain chemistry and each person reacts to them quite differently. This is why its important to have proper medical monitoring when you take them. A mental health MD is preferable to a general practitioner but I know that's not possible for everyone.

* Benzos may make your T and H disappear. It may just make them softer. It may just calm you down. It may do little. User experience will vary (see first statement). You'll know if its helping you or not.

* Xanax (the generic is alprazolam) has the benefit of acting very quickly -- but then also exits your system quickly. That's why it works well on an "as needed" basis. Something like klonopin is better if you have ongoing anxiety issues but it takes awhile for them to do their thing.
*
If you take any benzo on an ongoing basis, including Xanax, remember that you need to taper off. Don't just stop. Obviously, if you take a few Xanax for a day or two, you won't need to taper.

* Use any benzo with caution. They are serious business. They are not a long-term solution to tinnitus, in my opinion, and I would not use them just so I could watch television. But if you are having a really bad T day, maybe...

* Try to NOT take Xanax when you are drinking alcohol. It can really make you messy.

Finally, for what its worth: The only drug that pretty much made my tinnitus disappear was Neurontin, a drug designed for epileptics that now also is used for chronic nerve pain. I was prescribed it when I came down with shingles. I was stunned when I realized one day that I couldn't hear my tinnitus any more. But I was taking huge doses to ward off permanent neuralgia and the side effects were very scary. I stopped when my shingles receded and won't take it again, at least not at those levels.

 

Basically, i was prescribed the first week Xanax and Bremozepam to alternate for "small panic attacks", told to use zopiclone for worse days, and seresta to sleep.

I don't plan on using any of them daily, but at least i know i get get a day off T once in a while if i can't cope.

 

It's all about your perception of the sound of tinnitus and there really is no medical proof that benzos can control the sound of tinnitus. Benzos control your reaction to tinnitus. I no longer use benzos and my tinnitus is as loud as ever but my perception is changed and it's no longer a bother and that's exactly what benzos do, they dull the perception not the sound.

 

That is your opinion of how benozos affect tinnitus and you are entitled to that. I am talking about one in particular and that's clonazepam. When my tinnitus reaches very severe levels and this is sustained for more that two days. Within a few hours of taking two 0.5mg clonazepam the tinnitus is reduced to complete silence. I have had this condition for 21 years and know the difference between tinnitus perception and it being completely silenced. By this, I mean no form of tinnitus at all. As I'm writing this post my tinnitus is completely "silent" and this is without having to take clonazepam. It is variable from: silent, mild, moderate or severe.

Michael

 

According to this set of guidelines from Harvard Medical School, benzos can quiet tinnitus in about 75 percent of patients.

https://30e87b3b-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/doctorlevinestinnitussite/home/suggested-way-to-use-clonazepam-klonopin-for-tinnitus/How to use Clonex (Klonopin, clonazepam) for Tinnitus.pdf

 

The following paper (from 2015) provides a review of the literature on benzodiazepines:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25858126

Clonazepam, specifically, was cited as showing (some) efficacy, but, as is commonly the case, patient profiling for these case studies leaves a "little bit" to be desired.

For those who do not have access to the research paper, here is the main conclusion:



A review of benzodiazepines was also provided by the staff of the ATA in the following webinar:

www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/american-tinnitus-association.14033

 

I've had a aid for a couple months now, I bearly wear it cause it spikes my T, and sometimes it makes my good ear ring. No idea why but I've seen this with other people on here. I do hear better with it in but nowhere near to my good ear is at. Mine is a Starkey. I have heard good things about the widex model's though. When I take mine out the fullness/blockage feeling is horrible, so I only put it in when it's really bad.

 

My doc gave me lorazepam, generic for ativan. When I was taking them it cut the noise in half easily. Just don't take them regularly. I came very close to getting addicted and dependent. But I made it out thank God. Just be careful with them.

 

Sorry to revive an old thread but like the OP it does seem Xanax helped suppress some of my symptoms that that are shared with the OP. It didn't eliminate them though.

 

Still works pretty well.

My baseline tinnitus is much lower than it was 3 years ago when I made this thread but I still take benzo whenever I have a spike & it's gone within the hour.

 

Sounds you are doing great! I tapered off Xanax and today is the 2nd day w/o and my hyperacusis seems super bad. I hope like yours mine settles down over time too. Congrats on getting your life back!

 

@flobo - btw how's your reactive tinnitus and distortions these days?

 

Any word on how Benzos affect Visual Snow? I'm fine with its current level, but I don't want to risk making it worse.

 

I have had visual snow for a year, started about a year after tinnitus.

I don't think benzo even affected it one way or another.

Distortion lasted for 3 months for most sounds, metal sounds stayed distorted a few months more.

I haven't had any more issue with that since around new year 2018.

Reactive tinnitus is still there, but much less reactive.

My brother was stuck somewhere remote in France when the lockdown went into effect last week & I had to drive 6 hours to get him home.

That gave me a 3 day spike.

I had a similar experience in a shopping for 2 hours a few months back.

It seems it still react but it needs to be a long period of sounds. In daily life, it's mostly fine now.

 

This is really great news. I think I'm having the same issues you had with hyperacusis and distortion. Setback in Jan - over the past 2 months it's finally got the point where normal daily sounds are no longer an issue or cause pain. Like it's 90% back to normal. Bathroom fan, dishes, etc. Am not having any distortion/pain/hyperacusis with these sounds. The only thing that still remains an however issue is laptop/phone speakers (this was actually the cause of my worsening setback in Jan!). Idk what is it about them but the sound quality just sounds so abrasive and shrill and leads to my ears feel kinda stuffy and sensitive/stingey. Not even loud per se just quite harsh sounding. I wonder whether I have some damage at a specific frequency that's amplified on laptop speakers or something. So no YouTube videos, tv shows, music for 2 months which is kinda depressing.
Have heard people here talking about distortion so I wonder whether this is a form of distortion?

Does this match with your experience? It seems like something that will likely go away eventually... guess I just need to give it a bit more time. Well, at least we're on lockdown now...

 

no change in my VS that I am aware of after 20 years, not from benzos, or any of the other nonsense I've hit my receptors with.

Tinnitus got worse following noise trauma in 2010; VS has been stable as a maple table since 1999. ~15 years ago when I took tryptamines occasionally, I remember that it would sometimes be worse or more noticeable on comedown for 6 hrs or so.

 

Anyone ever try Etifoxine for Visual Snow or Tinnitus? It's hits the same GABAergic receptors that benzos do, but in a different spot, so it isn't addictive, sedative, no harmful withdrawals. If you look it up you can buy legally in the USA from over the counter websites. I'm trying to get my hands on some Bitcoin so that I can try it out.

 

I've been taking 0.5mg Clonazepam nightly for a week. Has zero effect on my tinnitus or hearing. Mainly just calms me and numbs my emotional response to my hearing problems. Pretty good at crushing anxiety.

 

Benzodiazepines are NOT an option for any sort of treatment for tinnitus and giving people anecdotal evidence of it calming your tinnitus is not a good idea.

From personal experience Benzodiazepines mess with GABA way too heavily and in a more detrimental and longer way than other GABA agonists. The GABA system REALLY doesn't like being altered too much in the body.

Best to avoid all together and save yourself a LOT of hassle.

 

Benzo saved my life & telling people to not use them because of anecdotal evidences of them not agreeing with some people is not a good idea.

As with any medication, you have to be careful, start very slowly & to see if it is working for you.

 

A few things here.

If you are referring to my comment, then you I never claimed that nobody should take them. They should be used very briefly (ideally one time, exceptional circumstances). They are of course useful for seizures etc and if that's what you mean by saved your life then fair enough.

They are a mild anxiolytic with wildy damaging consequences for both addition and recovery, which usually is extremely disproportionate to the time taken.

Claiming that it helps tinnitus, is appealing to a many number of desperate people who are looking for short term solutions.

On your closing paragraph. These aren't SSRI's. They are immediately Gabergenic, not needing time to construct neural pathways. There is no "start", there is only as needed, and that should be very infrequently.

I would steer well clear of these drugs if you value many facets of mind. There are numerous paths towards combating anxiety, many of which are life changing such as Mindfulness.

I wish you all the best.

 

If you have not noticed, you are on a topic i created over 2 years ago when i discovered the amazing effect benzo had on my ear issues. I do not take them for anxiety.

It's 3 years on & it's still working.

I'm not taking it daily because that would be dangerous but having benzo to stop / greatly reduce tinnitus & associated ear issues whenever i wish made me live my life again.

I mean, if i need to drive for a few hours, i often have a spike than i'm able to kill it with benzo, it works wonder for me.

 

I'm well aware. Someone posted on Thursday, so I thought I would give input since many people are likely to see it now.

Of course if you are taking it once every 4 months or something along those lines then it's likely to be inconsequential.

I would recommend trying Mindfulness and habituating for your spikes if you haven't tried it, it can work wonders for the rest of your tinnitus too.

 

I have been habituated for a long while now to my baseline level.

If i don't take benzo for a spike, it goes down as well, just slower, it's a shortcut when needed.


At first in 2017, i used to take benzo every 2-3 days.

Now, it's more once or twice a month, sometime even less.

 

It has the same effect for me. Now just trying to ration them carefully so I have them in case of a spike, and for some additional sanity days...