Gabapentin for Occipital Neuralgia — Should I Try It? Can It Make Tinnitus Worse?

Hi Guys. I've had tinnitus for over 5 years. I have periodic flare-ups where the ringing is loud but then goes back down after a few weeks. I feel fortunate considering the stories I read on this board.

In the last year I developed occipital neuralgia and the neurologist wants me to try Gabapentin.

I have been on antidepressants for 30 years and was on Gabapentin for a while. It was a few months after I stopped Gabapentin that I developed tinnitus.

I have no hearing loss. I feel messed up due to all the meds over the years. Do you think I should get on Gabapentin again?

 

Yes, but next time try to not come off of it cold turkey but doing a slow tapering the same way people do with benzos.

If anything, Gabapentin will only improve your tinnitus while on it.

 

Gabapentin had absolutely zero effect on my tinnitus, but also didn’t really work for the pain. I found Pregabalin much more effective.

Suppose you have to weigh up the risk of taking the med vs. the impact the nerve pain is having on your life and try to figure out if it’s worth it. For me personally, with the level of pain I’m in, it was a bit of a no brainier.

 

What kind of nerve pain do you experience?

 

Lots of different opinions. I have really bad sciatica that I’ve had for years that goes right down to my foot when it gets bad. This is on top of this new pain in my pelvis caused from an infection I got after IUD removal. I’m still undergoing tests, but from the pain distribution I’m guessing femoral/genitofemoral nerve is involved, possibly ilioinguinal nerve too. They want me to get an MRI, but obviously, my ears are an issue...

 

I have a prescription that I am hesitant to take. My tinnitus is more of a hissing sound and it seems like anything I take increases the hissing, which is frustrating. Lorazepam doesn't have that effect, but I don't want to rely on benzodiazepines all the time. I really like Hydroxyzine. It helps me sleep and calms me down, but it worsens my tinnitus on bad days. I would need Gabapentin for sleep, but I'm not sure how effective it would be.

 

I take 200 mg Gabapentin when I really need to sleep, probably once every couple of weeks. It’s great, puts me down for the night. I haven’t noticed any impact on my tinnitus.

 

@garywi, did you end up trying Gabapentin? How did it go?