Post Your Current Medication / Supplement Stack

[lis]

I had vestibular disease many months before any hearing loss. The panic attacks were from having incapacitating full rotational vertigo attacks (the longest latest 48 hours and I had to be hospitalised for a few).

Ironically, they gave me high dose antibiotics to try to treat the vertigo assuming it was infectious because I was also febrile initially (turned out it was viral) and that's when I lost my hearing. I had already read the Dare book that I recommended earlier in this thread at that point though (and managed to learn to manage my anxiety better as a result) so by the time I did lose hearing I was more practiced (as well as incentivized by trying to save my marriage).

I would say my tinnitus and distortions give me some anxiety but more of a deep chronic, very frequently teary eyed depression (which sucks but as an anxiety sufferer, you know anxiety is worse). I had one severe brief tinnitus spike a few months ago but I just made my friend hug me a lot and cried a bunch and I fought the anxiety spiral with stuff I had practiced from the dare book. It doesn't get rid of anxiety (because bad tinnitus would give anyone anxiety) but stops it from reaching the peaks it otherwise would if that makes sense. I still definitely have some anxiety (and I'm sure it would be worse if my tinnitus was still severe instead of 6/10 like it is now) but it's nowhere as bad as it would be without trying to stay busy and trying to self calm.

My distortions really suck, music especially (any music) sounds like a toy with almost dead batteries. Talking to people on the phone is mentally exhausting and I need captions for TV (which is hard to get invested in anyway because the background music ruins everything). It's not like I have "habituated" or I'm cool with this hell. I think the most useful thing I do is stay busy (both working and researching things). I also have pretty bad visual snow. It just sucks all around but I am determined to put my neuroimmune profile in as favorable of a state as I can.

Reading your response is super helpful because my daily horror of symptoms and the robbery of quality of life sounds similar, and yet, I see how well you're functioning in auditory (and visual) Hell with its unavoidable loads of depression and anxiety. You're definitely coping better and rehabilitating the nervous system by doing meaningful value-adding activities with work, research, and of course being the brilliant go-to guru here for all of us sufferers. I'll incorporate the DARE methods (amidst my ongoing desperations in therapy) to tamper down the panic.

Given you're determined to put your neuroimmune profile in as favorable of a state as possible with supplements/self-calm for good things to come, I am highly curious which of the regenerative treatments/interventions you may be planning to try when they're available?

Contributing to the main topic while I'm at it:
Medication/Supplement Stack
Ginkgo Biloba
Turmeric
NAC
Taurine
Vitamin B12
Magnesium Glycinate
Fish Oil
Probiotics
Clonazepam 0.5mg PRN
Gabapentin 900mg (discontinuued)

 

[GBB]

@GBB, can you tell me what hyperacusis symptoms Keppra and Nortriptyline helped relieve?

Reactivity and the slight pain I had.

 

[FGG]

Reading your response is super helpful because my daily horror of symptoms and the robbery of quality of life sounds similar, and yet, I see how well you're functioning in auditory (and visual) Hell with its unavoidable loads of depression and anxiety. You're definitely coping better and rehabilitating the nervous system by doing meaningful value-adding activities with work, research, and of course being the brilliant go-to guru here for all of us sufferers. I'll incorporate the DARE methods (amidst my ongoing desperations in therapy) to tamper down the panic.

Given you're determined to put your neuroimmune profile in as favorable of a state as possible with supplements/self-calm for good things to come, I am highly curious which of the regenerative treatments/interventions you may be planning to try when they're available?

Contributing to the main topic while I'm at it:
Medication/Supplement Stack
Ginkgo Biloba
Turmeric
NAC
Taurine
Vitamin B12
Magnesium Glycinate
Fish Oil
Probiotics
Clonazepam 0.5mg PRN
Gabapentin 900mg (discontinuued)

I will definitely try both FX-322 and OTO-413 when they come out. I would probably give Ebselen a go, too, but anything systemic, I want to wait to see if it affects people with visual snow adversely first as mine is already bad. If nothing helps (because high dose, prolonged Azithromycin not only kills hair cells it also destroys the Na/K channels in the stria), I'm not sure what to live for. I have no family (my father would have been very understanding but he passed away years ago), no kids, my husband left. No career. I'm not saying I will survive this in that case but I want to give myself the best shot at it.

I should add though that one huge advantage I had even when my tinnitus was so loud only a hair dryer next to my ear could mask it was that I'm borderline narcoleptic when I'm super tired.

What I mean is my body just shuts off, and I can be sound asleep in seconds no matter how loud the noise or what else is going on. I even fell sound asleep at a concert once. I can't at all drive when I am tired either.

Anyway, I have no doubt getting good sleep was helpful in getting my neurotransmitters to a better state (I'm still extremely depressed but not nearly as highly anxious) and I think that might be part of why my tinnitus was reduced to moderate from severe (though acute tinnitus sometimes does that on its own, mine went from mild to severe, then to moderate where it stayed). In that sense i knew I had some daily escape.

I wish there was a better sleep aid for tinnitus sufferers who don't have my sleep physiology. I was reading on another thread that some people have had good luck with Dayvigo.

 

[MindOverMatter]

@GBB, or anyone else who tried Keepra for that matter:

Is it likely that the reactivity, which I believe is a subset of hyperacusis, will be back as soon as Keppra is discontinued? Or is it possible it can lead to permanent change, for the better, after "treatment" with Keppra?

What are the most common side effects? And for how long is it safe to use it?

 

[Aaron91]

My shroom dude just came through so am going to be trying .1g Psilocybin, .5g Lion's Mane, and .5g Niacin today.

Have you had any results with this so far?

 

[__nico__]

My shroom dude just came through so am going to be trying .1g Psilocybin, .5g Lion's Mane, and .5g Niacin today.

Dude. Please report if you've got any benefits from this so far.

 

[DingDong]

My shroom dude just came through so am going to be trying .1g Psilocybin, .5g Lion's Mane, and .5g Niacin today.

How long will you be trying this?

 

[GBB]

@GBB, or anyone else who tried Keepra for that matter:

Is it likely that the reactivity, which I believe is a subset of hyperacusis, will be back as soon as Keppra is discontinued? Or is it possible it can lead to permanent change, for the better, after "treatment" with Keppra?

What are the most common side effects? And for how long is it safe to use it?

I wish I had an answer for you but I'm not omniscient. This is all trial and error.

How long will you be trying this?

I'll take the Psilocybin as long as the dosage lasts and I don't experience adverse events. If I dose at 100mg and buy 2g, and take it every other day, let's say 40 days. My friend flaked again so still waiting. I can't drive so it's tough.

 

[Aquaticon]

I wish I had an answer for you but I'm not omniscient. This is all trial and error.

I'll take the Psilocybin as long as the dosage lasts and I don't experience adverse events. If I dose at 100mg and buy 2g, and take it every other day, let's say 40 days. My friend flaked again so still waiting. I can't drive so it's tough.

Were you ever able to try this? I was curious about the effects shrooms might have as well.

 

[GBB]

Were you ever able to try this? I was curious about the effects shrooms might have as well.

My friend actually flaked on me so am looking elsewhere for a hookup. I'm still planning on trying hut getting stuff during COVID-19 when I can't drive due to my ears is tough.

 

[Zugzug]

My friend actually flaked on me so am looking elsewhere for a hookup. I'm still planning on trying hut getting stuff during COVID-19 when I can't drive due to my ears is tough.

Have you ever tripped before?

 

[GBB]

Have you ever tripped before?

No but I am planning on 200mg every couple of days as opposed to 5g.

 

[Zugzug]

No but I am planning on 200mg every couple of days as opposed to 5g.

Okay. FYI, if you are prone to panic attacks, I recommend being with someone who will keep things light. Shrooms are much more than hallucinations. I did not enjoy them at all, although it was unbelievable when the sink was breathing.

 

[Jcmc]

I wish there was a better sleep aid for tinnitus sufferers who don't have my sleep physiology. I was reading on another thread that some people have had good luck with Dayvigo.

Dayvigo is good for long term?

 

[FGG]

Dayvigo is good for long term?

I have no personal experience with it but some people report good things on the Dayvigo thread.

 

[linearb]

I wish there was a better sleep aid for tinnitus sufferers who don't have my sleep physiology. I was reading on another thread that some people have had good luck with Dayvigo.

I don't know the legal status where you are, but have you experimented with cannabis? A number of people I know have resolved long standing sleep issues with nearly sub-psychoactive doses of THC.

A friend who lives in SF, who really doesn't like pot at all, takes mints that are, I believe, 2.5mg of THC and says it has improved his sleep onset time and quality amazingly. (For comparison, 15-20mg might be a normal psychoactive dose for someone without much tolerance, and I personally can trivially eat 250mg and be fine).

I've found that cannabis, as a sleep aid, is more effective for me than anything else, OTC, prescription, illicit, etc. An amusing and slightly terrifying aside to this: I know from doing both withdrawals, that THC will absolutely let me get through benzo withdrawal end to end and have something resembling normal sleep the whole time, but, conversely, when I withdraw from THC, I just get a solid 2 weeks of intense insomnia that nothing touches, including a benzo.

This doesn't really alarm me, though, because it's the only significant side effect of THC cessation, and, having been through this many times, it's always 4 days of bad sleep, 11-14 days of almost no sleep, and then ZAP, I am back to my normal-but-typically-shitty sleep patterns.

My sleep patterns have been messed up since I was 12 or so, I didn't discover cannabis until I was 18, and any time I cease using it, I fall back into exactly the same kind of broken sleep I had from the ages of 12-18.

Lemborexant (Dayvigo) is an orexin receptor target drug; these things are quite interesting to me but I'm waiting for another 10-20 years of human use data before I'd do more than get my toes wet. Messing with this specific ligand is a very new idea.

EDIT: weed can absolutely spike the shit out of my tinnitus but it generally doesn't unless I take a substantial dose with no tolerance, and, to the extent that routine nightly doses spike my ringing, I don't notice it because I sleep in a silent room where basically all I can hear is the tinnitus anyway, and the positive effects on sleep outweigh anything that might happen there. Also, it's totally unpredictable, I have had my ears go near-silent a few times after cannabis ingestion, sure wish that was reliable

 

[Tweedleman]

If anyone here's in Canada and looking for shrooms, they are now very easy to obtain here. Quite a few MoM sites have expanded into carrying Psilocybin products. Chocolates, gummies, capsules, as well as the real thing.

 

[GBB]

If anyone here's in Canada and looking for shrooms, they are now very easy to obtain here. Quite a few MoM sites have expanded into carrying Psilocybin products. Chocolates, gummies, capsules, as well as the real thing.

Did the law change? My brother lives in Vancouver and said the same thing.

 

[Tweedleman]

Did the law change? My brother lives in Vancouver and said the same thing.

I don't think so, I think everyone just realized if we've been getting away with sending skunk in the mail for 20 years (vacuum sealed of course) then shrooms are childs play, hahaha.

 

[Matchbox]

Reactivity and the slight pain I had.

Does this also imply distortions on real sounds?

 

[GBB]

Does this also imply distortions on real sounds?

I think it reduced a % of the distortion or reactivity - it used to be an incoming noise would cause me to hear lots of accompanying, not real noise, now that is reduced somewhat, whatever it would be called.

 

[DreiT]

Anyone get a spike with Magnesium? I know it's unusual but I have tried it twice and the tinnitus spiked both times.

 

[tracyNYC]

Anyone get a spike with Magnesium? I know it's unusual but I have tried it twice and the tinnitus spiked both times.

Yes, I tried Magnesium Glycinate a few times and gave up after spiking. I wanted so bad to use it for sleep.

 

[DreiT]

Yes, I tried Magnesium Glycinate a few times and gave up after spiking. I wanted so bad to use it for sleep.

That was the Magnesium I took. I spiked from Magnesium Citrate and Epsom salt baths. I should have learned my lesson and not take Magnesium ever.

Drinking loads of water now to flush it out. I don't even know if that works to get it out of my system.

 

[racedy]

I found Valerian the most useful, and the combination of Valerian + Passionflower + Kava slightly more so.

What form of Valerian are you using? I've only used it in tincture form and I couldn't tell if it was the grain alcohol or the Valerian that helped me sleep. I haven't used it for sleep for over a decade, but am thinking it couldn't hurt.

 

[racedy]

Okay. FYI, if you are prone to panic attacks, I recommend being with someone who will keep things light. Shrooms are much more than hallucinations. I did not enjoy them at all, although it was unbelievable when the sink was breathing.

No but I am planning on 200mg every couple of days as opposed to 5g.

@GBB, microdosing on shrooms is supposed to help?

I agree that you should have someone with you that you absolutely trust, and be in an environment you feel good and safe in. With a small dose like that though, I don't anticipate things getting too weird. I used to get synesthesia on them, so you might want to know how you can perceive sounds differently, but in a really cool way in my book. Mostly I like how they totally changed the way I perceived things, and also how much they would make me laugh at everything, including my own neuroses. I bet it would change my relationship to tinnitus. I have often thought of doing them to address my anxiety, but I don't feel I am mentally prepared for that yet. I haven't seriously considered them for tinnitus until your post. Or ever thought of microdosing.

Good luck and please let us know how it goes.

 

[linearb]

What form of Valerian are you using? I've only used it in tincture form and I couldn't tell if it was the grain alcohol or the Valerian that helped me sleep. I haven't used it for sleep for over a decade, but am thinking it couldn't hurt.

It was tincture, you can get it in Glycerin if you don't want the alcohol.

 

[GBB]

@GBB, microdosing on shrooms is supposed to help?

I agree that you should have someone with you that you absolutely trust, and be in an environment you feel good and safe in. With a small dose like that though, I don't anticipate things getting too weird. I used to get synesthesia on them, so you might want to know how you can perceive sounds differently, but in a really cool way in my book. Mostly I like how they totally changed the way I perceived things, and also how much they would make me laugh at everything, including my own neuroses. I bet it would change my relationship to tinnitus. I have often thought of doing them to address my anxiety, but I don't feel I am mentally prepared for that yet. I haven't seriously considered them for tinnitus until your post. Or ever thought of microdosing.

Good luck and please let us know how it goes.

I haven't been able to get any yet - the guy who was going to help me flaked and I don't leave the house much, but I'm sure I'll try it at some point.

 

[DebInAustralia]

I'm posting everything I currently take as people often ask brands, dosages, frequency, though I do not consider my experience authoritative or anything but my own experimentation. Likewise, I'd like to hear other people's stacks. Hopefully we can learn about new substances this way.

There are many things in my list which have no individual threads, and I'm sure that will be true for others as well, so I submit that this thread has a unique value for discovery of medicines/supplement otherwise unknown to users, that will not be known unless we all post our complete stack.

Basic Info About Me:

Duration of Tinnitus: 5 months
Cause: Noise-induced
Progress: Volume has decreased over time, EEEEE sound has resolved 95% of the time, while low wawawa tones and tss/tch atonal sounds are present. On my best days I can mask with music or ambient noise, and on my worst days unmaskable, debilitating sounds/textures, and trouble working/sleeping.
Trailing One Month Experience: Quieter tinnitus during the day, usually very loud at night. Bad days still interspersed throughout with no clear catalyst. Reactivity is still high e.g. driving cars is a no go.

Medications:

Keppra 500mg 2x per day - Helps with hyperacusis reactivity
Pramipexole .75mg 3x per day - Helps with tinnitus volume
Nortriptyline 25mg 1x per day - Helps with hyperacusis pain
Mirtazapine 30mg 1x per day - Sedative for sleep and appetite stimulation
Xanax .5mg *not daily but as needed, generally 1 per 7-10 days* - Greatly reduces tinnitus volume and intensity

Supplements:
*1x per day unless otherwise noted*

Thorne 2x per day Multi-Vitamin
Doctor's Best CoQ10 - 100mg
Alpha Lipoic Acid - 600mg
Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega - 2150mg Omega-3
Now Foods Acetyl L Carnitine - 500mg
Swanson Astaxanthin - 4mg
Life Extension Cytokine Suppress with EGCG - 300mg EGCG and Mung Bean Extract 240mg
Tru Niagen Nicotinamide Riboside - 300mg
Double Wood Nicotinamide Mononucleotide - 250mg
Nootropic Depot Palmitoylethanolamide - 400mg
Gaia Herbs Kava Root Extract - 150mg Kavalactones *not daily but as needed* - Helps with tinnitus volume and intensity

Discarded due to lack of efficacy or active worsening:

Konftec Laser
Chelated Magnesium
NAC
Lithium Orotate
L-Lysine
Melatonin
Black Seed Oil
Bacopa Extract
Echinacea
Cat's Claw
L-Theanine
L-Citrulline
L-Arginine
Sulphoraphane
Memantine

Me again,

I see you are taking Cytokine Suppress by Life Extension. I have recently ordered that one for my joint pain. Has it had any impact on your tinnitus or hyperacusis?

 

[GBB]

I see you are taking Cytokine Suppress by Life Extension. I have recently ordered that one for my joint pain. Has it had any impact on your tinnitus or hyperacusis?

In combination with Palmitoylethanolamide it seems to help both a smidge. It definitely doesn't spike me or make it worse.