tinnitus and anti-depressants

[newmommyLA]

Well, I'm back posting again after a long hiatus and guess what?  I'm still posting about that blasted noise in my head.  I've just spent a fortune on biofeedback and rTMS ($$$), but neither offered any relief from the noise.  My docs wanted to increase my zoloft as I was on a low dose and I've noticed my T seems worse after the increase.  So I grab the prescription paperwork that came with the pills and find that ringing of the ears is a (less common) side effect.  There is so much debate online about whether anti-depressants help tinnitus or make it worse, but I'm very concerned about continuing with the zoloft now.  I started taking a low dose only a couple weeks after my 1st surgery and have been on it ever since.  Could this be what is making the noise so unbearable for me? 

Any of you tinnitus sufferers notice a difference in the noise if you take anti-depressants?  I can't believe how many conflicting articles there are out there. 

Amy

[painter]

Amy,
My tinnitus is louder than ever, too, and I'm also on antidepressants. (Wellbutrin which is a generic form of Zoloft)  I just assumed it's all part of the package, so I've been trying to just accept it. But sometimes it's much louder than any other noise going on around me.  Maybe I'll look into it more now that you've mentioned the controversy.  Thanks for posting, and good luck.
Tom

[Denise S]

Oh Amy, that just sucks (for lack of nicer word)    My tinnitus didn't even start until 2 1/2 months post op, but now days sometimes gets really loud.   I think of you OFTEN!    I am going through more though because remember after my surgery I had neck & spine issues flair up?  Well, I am going back to the neurosurgeon April 14th & just had an updated MRI to see if my other condition may be causing some of my issues.   One symptom can also be tinnitus, UGH!   My MRI reports say I have Chirari Malformation (where the brain stem is slipping down through the hole in your skull where it don't belong).   

Anyways, I wanted to post this link I put up awhile ago.   Under the one where I put something and it says ask docs (or something) it has a large list of medications that possibly effect tinnitus.   Zoloft is on there (so is that Wellbutrin).     I am on Cymbalta, but it don't help the tinnitus.    I did try the Xanax after talking with you and then reading on there Xanax is one of the only good ones for tinnitus.   Well, I think it did help some, by my doctor said it's like you need to take it regularly...every day.   Oh I hate taking a bunch of meds, so I am trying to deal with the tinnitus for now & my other issues.

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO  sorry to hear the other things are not working!    UGH!!!!    It is interesting hearing from you though because just yesterday I was telling someone how much my tinnitus seems to go up & down and sometimes it is really bad.   They said "can't you just cut the nerve out since you are SSD and it will take care of it?"    I mentioned you and your story and told them evidentally it don't help often (maybe for a few).    I think I am still a bit confused how come we hear the tinnitus SO much, but our ear is deaf.     I am finding our brains and bodies are very strange!!

http://anausa.org/forum/index.php?topic=11812.msg137965#msg137965

THINKING OF YOU.....shoot me an email anytime too, or call (I don't have a job since my surgery) :-(

Denise S

[rupert]

I have been using the xanax.   One a day,  at night.   It seems to help.  Not completely gone of course but for me it works.    I have tried several tests.  All non scientific.

If I quit the xanax completely the tinnitus gets pretty bad after three to four days.   Every other day and it gets worse one day and better the next.   I get the best overall effect with one per day.    I will not try two or three per day do to the addiction characteristics.    I have been doing this for two months now.    When my prescription runs out I'm going to have a long talk with my doc.  on what this could do long term.   Bryan

[Denise S]

Rupert,

Do you mind me asking what dosage yours is and how many times you do take it?    I was thinking of taking it at night, but luckily I can sleep through my tinnitus.   I'm like you though about the addiction characteristics.  Plus, it seems to make me a bit spacy and I refuse to drive when on anything like that.   

AND can you share with us what other tests you have tried?

Thanks
Denise

[rupert]

Denise,

   Dose is .5mg.    I don't think that is very strong.     I take it around 10 or 11:00PM.    This dose does not seem to effect me at all.    It does not make me sleep better,  does not make me tired or even help with anxiety.   Which is why I got it in the first place. when I was contemplating surgery.   But it helps with the tinnitus.

Of course the prescription calls for three times per day.   That might have some effects,  but I have never taken that amount.  The only tests I have done with meds is with the xanax and varying the days taken.  I can't see any difference if I take it in the AM or PM.   So I take it at night.   Outside the meds I have found,  for me anyways that there are definatly triggers.    Loud noise,   chocolate milk and extreme tiredness all bring on a two or three day episode. I stay away from those as much as possible.     And as many have said in these forums,   just try and forget about it.   That and xanax,   I can keep it manageable.     Bryan

[newmommyLA]

Xanax does help many people with tinnitus including myself.  Xanax is an anti-anxiety and not a known cause or contributor to tinnitus.  There are many, many reports of anti-depressants causing or making tinnitus worse and that is what I find to be so puzzling.  A number of doctors are prescribing it for tinnitus patients because they are suffering from depression.  Anti-depressants are not prescribed to help with tinnitus.  I've been on a low dose of zoloft since a few weeks after my first surgery when I really freaked out.  I spoke to my psychiatrist last night and he agrees that we need to know if it is making the noise louder for me and I'm going to taper off.  It takes 6 weeks, so we'll see.

.5mg xanax is a very  low dose.  That is what I'm taking a few times a day.  It is very common for people with severe tinnitus to take xanax and many people take a couple .5mg/daily.  I hope I don't have to keep taking it for a long time, but I have to get through this somehow.  I'm hoping that by getting off zoloft, the noise will mellow a little and that time will help me habituate.  It still rules my world and I'm praying for some cure or divine intervention.

Amy

[painter]

Amy,
It's been helpful that you posted this topic.  I'm going to talk to my doctor soon and see about switching from the Wellbutrin to the Xanax.  If that helps at all it would be huge.  I know what you're dealing with, and am sorry you or anyone has to (when it's so bad).
Good luck, and thanks to everyone who chimed in.
Tom

[newmommyLA]

Just an update...  I experienced a major spike in my T when I increased the zoloft which is why I decided to get off the drug and see what happens.  Well, that plus a number of stories online about how AD's can make T worse.  So, as I've been tapering off, I am frequently getting the wind tunnel whooshing sound all day long now.  I used to only hear it at night which was when I took  my 50mg zoloft before bed.  Now, I'm totally off the drug and hearing the whooshes very frequently.  It's so weird!  Must be my brain chemistry must be working things out in there, but I hope it goes away.  It's hard not to jump back to the old routine of 50mg zoloft and settle for the occasional wind tunnel effect, but I'm determined to wait this out and see what happens.  The constant noise is still the same, but this whooshing means that something is happening in there.  I hope it's a good sign.

Anyone else taper of AD's and have a similar experience?

Hearing major wind gusts in Pasadena, but the palm trees aren't swaying....hmmm.

Amy

[Cheryl R]

I have just been going off Lexapro and having some weird noises which know from experience will go away.      Lexapro gives me GI problems which disappeared immed once off it.     Celexa did also.          I went off Effexor last summer as wondering if that was the cause of my nightly very weird dreams.  It was not but am not sure if should go back on that one or not.    It took me a good month at least to go off it.    Some weird noises and a funny feel in the back of the neck.         Knew that was the cause as would go away when was doing the tapering and back the day took none.       I have been lucky with not having some real bad withdrawl symptoms as have read some people write about on some internet sites.              Prozac made me jittery.      So not sure what to do next.                    I would see if staying off helps you in time.                  I have never noticed the tinnitis worse when on any but so much varies with people.                    Good luck with what you end up doing.   
                                                         Cheryl R

[Rivergirl]

Tried anti depressants twice in the past two years, no help, background noise helps the most, luckily I like music.

[Syl]

Amy:

I don't know how bad my tinnitus is compared to yours, but when I get headaches, it tends to get really loud. What helps calm the noise a bit is my hearing aid. It doesn't eliminate it, but it does calm it.

I just realized you are SSD so using a hearing aid wouldn't make sense.

Syl

[Rick Everingham]

I've tried 3 anti-depressants since my surgery, none have helped.  I have simply decided to accept this is the way I will am and try not to let it upset me too much.  Sometimes, however, I want to scream when it gets really loud.  I try and stay away from loud noise and crowed rooms.  When it gets bad, I go to bed, darken the room, lay on my deaf side and turn on my box fan, usually after 30 minutes or so it calms down.  I still get the whooooshing noise, especially at night and when I am really lucky, I get loud explosions.

[newmommyLA]

Wow Rick,
You're still getting whooshes and explosions 7 years later?!  That really bums me out.  I don't think AD's are a good choice for tinnitus, but now my neurotologist and psychiatrist and recommending anti-convulsants like Lyrica and Neurontin.  These are normally prescribed for epileptics or fibromyalgia, but they have had success with decreasing tinnitus.  These drugs calm the overactive neurons in the brain, so it makes sense that it might also calm the spastic neurons causing our tinnitus as well.  Of course, there are loads of possible side effects and I'm not sure if I'm going to try these or not.  If I did, I'd try the Lyrica.  I've hear more bad stories about Neurontin.

Anyone out there tried either of these?  Naturally, what might help tinnitus (drugs anyway), could also make it worse for a few people.

It's fun to be a scientific experiment!

I know we all have to eventually accept what we have for however long we've got it even if that means forever, but I can't seem to accept that I'll want to avoid crowds and loud noise for the rest of my life.  I'm only 35 and a new mother to a 9 month old boy.  How can I avoid noise at this stage of my life?!

Amy