I'm in a Catch-22 Over Using Valium to Help with Alcohol Withdrawal and Not Making Tinnitus Worse

[eric_michaels]

I'm in a real pickle now... I've been battling alcohol for some time. It was an issue before tinnitus, but now it's worse because I use alcohol for the stress and sleep. I get withdrawals if I stop, so it's not good....

Anyway, my problem is this: Valium really helps with alcohol withdrawal, but the downside is, it's listed as an ototoxic drug that can cause tinnitus. Usually I read that only happens during withdrawal (from Valium) after prolonged use - I would only need to take it for 3 or 4 days. However, I'm scared off by seeing Valium listed as ototoxic, and as a drug that can cause tinnitus. So it's a catch-22.

Here is an article on ototoxic drugs:

Ototoxicity: The Hidden Menace - PMC (nih.gov)

Despite these general reservations about using the label 'ototoxic' rather freely, it is clear that several classes of drugs do damage the inner ear.

Toxic effects on the structure of inner ear include ototoxicity resulting from adverse effects on the cochlea, producing hearing loss, and/or the vestibular apparatus, producing vertigo, ataxia, light headedness and other symptoms. Symptoms of ototoxicity vary considerably from drug to drug and person to person. They range from mild imbalance to total incapacitation and from tinnitus to total hearing loss.

So this makes it sound like Valium can cause actual damage. I'd be taking 40 mg a night for 3 nights.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[jjflyman]

I'm no expert in alcohol withdrawal or Valium, But if it were me, there is no way I would ever take anything that is a known ototoxic. No way.

 

[DebInAustralia]

Maybe ask someone on BenzoBuddies.

 

[Nick47]

@eric_michaels, where on earth does it say Diazepam causes damage to hearing? Absolute nonsense. Alcohol might be ototoxic but only very few medications are. Paranoia.

 

[makeyourownluck]

I've been taking Diazepam pretty regularly for the past 4-5 months - no real issues. Occasionally I would have a day where I didn't take it, just so I didn't get addicted.

I was on only on 15 mg daily, but I'm switching to a different muscle relaxer now which is better for long term use.

 

[Nick47]

I was on only on 15 mg daily, but I'm switching to a different muscle relaxer now which is better for long term use.

15 mg is quite a high dose. Can you function on it?

 

[eric_michaels]

@eric_michaels, where on earth does it say Diazepam causes damage to hearing? Absolute nonsense. Alcohol might be ototoxic but only very few medications are. Paranoia.

Plenty of sources say this (1, 2).

This is something you have to pay for, I did last night and read the whole thing. Diazepam is listed as being cochlear-ototoxic:

Drug-Induced Ototoxicity: A Comprehensive Review and Reference Guide

Valium and benzos are listed all over the place as being ototoxic.

15 mg is quite a high dose. Can you function on it?

I would be doing 40-50 mg a night for the withdrawal.

 

[annV]

This is something you have to pay for, I did last night and read the whole thing. Diazepam is listed as being cochlear-ototoxic:

Drug-Induced Ototoxicity: A Comprehensive Review and Reference Guide

Attached free of charge.

 

[Óscar PP]

I'm in a real pickle now... I've been battling alcohol for some time. It was an issue before tinnitus, but now it's worse because I use alcohol for the stress and sleep. I get withdrawals if I stop, so it's not good....

Anyway, my problem is this: Valium really helps with alcohol withdrawal, but the downside is, it's listed as an ototoxic drug that can cause tinnitus. Usually I read that only happens during withdrawal (from Valium) after prolonged use - I would only need to take it for 3 or 4 days. However, I'm scared off by seeing Valium listed as ototoxic, and as a drug that can cause tinnitus. So it's a catch-22.

Here is an article on ototoxic drugs:

Ototoxicity: The Hidden Menace - PMC (nih.gov)

So this makes it sound like Valium can cause actual damage. I'd be taking 40 mg a night for 3 nights.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Doesn't Naltrexone mitigate the withdrawal symptoms? Some people even had improvement of their tinnitus while on Low Dose Naltrexone, so maybe you should give it a thought.

 

[eric_michaels]

Attached free of charge.

Yes, you'll see Diazepam is there.

 

[Ryan Scott]

Attached free of charge.

Trazodone and Diazepam are on the list, you really can't win with tinnitus. I did a fair amount of research in engineering school. You always have to question if the results can be reproduced and the methods used for the evaluation. But it still makes you very skeptical when you see a drug classified as ototoxic on a research paper.

 

[Matchbox]

There's absolutely no credible evidence benzos harm the ear or nerves.

Now they CAN and do cause irreversible (or extremely long term) tinnitus, not through toxicity, but GABA dysregulation that never really gets better due to receptor conformation changes (which are very stable, and very slow to degrade).

There's very little you can do except ride it out, maybe try a GABA antagonist to help wean the receptors into upregulating again, but that's very dangerous and near impossible outside a hospital setting to do (the few studies I saw using it to get over long term benzo withdrawal, there was a lonnnnnng lapse, years... after the patients were absolutely clean of any depressants).

 

[makeyourownluck]

15 mg is quite a high dose. Can you function on it?

To be honest, i don't notice any functional difference. No side effects, just relaxed muscles. Occasionally I'll fall asleep but only when I am tired anyway (usually when I'm trying to meditate before bed).

I seem not to get many side effects from drugs.

 

[Ryan Scott]

There's absolutely no credible evidence benzos harm the ear or nerves.

Now they CAN and do cause irreversible (or extremely long term) tinnitus, not through toxicity, but GABA dysregulation that never really gets better due to receptor conformation changes (which are very stable, and very slow to degrade).

There's very little you can do except ride it out, maybe try a GABA antagonist to help wean the receptors into upregulating again, but that's very dangerous and near impossible outside a hospital setting to do (the few studies I saw using it to get over long term benzo withdrawal, there was a lonnnnnng lapse, years...after the patients were absolutely clean of any depressants).

I'm just going to go ahead and make the assumption that you in fact did not read the research paper attached in the thread because it contradicts what you are saying.

 

[Nick47]

The ones listed as 'A' level of evidence certainly need attention. 'B' are contentious. 'C' level evidence is a handful of patients blaming it for their problems and extremely weak evidence. Vitamin D is on there at grade 'C' evidence.

 

[eric_michaels]

Trazodone and Diazepam are on the list, you really can't win with tinnitus. I did a fair amount of research in engineering school. You always have to question if the results can be reproduced and the methods used for the evaluation. But it still makes you very skeptical when you see a drug classified as ototoxic on a research paper.

Oxazepam is listed as "no" for ototoxicity. I did some further research that supported this.

Klonopin seems to be the most effective, but I don't see it listed here so I didn't risk it.

I got Oxazepam, it's working great.