Acamprosate (Campral)

[tweak]

Hi,
Has anyone any experiences of using this drug for t? Apart from the brazilian study. I found this trial done in India published this year. Results look pretty good.
http://www.ijp-online.com/article.a...me=44;issue=1;spage=93;epage=96;aulast=Sharma

 

[Molan]

No I haven't tried this but kudos to you this is an excellent find!!!

 

[calin]

Treatment of tinnitus with acamprosate.

Azevedo AA, Figueiredo RR.
Source

OTOSUL, Otorrinolaringologia Sul-Fluminense, Volta Redonda, Vila Santa Cecília, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. otosul@otosul.com.br
Abstract

Acamprosate, a drug used to treat alcohol dependence, was first reported as a potential treatment for tinnitus in 2005. The drug may improve tinnitus by a dual mechanism of action, acting both as a glutamate antagonist and as a GABA agonist. It is suggested that its action may be both on the ear and the nervous system.
PMID:
17956791
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17956791

 

[calin]

Gosh... so sorry tweak. Didn't see you thread. Oppsie

 

[erik]

OHSU, Oregon Health and Sciences Univ did an extensive study on this a couple years ago funded by ATA and came to conclusion it didn't work any better than placebo I believe.

 

[calin]

OHSU, Oregon Health and Sciences Univ did an extensive study on this a couple years ago funded by ATA and came to conclusion it didn't work any better than placebo I believe.

oh geez... thanks erik! That's why we don't see more of this product.

 

[joe]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22345878​

another recent study carried out

 

[erik]

Cool Joe, I'm pulling for you!

 

[tweak]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22345878​

another recent study carried out

That link above is the same study as the one I already posted. 92% improvement seems almost too good to be true!

 

[mock turtle]

i keep reading about how darn effective that stuff is, thats called , placebo

im wondering

anyone know where i can order a bottle of placebo ?

 

[erik]

lol Mock, I think if I participate in any studies I want the placebo...

 

[Karl]

From joe's link:

"RESULTS:

"At the end of the study, the drug had shown a statistically significant improvement in reducing the tinnitus score in 92.5% of the patients and placebo with an improvement in 12.5% of the patients. The drug was well tolerated without any serious drug reactions."

Hey....this is good....right?

I will need to read this more thoroughly tomorrow! Sounds like major news.

 

[erik]

Karl, it was too good to be true. OHSU studied this with over 500 people, I believe which was the largest study conducted on acamprosate and the conclusion was that there were no significant differences between the effects of the placebo and the study drug, Acamprosate. it concluded earlier this year.

 

[Azevedo Andréia]

THE OHSU USED THE DOUBLE DOSE THAN WE DID AND THEY USED A DIFFERENT DESIGN TOO,VERY DIFFERENT FROM ANY ONE. THERE ARE TOO MANY BLIND POINTS THERE..THEY HAD TOO MANY SIDE EFFECTS AND TOO MANY PEOPLE GAVE UP BEFORE STARTING TAKING THE DRUG,PROVING THAT PATIENTS WERE NOT MOTIVATED FROM THE TEAM.THE INDIAN STUDY USED THE SAME DOSE WE DID AND GOT THE SAME RESULTS.ANOTHER THING YOU NEED TO HAVE IN MIND IS THAT TINNITUS CAN BE A SYMPTOM FROM MANY DISEASES AND CAN HAVE A IMBALANCE FROM MANY NEUROTRANSMITTERS IN THE BRAIN ,EXCITATORY OR INHIBITHORY ,SO IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE ONE MAGIC PILLS.IN MY OPINION PLACEBO BLIND THE SCIENTIST AND THEY FORGET TO SEE WHAT HAPPEN TO THE PATIENTS THAT GOT BETTER ,WHAT ARE THEIRS SUB GROUPS?I WOULD LIKE THAT MORE DOCTORS GOT AN INTERESTING IN TINNITUS FIELD.IT HAS BEEN TOO DIFICULT TO INTRODUCE MANY DRUGS IN THIS FIELD,BECAUSE THERE ARE ANOTHERS INTERESTING IN THIS FIELD.IN SOUTH AMERICA AND IN THE REST OF THE WORLD,I THINK WE HAVE MORE DOCTOR INVOLVED THEN IN AMERICA.THAT IS WHY DRUG TO TINNITUS IS TAKING SO LONG TO BE THE STRONGER POINT .THAT IS JUST MY OPINION.NO OFENSE.

 

[click]

a 'guy'?? that drank every day....

 

[erik]

Acamprosate was developed to help alcoholics stop drinking by returning the brain changes back to "normal" due to alcoholism. Again, not proven to help with Tinnitus in controlled double blind studies.

 

[Don H]

I had my doc prescribe it to me in the same dosage as an earlier successful trial. The brand name in Campral from Forrest laboratories. Took it for a couple with no real change.

 

[David King]

I have also tried Campral for a couple of months. No change in t for me either.

 

[Louise]

I asked OHSU about the results of a trial they were doing for Acamprosate helping T. Here's the email I got.....

Louise,
Thanks for asking about the study. We have finished it and are writing it up for publication. The results have been presented in preliminary form at the International Tinnitus Society meeting last year in Brazil. We could find no difference in the effectiveness of Acamproate compared to placebo in an extended, very carefully done study.

Billy Martin

William Hal Martin, Ph.D.
Professor of Otolayrngology/Head & Neck Surgery
Director, OHSU Tinnitus Clinic

 

[calin]

Ok... who wants to try this?

http://www.freshpatents.com/-dt20100715ptan20100179220.php

Abstract: Acamprosate, a drug used in the treatment of alcoholism, is a safe and successful alternative for neurossensorial tinnitus' treatment. ..

SUMMARY

OF THE INVENTION
In order to evaluate efficacy and safety of acamprosate in the treatment of tinnitus and preferable sensorineural tinnitus, a randomized clinical trial has been performed wherein patients with sensorineural tinnitus were divided in two groups: 25 received acamprosate and 25 placebo, for a period of 3 months, in a prospective double-blind study, being analyzed for its efficacy and safety, among a subjective rate given for the patient from 1 to 10. Surprisingly a high index of success in the relief of tinnitus, about 86.9% has been found. In 47.8% of the cases more than 50% of relief has been found. The incidence of side effects was low, 12%, all of them mild. Thus, acamprosate, a drug used in the treatment of alcoholism, is a safe and successful alternative for neurossensorial tinnitus\' treatment.

The chemical name acamprosate is calcium acetyl-homotaurinate or acetylaminopropanosulfonate whose chemical structure is analogous to some pharmacologically active amino acids, such as GABA, glutamate and taurine.

Acamprosate increases the number of reuptake sites of GABA and modified GABA reuptake in rats, with global effects of increased GABA transmission, which inhibits the excitation of auditory pathways (Monografia do Acamprosato. MERCK).
Acamprosate reduces the effect of excitatory amino acids (glutamate) in the central nervous system, especially its excitatory action over NMDA receptors, probably owing to an action at the level of calcium channel blockers (Monografia do Acamprosato. MERCK; Kratzer U, Schmidt W J. Caroverine inhibits the conditioned place aversion induced by naloxone-precipitated morphine withdrawal in rats. Neuroscience October 2003; 349 (2): 91-4).
Acamprosate has not been mentioned in any reference of the literature for use in the treatment of tinnitus. Its dual action mechanism, which reduces the glutamatergic transmission (excitatory) and increases the GABA activity (inhibitory), together with its excellent tolerability, makes it an excellent and promising drug for tinnitus.

Read more at the above link....

 

[calin]

Here is more information on dosage, uses, precautions, etc... http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a604028.html

 

[dan26]

I read about this online and my oto-neurologist said study didn't involve a lot of people. only 40 in India.

 

[Lulubug69]

I've been researching a drug called Camprol (acampresate). I tried to find something here about it, but don't see anything. There has been a study or 2 regarding its success, I've read a couple of studies. Not very computer savvy so I will show where I found it. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3271548/ curious if anyone has tried it, been offered it or has any additional info?

*PS. Seems the study posted after all.

 

[Lulubug69]

What is sensationaural T?

 

[Hopeful]

What is sensationaural T?

If you mean 'sensorineural', then it refers to tinnitus caused by a sensorineural hearing loss, hearing loss due to damage to the inner ear (loss of inner hars cells, that transforms vibrations to neural activity (sound) in the brain)

 

[Lulubug69]

Thanks!

 

[divij]

Hello everybody,
I apologise in advance if this is a repost.
There was a study done in India regarding T of sensorineural origin.
Below is the link for the same..
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3271548/

The name of the drug is acamprosate (brand name: Campral)
The study was controlled and double blind with placebo. However(?), the effects were 2good2btrue!!!
One good thing this drug has going for it is it is 1 of the very few drugs which are both NMDA antagonist and GABA agonist (wow!)
Can our team of elite scientists decode the jargon and say if it is legit?
Thank you in advance
Divij

 

[Valentin]

as valuable as the clonazepam deanxit combo...

 

[Steve]

Interesting,

The study looks to be well designed, outcomes are good. The only concern is that there is no mention of how the study was funded, which to me suggests that the drug company funded it. If that is the case it does call into question the results so would really need an independent study.

The main thing now is for the effects to be replicated in other clinical trials. The only other trial is translated here (haven't searched it yet) http://translate.googleusercontent....500012&usg=ALkJrhh3XlzCc5_nyNMfiZDH0PwrVZwxbg

They do say that the best results were for those who had tinnitus for a short time, so maybe the next trial needs to only have people who have had it for a year or more to rule out those who will get better in those early stages, especially with the help of a medical intervention.

It would be interesting to see only the results for those with chronic tinnitus, to see if there was any statistical significance for them. This would certainly give good proof for the drug.

The drug also doesn't appear to be too bad http://www.patient.co.uk/medicine/Acamprosate.htm and http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/alcohol-abuse/medicines/campral-ec.html

Could be positive.

 

[Steve]

as valuable as the clonazepam deanxit combo...

These are highly addictive though and can leave you in a far worse state when you try and withdraw from them. I can't see any references to addiction to acamprosate, not to say there aren't any of course.