Magic Mushrooms Making Tinnitus Worse?

I just went on the highest mushroom trip I've ever done last night and my trip was unbearable. My tinnitus got really loud and was nonstop. I couldn't really enjoy my trip. Usually my tinnitus goes away after music or a few minutes. This was nonstop and loud. Even with rain music in my ear. I even had nonstop popping in my ears. Lots of pressure in my head and it was very painful.

The ringing never stopped. I have it still this morning. I'm going crazy.

Could the mushrooms have made it worse? Do I continue to dose and hope it goes away? Does it get worse before it gets better?

 

Definitely don't do more of them now... Please let us know how this develops.

As with any difficult or bad trip, focus on the basics now.. Eat healthy food, try to sleep, be outdoors, exercise. Time will tell if your tinnitus goes back to baseline or not.

This could take weeks to resolve possibly, be patient.

 

How often do you take psychedelic drugs and has it occurred to you that you might be using them addictively?

 

I have recently done mushrooms and had an increase in tinnitus. I was gonna make a new posting about it, but here's my story...

I’ve recently experimented with magic mushrooms and have “rediscovered” my tinnitus, which is now significantly louder and more persistent than ever before. It seems there is much discussion on the subject, but most people have experienced the reverse, where the tinnitus was reduced by mushroom use. I think my story is interesting because it seems to show a unique case of how the brain works and the “rewiring” effects of magic mushrooms.

In brief, I’m currently 50 years old and have been experiencing tinnitus since the age of 18, when I regularly went to loud concerts. My tinnitus has always been fairly minor in both intensity and frequency. It was never a problem except maybe contributes to my difficulty in hearing a conversation over background noise. The sound I hear is a “tone”, that like I would hear during a hearing test. Until recently, it has been a very flat, nondescript tone.

So now I’m 50 and surprisingly have access to magic mushrooms a plenty. I started with small doses of the Golden Teacher variety and worked my way up to 5.5 grams. A few weeks ago during a 4.3 gram dose, I was laying down in bed, meditating with my eyes closed when I started to hear a strange noise…

After a moment I figured it must be tinnitus, but wasn’t sure. When on mushrooms your hearing and vision are definitely altered (arguably improved!), so I considered it quite some time. The longer I thought about it, the louder it got! Before long I could feel the noise deep inside my brain, towards the lower back of my skull. I can hear it and feel it this very moment. It feels like a vertical sound, going straight up and down through the center/back of my brain. Could this be my pineal gland vibrating? Could this be the “hummmm” DMT users report shortly before “breaking through”? When I tried, I could change the loudness and shape of the sound, thus altering the actual noise I heard. Is there a physical structure in my brain modulating the sound like a synthesizer? At this very moment I can change both the loudness and shape of my tinnitus, altering the tone and I’m totally sober. Very strange!

After intensely focusing on this sound and analyzing it for so long, it was then loud and clear. The sound continued through the rest of my psychedelic experience, on through the next day and the next. It’s been a few weeks now and it’s still a very pronounced and well defined sound.

I think what happened is that thanks to the psychedelic experience, I was able to truly hear my tinnitus without the usual filter my brain puts into place. Furthermore, thanks to the rewiring effect of mushrooms, my brain made brand new connections that can clearly hear my tinnitus. I suspect that over time it will lessen as my brain copes and pushes it back.

In such a case, I should probably not focus on that sound when I’m on mushrooms, but I swear there’s a weird hypnotizing effect that draws me in. I’ll continue reading up on other people’s tinnitus related mushroom stories and will research how a person can make their tinnitus sound change at will. There are true mysteries in life and I’m glad to have found one.

 

My general takeaway from reading numerous posts about getting high is that the expression 'desperate times calls for desperate measures' may not apply to those with tinnitus.

 

I microdose myself when going through really rough mental stages due to spikes. That could be twice a year. I'm 193 cm, 94 kg. I take 0.4 gm every four days. Six intakes. Never experienced a spike. First time I did it I experienced complete silence for an hour or so in the middle of the night after having fell asleep after my first intake. I would never do a bigger trip myself because of different reasons. I wouldn't risk a bad trip or a spike.

 

Thanks for sharing, I suspect something similar happened to me. Either that, or a possible noise trauma one week before my trip.

Do you have visual snow or other visual symptoms?

 

Most people that post about psychedelics causing/worsening tinnitus don't return here. Hopefully this is a sign that it was just temporary.

 

I started micro-dosing in January for trauma related issues. It was like giving my tinnitus a superfood. It’s now much louder and persistent.

Did your tinnitus spike caused by taking the mushrooms ever subside?

 

I've only taken magic mushrooms once, and this was two years before the onset of my tinnitus.

Personally I don't think shrooms will cause a permanent spike of tinnitus, I would think the tinnitus will settle down again to its normal volume, but you should be careful with strong substances as shrooms.

 

I did shrooms yesterday, a small dose I think. They were in a chocolate bar and I ate half of it. Not sure what it was called, but I did like it. When it kicked in, my vision was way better! I could focus on items and then make the background blurry, like in photoshopping.

I'm 30, but I didn't get tinnitus until around 2008, from loud factory noises and my car's competition audio system. It's gotten worse over time, but it's still kinda ignorable for the most part.

Anyway, back to the shrooms.

My tinnitus got better while on them, but now, it's gotten noticeable worse. Especially in my right ear. Its deafening and when I speak, it sounds like there's feedback in my ear.

 

How long has it been since you came off the shrooms? Are you saying you got a permanent spike?

 

I’ve had a VERY similar experience - my tinnitus started last week, and Psilocybin seems to make it worse.

 

Hey @David Senior, check out my post in the other Psilocybin thread. There is a user who talks about taking heroic doses (5 grams) every 5 days and says that eventually the tinnitus went to zero. Of course this is anecdotal but this seems to be the common theme. It is like turning the volume knob right around until it goes back to zero.

 

Thanks, will do.

 

How are you doing today? Has the spike dropped yet?

 

This is 100% what happens during my mushroom sessions. I can control the sound, summoning it and changing it at will.

It is mesmerizing, right? I had to take multiple doses, and after practice that control extends to "sober" times too.

 

@Lukee, this is what I was mentioning.

 

Not yet, so, same as it was when it first happened, I think it's a combination of the Pfizer vaccine, having a cold, being stressed/burnt out + I've done a lot of magic mushrooms lately.

 

@JK888 might be able to help. She is knowledgeable in this field. She has cured her headaches and tinnitus by using Psilocybin on a tight schedule.

 

Hey everyone,

I also took a microdose (.5g which is a little high for a microdose but I am also on low dose SSRI and Benzo which dampen the effects of shrooms) and have a spike but my spike is very similar to that of stress and/or caffeine.

So I am thinking 1 of 2 things or a combination... the microdose made me nervous (admittedly) prior to and after taking it... I went for a walk and felt great mentally however...

AND/OR magic mushrooms are said to raise blood pressure and also act as a mild stimulant for some...

So I think it is either a temporary spike due to being anxious/nervous about taking the shrooms OR it has slightly raised my blood pressure and been mildly stimulating (also triggers for me).

I have found that since I came back from my walk, thought about these things above and calmed down... it seems to be a bit better which leads me to believe it is stress/anxiety induced because hey, there is that mental hump to get over in regards to being comfortable taking a psychedelic regularly for a month twice a week — even at a microdose.

I also had a lot of chocolate last night which spikes my tinnitus due to the caffeine... so that could be contributing.

I hope it is not the microdose of shrooms because I feel great and the colours on my walk in the forest on a trail as the sun was coming up were so vibrant. I don’t feel “high” just like everything is tuned in more which is the goal of a microdose.

SO EVERYONE try to take a breath, sit back and analyze your thoughts and relax. There is a good chance that it is possibly stress induced by the thought/unconscious worry of taking a psychedelic or the slight stimulant/raise in blood pressure. I think for many it is likely a temporary spike but I don’t dispute others who have had an increase for a while — we are all different and have tinnitus from different catalysts.

I have done larger macro doses of shrooms in the past prior to developing tinnitus with no issues whatsoever (2.5g - 5g).

I suffered a concussion and microdosing shrooms is said to reportedly help both tinnitus and concussions.

I will lay low for a week or more and hope the spike calms down and rechallenge with a microdose minus the caffeine the night before and try to remain more calm.

Happy trails...

 

Hey, I believe the magic happens at the macro dose. The effects of increased tinnitus while microdosing (as well as macro dosing) are likely transient and should go away as the psilocybin wears off. You make a good point about it being a mild stimulant, and as such, there is a risk/reward that needs to be overcome. The psilocybin stimulates your sympathetic response so you have an increase in tinnitus but its also acts on neuroinflammation and other forms of inflammation as well as binds to your serotonin receptors, possibly alleviating tinnitus for some people.

@JK888 knows about this and how it can be tricky to get the dosing right. I think what happens when you microdose is you kind of scratch the surface, creating more of a nuisance than anything. Instead, with a trip dose you are fully rewiring and creating new neural pathways.

Either way, let us know how yo make out over the next few days.

 

I agree. It has already calmed down some since I had a nap. I really liked the microdose effect. It’s like seeing the world in 4K and do not feel high. Pending my tinnitus goes back to baseline, I plan on doing .5g twice a week for one month and then taking a month off to evaluate. Also felt some anti-anxiety effects (despite the tinnitus spike) and just a general state of well being and connectedness.

May do a macro dose down the line.

 

Very interested to find Tinnitus Talk.

After my first mini Psilocybin experience (Golden Teacher 0.85 gr) 10 days ago, my tinnitus is measurably worse. Whilst on my 'light trip' I did spend some time where my whole mind was full of the tinnitus, it enveloped me completely for a while (not sure if it was seconds or minutes), I actually had 2 very similar tones going off in my mind, one was the normal frequency and one just a little higher.

Anyway, about a week after the experience, I suddenly lost most of the hearing in my left hear, but that resolved itself after a night's sleep. I'm hoping that this is a temporary issue.

I'm contemplating taking a larger dose (say 1.5 gr) and seeing if the effect is reversed. Possibly making a conscious effort during the trip to remove tinnitus from my mind, maybe the neural plasticity will allow for this?

N.B. I went to a doctor last year regarding the tinnitus, had all the normal hearing tests etc and reports came back clear, good hearing, no damage etc.