Naltrexone as a Tinnitus Treatment

He said he's been continuing on 25 mg and his tinnitus has been lower at a 2/10.

 

Are you also considering taking it? LDN or higher dose Naltrexone? I can't make up my mind there.

 

Damn, maybe I should take this...

 

I was considering Naltrexone as a good option for my tinnitus, but I see some have bad experiences with it. In the LDN thread, a user reported the above reaction, which was quite bad. This is why tinnitus is such an evil disorder — pretty much every single option for treating it is like playing Russian roulette. And you risk permanent worsenings. Trying something to just see if it works is like playing a deadly game.

 

I'll see if my ENT will prescribe it on the 7th of April. I'll start low and move to 25 mg if I don't see results.

 

@Johnny Karate - any side effects?

 

I take 25 mg a night. Half a 50 mg pill.

 

I had some panic attacks. I cut out a lot of caffeine and started moving my OMAD to lunch instead of supper. Eating made the anxiety I was experiencing around noon go away.

I have had some stomach pains that only last a second or so. I can fall asleep much easier than prior.... which is awesome. I have felt some slight depressive moments but I have suffered from depression and anxiety in the past, so I know how to handle when these things try to creep up on me. These are all common side effects from the meds.

 

Given your experience with anxiety and depression, and I can speak from experience here too, it becomes pretty difficult to delineate what anxieties would have been present with/without the meds, right?

 

Well I was 100% anxiety free for around 13 years prior to having panic again. They have all been medicine induced. The other medication that induces panic and depression for me is steroids, and I wake up to panic with sleeping meds like night time cough syrup. So for me it is a stark contrast.

 

Good context, thanks!

 

I hope you get relief. Let us know how you go.

 

My doctor accidentally prescribed me regular Naltrexone instead of my usual low dose. It comes in 75 mg pills and I’m thinking of trying it just because I’m running out of options anyway with regards to brain-inflammation-disorder-thingy, and plus I won’t get my LDN because my doctor is busy as fuck and takes weeks to reply.

 

Thanks. I ended up getting a pair of Widex hearing aids today. I have mild hearing loss but the tinnitus masking features and the ability to connect the hearing aids to a TV are great to cover the multiple tinnitus tones.

Still going to see an ENT for more ideas since I'm only 2 months in.

I ordered Psilocybin mushrooms as a last resort.

 

I got you bro. Follow these instructions:

https://altarp.com/how-to-prepare-low-dose-naltrexone-ldn/

Did it myself once and still have it in the fridge... I guess I'll take 25 ml of it tonight so it doesn't go to waste. I was going to do LDN and just switched back to 25 mg pills.

 

Hey all, recently got prescribed Naltrexone for alcohol abuse (trying to quit for good again) and was doing some research on it and ran across some of the threads on here. Anyone had any experience with the regular dose (25/50 mg)? Most of what I saw was low dose.

I've had tinnitus permanently since at least 2003, thanks to being young and stupid. Both constant exposure to generator/ECU noise in communication centers and trailers and exposure to 120 dB+ impulse noise from firing automatic weapons (including inside buildings).

Most days I'd say I'm at a 5/10 or so, but even though the intensity changes it's OMNIPRESENT. The usual crap makes it worse - caffeine, lack of sleep, etc. I spent a long time drinking myself to sleep. I'm in a better place mentally now, but I've had days that were REALLY not good. Just couldn't bear the thought of leaving my kids with something like that.

 

You could try the higher dose since Johnny Karate has experienced significant relief from taking higher doses as documented on this thread.

But if you want to still do the LDN, you can do this by using this formula:

Stock required/stock strength x volume/1.

 

Congratulations for your decision to address your alcohol addiction.

If you scroll up, you will see Johnny Karate's significant improvement using higher doses of Naltrexone (25 mg) for his severe tinnitus.

I don't know of anyone here on the forum who has taken higher doses that you would be prescribed.

Prof. Dirk De Ridder has written a paper noting that higher doses of Naltrexone can lower the distress of tinnitus.

A friend of mine has significant relief from using 1 mg LDN - she believes hers is inflammatory/hormonal as she previously responded also to steroids and Curcumin.

 

Thanks, but I’m not exactly sure what you mean by this. Could you elaborate?

 

@Johnny Karate, you weren't kidding about these side effects. After a few days of Naltrexone (titrating up from a very low dose, 1/4 of a 50 mg pill, still only taking 12.5 mg a day so far) I have already thought about quitting the stuff. One very bad spike that lasted an hour, heart pounding, feeling like I want to come out of my skin. But you've been through all this. It looks like you went into remission and rode off into the sunset. You haven't been seen here since 1 April.

My tinnitus and hyperacusis are dire. I was coping okay last year but my loud tinnitus cranked itself up louder and my H is so bad I feel lucky I can still work (but only part time now). I am willing to go through side effects if this medication might save me. Every few years I must be reminded that I am very sensitive to medications, particularly those with neurological effects. I am holding on tight. Something has to work, because otherwise, I feel like I am backed up to the edge of a steep drop.

 

Example:

Stock required = 1mg/stock strength = 25mg× volume = 25ml/ x1

Therefore, 1 ml = 1 mg.

I hope that makes sense.

 

I'm sorry this is happening to you.

I spoke to @Johnny Karate today. He is still doing well on 25 mg.

But, I know he had a hard time with the return of panic attacks and a few spikes along the way.

Since it modulates serotonin and dopamine pathways, I'm not surprised panic and spikes can occur.

I know he stopped Naltrexone for a few days after a panic attack, and decided to go back on it. He said he felt eating around the time he took the drug seem to stop any panic attacks.

 

Thank you, @DebInAustralia. I feel fine this morning, and I calmed down a bit after posting yesterday. I was fearing a night of insomnia, but I slept surprisingly well last night. The worst effect was the first two hours or so after I took the dose. Suddenly my tinnitus perception went from all over / everywhere to a sharp focus that seemed to have a specific location, at the base of my skull. Like it was a needle poking me there, but auditory, if that makes any sense. And it was louder. And I felt like I was tripping, at least for the first two hours. Hyper-awareness, wanting to clamp my jaw shut.

I am glad you are in touch with @Johnny Karate. I am keeping his success story in the front of my mind, and the details of the study at the beginning of this thread. I intend to carry on with this. The side effects are frightening in the moment, but I have been through worse. My body can adapt to this.

I take a low dose beta blocker at bedtime for hypertension. I'm planning on taking one with my Naltrexone dose today, to soften the edge. I'm supposed to take two a day anyway, but usually only take one.

 

I tried 25 mg for about 10 days, which did nothing for me personally. Tried dropping to 12.5 mg but no change. I did not try LDN doses. I'm sure it works for some people but just wanted to add my data point.

I had no anxiety or other side effects.

 

I just happened to drop by the forum today out of boredom. I would like to report to you that those side effects went away after around 2 weeks. I am back to drinking 2 to 3 cups of coffee in the morning, Red Bulls on the weekends and also back to OMAD for supper. The anxiety went away completely. I still on rare occasion get a quick stomach pain/cramp low in the gut. That is my only side effect now. It's like eating a Tic Tac. I almost gave up twice because of those very same side effects. The panic WAS BRUTAL although short lived. I empathize with you and hope your side effects subside quickly.

 

Interesting. So you're getting good effects on your tinnitus?

 

Yes. I have no plans to stop taking Naltrexone at this time. I'm starting to wonder if doubling the dose might silence my tinnitus after some time. I doubt it, but who knows really.

 

@Johnny Karate, your tinnitus sounds similar to mine. It’s such a high frequency that it’s heard over everything. But worst thing about it is that it hurts, too. It’s not just a sound, but a feeling, too. Feels like electricity zapping. It’s a pulsating noise like 2 knives being sharpened against one another. Feels like it’s cutting into the nerves or something. Such pressure and force. Sometimes, it sounds like cicadas or hissing, but it’s in a wave form, up and down constantly. It’s not one volume. And then there are bursts of electricity (zaps). Some describe this, I think, as the train breaks squealing sound. Not sure that their sounds hurt, though.

Did yours “hurt” the same way as mine prior to Naltrexone? And if so, has that subsided with the improvement?

Thanks for the help.

 

That’s awesome. Thanks for updating, @Johnny Karate!

 

Sounds exactly like mine to the T except no pain but I get pinging zapping as well.