Anyone Try Nortriptyline?

Carlos1

Member
Author
Benefactor
Dec 5, 2013
588
Boston
Tinnitus Since
08/2013
Cause of Tinnitus
Root Canal
I've been on Remeron for about 6 months. My doctor wants to put me on Nortriptyline... Has anybody tried this medication lately and what are your thoughts.

Thanks.
 
Yes. I tried a few doses and had a bad reaction unfortunately. i had early morning tremors in my body in semi sleep state shortly after starting this drug. And when i stoped it, i had a nasty spike in my tinnitus for which i had to slowly taper off this drug( i only took 2-3 doses before so dont know how i developed dependence). No effects in T for me while on this drug so its not for me
 
I have been taking notripltyline for about a month (25mg to start, now up to 50 mg), and it seems to be working very well for me. I am also taking lipoflavenoid, celexa, and clonazapam. I think the notripltyline has definitely helped with my ringing, especially going from 25 to 50 mg.
 
@Johnster Are you still taking nortriptyline?? Is it still helping?? Thank you. My doctor suggested this medication. One 10mg at bedtime for inflammation of the nerves.
 
Didnt like the way I felt and had occular migraine so I take xanax .05 three time a day and it seems to reduce T and anxiety..
 
This thread really shows how people with the same condition can react differently to the same medication. One size does not fit all. Thanks to all for the feedback.
 
My DR. told me to go back on the Nortrypiline and take 25 mg befor bed and it is helping me now.....
 
Nortriptyline is a tricyclic antidepressant which is relatively specific to the norpinephrine neurotransmitter. It can also help with insomnia. It does not 'calm nerves' and tinnitus is not due to 'inflamed nerves'. Anxiety and/or depression will amplify the perception of tinnitus and so medications that address these will reduce the perceived volume and intrusiveness. None of these medications treats tinnitus. The best medication is the one you can tolerate and provides the required benefit.
 
@Dr. Ancill,
I take venlafaxine and put on nortryptaline to help sleep and as my tinnitus is cronic in both ears .
My doctor said it will help with missfireing nerves .
I have Menieres and 50% high frequency hearing loss in both ears .
Had it upped tonight to 50mg for sleep after he stopped zolpidem ...lots of love glynis


...lots of love glynis

Medications
Drugs can't cure tinnitus, but in some cases they may help reduce the severity of symptoms or complications. Possible medications include:

  • Tricyclic antidepressants, such as amitriptyline and nortriptyline, have been used with some success. However, these medications are generally used for only severe tinnitus, as they can cause troublesome side effects, including dry mouth, blurred vision, constipation and heart problems.
  • Alprazolam (Niravam, Xanax) may help reduce tinnitus symptoms, but side effects can include drowsiness and nausea. It can also become habit-forming
 
It's been 3 weeks on Nortryptaline and up to 50mg.
I'm finally sleeping well and my tinnitus has settled down ....lots of love glynis
 
I was on 25 mg nortripiline for 5 weeks and didnt seem to effect me one way or the other so I discontinued. Still taking .5 xanax 10 AM and 4 Pm. and that seems to relax me. Pretty much have habituated to T so plan on weaning off xanax in the near future.
 
Yes I think so,time will tell if it has gone back to what I'm use too.
Come down with a nasty cold and runny nose so hope ears behave..lots of love glynis
 
It's been 3 weeks on Nortryptaline and up to 50mg.
I'm finally sleeping well and my tinnitus has settled down ....lots of love glynis

Hi Glynis,
Do you take Amitriptyline and Nortriptyline? Thought I saw posts where you mention both these drugs, I am searching for answers and my next move.
Wish you the best
John
 
Yes and it did nothing for my T. In fact it may have made my ear disorder worse. I was prescribed it for migraines, which were thought to be affecting my inner ear. No positive effects whatsoever, just negative withdrawal effects.

I believe it is a little bit of a 'hit or miss' drug when it comes to T or other ear issues.
 
I was on it years ago. I gained a lot of of weight on that drug and it didn't do anything positive for me otherwise.
 
Hm, I've been on both amitriptyline and nortriptyline.
Nortriptyline may also have a sleep-improving effect due to its affinity for 5HT2A and histaminergic receptors In the short term; however, nortriptyline may disturb sleep due to its activating effect. However, even at the start amitriptyline was great for sleep, but nether did anything for my tinnitus sadly.

But there are studies which say otherwise-



"Nortriptyline (Aventyl®) is tricyclic antidepressant that is also used to treat chronic fatigue, migraine and chronic pain (193196). Its primary mode of action is to inhibit the reuptake of norepinephrine and, to a lesser extent, 5-HT. Nortriptyline also blocks muscarinic and 5-HT receptors. In a small, single-blind, placebo-washout study involving patients with severe tinnitus and major depression, nortriptyline significantly reduced depression and tinnitus loudness (10-dB reduction) (197). In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, follow-up study involving subjects with severe tinnitus and severe depression or depressive symptoms, nortriptyline significantly reduced depression scores, tinnitus disability scores and tinnitus loudness (6.4-dB reduction) relative to placebo (198). There was a significant correlation between the reduction in tinnitus disability scores and depression scores (199). These results suggest that nortriptyline is effective in reducing tinnitus loudness and severity in severely depressed tinnitus patients, but has less benefit in nondepressed individuals. Intervention: Nortriptyline (maintained at 50 to 150 mg/mL for 6 weeks) or placebo.



"Efficacy of amitriptyline in the treatment of subjective tinnitus.
Bayar N1, Böke B, Turan E, Belgin E.
Author information

Abstract
We investigated the effect of amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant, on patients with subjective tinnitus. The study group consisted of 37 adult patients admitted to the Ear, Nose, and Throat and Audiology Department of Hacettepe University. The amitriptyline group consisted of 20 patients and the placebo group consisted of 17 patients. All of the patients were evaluated using a questionnaire, audiologic evaluation, high-frequency audiometry, impedancemetric tests, auditory brainstem response, tinnitus frequency, and loudness matching assessed by audiometric methods at the beginning and end of the study. The patients in the amitriptyline group received 50 mg/day amitriptyline in the first week and 100 mg/day for the following 5 weeks. In the placebo group, the patients received tablets consisting of lactose starch for 6 weeks, with a dosage of 1 tablet/day. The subjective complaints of the patients in the amitriptyline group decreased, and the "present" symptoms resulted in fewer complaints. The severity of tinnitus decreased in the amitriptyline group by means of subjective and audiometric methods. In the placebo group, no significant change was observed. The success of treatment was 95% in the amitriptyline group and 12% in the placebo group. Amitriptyline therapy was concluded to be effective."
 
Hi Glynis,
Do you take Amitriptyline and Nortriptyline? Thought I saw posts where you mention both these drugs, I am searching for answers and my next move.
Wish you the best
John
Venlafaxine and nortryptaline...lots of love glynis
 
This thread really shows how people with the same condition can react differently to the same medication. One size does not fit all. Thanks to all for the feedback.
I think it also greatly depends on the cause. It would be really helpful if people who haven't put it in their profile say specifically what the cause of their T is if known.
 
I think it also greatly depends on the cause. It would be really helpful if people who haven't put it in their profile say specifically what the cause of their T is if known.

I completely agree. Is there a chart on here for the cause of the tinnitus and then solutions people have found for that type of T?
 
Thought I should share my current experience with the med.

Went get my hearing checked because of sudden onset of tinnitus and was rfd to a Neurologist because ears are fine but also having severe migranes and vertigo. I delayed starting on N. because of fear of the side effects but began on 25mg nightly about 6 weeks ago. I now have HOPE because this drug can fix Tmj which may be the underlying cause of my T.

Within the first week my migranes are 90% gone. at the end of week 2 I had the strangest sensation of my right jaw muscles slightly clicking then suddenly relaxing and my right jaw seemed to drop down slightly. It was a pleasant sensation like a relief. I thought cool, maybe my left jaw will drop too! Sure enough that night when I put my nightguard in my mouth my jaw was definately lower on the right side. The next few weeks the ringing volume seemed to vary a lot and I feared it was getting louder overall. Tonight i heard a tiny little clicking or popping sound inside my left ear and then PRESTO no tinnitus sound no ringing for about 5 minutes!!!!!

I was tinnitus FREE for a few precious minutes. My Dr. Said three months should provide the answer to whether this drug will cure me of tinnitus. It has cured my migranes.

Keep the faith and find out if you have tmj because supposedly this med cures about 30% of people with T. If the root cause was tmj.
 
Thought I should share my current experience with the med.

Went get my hearing checked because of sudden onset of tinnitus and was rfd to a Neurologist because ears are fine but also having severe migranes and vertigo. I delayed starting on N. because of fear of the side effects but began on 25mg nightly about 6 weeks ago. I now have HOPE because this drug can fix Tmj which may be the underlying cause of my T.

Within the first week my migranes are 90% gone. at the end of week 2 I had the strangest sensation of my right jaw muscles slightly clicking then suddenly relaxing and my right jaw seemed to drop down slightly. It was a pleasant sensation like a relief. I thought cool, maybe my left jaw will drop too! Sure enough that night when I put my nightguard in my mouth my jaw was definately lower on the right side. The next few weeks the ringing volume seemed to vary a lot and I feared it was getting louder overall. Tonight i heard a tiny little clicking or popping sound inside my left ear and then PRESTO no tinnitus sound no ringing for about 5 minutes!!!!!

I was tinnitus FREE for a few precious minutes. My Dr. Said three months should provide the answer to whether this drug will cure me of tinnitus. It has cured my migranes.

Keep the faith and find out if you have tmj because supposedly this med cures about 30% of people with T. If the root cause was tmj.


How are you doing now? I also have TMJ and desperate for a cure to get rid of my T.
 
I wanted to ask about people's experiences of nortriptyline

I have heard sometimes people are put on this for tinnitus, though it's not clear whether the intention is to help the tinnitus via treating any reactive depression. Possibly not as for actual depression other drugs tend to be used

Did anyone find this made their tinnitus worse - or that their tinnitus got better when they came off it?

I actually wondered if it was possible than in some cases it could worsen tinnitus as I see this is the case for amitriptyline which is a very similar drug

I was put on nortriptyline a few years ago for a constant headache, for which it worked well. However it had all sorts of other bad effects on me one of which was to raise my resting heart rate from 60 to 100 bpm. I had noticed on some days I forgot to take the noritryptyline the tinnitus rather seemed a bit better

I do actually wonder if in some people this drug can have a bad effect on the nervous system rather than a good one and I guess in theory that might effect tinnitus.
 
The leaflet in my pack of nortriptyline does not mention worsening tinnitus, but I see that tinnitus is actually listed as one of the main side effects on the Wikipedia page for nortriptyline

"Side effects[edit]
The most common side effects include dry mouth, sedation, constipation, increased appetite, blurred vision and tinnitus.[2][5] An occasional side effect is a rapid or irregular heartbeat. Alcohol may exacerbate some of its side effects.[2]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nortriptyline

The reference wikipedia used for this is here

https://www.ebs.tga.gov.au/ebs/picm...t&id=CP-2016-PI-02638-1&d=2017110216114622483
 
The leaflet in my pack of nortriptyline does not mention worsening tinnitus, but I see that tinnitus is actually listed as one of the main side effects on the Wikipedia page for nortriptyline

"Side effects[edit]
The most common side effects include dry mouth, sedation, constipation, increased appetite, blurred vision and tinnitus.[2][5] An occasional side effect is a rapid or irregular heartbeat. Alcohol may exacerbate some of its side effects.[2]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nortriptyline

The reference wikipedia used for this is here

https://www.ebs.tga.gov.au/ebs/picm...t&id=CP-2016-PI-02638-1&d=2017110216114622483
did u end up taking the nortriplyine?
 

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