A 30-Year-Old Needing Support: Neuropathic Pain, Mental Health Issues and Tinnitus

I got tinnitus most likely after dosage increase of Bupropion to 300 mg 9 months ago, which has escalated due to a lot of stress. I have been battling chronic physical and mental health issues for years after a burnout, but am now in a downward spiral which has escalated to hip/pelvis inflammation/musculoskeletal pain which seems to have turned into neuropathic pain 3 months in. I am suspecting fibromyalgia as other parts of my body are acting up too. Due to this I am 90% bedridden, cannot sit/stand/walk without increasing pain, only lie on my back but even then the pain is present. I do not get any restorative sleep, I cannot focus on things I normally love, I cannot take naps due to intrusive tinnitus/thoughts/pain interrupting. This has taken its toll and led to me finally being suicidal. I am currently only alive due to the love for my parents and my desperate wish to live. Each minute is a struggle for my life.

I quit all meds six months ago to give my brain the chance to heal but the tinnitus is still present and has worsened due to the stressors of my mental and physical health. I am currently relying on Tylenol, muscle relaxants and Melatonin. I had to start taking Hydroxyzine/Promethazine due to daily panic attacks. The various health care professionals I have consulted have all suggested medicines such as Duloxetine or Mirtazapine. I have before been on Sertraline, Venlafaxine and Fluoxetine without issues. I tried starting Venlafaxine six months ago but gave up after a week due to the fear of messing with my brain and hearing even more.

It feels like I am in limbo and I do not know what to do. Either I give up today or try the suggested medications or perhaps Nortriptyline as some people have been helped by that. I do not know how else I am going to have a chance to fight through this. I have read all there is about the medications and various people’s experiences of them on this forum, the horror stories and happy endings.

I need your support. Help.

 

Hi @sweetlolo - I came by for moral support. I read your post and hear the struggles you're dealing with. It sounds tough with chronic pain, mental health issues, and tinnitus, I can only imagine.

When I first became aware of my tinnitus, I went on a huge downhill spiral mentally. A psychiatrist and my primary care physician prescribed me various meds to stabilize me since I had weeks of insomnia, high anxiety with panic attacks, and depression. I'm currently on Zoloft, Gabapentin, and Trazodone (for sleep). I had been on Sertraline for a while, which worked a whole lot better than Gabapentin, but switched to Gabapentin anyway.

Since you know you had no issues with Sertraline, Venlafaxine and Fluoxetine, is it an option to resume those again?

I'm rooting for you to find the strength to keep trying.

 

That makes two of us!

I agree with Joe's idea about restarting certain prescriptions that did not cause you issues in the past like Fluoxetine. I got a relative on Fluoxetine and they say it has saved them in the past.

- Camp

 

I relate to you in so many ways, not only do I have severe hyperacusis and moderate tinnitus, but I also have chronic neuropathic pain. I can’t listen to music, do any type of physical activities without getting a huge flareup, it’s terrible.

I first developed chronic nerve pain like 4 years ago after some repetitive motions, the pain has gotten manageable but that’s as long as I don’t do any heavy lifting or repetitive motion, and by heavy lifting I literally mean anything more than like 10 pounds.

2 years after my ordeal with chronic nerve pain, I developed tinnitus and hyperacusis. How fucking lovely, right? I’m also bed ridden and can’t do much but lie on my bed and somehow find the courage to keep fighting. It’s not easy and I honestly don’t know how much longer I’ll keep having that strength. I have battled with health issues throughout my life, so I know how debilitating this all can be.

I just want you to know that you aren’t alone and I could relate to you in one way or another.

 

Hi @sweetlolo -- Sorry to hear how difficult things are for you. Just to mention, I got severe tinnitus from just a single dose of Promethazine. You may want to consider whether it could be a factor in the severity of your tinnitus. -- Best...

P.S. I suffered from chronic headaches for many years, and by far the best pain reliever that consistently worked for me was coffee enemas (CEs). I found it interesting that Germany discovered (inadvertantly) during WWI that CEs could significantly relieve post-operative pain for several hours. The New England Journal of Medicine also reported in 1922 that CEs are an effective antidepressant.

 

Oha yea, fuck off with the Promethazine. It seemed to make mine like 5x worse while on it. Has yours gone back to baseline?

 

I am so sorry. I feel for you.

Have you tried Gabapentin for the nerve pain? Or Neurontin?

Also, my understanding is that Remeron is very safe for people with tinnitus and it also helps with sleep. You might want to consider that. I have a friend with tinnitus and he’s taken Remeron for years, it's had no impact on his tinnitus, and he sleeps like a baby.

Best to you. I will pray you get some relief.

 

I am sorry your condition is so severe, truly.

Have you ever tried stem cell therapy? Seems like something worth trying at your stage if you can save up for it.

 

Clomipramine has cured many people of hyperacusis too but it has some side effects. Could be worth it though for a lot of people. Also Keppra could be good too.

Still I see stem cells as being the best current treatment since the risks are so low and results fairly high. Shame that it's so extremely expensive.

 

Thank you all for your great support, it means the world to me that I am not alone in all of this. I decided to go with the Mirtazapine which has given me the blessing of a a couple of hours of sleep every night, however far from the natural and restorative kind.

My mental health is still up and down and the pain is still persistent, so my doctor wants to add another medication since Mirtazapine does not do the trick. Due to the chronic pain, severe anxiety and depression we have been discussing Duloxetine, Amitriptyline/Nortriptyline or a low dose of Risperdal. Neither feels very tempting since the onset of my tinnitus was caused by Bupropion/Wellbutrin. Risperdal scares me because of it being an antipsychotic from the beginning, which would be new territory for me.

A lot of additional traumatic events have occurred this summer, causing me to staying in such a dark place mentally. I did not even know that it was possible to feel like this, I never could have imagined it despite having struggled with debilitating anxiety for the past 7 years. I think it is the fact that all my hopes of ever healing have been taken away from me now that things are so bad.

 

@sweetlolo, I've been hearing tinnitus 24/7 for 32 years. It is a fight that you are winning. Whatever helps! Research is working on treatments and cure. There is hope!

 

Give Mirtazapine a little more time to work. It normally takes two weeks until it stabilizes the sleep pattern.

 

There are 42 threads on Tinnitus Talk with Mirtazapine in the title. Many of them refer to it causing or making tinnitus worse.

 

I have gradually been increasing the dosage to 30 mg and stayed there for 3 weeks now. It quickly lost its sedative effect when I first started it on 3.75 mg. Since I really need it for my depression as well, I had to go that high, but it is not enough...

 

I am so sorry to hear that you also have to go through this. Have you tried any medications?

 

Yes, I know. And I wish I'd never read those threads because they prevented me from starting Mirtazpine earlier, which ended up saving my life.

Everyone reacts different to each drug, but sleep deprivation is something that needs to be tackled as soon as possible to avoid further damage.

 

But there are ways to tackle sleep deprivation without taking dangerous drugs that can easily lead to tinnitus or worsening tinnitus. Unfortunately, they are rarely tried. Very few health care practionitioners--who are immersed in our drug oriented medical culture--are even aware such alternatives exist.

I'm happy for anybody who gets relief from whatever therapy they choose to take, but I firmly believe taking these drugs is a huge risk, whether or not somebody might get temporary relief. Most doctors are either unaware of or totally oblivious to these risks. They just do what they've been trained to do by our money driven health care system.

 

That's big part of what is probably making your condition so bad or even causing some of them. Our emotions affect how we feel physically & mentally. Once those events are dealt with, or in far distance, the better you will become & stronger to be able to cope with your health issues. That's why you have to be patient & give things more time.

 

Yes, I agree with you regarding doctors being clueless and driven by big pharma money.

But sometimes supplements just aren't enough and you need some strong medication to help you get one of the most basic needs which is sleep.

Nowadays there are better drugs available (Daridorexant) but Mirtazapine was my best option back then and I'm still on it with no negative impact on tinnitus or any other aspect of my health.

 

@Óscar PP -- There are other things besides supplements. Castor oil packs, (self)-acupuncture, massage, restricted eating for a while, long hot baths, saunas, vagus nerve stimulation, etc. Most people do not look into alternatives like these before resorting to drugs that can can make things even worse. Many people on this forum have had catastrophic things happen to them from listening to their doctor's recommendations on taking medications, from benzos, antidepressents, anti-anxiety medications, etc. They apparently do work for some, but I see using them as a last resort.

I myself discovered that 1/4 tablet of Tylenol (with codeine) was able to get me from sleeping only about 15-20 minutes a day for the first week of my tinnitus, to being able to sleep several hours at a time. So I agree that sometimes medications may be necessary, but too often simpler and safer alternatives have not yet been tried before resorting to big gun medications that often make things much worse. Most doctors who recommend some of these medications are clueless as to how they can make things so much worse. I'm happy to hear Mirtazapine worked well for you, but for others, it has indeed made things worse for them.

 

And regularly kill people by putting them on drugs or push people to kill themselves.

 

I'm so sorry for you. I can feel the struggle to survive the day. What I thought about as I read your post is, that you could benefit from physical therapy, spa treatments, massages etc. It could help your chronic pain and than maybe relax your mind a little as well.

 

I understand. I am deeply depressed with tinnitus. I have been taking Sertraline (all the way up to 200 mg, now back at 50 mg) and added Mirtazapine 15 mg/night which knocks me out but makes it even more hellish to get out of bed the next day. My psychiatrist wants to add a small dose anti-psychotic. I hate all these drugs as none of them seem to help, but what other choices do we have?

Hang in there.