Tinnitus from Wellbutrin

How are you doing these days, @Depressed ? It's been 3 months for you? Would you say that you're the same, or getting better?

 

Fortunately im better now, aparently i grind my teeth at night and this was making the tinnitus much worse, because after getting a mouth guard the noise has decreased a lot. It's worth going to a dentist to confirm whether one is a teeth grinder or not, because i had no idea until i got checked by one. Stress makes grinding worse and more grinding means more tinnitus, so i broke out from a very nasty cicle

I also freak out when i hear a noise that could come from my ears/brain, that sensation is terrible. I've gotten new noises that fortunately ended up going away, but every time i hear something similar to a tinnitus like noise i fear the worst.

Good luck, I hope you have/can habituate again. By the way, i like your avatar, i haven't played for a while but i wish wailord was more useful in competitive

 

Really glad to hear that you're doing better. Interesting to hear about the teeth grinding thing. That kind of makes sense. I think mine is somewhat exacerbated by tension in my neck and (maybe) jaw. I hope yours continues to improve.

 

8 month update:

I'm certain that I've either de-habituated slightly over the past month, or that my tinnitus has become a little louder. It's still nowhere near as intrusive as it was at the onset, but it has become something that I'm more aware of on an near hourly basis.
I've also been pretty busy at work, and have dropped my normal exercise schedule... and I've been working long hours, so it's possible that those life changes have contributed to this setback. I plan to get back on my 'normal' schedule for next month, so it will be interesting to see if that helps.

After I confirm if that helps or not, I may try changes to my diet to see if that has any effect.

Anecdotally, I've also been prescribed niacin for my cholesterol (500mg extended release), and I've been taking that for a couple of weeks. It doesn't seem to have a perceivable effect on the volume of my tinnitus.

 

9 month update:

Still as loud as last month. I'm still on an abnormal work schedule, so that might still be a factor, as I haven't been getting as much sleep as I should. That should hopefully change soon. Still taking niacin daily. I haven't noticed an associated spike or any change in tone. I have noticed that my tinnitus is a little more inconsistent than it was last month. I'll get clicking in my ears, something that I had during the first few months, but not since. Also, my tinnitus has always been more prominent in my left ear than my right, it now feels closer to even in both ears, although if I had to say where the source of the sound in my head was coming from, I'd say it was coming from the back of my neck.

Anyways, tinnitus is weird. It's not driving me crazy like it did early on, but I've definitely de-habituated to some extent. Still hoping for silence.

 

10 month update:

This month has been an improvement over the last 2 months where the volume of my tinnitus increase a bit. Over the past 3 weeks, I've noticed a decrease in the signal (or my perception of it). I've also been getting more consistent sleep. I think there's a linkage between sleep, stress and tinnitus perception/volume.
There have been no changes to what I'm taking (calcium/magnesium, niacin, and CoQ10 daily). I think this has effectively been a 2 month spike that is now (hopefully) subsiding.
I'd say that for the past 3 weeks, the volume of my tinnitus has been a 2.5 on a scale from 1 to 10. Hope to keep improving.

 

11 month update:

This has been a pretty good month compared to the last several. My tinnitus is more bearable than it was a couple of months ago. It's still there and still somewhat loud (3 on a scale from 1 to 10)... I can just hear it above white noise or in the shower, but it's not as terribly invasive as it was at onset or in months 8 or 9 where it was affecting my sleep and day to day life. I currently have a cold, and usually that's when I get a pretty big spike... but for some reason, I don't have one right now.
Tinnitus is confusing. Since it's a signal and not a sound, I don't know if it's actually loud or just "more present" than the other sounds in my environment. I've been trying to push the constant signal further back in the order of operations that I process things. In a quiet room that's a useless approach, but in my day to day, I think it helps a little.
Anyways, I'm still taking the following supplements:

Prescription Niacin(for cholesterol)
calcium/magnesium/zinc
CoQ10

For the past week, I've been taking NAC... this is something I do whenever I have cold/flu symptoms.

I do aerobic exercise for 30 minutes a day (most days) and get my heart rate up to 140-150 bpm.

Again, I can't say that the supplements help. But, the exercise definitely helps me to stay positive (which I've learned is a skill and not a personality trait).

Happy Thanksgiving, all.

 

I was put on Wellbutrin 150 back in September as an aid to stimulate some positive action for my seemingly lethargic approach to life.... this did improve my general mood I have to say, so my Doctor upped the dose to 300mg. 2 weeks later I returned to him and said I feel OK but I've got this tinnitus 24/7.

I was assured this is not a side effect of the drug said he.

It's now approaching the end of November and this ringing sure is there so I began to look up online.

While I'm not in a professional position to say that the T is definitely a cause of using Wellbutrin, I would certainly query this. My Doctor says it's a coincidence. Regardless, I have taken it upon myself to half my dose until the current prescription is finished and then lay off for a few months to see if the T goes. If it does then I'll have got somewhere! If not, that's another bridge to travel to over, but at least I can go back to the Dr with something to report.

 

@ouiserb2001 Sorry to hear about your tinnitus onset. I saw an ENT after my diagnosis, and he said that Wellbutrin (300mg) was likely the cause of my tinnitus. He basically said that correlation does not equal causation, but given the fact that I wasn't on any other tinnitus correlated drug at the time, and given that tinnitus is a ~6% side effect of 300mg Wellbutrin, it was likely the thing that caused my tinnitus. I was only on 300mg for 2 days or so. Anyways, I hope this thread is helpful to you in terms of setting expectations for what you might expect going forward. I hope that your experience is different and that your tinnitus goes away after you get off of Wellbutrin.

 

Thanks dnl. I've just got my Bupropion refill from the Dr who I asked to do this in 150mg pills rather than 300mg- I was surprised he didn't question that! This Friday will be 7 days since I dropped from the 300, so I expect to stop altogether by a week Friday. At present I still have the same level of T. Now one benefit of the Bupropion was stabilizing my blood pressure - that it did very well. I expect a fight with the Dr soon...

 

@dnl Thank you so much for keeping this updated. My tinnitus nightmare started in early 2017. I had been prescribed 150 mg of Wellbutrin in Dec of 2016 for fatigue and depression after a family member's passing. My doctor kept me on the 150 for a while since I was already prone to anxiety and didn't need the added stimulants. About a week after I started on the 150, my eye started twitching and didn't stop for 2 months - that was super annoying, however, I will say it helped my depression and mood SO much! In about Feb of 2017, I needed more of a mood boost, so we bumped my dose up to 300, and within a few days the ringing started. Mine is also a high-pitched old the sound. That first week I thought I might go crazy. I thought there was no way I could live with that. My doctor told me to drop back down to 150 - he anticipated it would take care of it. Boy was he ever wrong. I quit taking the Wellbutrin at the end if that summer.

It's been almost 2 years since it started and I still have it. I'm currently experiencing a loud period. This happens every so often. And like another poster mentioned, I start endlessly googling hoping there may be some new treatment. Over the last year or so, I go through periods of not noticing it unless I'm in a silent room or someone brings it up. I have learned what makes it worse...Certain medications, loud noises (restaurants, loud music) caffeine, alcohol, sinus infections, etc. I also noticed increased sensitivity when around loud noises. This makes me extremely irritable. I've purchased ear plugs for musicians that seem to help a bit with this. There have been nights I go out, and will be in a loud bar and have had a few drinks and the next day, my tinnitus is unbearable, so I've started avoiding these things. It doesn't really seem like anything helps, though, because after a while, I'll have a random spike in intensity.

Unfortunately, I've given up hope that it will go away. I am going back to the ENT in January just to have my hearing checked again, and in a futile attempt, try to rule anything else out. I went to the ENT about 3 months after the onset and they decided it was from the Wellbutrin, as they could find no other cause.
I will try to keep this post updated as well, as it seems I've had it longer than most others.

 

I developed tinnitus when I increased my Wellbutrin dose to 300 mg. I had been on 150 mg for years with no troubles. After a few days, I went back to 150 mg and I've had ringing in my ears since - about 9 months. Last week I decided to go off the Wellbutrin completely and the ringing is still there, but better. I can hear people when they talk to me now. Before, the ringing was so loud that sometimes I wasn't able to hear well. With that good news comes that bad news that my depression is really affecting me now - low energy and low mood. It's hard to get out of bed in the morning. I'm trying to decide which one is worse - crazy loud ringing in my ears or having no energy and feeling depressed?

 

@CRW and @Milcomas - Thank you so much for posting your experiences about having acquired tinnitus from Wellbutrin. It's sad to know that there are more of us who have acquired this disease from this drug. But I really appreciate you posting your experiences, and hope that we figure out some best practices going forward. It just seems to me that upping one's dosage to 300mg is causal to the onset of this disease.

I'm almost 1 year in. It's been a rough year, but I've made a lot of changes in my life regarding exercise and self-care, and I feel like I've gotten in a better state of mind over the past year. It still sucks. I'm still ringing, and I still have okay days and bad days . The bad days have been a little less bad over the past couple of months... I don't think I've gotten a lot better over that time, but I think I've just habituated a bit. I'm really paranoid about taking antibiotics now... my mom got tinnitus from Azithromycin. Have either of you have to take antibiotics since you've had tinnitus?

@CRW - I'm so sorry to hear that you've had tinnitus for so long. I also started taking Wellbutrin around the time that a family member passed. I feel like your experiences with restaurants/loud music, being reactive to loud noises describe my experiences very well. I now avoid those situations, and have also purchased "good earplugs" , and have them attached to my key-ring in case I'm in a situation where things get loud suddenly. Good luck at the ENT, and please stay positive. I know it's hard. Please keep posting to this forum. I'd love to know how you're doing from time to time, especially since you've had it longer than I have and our situations are so similar. I'll keep my updates coming. I'm due for one at the end of the month.

@Milcomas I'm sorry to hear about your tinnitus and your depression. I'm glad your tinnitus has gone down a bit since you've quit Wellbutrin, and I hope that it continues to go down. I know depression is a difficult thing. I've been exercising every day (pretty much) over the past year, and it's helped me mitigate the lows and negativity that I sometimes feel. Sadly, a lot of anti-depressants are correlated with tinnitus. It's hard to tell if its safe or worth the risk to try another. I think I've decided that I can't risk going on another anti-depressant. But that's personal choice. I hope you make a decision that's healthy for you.

 

12 month update:

My tinnitus started a little over a year ago, so I've had it for about 11 months or so. Not much has changed, but in the interest of keeping this thread updated, here are a few disassociated thoughts on the last 11 months.
I'm having a bit of a spike right now, but all in all this month has been pretty much the same as last month, and better than prior months where I think I had a bit of a lengthy spike.
My tinnitus is a bit louder in my left ear than my right.
It's still the first thing I hear in the morning and the last thing I hear before going to bed. But these days, I can go for 30-60 minute periods without noticing it depending on what I'm doing and where I'm at. I am fortunate to work in an office with a decent amount of white noise, I'm especially fortunate to have a family that tries to understand what I'm going through .
I usually fall asleep listening to podcasts and wake up once or twice during the night. I generally can get back to sleep after 10-15 minutes or so... early on, it took me an hour to get back to sleep.
Having tinnitus is still a big psychological burden, but I'm thankful that I've habituated enough that I'm not as miserable as I was when it first started.
I avoid loud events when I can. I bring ear protection everywhere I go, and I'm not shy about using it. I'll gladly walk around a restaurant or an event with big orange ear plugs sticking out of my ears.
I find myself a bit more sensitive to sudden loud noises. I'm not sure if that's just my worried about my tinnitus, or if it's a symptom of having tinnitus.
Anyways... that's the update for this month.
If a mod is reading this post, I'd appreciate it if they would move this thread from to the "Tinnitus/Support" Forum instead of "Introduce Yourself" Forum.

 

Have you considered the possibility that earplugs provide a false sense of security? Below is a recent post about it, but there are literally countless posts of people going to restaurants and loud events assuming that earplugs will protect them and finding out the hard way that they were wrong

 

Yep. I have considered that. And like I said, I avoid loud events when I can... I’m not seeking them out. Life is life, and I can’t avoid going to my kids school concerts or a family gathering at a restaurant and still be the Dad/husband/person that I want to be, hence my statement re: earplugs.
I mow my own lawn with ear protection and it seems to help.

 

If you commit suicide as a result of your T becoming debilitating, or if you become a shell/shadow of your former self, you will also fail to be the man you actually want to be. I am just saying.

You don't seem to be taking this condition seriously.
You are certainly not doing what you described below:

This might explain why you haven't observed a lot of healing/fading. If one of your family members won't mow the lawn, you can pay someone to do it. This doesn't have to be done every weekend, you know. Surely you can afford to pay someone to do it 2 or 3 times over the summer.

 

Thanks @Bill Bauer

 

Mid month update: I've had a really good morning this morning. This week has been pretty difficult. Normally my tinnitus is (for me) pretty loud. I can just hear it above the shower when the water is beating down on my head. For the past week, it's been a notch louder than that, which had me a little worried. Last night, when I got home from work, I had about a 5-7 second episode of loud ringing in my left ear (which has always felt a little louder than my right). This morning, I woke up and my tinnitus was the quietest it has ever been. It's become a little more audible since this morning, but even if this doesn't last, I'm just thankful to know that it can get this quiet. Currently. the ringing that I normally hear feels like it's a part of the ambient noise of the room, rather than layered on top.

 

13 month update:

Still ringing (of course).
I've had a weird month.
Earlier in the month my tinnitus was a notch louder than it normally is, which had me pretty stressed out. However, about 12 days ago, I had a short momentary loud spike, and since then it's been probably as bearable as it has ever been. Not sure what to make of that. It's still the first thing I hear when I wake up in the morning and the last think I hear as I'm falling to sleep, but I feel like it's come down a little in intensity recently. I've been taking turmeric with curcumin. I feel like the intensity lessened prior to taking turmeric, but I can't be sure. It's been less of a psychological burden lately, even though I still hear it pretty much all the time... it's just not at the forefront of the order of operations in my perception for whatever reason (lately).
I still live in paranoia of it getting louder, so that hasn't changed! (lol).
I'll probably continue to update this thread until it hits 24 months.

 

14 month update:
My tinnitus has been more bearable this month. I can no longer hear it above the shower.
I still struggle with it.
I still have good days and bad days.
I still have trouble getting back to sleep if I wake up in the middle of the night.
It's still louder in the morning and less loud during the day.
...but overall, I'm in a better state than I was a year ago. So, that's progress.
I've mostly forgiven myself for taking the meds that caused my tinnitus, and generally I'm able to go an hour or two at a time without really focusing on it (or noticing it).
Tinnitus (to me) feels more like a signal and less like noise, it's hard for me to say if it's truly lowered in volume for me or not. If I focus on it, the signal seems 'stronger'. I'm hoping one day, that I can process this signal out entirely. At the same time, I sometimes have this irrational fear that whatever is broken in my brain related to the perception of this signal will get worse, and the signal will be all consuming.

Things that definitely help me and seems to lower the signal:

Actively trying to be positive.
30 minutes of aerobic exercise every day.
Sleeping on my back with my neck supported (and not my side).
Staying busy/focused on something else.

Supplements I'm taking (not sure if these actually help):
Turmeric
Magnesium/Calcium/Zinc
CoQ10
Niacin (prescription)

 

I am having trouble understanding what you mean by the above.

 

I'm not sure exactly what I mean there.
I feel the need to differentiate the sounds from my environment, and the sound of my tinnitus, because they don't really register as the same thing to me internally. They both have loudness, but the loudness of environmental sound and the loudness of my tinnitus feel different in quality, proximity, etc. I've landed on rationalizing my tinnitus as a signal... a byproduct or defect of how my brain works now. Everything else is a noise or sound. I think (maybe?) this has helped me habituate, and put the signal further down in the order of operations of how I process stuff.
To be honest, I could probably argue myself into believing the opposite if I tried hard enough.
We're all trapped in our heads with this condition, so that's how I've attempted to define/live with it.

 

Thank you for referring me to this thread. While it is entirely possible Wellbutrin may have caused my tinnitus, I can't be 100% sure. Nevertheless, after dealing with it every day for 1.75 years, I have decided to go on a campaign of trying various things. First, I stopped the Wellbutrin. I was taking it this winter because I don't deal well with the short amounts of sunshine in winter and the cold. I have told myself that I am just going to have to deal with it. Second, I started a daily regiment of Apple Cider Vinegar with "Mother" in it. Third, I started taking a supplement to aid my microbial balance. Forth, I will be taking something to manage bad estrogen (I didn't even know guys had this hormone). Fifth, I bought myself a temper-pedic pillow for the outrageous price of $145 (Proper neck support is very important).

I kinda started all these things at once, which of course is not the scientific way of going about it. It is way too early to say whether this will help me, but I will let all know in a month or so.

My perception of tinnitus is that it is exceptionally annoying. However, I tell myself, there have been millions of people who have suffered through far worse than this, and many of those things ended in fatality. So, my perspective is important and keeping it balanced is equally important.

My goal is to cure it (or find something that helps me), obviously, but if I can get it to a point where it is manageable, I can be fine with it. I will share anything positive or negative that comes of this.

 

I know how you feel there. I've gone through different combinations of trying/eliminating different things and have come to very few conclusive results.

Things that I'm pretty sure that I know at this point are:

- For some reason NyQuil and sleep will re-set a spike in my tinnitus 80% of the time.
- Neck position is important when sleeping. I sleep on my back with my neck supported.
- Sleep (generally) is important.
- Exercise seems to help.

I'm sorry that this has happened to you, and I hope that your situation gets better.

 

Thanks. I also got a script for a 50,000 unit timed release Vitamin D pill from my Doc. I know I have low Vitamin D and because I am a male at 60, also have low Testosterone. I will examine this additionally, too. I ultimately think my body is suffering from environmental pollution. Not the beltching smoke kind.......antibiotics in food, gmo's, processed foods, bad diet, microbial imbalance, smoking cigars (gave them up)....a whole interwoven bunch of things which together show themselves as tinnitus.

 

By this, do you mean it lowers the tinnitus to your baseline or normal tone?

 

Yes. When I have a spike, I will take a standard dose of NyQuil and sleep for a natural number of hours and about 80% of the time, my tinnitus has returned to baseline. I don't know why this works for me.

 

15 month update:

The first part of the month was about the same as last month, 2 or 3 out of 10... very tolerable compared to what I've been enduring over the past year.
Over the past two weeks or so, I've had some spikes, or at least my tinnitus has felt more present at times, but objectively, it hasn't been as bad as it used to be when I could hear it over the shower. So I'm not complaining too much.
I've fallen off of my exercise routine a bit, and started taking a different brands of calcium and turmeric supplements. It's hard to say if any of those have caused the spikes, but I'd guess the exercise is probably the most likely culprit.
Mornings are hardest for me lately.
Earlier this week, I had some anxiety... unrelated to my tinnitus (I think), and about an hour later I noticed that my tinnitus had gotten really quiet... almost at a 1 out of 10. That lasted for 20-30 minutes before it crept back up to it's normal level. I thought that was pretty strange.
Anyways, not much of an update.
Hope everyone is doing okay.