Pregabalin (Lyrica)

I only can't drive a car now because I am on Clonazepam. I'll be tapering off so hopefully in 2 weeks time I'll be able to drive again.

How about yout tinnitus? Did you experience any change in tone, pitch or volume while on Pregabalin? Btw I am happy to hear about your hearing test being better than the previous one.

Also, I've got some other links on ototoxicity as well: http://hlaa-sbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Ototoxic_Brochure.pdf and https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/pregabalin/tinnitus/

According to those websites Pregabalin does not seem to cause/worsen your Tinnitus.

Cheers,

Jiri

 

@Jiri Try Gabapentin. It's the older brother to Lyrica but I found the side effects more easily tolerated vs Lyrica. It works well with Clonazepam too and has more literature to support its "potential" benefit for tinnitus.

If any of the meds did anything, perhaps Gabapentin may have slightly changed the tone. Lyrica did nothing for my Tinnitus.

 

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll sure ask my doc about that the next time I see her.

 

Pregabalin didnt change the T in 2013 the first time I took it. But in January 2017 when I had a worsening and had to take it again the first night I heard and sort of felt it switch it down. It was lower the next day but by day 3 the effect had completely gone and the T was back to normal.

 

By back to normal you mean back to worsening?

 

Ok, so a little update it's been almost two weeks I've been on Pregabalin 300 mg/a day.

Yesterday my left (better) ear started a ringing a lot more in the evening, then it calmed down, then it starting ringing a bit loud too during the day and now it seems it's calm again. I don't know if Pregabalin could cause that?

Here's what I found tho on the internet: https://www.anausa.org/smf/index.php?topic=12258.0
"My psychiatrist called up his expert pharmacist and inquired about new drugs for tinnitus. He mentioned a study in Spain where Lyrica reduced tinnitus volume by 60% in most of the patients with severe tinnitus."

And then you read other horror stories on the net of people who blaim Pregabalin for permanently worsening their T.

Still not sure if it's a bad drug to use for tinnitus or a good one. Any pointers?

 

I tried it once, one night, and never again, had the worst hallucinations I had in my life, scary stuff.

 

Unfortunately you will find many studies on many drugs that "apparently" help Tinnitus. In my own experience and use (read some of my posts - I've tried a lot of drugs!) they have not benefits me. I believe its because 1) the studies are poorly managed 2) the sample size is small 3) tinnitus often reduces and often has a smaller impact as people habituate. And 4) Many of the drugs have an anti depressant/anti anxiety effect thus you obviously are going to feel better while on them.

Yes, do you feel better while on the drug? Do you find the side effects tolerable? If not, discontinue. Remember: finding a drug that actually helps Tinnitus is like chasing rainbows.

 

For your records, I took Lyrica for 2 months, and 20kg... Useless and huge weight gain.

 

On which piece of information did you base your statement?

This is true. That is why I was put on it along with Clonazepam 4 mg/a day and Brintellix (Vortioxetin) 20 mg/a day. I've been on Pregabalin 300 mg/a day for 2 months now and I'm still anxious and down on life most of the time. I didn't notice any major change in my Tinnitus. Sometimes I think I'd be better off if I wasn't on any of these drugs..

As for the Ototoxic Drugs Exposed 2010 eBook book Aaron123 thinks the book is a joke:

So where's the truth, did anyone find out already? Does/Can Pregabalin cause tinnitus or not??

Cheers

 

One more thing I don't understand when researching this drugs side effects

For Pregabalin it says Otic: tinnitus (≥1%).
https://www.drugs.com/ppa/pregabalin.html

For Lyrica (the same thing):
Other: Common (1% to 10%) tinnitus
https://www.drugs.com/sfx/lyrica-side-effects.html

Then according to this Dr. Seidman's (an expert on tinnitus) Treatment Protocol for Tinnitus:

Prescription Medication
3 – Neurontin or Lyrica. These are anti-epilepsy medications that work by increasing GABA uptake in the brain. GABA is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain and helps decrease electrical activity. Increased electrical activity can lead to seizure, tinnitus and many other neurodegenerative conditions.

Source: https://www.tinnitusformula.com/library/dr-seidmans-treatment-protocol-for-tinnitus/

So I guess the question remains. Can Pregabalin really cause/worsen tinnitus?

 

Most drugs have a similar percentage with tinnitus as a side effect. With so many millions taking drugs like lyrica or even SSRIs, people will develop tinnitus (even if not related to the drug) as T is common.

 

I was on Lyrica 75mg x 2/day and 150mg x 2/day. Higher dosage seemed to make me tired. It seemed to help my tinnitus when I first started it.

 

You have to wonder about Neil Bauman's motives. He sells so many books/ebooks. Where did he find out practically every drug is ototoxic?

 

Look up his relevent qualifications. I have written about him here before. Taking medical or otolgy advice from him is pointless. It’s a shame people can write crap on the internet and pass it off as fact.

 

Unfortunately in my experience most of the anticonvulsant medications make you drowsy. It became less prevalent the longer I took them. I found gabbapentin about the best, and Lamotrigine was horrendous initially. Again; you’re results will vary.

 

Gabapentin the best for the noise or the anxiety?

 

It had the least side effects in my experience. Probably Lamotrigine was the best for noise and abexity but none was brilliant. Again, my results only.

 

Ok, thanks.

 

Lyrica actually made my tinnitus worse, even whilst I was taking trobalt. However, as soon as I changed over to gabapentin+trobalt I had a massive decrease in tinnitus reduction. Also, gabapentin on it's own has been trialled and not been proven to be an effective treatment for tinnitus.

 

Did you get Trobalt prescribed for Tinnitus?

I just looked it up as I'd forgotten what it is - says GSK are withdrawing it in 2017.

 

Trobalt doesn't exist anymore. Can't believe you've forgotten about it, it was the talk of the town for so long on here.

 

I looked at so many drugs years ago when I first got it.

I'd never get a doctor to prescribe it anyway.

Do you have a substitute for it?

 

For trobalt. There isn't really a substitute at the moment, but there are other medications which are targeting the potassium channels, specifically KV7 (KCNQ), unfortunately investment is slow and other conditions are taking precedence over tinnitus.

 

Check the thread. Their is various studies that suggest otherewise. Although these may be poorly run studies so take with a grain of salt.

 

Ah, are you referring to this study?


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28393057

"Iran J Otorhinolaryngol. 2017 Mar;29(91):95-100.
Short-Term Effect of Gabapentin on Subjective Tinnitus in Acoustic Trauma Patients.
Goljanian Tabrizi A1, Safavi Naini A1, Baradaran N1.
Author information

Abstract
INTRODUCTION:
Although several treatment approaches have been proposed for tinnitus, there are currently no Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved agents available to treat this condition. In this study, we evaluated the effect of gabapentin on the sensation of subjective tinnitus in patients with acoustic trauma referring to the ear, nose and throat (ENT) clinic of Taleghani Hospital during 2014.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:
In this double-blind, randomized clinical trial, 103 patients with tinnitus due to acoustic trauma who were referred to the ENT clinic of Taleghani Hospital during 2014 were randomized to the gabapentin (300 mg bid, n=55) or control (n=48) groups. The two groups were then compared before and after 6 weeks of treatment using a visual analog scale (VAS). At least a 30% reduction in VAS was considered a response to treatment.

RESULTS:
Differences between the two groups regarding sex, age, duration of disease, and audiometry results was not significant (P>0.05). After 6 weeks' treatment, the VAS significantly decreased in both groups (P<0.001), but the reduction was significantly greater in the gabapentin group compared with control (P<0.001). Forty-nine patients (89%) in the gabapentin group and 28 control patients (58.3%) responded to treatment (≥30% reduction in VAS), with the difference between the two groups being statistically significant (P<0.001).

CONCLUSION:
We conclude that gabapentin 300 mg bid for 6 weeks is an effective treatment for acoustic tinnitus. In addition, the placebo effect in relieving tinnitus is remarkable."

 

Wonder if I should try Gabapentin if I can persuade my doctor? They are never willing to prescribe off-label though.

The withdrawl of Trobalt must be a real blow for the people who got relief with it. And what about the Epileptic people who used it, what have they all moved to? Typical Big Pharma withdrawing something they no longer make much money from.

 

What gabapentin? It's quite easy to get, just show them the study on its effects on tinnitus. Also, if you have GAD they'd definitely give it to you off-label.

 

How does it differ in effects from Pregabalin?

I'd have to show studies on its usefulness for anxiety before they'd consider it I think.

 

That's the one! Again, I was not able to replicate these results longterm in my trails of the drug.