Three Questions About Tinnitus & Antidepressants — Asking the Doctor for a Prescription

I would like to know about antidepressants.

I have never taken it in my life. I am so up and down everyday. I cry all the time. I just need help. I have decided to ask my doctor about antidepressants today.

1: Are you taking any antidepressants right now?
2: If so, which one is good and safe to take when you have tinnitus?
3: What does an antidepressant do to help tinnitus?

 

Nortriptyline has milder side effects,
helps sleep
helps anxiety
helps depression at a therapeutic dose when increased to the persons own dose requirements.

Have a chat to your doctor about it.

love glynis

 

Thank you for replying so quick, glynis
My appointment is coming like 4 more hours and I just said to myself...I should have asked earlier.
You are so awesome.

 

@Peppermint,
Let us know how you get on.

Love glynis

 

Hey!

Your problem is only depression or also any anxiety disorders/OCD? I am not a doctor, but many people here mentions Remeron as a safe option and a good choice if you are having problems related to bad sleep and low-weight.

That being said, each individual has his own experience and it's hard to know apriori what works best for you. Unfortunately, much of psychiatry is about trial and error. I am currently at Zoloft because I have OCD, and I noticed no increase in T volume when I raised the dosage from 50mg to 100mg, but I can't really say for sure about what happened to me when I entered the 50mg dosage (my story with AD is shared here).

I think the important thing is to find a doctor that you trust and share all your problems and concerns with him, in particular, your worry about tinnitus. Remember also that he is working for you and to help you, so you should show him your preferences and worries.

As for your questions:

1-) Zoloft 100mg;

2-) Hard to say, there are positive and negative experiences with all of them if you search hard enough. Consider how much do you need them and, if that is the case, check with your doctor the most adequate to your profile and concerns;

3-) My experience under 100mg is that I am overall more numb, and T is worrying me less. I am searching less and less the sound in my head and this is good because breaks the cycle of attention/volume increase due to the lymbic system... T became a much minor problem now, even if I can hear it while watching TV, I kinda can filter out not obsessing over it. But I will not lie: I sometimes get worried about being under ADs and I idealize a near future without them.

 

By increasing your dose you are feeling better? I forgot to check back in with you about this.

 

Overall? Yes. My OCD is more manageable now and I am spending less time and energy with my obsessions and compulsions. I guess I am more chill overall. But I still have some days of depression (due to some personal crisis not related to T), and I feel more numb, which is bad because gives me some fatigue to even think while I do programming (but is manageable).

 

I am so happy you are in a better place than before. You seemed very conflicted with what to do, but I am happy you came to the right decision for the time being to help get yourself on track. I am also glad the ADs weren't increasing your tinnitus!

 

Thank you! I wish people could take their meds with no worries, I mean, the stuff is suposed to help us. I am happy that I insisted on the med and nothing happened in the end (and I think the 'danger period' has already passed).
In my actual journey, I notice more and more the power of our own minds. I do believe that your cognition plays a major role on how you will suffer with or accept T. I believe that not facing your T as a threat can break the downward spiral that your lymbic system can put you on and even reduce your T volumewise (not just the perception). Of course, to stop obsessing is easier said than done, and we have levels and levels of T, but now I would not say that mindfulness or related stuff is woo woo bullshit. Our thoughts are really powerful.

 

Yes i am taking an AD right now.
It is Citalopram 20mg.
It lowers my anxiety and helps with my depression.
It is in a class of drugs called SSRI.
Selective Serotonin Reuptake inhibitors.
As it controls my anxiety i no longer have panic attacks that spike my tinnitus.
Hope this helps

 

So in the end your T wasn't affected by the meds, but by your own stress?

 

Hm, I would not say so. I would say my baseline T is due to loud sound exposure + all the ADs I used my entire life.

Now, I really don't know if it got louder or at least 'significant' after I started Zoloft 50mg, but it was on 50mg of Zoloft that I noticed the sound (that does not mean that the sound wasn't there before). It's kinda confusing, but I guess that my post in this page makes the question more clear.

TBH, after I started noticing T, I became obsessed with it, which I believe that made my baseline level increase for a long while. Always checking, always comparing sounds, getting depressed with the perception... I would say that I already had an louder prolonged baseline compared to the one when I started noticing, that changed to a lower sound after the obsession got weakened, even when I pay attention to it.

 

Crazy how much our own minds and perceptions affects things.

 

Hi all
Thank you so much for informations.
I came back from doctor and she prescribed me “Escitalopram 10mg-common brand Lexapro”. My dr. said” it is very mild antidepressant which kids take it. “
But I am freaking out cause I read about some Bad reviews on this site about this medication. Now I don’t know if I should take it or ask for different one.
Yes! I am OCD. That’s why I can’t even put my mind on anything else but T and struggles of high pitch.
I can’t even believe this medication is putting me to stress!
Yes, I chickened out of asking what glynis said. “ Notrypityline” Maybe I call tomorrow morning and ask to change it so I will have 2 options to choose.
I do know I need to take antidepressants cause I am up to there. Almost getting mad at my family about Halloween pumpkin curving while I am suffering!?!? I can’t even enjoy my family time. So sad!!

 

Have you tried or looked at Anafranil for OCD it may also help you to forget the Tinnitus. Anafranil is meant to be the one of the best medications for bad OCD symptoms.

 

Hi, I just read that you have never taken antidepressants before. As Glynis said Nortriptyline is meant to be good for Tinnitus and depression, however if you are suffering from severe OCD symptoms Anafranil may be the drug for you. Have a chat with the doctor and don't be put off by the side effects. All antidepressants have them. Some more some less but it really depends on the individual as to what side effects it has.

Steve G

 

I was going to post something like this. I am not sure if OCD is your MAIN issue, but Nortriptyline is unusual for OCD, and actually reported to ineffective compared to other options.

@Peppermint

Here you can check the usual and effective medicines for OCD, you can also learn some important stuff about the treatment.

I find this article to be quite interesting. In particular, Table 2 with the Odds Ratio for Tinnitus for different SSRIs. I would take that with a grain of salt though: Lexapro has a low RoR but I see lots of anecdotal reports of T onset with this treament... I don't know if it is because it is something newer and yet to be better studied. But then, take a look at the Luvox (Fluvoxamine) RoR... it's actually low compared to others and I encountered very few anecdotal reports about T onset regarding this drug, it's also considered the gold standard treatment for OCD. Of course, this does not imply that it will be safe for you, everybody reacts differently. Again, I am no doctor, I would discuss these issues and concerns with your psych or look for other doctor that you really trust.

 

I agree Nortriptyline is not for OCD however Anafranil (Clomipramine) is one of the best tricyclic medications for severe OCD and may also help if your obsessing over Tinnitus as well as other things in your life.

 

I’m in the same position as you, OCD and tinnitus. Scared of meds but I went off Zoloft and OCD and depression came back. Back on them now and riding it out til it’s back in my system.

 

It's hard to know the best strategy as even our OCD creates a new ritual for deciding the meds/to stay on them... the lists of ototoxic medications are not in our favor. As I told in the other post, sometimes I still wonder if I should taper off all things completely, but I am glad that my OCD is more manageable and my T remained at the same level with the dosage increase.

Depending where you are from, you could test inositol powder or CBD oil. I imported the former from iHerb, but I can't have access to CBD treatments where I live. Hopefully, CBT sessions, exercises and hypnotherapy will do a great deal helping my anxiety and OCD.

You mentioned that you abandoned Zoloft once... how did you do that? I ask this because I do believe that withdrawal syndrome is a real thing, that could present symptoms worse than your baseline depression/anxiety. The other thing is: there are people that go cold turkey, and there are people that taper off in very different rates: I believe the methods can highly influence your withdrawal experience (you can check some experiences on www.survivingantidepressants.org).

But then again, I am no doctor, it's important to know when you really need the meds and it's important to keep contact with the psychiatrist that you trust.