Gabapentin (Neurontin)

From the paper you posted:

I think the highlighted parts in the excerpt gives us the reason why Gabapentin doesn't work as well as Retigabine, it just isn't as powerful as Retigabine at shifting voltages and increasing currents.

 

This is so weird. I've been taking Gabapentin for about 6 or 7 years now as a sleep aid and for neuropathy in my hands. It also used to help w/ my tinnitus, but now I'm not too sure about that.

My tinnitus has been louder than normal lately, but I figured it might be due to seasonal allergies. After closely monitoring it, I think it could actually be due to the Gabapentin. Toward the end of the day, around my bedtime, my tinnitus has been pretty quiet, but tonight, it seemed to amp up not long after taking the Gabapentin. That's when I've noticed it being louder the past several weeks, too.

I found the usual web results of people using it FOR their tinnitus, and then stumbled onto an article where the patient stated it actually caused their tinnitus and mentioned that the PDR lists it as ototoxic. I haven't been able to find any reference to it being ototoxic using the online PDR though.

Has anyone else had issues w/ tinnitus and Gabapentin? I'm linking the article below where the patient says their doctor cited the Gabapentin as being responsible for their tinnitus. There are numerous articles where people say it helped theirs, so I didn't see any need to link those.

→ Veterans Benefits Network: Tinnitus After Taking Gabapentin?

 

Gabapentin certainly didn't cause your tinnitus, as you already had it. It does not cause inner ear damage, which only a few drugs are known to do. Your tinnitus likely just got worse over time, like many people's do.

 

Don't speak in absolutes when it comes to drugs. Only clueless doctors do that.

They can cause adverse and paradoxical reactions, no matter the drug. They could cause the problems they were originally designed to fix.

It all depends on your individual CNS and its current status, your past drug history, or whether your CNS was sensitized or not by the drugs you took in the past, etc...

 

I would have put my money on tolerance!

 

What is your daily dosage? Have you increased it? Does it still work as well as a sleep aid after all those years?

It seems reports I always read say it either helps or doesn't affect tinnitus.

 

Has Gabapentin ever helped anyone with stabbing hyperacusis pain?

 

I was having some of this post-COVID-19 after my ears got super fed by it, and after finding a couple of papers, I jumped up to 600 mg/day for a couple of weeks. This coincided with a reduction in symptoms, but that could be a coincidence.

I've since stopped taking Gabapentin, mostly because I managed to forget to take it for about six days in a row, and when I realized that had happened and also I didn't feel much different, I thought, "Cool, there's one less drug I am using."

I think COVID-19 has some specific audio risks associated with it, and what happens post-COVID-19 may or may not have much to do with other kinds of tinnitus. COVID-19 appears to be able to directly infect cells in the inner ear in a way that other common respiratory viruses do not.

 

Did you ever try Gabapentin? Did it worsen or improve your tinnitus?