Sodium Amylobarbitone
Noting a relationship between drugs that are effective on trigeminal neuralgia and on tinnitus (e.g., carbamazepine), Donaldson (1978) selected this fast-acting barbiturate, known for its effectiveness on trigeminal neuralgia, for a study on tinnitus. Forty patients with tinnitus of varying severity were randomly assigned to the experimental or control groups. Prior to treatment, all patients were assessed audiometrically, were asked to match the pitch and loudness of their tinnitus, and were asked to rate their tinnitus on a four-point scale (from "only noticeable in quiet environments" to "interferes with sleep, and patient engages in some activity to distract attention from it"). The experimental group was then put on a regimen of 50 mg in the morning, 50 mg in the early afternoon, and 80 mg at night; tinnitus was reassessed after 6 and 12 weeks. The drug was withdrawn after 12 weeks, and a final assessment was made at 18 weeks. Apparently the control group received absolutely nothing, but these subjects were reassessed at 6 and 12 (but not 18) weeks. Thus, the study was not "blind,'' and the control group was primarily a control for the passage of time (and for the spontaneous remissions that might occur in that time). Prior to treatment, the majority (70 percent) of both the experimental and control groups matched their tinnitus to frequencies of 400–10,000 Hz, and 78 percent matched to intensities of 20 dB SL or less (in good accord with Reed, 1960). After 12 weeks, the control group changed very little on these measures, but marked changes occurred in the experimental group. Thirteen (of 20) in the experimental group (compared with 2 in the control group) matched to lower intensities—this included 4 subjects for whom the tinnitus was abolished—and many now matched to a lower frequency, a fact that stands unexplained (but was also obtained by Martin and Colman, 1980). Perhaps most important is the fact that, of the 12 experimental subjects who, prior to treatment, rated their tinnitus as being in one of the two most severe categories, only 1 persisted in this rating at the 12-week reassessment. That is, 11 of the 12 most severe cases (92 percent) benefitted from the amylobarbitone regimen, and, for 2 of these, the tinnitus was abolished.
Thus, Donaldson's study provides evidence that sodium amylobarbitone may be quite effective in diminishing the disturbance caused by tinnitus. Its usefulness as a treatment for episodic or chronic tinnitus is somewhat limited by its potential for damaging the liver, but in the (apparently effective) dosage used by Donaldson, no such problems arose. One curious aspect of Donaldson's report is that at the 18-week reassessment—6 weeks after drug usage had ceased—there were "no significant alteration(s)" in the states of the experimental subjects, including no return of tinnitus in the four subjects who had reported it abolished. This implies a reversal of the conditions initially responsible for the tinnitus—an unlikely event—which makes this an outcome requiring verification through further study.
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OTOH there's something hilarious about buying Soviet-bloc downers on eBay, so...
Drugs are bad.
