Gabapentin (Neurontin)

No I don't have any hyperacusis/noxacusis, I can't do any statement about that.

 

What's the consensus, is Gabapentin ototoxic?

I have a prescription for it and I want to try it as my tinnitus is noise induced.

I am concerned about ototoxicity because I am a month into tinnitus and I want to give my ears the best environment to regenerate if possible.

 

No it doesn't cause damage to the inner ear. Only a few drugs can.

 

There are some case reports published and some users on Tinnitus Talk that claim their tinnitus was caused by Gabapentin. What do you think about those?

 

I think very little of case reports in general. If you have tinnitus, then Gabapentin cannot cause it!

 

I have one good ear left

Thank you!

 

@Nick47, I wanted your thoughts on this. I am currently trialing Gabapentin 100 mg 2x/day. I take the first one with my 0.5 mg Ativan late morning, then the next one with my 0.25 mg Ativan in the evening.

Starting low and slow, but is it pretty much expected that I won't really experience any change or improvement at this dosage level, even when taken with a small amount of Ativan?

 

Hi @ErikaS, I don't know. You will have to see. I sometimes combine Gabapentin with 2 mg of Diazepam. Have you recently added the morning dose of Lorazepam?

 

I have been taking 0.75mg of Ativan a day since mid to late April. The awful setback from going to Mexico and then the Flexeril setback shortly after really left me no choice with my mental state and not wanting to go on an SSRI. I keep being told “this is still a very low daily dose” but I know many here would have a strong opinion about it. At the end of the day, I’m just trying to survive, and dare I even attempt, to function a little more normally.

 

It is a low dose. Given Lorazepam has a short half life, you may be better taking Clonazepam, which lasts much longer, so you could take once a day?

 

A couple of weeks ago, I got a prescription for 0.5 mg Ativan (lorazepam) to take as needed for anxiety. I have limited myself to one dose every three days so far to avoid tolerance and dependency. It seems pretty mild, but I think it has helped some when I've taken it early morning for high anxiety.

 

My psychiatrist said that would be our next move, switching from Ativan to Clonazepam if I find no relief from my current set up.

However, I will say yesterday was my busiest auditory day in over 2 weeks. I drove in a car 4 times (short distances), was around my niece and nephew for a short time, took my dog to in-laws to run around outside, then talked on phone in the evening for a short time. I woke up this morning hearing the wrath of that, so got up and took 0.5 mg Ativan and 100 mg Gabapentin and dozed off on the couch. I woke up and my ears were much quieter. I feel like those who try Gabapentin, especially starting at lower doses and working way up, should give it at least 1-2 weeks to really see its potential. When you Google Gabapentin for nerve pain, it says it can take up to 3 weeks or more for full potential.

 

For the past 30 minutes I've had on and off fleeting tinnitus in my right ear, around 2900 Hz. My ear has the fullness feeling that fleeting tinnitus creates but it won't go away. It seems to be switching in between ears at times.

Now wondering if Gabapentin is a no go?

 

Based on soon to be 10 years of experience, having tried all the meds in the world it seems, I would be more worried about the benzo.

It is probably not what you want to hear. But I have to say it.

 

I have been on a small dose of Ativan for a year now (unfortunately). Never had any bad side effect from it. The fleeting tinnitus started shortly after starting the Gabapentin, it was so short I didn't think anything of it, but it has become more frequent in the last 3 days and then with this episode it stuck around. Not going to take my bedtime dose of Gabapentin.

I took NAC, Vitamin A, C, and E, Magnesium L-Threonate, Glutathione, and Zinc with dinner.

 

Yes, possibly. Does Flupentixol concern you as much?

 

Hey, have you ever tried Clomipramine? What is your opinion about it?

 

No, but I get extremely restless from it now.

It was the first med I ever tried, back in 1994. It helped my depression.

I´ve been taking 300 mg Gabapentin for 5-6 days now.

Today my tinnitus is GONE!

Noxacusis about 60-70% better.

Shame that one seems to become tolerant to it so quickly (again, my source is drugs.com).

 

Back in 1994 you did not have noxacusis, right?

If Tegretol (sodium channel blocker) improved your noxacusis by 70-80 percent, and Gabapentin (reduces activity of a calcium channel subset) improved it by 60-70 percent, I'm really curious what would happen if you were to take both these drugs simultaneously. People have reported improvements on their noxacusis symptoms with drugs that act on calcium (Sibelium, Lyrica, Keppra) or sodium (Ambroxol) channels.

If my doctor was more cooperative, I'd try such a combination in a heartbeat.

 

Right!

Except for the fact that Tegretol is partially a GABA agonist. To me, that screams trouble.

Also the interaction problems I've mentioned before.

Gabapentin and Trileptal are interesting though.

Anyway, I think this benzo withdrawal is going to kill me. Never felt worse.

 

I was diagnosed with tinnitus in 2009, and pulsatile tinnitus in 2022. I was prescribed Gabapentin for recovery of appendectomy in 2022 which caused my tinnitus to become much louder and I believe brought on pulsatile tinnitus months later. I do not recommend Gabapentin for treating tinnitus or pulsatile tinnitus.

 

May I ask what was your dosage?

 

Hey, how are you doing now?

Still experience the same tinnitus & hyperacusis alleviating effects?

 

Gabapentin is only recommended for tinnitus caused by acoustic trauma, as evidenced in the literature.

 

I have a friend who recovered from two acoustic traumas and was given NSAIDs intravenously, which gave him noxacusis and a 15/10 tinnitus with electrical brainstorms. He says he took Gabapentin a few times, the first few times it didn't work, but after a while it dropped his 15/10 tinnitus to a 6/10, while also taking away some of the pain.

But he started getting visual snow on it...

 

Gabapentin is ototoxic. I just hope after I'm off it in a couple of weeks, my hearing goes back to the way it was and this horrible hissing goes away. The pharmacist said it will do so after I'm off the Gabapentin.

 

I have found some anecdotal horror stories with Gabapentin. I'll post the official warnings about it below. Basically, apart from what these links say, it also can cause sudden death without the user overdosing on it. Doing a Google search will yield with some anecdotes. Be careful with this drug and don't mix it with other drugs!

• FDA warns about serious breathing problems with seizure and nerve pain medicines gabapentin (Neurontin, Gralise, Horizant) and pregabalin (Lyrica, Lyrica CR)
  
  
• Gabapentin: The most dangerous drug in America?
  
  
• Gabapentin-related Deaths: Patterns of Abuse and Postmortem Levels

 

OK, so did he stop taking Gabapentin immediately after getting visual snow? Did the visual snow go away, and did the tinnitus return to the previous baseline?

Looks like one thing to keep in mind is not to take very large doses of Gabapentin per the link above.

 

Don't touch alcohol if you're worried about Gabapentin. Jeez guys.

 

He said his visual snow got better, but it is still there (he didn't get the full Visual Snow Syndrome), BUT his tinnitus returned to the baseline after he stopped taking it and after he reinstated, it didn't work at all anymore.

What's funny with Gabapentin is, it is given to VSS/HPPD patients and sometimes it takes all their visual symptoms away. But at other times, with healthy patients, it causes visual snow (syndrome) itself.