Non-Addictive Alternative to Alcohol to Reduce Tinnitus Noise

I am on quetiapine for sleep. I am a recovering alcoholic with diabetic/alcoholic neuropathy (deep nerve death in feet) and recently severe tinnitus. In recent detox, I found that my tinnitus disappeared, I assume due to the calming effect of chlordiazepoxide (librium) in the detox. I wake with tinnitus, but have found that with a bottle of white wine in the morning and over the afternoon it disappears. I don't want to take addictive benzos and the alcohol causes further irreversible damage to my body and possibly sight, so I need to stop that. Does anyone know of any non-addictive, non-sedative medication to calm down the tinnitus in the same way? (No benzos, no Z-drugs, no sedatives).

 

Hello Peter and welcome to the forum.

Congratulations on seeking help for the alcohol issues. This is a terrific step in the right direction to improve your health and well being. I know 2 others that have overcome this and are doing just fine today, so I truly wish you much success with this first and foremost.

In my non professional opinion, I think you really need to concentrate on beating the alcohol first. Worry about the ringing at another time. I know this is harder than I make it out to be but if you take on too much at once, it will be hard to handle. There really is no pill or magic bullet for helping tinnitus. Everyone tries different approaches until they get some form of results, good or bad. Benzo's are a tough call. Your right, they are habit forming and you have that in you to become addicted. You are no different than millions of others who have suffered addictions. You are still human and still require a fun and enjoyable life at times, like the rest of us.

I always am very careful with what I take for my tinnitus and severe hearing loss. These issues have ripped my life apart but I won't let it tear me down any longer. I went thru hell, danced with all the devils and finally had enough. I have some Diazepam 5 mg tablets for only the worse evenings but hardly touch them anymore. They simply scare me. Sleep is most important as well as finding ways to lower stress and anxiety naturally. I do take a 3mg Melatonin tablet many evenings before bed to help nod off into a better sleep. Even those I am careful with as my body may stop producing it naturally and leave me needing this forever.

Your best bet is to be open and honest with your doctors and therapists about all the issues you have and hope they can finally find something that helps you cope better that won't be addictive.

Please keep us posted Peter. We are here for you and everyone here knows what tinnitus and hearing loss does to someone. Feel free to jump into any conversation anytime and ask for advice from the many great people who help us support one another.

Much Love Brother!!

Mike

 

You should maybe look into masking techniques. There are many free downloads available with different sounds and playing them in the background can take your mind off of this nasty ringing. If you mask, always play the track just a little lower than your ringing so you still hear the ringing. This actually helps you become accustomed to it.

 

Many thanks to both. Sorry to hear of your problems. Sleep is not a problem for me because of the low dose quetiapine. I know there is no magic bullet for all to cure tinnitus, but alcohol seems to work for me, and benzos in rehab worked for me, to suppress the noise - neither is a long term answer. I am seeing a doctor and a psychiatrist, and I will raise the same query with the shrink in a couple of days. But I was just wondering if anyone found a non-addictive, non-sedating medication that worked for them - there are such anxiolytics, which might work.

I should have mentioned that I have higher frequency hearing loss, and the tinnitus tone is in that range. I have been using desensitisation devices - look like hearing aids - that pump a signal containing the tinnitus tone into each ear jus below the level of the tinnitus, with the idea of getting the brain to relegate the tinnitus to the background. However, sometimes the tinnitus is intrusively loud even with the devices , and the desensitisation is a 3 - 9 months programme on average. I play white noise overnight.

All suggestions welcome.

 

Well alcohol is a depressant, which means it slows the neurons down in your brain. This is why reflexes are slowed down when drunk. I can't think of any other depressants that aren't addictive.

 

You never met my ex-wife. She is one non addictive depressant that should be bottled and marketed!! lol

 

Lol, good one.