Ketamine Treatment Clinics & Experiences — Can Ketamine Cure Tinnitus?

Steroid-shots in the ear, would that still be effective long after onset? I was under the impression that steroids don’t do anything once the inflammation turns to damage

 

Maybe if you have chronic inflammation?

 

Is Ketamine treatment worth pursuing? There are clinics near me and money is no problem. Only thing holding me back is the fear thar it might make worse, both with regards to the ears but also my CFS/ME-related neurodisorder.

 

When I called a clinic in Arizona that had been promoting Ketamine infusion for tinnitus, the receptionist told me the doc was no longer offering it due to its ineffectiveness.

 

I have gotten IV infusions of Ketamine for depression/PTSD. To date, I've had 8 sessions of it. It did absolutely nothing for my tinnitus. It did, however, save my life when it came to the PTSD and depression.

 

Do we know if anyone on Tinnitus Talk has ever had success on any psychedelic path? This is the one thing that is out there and relatively available that I haven't tried yet and I'm starting to explore options.

 

I've heard stories of people getting both permanently better and worse after taking shrooms. Personally I would like to use these drugs recreationally in the future without worrying about worsening my tinnitus. Some people said it had no effect on their tinnitus. Your mindset throughout probably affects the outcome.

I'd highly recommend having a strong fast acting benzo on hand in case things get a bit too much.

 

Do you know who the Tinnitus Talk people were who had success? I'm pretty unconcerned about worsening (famous last words I know). I've been living in severe land since onset and nothing seems to budge it one inch one way or the other. Loud noises... shrug, insane hyper-stress... shrug, no sleep...shrug. It just does its thing, can't really get worse and if it does, what's the difference? Maximal impact is maximal impact, if you know what I mean.

 

I don't have a link to it but they said they took LSD or shrooms, and at one point the tinnitus got extremely loud and they were focusing on it a lot. If you ever took those drugs, you would be aware of the feeling of "being one" with the world. It feels like everything is all part of the one thing, kind of at a molecular level or something, very hard to explain the feeling. Anyway, the guy said they focused on the tinnitus for ages and became one with it and then it was easier to ignore after that.

I would say taking those drugs is like an extreme form of meditation. It's like packing in months worth of meditation into a few hours. That's just my opinion on it. The way you are now I would try it. Of course it can get worse but it could get better too. Maybe think about going to South America to do Ayahuasca with the natives as part of that ritual. That would be the most intense form of it really. Maybe you will feel like the drug is cleansing your body from the tinnitus.

Have you tried other things like some antidepressants or stem cells/PRP/peptides?

 

Tried Lenire, hearing aid/sound therapy, antidepressants, meditation, benzos and banjos. 100% not OCD or anxiety driven tinnitus. I've got a pretty good idea of what psychedelics are about, and though I struggle with the impact of the aural pain, I don't fear it. I really fear nothing. If I end up going down a hole, I'll just accept it and let the waves wash over me.

Cool thing is Ketamine clinics are fully legal everywhere in the USA and in a lot of places Psilocybin clinics are available. For now I was going to start with the Ketamine and start looking at other options.

 

Check out the Michael Pollan Netflix series called How to Change Your Mind. “Set and setting” was the phrase they used when describing what people who had positive experiences while on LSD shared in common.

Keep us updated. I think you might be on to something!

 

I read his book and my wife is watching the series.

 

If you're in a good place mentally then it's probably a fine idea. I took high doses of psychedelics many times and afterwards I sometimes felt like I had a new outlook on the world for a while but it wears off again. I never tried it for anything other than just some fun though so I don't know if it'll help tinnitus or not.

Some people have rpoted higher levels of tinnitus after taking trips so something to be aware of.

 

For those who are interested in tinnitus treatments with psychedelic drugs: Dr. De Ridder is going to hold a lecture on this specific theme on the 15th of September in Ghent.

 

I guess it will not be in English. And not recorded for online viewing?

 

I asked the organizer (Breinwijzer) about it and its representative said to me that it's not recorded for online viewing.

 

Sorry to get off track but is that really a thing? Tinnitus created by anxiety and OCD?

 

Yeah it’s a significant factor for a lot of people with distressing tinnitus. I think it is a large part of the reason benzodiazepines are effective in mitigating the impact of tInnitus for some. In fact many people experience tinnitus only when they are under high stress.

Plus it would be easy to imagine how an OCD person might have trouble ignoring what would otherwise be a mild tinnitus.

 

Yeah. Unfortunately, that's completely me. Autistic and OCD.

 

Ketamine seems to be helping me but I am following a strict regimen for thought reorganization with cognitive behavioral therapy before and after. After close to two years of feeling quite desperate, I see the light at the end of the tunnel, even on the loudest days.

Only taking Ketamine won’t likely help, although some sessions the tinnitus does go down, others it stays the same. For me the main benefit is in it becoming less reactive. Less catastrophic thinking and other thought distortions that amplify the tinnitus. I’ve also found the Curable app to be very helpful as an adjunct to Ketamine treatment.

Ketamine is not a magic bullet. It’s critical to do the work, set meaningful intentions and integrate after. This said, it has been an enormous benefit to me both with tinnitus and lifelong mood disorder.

 

What doses do you take in each treatment?

 

So I’ve started trying microdosing ketamine through a legal mail to your home service. I’ve only just been upped to what they consider their full microdose ~120mg. 3rd day at that level l have nothing dramatic to report. It doesn’t seem to make my tinnitus worse if I’m having a good day or better if I’m having a bad day. I try to focus a lot on acceptance and merging it into my normal human tinnitus in a silent room sound.

Anyway, if anything cool or bad happens, I’ll report.

 

You have tried so many things... However, the right answer is to do nothing. If I had to start to my tinnitus journey again, the truth is that I would avoid any fight against the monster.

 

Well all I’ve got is time with this thing so might as well continue throwing spaghetti at the wall.

That being said I find it a little ironic that every tinnitus site says “Never say that nothing can be done and that you will just have to get used to it”.

The first ENT I went to for this said exactly that, sadly she is the only one that was right.

 

"Getting used to it", "living with it" are disguised with fancy names: neuroplasticity, habituation... At the end, no matter what, tinnitus improves for some people, it remains the same for the majority, and get worse for a few people. The path of this illness is independent of what you do, as long as you practice common sense and do not repeat the injuries.

That is my 2 cents after nearly 10 years in the tinnitus hole.

 

I will say that I am least used to this shit now. Rarely still have tears and never curled up in a fetal position anymore. Hooray, that is my success story.

 

What is the mail-to-home service you use? I am curious about Ketamine. I tripped a ton of times in college so I think I could handle it if I gave it a go.

 

Joyous. $129/month.

 

Ketamine definitely does not improve tinnitus. It actually makes tinnitus louder when you use it. The only benefit may be that it takes you out of depression if you are depressed but it's better to try other things first for that.

 

Not my experience. No change in tinnitus or a slight lessening from the impact for a short while. This is doing microdoses and I’m weird so your mileage may vary.