Looking for Hope (Wellbutrin Induced Tinnitus)

I took generic Wellbutrin XL 150 mg for around a month and then upped dose to 300mg.

Within a few days of 300 mg my ears started ringing. I literally remember thinking... I can feel this drug.

I absolutely loved how Wellbutrin made me feel otherwise and it's been the first anti depressant that I was able to tolerate and helped me.

But damn if the tinnitus started driving me crazy. I went off the wellbutrin around 15 days ago. My ears are still ringing...

Sometimes it seems less but then it's back.

I am scouring the internet for hope! I am scared.

 

I'm sorry you are dealing with this. I too have what I suspect is Wellbutrin induced tinnitus, for about 7-8 months now. It has gotten better, way better, and I had a really bad case of tinnitus and hyperacusis. For me the tinnitus was so bad I was unable to read and hyperacusis so bad that slowly turning a pill bottle was very painful.

Yesterday as I was installing Windows 10 on my computer after formatting the PC, some feature called Cortana started talking to me with max volume from the speakers of my monitor(thanks Microsoft!). It took me a few seconds after the initial shock to run out of the room and then locate my ear muffs to come back and turn it off, I was sitting at my PC. It was loud to say the least and painful for my ears.

I did get a spike and last night the tinnitus was worse, but waking up today the tinnitus is back to baseline, this was unthinkable 6 months ago. So hang in there, it's likely to get better, 15 days is still way too soon to draw any conclusions. For me the first month was rough, I had trouble sleeping even with sleep medication. The second month it got better on it's own and the third month I started laser therapy(I have some posts about it not going to go into detail about it here), which I believe has helped me a ton. It's a controversial subject on this forum.

There's also a user by the name of @dnl who got tinnitus from Wellbutrin and he's been updating his thread monthly. I think the fact that it's fluctuating is actually a good thing but I'm not an expert. I think it's very likely that your tinnitus will fade a lot.

Good luck!

 

Hey @heyallie
The onset of my tinnitus seems identical to yours. Here's the thread where I've been documenting my journey with tinnitus:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-from-wellbutrin.25849/

Can I ask your approximate age? I'm in my mid 40s.
My tinnitus (or maybe my perception of it) has gotten much better since it started. I remember sincerely wondering if this was something I could live with when it first started. Now I feel like I'm 'okay'. I have good days and bad days, but overall I'm okay. I know what you're going through right now, and I know it's shocking and scary... but please hang in there. Everyone is different, but it can get better.
If you have questions, let me know.

 

THANK YOU BOTH FOR YOUR INFORMATIVE REPLIES ❤️❤️ It is so wonderful to hear there is hope from someone who's experienced it! I had my dr check my ears today and my ears look ok! (not an ent but just a look in there lol) I ordered a white noise machine for night time. Good luck to you also and I will keep you posted

 

@dnl I am 51

 

If Wellbutrin is causing tinnitus then it needs to be recalled immediately. What in the world?????

 

Agreed. Have spoken to two Dr's (who prescribe wellbutrin) and neither of them have heard of it... Hmm.

 

Any doctor that is aware that wellbutrin can cause tinnitus and prescribes it anyway is a horrible person and needs to go to prison for torture if their patient develops it.

Both of you should post the names and addresses of your doctors yo warn others.

 

Right ? From my Google research its a more rare side effect (6%).

 

So what, it should be a 0% side effect.
If you're depressed smoke some weed or something.

 

6% is still pretty high. (Its about 1 in 20). I have 3 other friends (that I know of -- people don't usually talk about their depression) that are on Wellbutrin/Bupropion, One of them doesn't have tinnitus at all (female, mid 30s, no hearing loss). Another (male, mid 40s) has tinnitus but had it before starting Wellbutrin. He was in a band in his youth (like me) and likely has mild hearing loss in the upper ranges. He doesn't think that Wellbutrin exacerbates this tinnitus. The last friend (male, mid 40s) has no hearing loss, but has experienced tinnitus when he is on Wellbutrin, but hasn't been on it consistently enough to determine if it's causal. I (anecdotally) don't think there's a rhyme or reason to tinnitus' association with Wellbutrin. I think for some people, it just trips a wire in their brain (at larger doses). The brain is a complex thing, and everyone is different.

Of the cases that I've seen on this board and others, Wellbutrin induced tinnitus seems to be correlated with increasing your dosage from 150mg/day to 300mg/day. There are a few people who say that Wellbutrin at 150mg/day has caused their tinnitus, and some that say Wellbutrin at any dose has exacerbated their tinnitus, but it went down when they stopped. I'm guessing the majority of people take it with no problems at all.

 

That's very interesting and so true, we are all wired differently. I didn't notice tinnitus at 150mg.. I was so happy with Wellbutrin before this that I actually fantasize and think about going back on it at a lower dose (150mg or less) however am scared since right now - 17 days off wellbutrin - I am still ringing . Any thoughts or information on possibly going on a low dose ?

 

I haven't researched this topic myself(150mg vs 300mg wellbutrin regarding T), but I can tell what happened to me. I was on 150mg for about 6 years, the tinnitus began with 150mg straight away, but it was so quiet I ignored it and I was young and though foolishly that once I'd come off it would disappear.

There was an occasions I took 300 by accident, I forgot that I had already taken it, the tinnitus spiked but went back down after, this was only 1 day. But during the 6 years my tinnitus got progressively worse, though very slowly. I believe it was a combination of Wellbutrin making it easier to damage my ears and listening to music too loud.

When it really spiked was when (I think) because I got on another medication which was very new which raised the Wellbutrin dose(that class of medication is know to raise antidepressant levels sometimes) to maybe more than 2 fold. This is just my theory I don't know for certain. What I do know that that new medication I got on is not associated with T at all and the doctor prescribing it was so confident it was not causing it that she suggested I not quit it, even when they measured me having really bad hearing loss.

If I was you I'd not try Wellbutrin again, and IF I would try it then I'd wait at least until your tinnitus has subsided/calmed down a lot, but that's just me I can't make that decision for you. What could happen if you get on Wellbutrin again is that your tinnitus might not spike as badly but concurrent doses make it worse and worse slowly. I also don't think if your ears rang very badly on 300, then 150 would do no damage what so ever during a few years let's say.

At the moment I am off Wellbutrin for 8 months and the depression hasn't come back, I attributed that to lifestyle changes I've made and lots of inner work(shadow work and inner child work mainly). If I knew what I do now then I would have never gotten on any antidepressant, Wellbutrin and not the SSRIs either(the latter also robbed years of my life, after coming off it).

Whatever you choose, I wish you good luck once more.

 

I agree with @SoundB0und . I personally, would not go back on Wellbutrin and would be (very, very) cautious about using SSRIs or other drugs that are correlated with Tinnitus. Wellbutrin was great while I was on it, having tinnitus is life-changing. When I see my doctor, I always remind him that I have tinnitus and I want to be very cautious about taking anything that could worsen it.

 

Thank you both for your advice and honesty! Tho I still have the bell choir playing in my ears I feel better today after reading the chatting with others who have been there and understand. This tinnitus is lonely! I feel like Noone in my little world understands I have decided to not go back on wellbutrin. I started a. Natural supplement 5-htp last week and am taking fish oil, magnesium and b vitamins

 

That's great. In these past 10 months, I've noticed that getting good sleep and exercising for 30 minutes a day have been correlated with my perception of tinnitus being more tolerable.

 

@dnl did you see an ent about your ears? I made an appt but can't get in until end of Nov.

 

I did see an ENT... a couple of weeks after my tinnitus started. There wasn't much he could do for my tinnitus except to speculate that it was likely caused by Wellbutrin (since I wasn't taking anything other significant drugs at the time, and because the onset was correlated with increasing the dosage of Wellbutrin to 300mg). He tested my hearing and confirmed minor hearing loss in the upper ranges. That's about it. He gave me some literature on living with tinnitus.

 

Good to know. I ordered a white noise machine off amazon for sleeping.. Praying for this ringing to just go down at this point.

 

If a med is going to cause tinnitus, it would happen pretty soon after starting to take it, right? I have been taking Wellbutrin for over three years or so, with no problems for the first two. Can I rule it out as a cause? I think my cause is, most likely, cross country Motorcycle rides...but I am researching other possibilities.

 

@Sam Buice not sure... I took wellbutrin over a month and then developed tinnitus after raising dosage (my theory).. But maybe it was already there and I just didn't notice it? Very good question. @dnl is very knowledgeable on here

 

Hey Sam - I think it's possible for a drug to cause tinnitus over time, but I'm not sure. You should probably see an ENT to get a more qualified opinion. It's also possible that there is a hearing related root cause to your tinnitus and the drug is playing a role in your perception of the tinnitus' signal.

 

Update : It's been a over a month now and really no change in the tinnitus. It's bad this morning..but seems better at times. I had thought about going back down to 150mg wellbutrin a few times but am staying off of it. I'm so frustrated right now.

 

For me it got significantly better the second month on it's own, but that's me. The third month I started LLLT(Low Level Laser Therapy) and that has been very beneficial, so I'm not sure how well I would have recovered without the laser, probably nowhere near as well.

 

@soundbOund I am hoping it gets better for me.. So what is this laser therapy??.

 

Check out this thread:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/low-level-laser-therapy-lllt-for-tinnitus-—-long-lasting-everyday-home-practiced-experiences.25110/

You're a good candidate for it because your tinnitus is still so fresh. But it would set you back 500-800 dollars minimum and you'd have to invest lots of time as well.

Another thing you could look into is HBOT, some people here have had good experiences with it, I personally haven't tried it because there's no place near me that offers it. Here's a (longish) thread on it:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy.211/

One thing I realized fast, but maybe not soon enough, into my tinnitus journey, was that what you do the first 6 or more like 3 months or so is crucial for your recovery. Lots of treatments that would have worked well during that time don't work as well past that time.

Good luck!

 

@helallie I'm sorry to hear that your tinnitus is still causing you the same level of distress as it was when it started. Everyone is different, and it's hard to say what (if anything) will truly help with tinnitus. Intuitively, I'd say that making healthy choices, taking care of your mind and body, and sticking to a normal/predictable sleep schedule and nutrition regimen for the first few months after onset might help.
I made sure that I got 8 hours of sleep, 30 minutes of cardio, and took my vitamins every day for the first 3 months after getting tinnitus. Sleep and exercise are definitely good for the brain. Vitamins, I'm not so sure about but I take anyway. All in all those things help me feel better and more equipped to deal with tinnitus. I've had bad weeks and months since it started in November of last year. But overall, it's less debilitating than it was at the onset... and I think I saw improvement (but not drastic improvement) after the first 2 months or so. But really, everyone is different. My advice is not to let tinnitus define your life and sense of self going forward, but let it mark the point in your life where you started doing healthier and positive things in spite of it.

 

Thank you all for your support and advice. I hate that I took a medication that I had no idea could do this. I can't afford laser therapy and have no access to oxygen therapy in my area. What are these supplements that could help

 

I don't know if any supplements really help. I took a CoQ10 tablet, Calcium/Magnesium/Zinc tablet a NAC tablet and a Gingko tablet that had B12 in it daily for about 5 or 6 months or so. I discontinued the NAC tablet after 2 months, because I read that maybe it's something that should only be taken over a short term. I think NAC helped me not get the flu during flu season when everyone else in my house had the flu. I now take it for 2-3 weeks at a time whenever I feel a cold/flu coming on. Sleep and cardio exercise were really helpful psychologically and may have also helped with my tinnitus. When I get behind on sleep now, it makes me more aware of my tinnitus.
Generally, I think just getting on a regimen and getting good predictable sleep and exercise is the best way to go. But this is all anecdotal advice.

 

Good advice from @dnl . Be careful with Ginko if u try it, it made my tinnitus worse. I have NAC in the mail. I'm planning to use NAC only after I get an audio trauma or if I know I'm about to have dental work. Nicotinamide Riboside is a supplement that really helped me, maybe even faster and more than the laser. I consider it the best tinnitus supplement. Unfortunately I couldn't continue it due to side-effects, most people won't have that problem, it's pretty safe in general and the side effects subsided once I quit it for some time. I ordered NR and actually almost all my supplements from iHerb. A thread on NR:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...lly-prevents-noise-induced-hearing-loss.7101/