Melatonin Might Be Beneficial, Especially in Preventing Hearing Loss?

As most of you know, I make YouTube videos about tinnitus. This week I made a video about melatonin and my opinions of it with trying to sleep. My video is down below. I hope it helps some of you. Thanks, Lc

My Melatonin Opinion

 

Some reports say it can help sleep but more importantly can reduce how loud it is?


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21859051

http://examine.com/show_rubric_effect.php?id=60&effect=Symptoms of Tinnitus&selection=all

 

Yes. I've been taking it but probably too much (3mg). It will definitely help you sleep but you're not suppose to take it for a long period of time. I recommend smaller dosage to avoid the next day headaches.

 

Hello,

After 3+ weeks of this latest "spike" or whatever this increase is I am looking at trying some supplements that I see are popular around here. I went to the local Target trying to find magnesium at first but all they had was the oxide. They also didn't have niacin or the NAC I wanted to try. So I ended up with the Target-brand melatonin. It has 3mg of melatonin and 500 mcg of chamomile.

Will this be helpful for the tinnitus if I don't have trouble sleeping? I mean it's louder at night for sure but since I've had mild T that came out more at night I think I'm more adjusted to that part than the rest of my day. I am still willing to try anything that could help.

And as a side question... is magnesium safe to take? I've read here that some people have it make their tinnitus worse but I've not read any follow up to that with regards to it being temporary or not.

Thanks!

 

I didnt hear than Magnesium make T worse. But i hear than Calcium overdose can make T worse.

I take 3x500 mg of Magnesium lactate and 3x600mg NAC per day. 5mg Melatonin before sleep - in my case it helps a lot.

 

@Johno Do you think the NAC helps with your noise? Or are you taking the NAC as a preventative from noise exposure or ototoxic drugs?

 

I take 3 mg sustained-release melatonin nightly. It helps a lot! I also take 25-50 mg Benedryl at the same time. The Benedryl makes me drowsy but it's the melatonin that keeps me asleep. BTW, Benedryl is the name brand for diphenhydramine, which is an antihistamine that has drowsiness as a side effect. Many OTC sleep medications use it.

Make sure you take sustained-release or else you might find yourself waking up before morning.

Try the melatonin at the lowest effective dose. Three mg was tested with tinnitus sufferers. Some people have also used 1 mg with good results. @Johno takes 5 mg. I always believe less is more. But 5 mg is definitely fine if 3 mg doesn't work for you.

Finally, I do think soft sounds also help with sleep. I use water sounds.

Good luck and let us know if these ideas work!

 

Thanks guys I will give it a shot.

Are you suggesting I break up the 3mg pill in half? I agree on the lowest effective dose is what you should use but they didn't have anything smaller at the store. Is Chamomile ok to have in these as well?

@Johno As far as magnesium most people say it helps or does nothing but I've seen 2 people while researching on this board that said it made it worse and they never said if it returned to normal or what else they were on. As with every other T sufferer I am worried about doing anything that could damage my condition further.

 

I am taking NAC only as a prevention, because i have not noticed any effect on my T.

 

What induces your T?

 

No idea. I had mild T for 15 years easily covered up except at night. Got used to it and didn't interrupt my life.

Last 2 months has been a rollercoaster of down, then got better, now its worse again and not looking too bright. I'm guessing drug induced this time even though I was careful and did my research. Had a cortisone shot and was on antibiotics for a month... Bactrim DS specifically. Noticed no ringing while on it, but 5 days to 2 weeks later it came on. Even though I was on a standard dose, have taken it in somewhat in the past, and it's listed as causing tinnitus it's about as low risk as you can get.

 

@russiancarl

trust me, the list of ototoxic drugs and their rankings is bullshit. Biaxin (clarythromycin) is supposed to be ototoxic only when given by IV but I can tell you that 7 days or a normal dose was all that was necessary to increase my T that had been stable for 7 years prior to that!! It completely screwed up my habituation... I was 100% habituated and lived a perfectly normal life...T was a non-issue, now I think about it everyday

 

Really? From what I can tell it's a guide to tell you what they know so far but it varies greatly from person to person. Some people can take vancomycin and be fine and some others can take a penicillin and still get tinnitus. It's never risk free but all you can do is try and be as informed as you can.

In fact, I asked to switch from Bactrim DS to another drug because of concerns. They gave me Keflex for 7 days but I got another infection after and the ER doc I went to said to take both of them at the same time until I got to regular doctor, who then told me to continue the Bactrim DS as it was working.

I was concerned but not terribly as I've used Bactrim in the past for acne. Never for as long a course. But I've been on other antibiotics listed as ototoxic with no issues. Plus I also figured hey.. if I notice any increase in my ringing I can stop the drug. I mean, I was very very HYPER vigilant after the 2.5 week spike that I originally had.

I sometimes wonder if I imagined it was gone and I was just distracted by my new skin infection problem but I don't think so. There were times sitting in the ENT office in dead silence and it wasn't there... well, it was, but it was the old "T". Even searching for it I couldn't. Then one day, blammo, it's back to being way worse :/

Isn't it atypical for it to start days to weeks after stopping a drug? I haven't found a clear answer to this but most people here seem to have it start while on the antibiotic and I took it for 28 days with no real issues. There were days I'd notice a small spike or something but that is not all that unusual from what I used to experience. Also because I kept searching for it I knew it would be more prevalent at certain times. But it certainly wasn't as full blown as it was now and I just thought it was part of the original spike still dying down.


@ampumpkin and don't you wish they had any sort of studies or stats on ototoxic drug effects with people who already have tinnitus? I'm sure some already have it in these drug tests they do but it certainly isn't clear at all.

 

No. Melatonin comes in different milligrams. Usually they start at 1 mg and go to 5 mg. But there are other doses too. Breaking the pill in half is not a good idea.

About Chamomile tea, I don't know if you can combine. I know some drugs combine melatonin and Valerian. You need to go to a site like Amazon, look up herbal sleep aids, and see what combinations the various manufacturers are offering.

 

@russiancarl I took Cipro several times with no increase on my T and it's supposed to be ototoxic... I didn't know of course and thank god it didn't increase my T.

 

What ended up ramping yours? It was a blood pressure medicine right?

@jazz Why can't you break them in half? Are they tablets or liquid gel like? Usually tablets are safe hmm.

As for chamomile, I don't know why but they put it in the pill. I guess it's supposed to be a natural relaxant but no idea if it can affect T. I guess I should google that.

 

@russiancarl In 2007, I took LUVOX (antidepressant) which started my T and in May 2014, it was Biaxin, an antibiotics (my left ear cloggued and the GP tought it was due to a sinus infection but there was nothing )

 

That's horrible How long has it been since the Biaxin? Any improvement at all?

It's funny how T can go to being a manageable slight nuisance to ruining your life with a few pills. Really wish doctors were more aware of that fact. I'm looking forward to getting into a real ENT / Tinnitus clinic and seeing what they have to say.

The local doctors have been less than helpful. My GP is great but the 2 ENT's I've seen are not so great. One scheduled some blood work and a hearing test for me. This was almost 2 months ago... still haven't done the bloodwork as I was on too many antibiotics and then it cleared up. But I did go to the audiologist and all they did was check my 2-8kHz range... the normal hearing frequencies. I was surprised they didn't go all the way up to the higher spectrum.

I asked the audiologist about it and she said she could do it but that the T could happen with or without high frequency hearing loss. And she suggested I go see the very clinic I've been trying to get into. Just seems so odd... wouldn't an ENT by asking you a few questions be able to determine if they suspect hearing loss at all? Or wouldn't they test it all if you have T?

Sorry. ranting. can't wait for some competent help.

 

@russiancarl I took Biaxin at the beginning of May. Yes, it has gotten better. While on Biaxin, I almost loss my hearing and had terrible side effects (vertigo, T so loud that it could be heard above the shower).

The T decreased but the pitch has changed. It used to be almost soothing like a shhhhhhhhhh sound. Now it's different, less maskable. And it's reactive to certain sounds that trigger a T that I cannot mask (it sounds like a frying pan in my head)..it sucks!!

 

I'm so sorry that your T is so difficult to mask and deal with. I count myself luck as I consider myself still in the mild-ish category. Water covers it well but after it's off it is louder than before which is odd. White noise and fans no longer work but they cover it enough so I can concentrate on my tasks.

I know it could be worse so I'm thankful for what I have most days. Then, there are those days where no matter what you do nothing covers it and you just want to throw your arms up and flail around.

May I ask, did you start noticing the worsening T and hearing issues while on Biaxin or did it start once you were off of it? If the former, was it due to an ear infection or treating an issue that would make you think your ear would react that way? I would run to the doctor if I noticed even 1 of the symptoms you listed while on the medicine but I am not much of a trooper.

 

I think what he is asking is does melatonin help reduce how loud tinnitus is in general like during the day, not just help with sleep.

 

@Karl28 I'm a she

@russiancarl the worsening T started while on Biaxin and mutated during and after as well!

 

@russiancarl the worsening T started while on Biaxin and mutated during and after as well![/QUOTE]

Yikes :/ Did you ask your GP about it while you were on the meds or ask to switch to something different? I know there's no going back and no sense in beating yourself up... I still do that to myself over the meds I took and where I'm at now. I'll just add Biaxin to the list of drugs never to take.

Here's to hoping it's mutating towards a good direction.

And I guess I was curious if antibiotics and tinnitus start while on it or off of it. I guess I still don't know if the Bactrim DS was my cause given it's changed during both for you.

 

When I realized that Biaxin was ototoxic, I completely discontinued using it. My left ear cleared while on Biaxin. So it did actually did something good, it cleared my ear which had been cloggued for 2 weeks...

The ENT doctor I saw said that Biaxin would be out of my cells in 10 days (and it's true that the T started going down at the 10 day-mark precisely)...he also mentionned he had never seen an irreversible case in his career and that the T would most likely go back to baseline in a few weeks to a few months. It has been nearly 3 months. It has decreased over time, it is true, but I have good days and bad days. In the past week, my T has been very reactive and very annoying...

 

I took xanax 0.25mg for a month, then half of it for one more month and now I take one forth of 0.25 mg once at night since a couple of days. A relative suggested me to take melatonin instead for sleep issues. So I bought melatonin 3 mg from a chemist and asked my gp if I can take it . Surprisingly he wasn't sure about it and told me that he will let me know in a day or two. Is it safe? Do you think I can stop xanax altogether now?

 

Melatonin is super safe and well tolerated by most people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin

The only side effect I've experienced from using the supplement is lucid dreaming, which I really enjoy.

Experiment with dosing, 3mg is the standard dose produced by most manufacturers, but dosages as low as 0.25mg can be just as effective (or even more effective according to some studies, and my own experience) than the standard 3mg dose, play around with it and see what works for you best.

I think you'll be fine coming off the Xanax, you started off at a pretty low dose and have done the correct thing in tapering. If you're still unsure, you can continue to taper as much as possible with the pills you have but I don't think you will have any trouble. Xanax has a relatively short half life compared to other benzodiazepines and you would've been experiencing withdrawal symptoms in-between your nightly doses if you were becoming truly dependent.

 

In The Netherlands you can buy it without a prescription. So is it save? I think it is. Not allot of research is done.

I have used it for most of last year (and still am). I started with 5 mg (now back to 0.5 mg). I have two side affect from a high dose (> 3 mg), dry mouth in the morning and very vivid dreams. The dreams are/could be bordering the uncomfortable level. Otherwise it is far better than any benzo...(not withdrawal effect, no drowsiness during the day)!

 

Can melatonin be used with Xanax and NAC?

 

I am not a doctor, but since Melatonin is a natural "sleep" hormone it is present in the body. I believe it is the pineapple gland in the brain that starts making it if light goes dim. I would say it is save.

 

Yep, as Sjoerd mentioned melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone. Supplementing with additional melatonin is very safe and I don't know of any serious interactions with any drugs. I take melatonin and NAC together and experience no side effects.