Looking for Help: Severe Anxiety and Depression — Safe Medicines to Take?

Hi my names Greg and I’m 32. I’m a recovering alcoholic of 10 years. I’m currently 60 days sober. I have had tinnitus for about 5 years now but only noticed it at night. I’ve been too a lot of music concerts and loud headphones. Since I’ve quit drinking though I noticed my tinnitus has increased to the point that I can’t stop hearing and it bothers me a lot.

But I have a question. I’m severely depressed and have extreme anxiety. What would be a good antidepressant that does not exacerbate the tinnitus even more? Any vitamins that can help lower the volume or get my mind off it?

 

Well done on 60 days... This is the hard part, so you're sure to feel depressed and the stress might make your tinnitus more intrusive.

I don't know about antidepressants, you need to search through the threads and find a list of drugs that are not ototoxic, bad for your ears. I did that once and never saw a doctor. Definitely do your research and do meds under the supervision of a competent and caring professional. I self medicated for a while and got off as well... not cool.

Vitamins... people speak of turmeric, curcumin... I want to try these...
Magnesium... and of course the Vitamin B family is a good idea if you're off the juice...

Diet is wicked important and so is exercise, I wish I had cleaned up at your age... so don't give up.

I hope these are ideas are useful... reach out and get some help if you're worried about relapsing and with your tinnitus. Your tinnitus might soften by protecting your ears and not going to bars and gigs... and as your stress levels reduce... hang in there.

 

Hello Greg !

I am really sorry that you feel this way...

Same as you I had severe depression and always had some anxiety troubles since I was a kid...

I am taking the Antidepressant "Escitalopram" at 20mg once a day (morning) and it helped me a lot !

Also some "Quetiapin" at 50mg for the anxiety, also helping me a lot !

I hope this could help you and I recommend you to talk about it with a psychiatrist...

All the Best !

Christophe

 

Quetiapine aka Seroquel is ototoxic though. I take Agomelatine or Valdoxan.

 

Hi all,

Bringing this post back to the top as I have the identical question to the original poster.

I've had a very rocky road re my tinnitus being initially brought on by Voltaren/Ibuprofen 25 years ago and then have experienced several very unpleasant and permanent spikes brought on by Zoloft (antidepressant SSRI) and also by an ototoxic antibiotic.

I am suffering extreme anxiety and depression currently and seeing a psychiatrist who says I need meds to get better.

I have been pushing back very strongly as the fear of increasing my tinnitus again is huge.

I have been exhaustively searching the Web and Tinnitus Talk and there seems to be risks with everything.

Mirtazapine is sometimes recommended on this site, but of course others state it brought on tinnitus.

 

I was on Mirtazapine for over a year with no positive effects, I only felt worse. I started getting better after I started supplementing with high doses of Inositol, I actually read about it on Tinnitus Talk. It really made me feel better and I managed to get off Mirtazapine. There is also a number of other supplements I'm using, which also help.

What I've learned, I never listed to big pharma shrinks anymore, they don't act in my interests. I suggest finding a doctor who is open minded about supplements, particularly about selecting the right supplements for you to replicate the working of an antidepressant. It's possible and it is safe. You just need to find the true doctor who knows all this.

 

Hello Greg. Well it's 64th day, isn't? Well done.

I'm sorry you feel that way about your tinnitus. My recommendation is to play some classical music once a day and stay away from all stress. Eat only healthy food and exercise. When you do exercise, you will feel less depressed and loving life as it releases serotonin and endorphins in your body. Stay well.

 

Has Inositol helped with anxiety, depression and insomnia?

Does it improve your tinnitus?

 

No effect on tinnitus as such, but definitely helped me with anxiety and to wean off Mirtazapine.