No, it's nothing like that. I recently had a reaction to Celexa because I tried to reinstate it during the withdrawal period (during my withdrawal I had H and some mild tinnitus mostly in the evenings. But that was almost 2 months ago, currently I still have akathisia from the Celexa reaction which is an overstimulation of the nervous system. I need someone well-versed in this area to tell me what happens in the withdrawal. Is it in the cochlea or the nerves and will this stop once the nerves calm down? I am also having regular ear pain and my ear (the louder one) feels slightly more full in a deaf way. I need to do something. ENT is not much help, where should I seek help and what should I ask them to do? Would hyperbaric work for this or is that just for loud noise incidences?
"Citalopram and Tinnitus
by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A man wrote,
I started taking Citalopram (Celexa) in mid-April. I was on it for a week and got ringing in my ears. This was 7 days at 10 mg., and 2 days (days 8 and 9) at 20 mg. when the ringing became severely loud.
I got off the Citalopram right away, and found out that tinnitus is a common side effect. However, it has been 3 months now, and I still hear the ringing. I don't know what to do. Some people say it will take up to 7 months for it to go away!
Citalopram (Celexa) is a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI). It causes tinnitus in perhaps 1% or more of the people taking it.
In hindsight, you should have stopped taking the Citalopram as soon as the ringing started. Taking the increased dose and getting worse tinnitus obviously wasn't a smart move. However, that is all in the past. You want to know to deal with your tinnitus now.
You now know that your ears are particularly sensitive to Citalopram, so this drug is not a good one for you to take in the future, as you will likely get even louder tinnitus if you do.
Tinnitus is a strange "beast". Sometimes getting off the offending drug is all that you need to do, and your tinnitus will go away on its own in a few days to a few weeks to a few months. Unfortunately, sometimes it never goes away—especially if you are anxious, worried, stressed or depressed over your tinnitus. You see, tinnitus has an emotional (psychological) component. (You can think of it as a psychosomatic condition.) As a result, worrying about your tinnitus makes it even louder and more intrusive.
Thus, one of the better ways to deal with tinnitus is to learn about it (we are anxious about the unknown), then choose to completely ignore your tinnitus by focusing your energies on the loves of your life. As you do this, your tinnitus will (hopefully) fade into the background. This will take some months (or even a couple of years depending on how strong the emotional bond is that you need to break). This is known as becoming habituated to your tinnitus.
If your tinnitus never goes away (it may or may not), when you become habituated to your tinnitus, it will not bother you even though it is still there. For example, I've had tinnitus for many decades now. It's always "there", but I don't let it bother me—although my ears are ringing away rather loudly at the moment since I am thinking about tinnitus while I am writing this. However, my tinnitus will soon return to its usual level when I focus on other things. You, too, can have the same experience.
Celexa does have tinnitus listed as a side-effect, so you could taper off and it could go away, but we won't know until you do.
"Other
Very common (10% or more): Asthenia
Common (1% to 10%): Fatigue, fever, pain, tinnitus
Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Vertigo
Rare (less than 0.1%): Facial edema, malaise, rigors
Postmarketing reports: Spontaneous abortion"
I would see your Doctor and tell him about these side-effects if you haven't already. Good luck! Happy holidays/New Year in advance.
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