I Took Some Zopiclone and the Tinnitus Stopped

I took Zopiclone this evening and afterwards the ringing just stopped.

Anyone who can explain this?

 

It's due to its effect on GABA receptors, any benzo should do the same trick but Clonazepam seems to be more effective.

 

Yeah, while zolpidem/zopiclone are labeled as being 'nonbenzodiazepines' - they work pretty much exactly the same way regular benzodiazepines do on the GABA receptors in the brain, the difference being that they have very pronounced hypnotic properties and short half-lives.

Just be wary of becoming dependent on them - withdrawal effects that are associated with regular benzodiazepines apply to nonbenzos/z-drugs, not to the same degree though - but it is something to keep an eye on.

 

Have the same fealing once i take 10mg sobril (benzo). Guess this is not a long term solution. Just posting problems ahead...and then we have the adiction side of it. Trying to cut them of to just stay on zoloft but it is hard...

 

I was put on Ativan for a skipping heart about 9 years ago. I didn't know it was a short term medicine. My doctor never changed anything. This year my new doctor had a fit. I'm reducing them VERY slowly and I'm still having withdrawal symptoms. I wake up in the morning freaked out and shaking, yesterday I was in a restaurant and I couldn't keep corn kernels on my fork. Embarrassing. I sweat, my face burns, my limbs get cold etc.. and this comes and goes. No rhyme or reason.
I'm not saying that these pills aren't a good treatment, I'm saying the more you take, the more you need, and it's not just withdrawal problems I worry about, it's the secondary problem of "Protracted Withdrawal" that means I may have to go back on the full dose to combat withdrawal.

 

Does alcohol have the same affect as benzos on the gaba receptors? I am withdrawing from alcohol and my tinnitus is bothering me alot more, seems harder to cope.

 

It does mess with the GABA but to what degree I don't know. Alcohol withdrawal will be causing all sorts of havoc in your brain atm so it's perfectly expected that your tinnitus is going to be harder to cope with, but stay strong!

 

Yonkapin, thank you very much, I keep thinking this is what it is always going to be like sober, but I have got to remember this is withdrawal, very difficult not to have a drink when you are greatly bothered by tinnitus, Im on day 4 now, I hope things change soon!

 

I always find it interesting when someone finds a pill that just turns their T off. Benzo or benzo-like dampening action on T usually has diminishing returns at some point, though, sadly.

I honestly think finding the mechanisms by which these dampenings occur could be a real key in developing a practical pharmaceutical treatment for tinnitus, preferably one that doesn't have the same long-term side effects and one you won't experience diminishing returns on.

I do wonder why certain medications have such a strong T killing effect on some people and not others though... quite a mystery!

I've taken both low doses of Ativan and Valium in the past. Valium doesn't touch my T at all, as far as I can tell. Ativan does seem to change it several minutes after I take it, but kind of in a random direction.

The biggest thing that changes my T? Sleep. Before my spike, my T would shut off 60-95% of the way by the time I woke up the next morning. After the spike... not as much, but today was an exception; I woke up to only a stable hiss in my right ear that I had to put next to my pillow to hear clearly. T'was quite awesome. If only I could get it to stick that way!

Keep up the fight Mick!

 

Great news smoogle, maybe your T is reverting back to lower levels, very encouraging to hear, keep the faith.

Talking of chemicals affecting the brain, this alcohol withdrawal has increased my tinnitus, before I gave up it came from the right ear, one sided tinnitus, now though it seems like the noise is covering my entire head, left, right, centre, back, it has branched out, pretty scary, but I hope it is the alcohol withdrawal affecting it, be it a hyperactive nervous system, I hope this change isn't permanent.

 

Mick, have you considered tapering slowly? I think with enough self-discipline you could reduce it by maybe 2 ounces a day until you get to the point where it's dropped off entirely, and that might be easier on your nervous system.

I believe another poster also suggested that you might be able to use doses of Valium to taper off. I know that's probably not how you want to do things, but it might make coming down a bit easier, and might not affect your T as badly.

Anyhow, just throwing that out there. I've never used alcohol myself (yeah, I'm not one of the cool kids) and I'm no medical expert by any means, just hate the idea that the withdrawal would your hit T so badly.

 

I know alcohol withdrawal can make your hearing more sensitive, tinnitus is actually a symptom of alcohol withdrawal, I don't want to try any medications and I'm no good at tapering, just like when I quit smoking last year I found out I have to just go cold turkey. Maybe in a few weeks when the withdrawal is over my tinnitus will calm down.

Oh and by the way, there is nothing cool about drinking alcohol, I feel like an idiot for getting dependent on it, your one of the smart ones for not touching it.

 

I understand, you know yourself better than we could. Wishing you the best, and I hope your T stabilizes pronto.

 

Just as a follow up.

I found that I can use Zopiclone (and Zopiclone alone) to completely terminate new tinnitus tones.

They rarely come back when I do this. Up to 20 mg of Zopiclone does it. No other benzo has done this (other benzos simply quiet or interrupt the tinnitus).

It must have something to do with GABA receptors.

Given such intense action, its mechanism of action is probably slightly different than benzos, and there's probably some large receptor changes occurring if this is done often, so don't. Zopiclone is just for emergencies.

 

It has the same effect on me. Ringing completely stops and then is reduced for some days after.

 

And this isn't a temporary thing, new tones getting terminated?

 

Some came back, then faded away a lot. Yes some were "terminated" and did not come back.

You can literally hear it slowly fade and then like an electric shock suddenly cuts out or gets VERY loud as a sudden "zap" sound (in the pitch of the tone) and is simply gone.

Please note this was within a couple hours of new tone onset.

If it's chronic or lasted a few days, I've only had volume reduction.

 

I only use Zopiclone in sleep emergencies even though it always reduces my tinntus. Usually something eventually happens to return my tinnitus to baseline, but this time (since 04 January) my tinnitus has been quieter.

For me within the half-life Zopiclone eliminates tinnitus and then it stays something like 20% reduced for some days after but then usually returns to baseline. However, some new minor tones may be temporarily added but the net effect is always positive.

 

I will say this even though it's a weaker "non benzo" compared to Clonazepam, I found that for the ringing (only no distortions) Zopiclone is magical. On the onset of my tinnitus, I could take 1 or 2, and LITERALLY listen to it quietly disappear until I heard a big ZAP.

I would suggest this to anyone with noise induced tinnitus in the beginning and to taper (along with vasodilators, vitamins, perhaps a short course of steroids as those were the only things truly beneficial in permanent volume reduction after my noise trauma).

It still reduces it to static 6 months later, but alas for me it's not like it was where I could take enough and hear my brain literally rewire. It does not help with distortion (ironically real benzos do).

Zopiclone is not just another benzo, acts preferred on different GABAA subunits, which are expressed to different extents compared to most benzos and where they act. Same effect of opening a Chloride channel but who knows with tinnitus, maybe the rate of opening depends on subunit activation moreso.

The fact it works gives me hope a safe potent K channel opener would save us all.

 

I want to add to this thread for posterity.

I recently tried switching from Trazodone to Zopiclone. When I woke up this morning, I noticed I could barely hear the tinnitus in my right ear unless I plugged it. At first, I thought it was my brain habituating (which was surprising considering how new I am to tinnitus). All day, I felt a little "empty", and then it clicked just now.

I think Zopiclone is what dialed down my tinnitus temporarily, because... now that it's been almost 24 hours since I took Zopiclone, the tinnitus has returned in my right ear, but I don't have that "empty" feeling anymore.

So this seems to be consistent with what has been shared in this thread.

 

What is an effective daily dosage for Zopiclone? And for how long were you on Zopiclone? Are you still on it or did you taper off to get off it?

 

Why is this thread not more active? Those are some pretty insane results.

@Matchbox, since you are a fellow low drone tinnitus sufferer, did the Zopiclone also stop the drone or just your high pitched tinnitus?

 

Benzos, and probably Z-drugs as well, are basically a temporary cure for tinnitus. This is well known among tinnitus researchers. However, it's mostly considered a non-viable treatment because of the massive potential for side effects and addiction.

 

Alas no. It did not stop the drone. High pitched stuff only or pure tones. Furthermore, it no longer works for me.

The taper off also isn't fun as I get insane reactivity for about a week if I take a normal dosing for one or two days.

Once it stopped working, I never tried upping the dose. I did once with Clonazepam but it did no longer work either. It could also be the age of the Clonazepam in storage now. But the Zopiclone is fresh. Typical doses do jack shit for me now, which is really sad.

 

That's a big dose. Normally in the UK it's 3.75-7.5 mg dished out.

 

@Ben Winders, I get the same reductions from noise-induced tinnitus. About 30-60 minutes after taking 7.5mg Zopiclone, I can hear the volume reducing as I fall asleep. It's back the next morning though.

 

Thanks - I'm especially interested in the drone part though as the high pitched sizzle in my head I can live with.