Study Suggests Serotonin May Worsen Tinnitus

I actively use the SSRI antidepressant to adapt to tinnitus. Like many in our country. Very often psychiatrists appoint Fluoxetine, Escitalopram. Less often to Cymbalta, and also for some reason neuroleptics such as quetiapine (?).

All would be fine, but I came across this research. In which it is said that SSRIs can worsen tinnitus. How then to be? What do you think about it?
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319077.php
 
This seems to be the case for most (all?) tinnitus treatments (e.g., rTMS, HBOT, etc.): some people end up with louder tinnitus...
There is evidence that amitriptyline can be used to Treat tinnitus.
"The subjective complaints of the patients in the amitriptyline group decreased, and the "present" symptoms
resulted in fewer complaints. The severity of tinnitus decreased in the amitriptyline group by means of subjective and audio-
metric methods. In the placebo group, no significant change was observed. The success of treatment was 95% in the
amitriptyline group and 12% in the placebo group. Amitriptyline therapy was concluded to be effective."


As is true for most T treatments (e.g., rTMS, HBOT, etc.) some people end up with louder tinnitus...

My guess is that the benefits (ability to sleep with a high probability, and possibly even fading T [although 10mg is lower than the dosage used to treat T]) outweigh the cost (very small probability of T getting worse). But you are right, there are reports like
http://journals.sagepub.com.sci-hub.io/doi/abs/10.1177/0269881107082126
(note that the authors make it clear that the case they are describing is unusual)
 
If you took those drugs and didn't get a spike, hopefully you don't need to worry about this drug causing T to spike (unless you change the dosage).
 
Typical... I just got my first dose of melatonin from the doc yesterday... It's going in the bin now...
 
Weird how this study came out a few days after I cold turkey quit the starter dose (50mg) of sertraline because it was amplifying my tinnitus by insane levels. I've been off it for a couple of weeks now and my tinnitus seems to be back to baseline however my it screwed so much with my sleeping schedule that I am still trying to fix that.

@Rune B Melatonin is an odd one for me. Some days I wake up after taking it with insanely loud tinnitus but other days after waking up taking it, my tinnitus is super low and this isn't because my tinnitus fluctuates so much, I attribute it directly to the melatonin. I usually take between 2-5mg but I've switched over to another brand recently which includes a blend of other stuff including 3mg melatonin.
 
Ah... Sorry read that a little too fast... melatonin... serotonin... different stuff indeed ;)

Well, melatonin is the precursor to serotonin -- so they have that relationship, at least.

I wonder if it's a logical hypothesis to suggest that if blocking serotonin uptake increases tinnitus, that reducing serotonin levels thereby lowers it?
 
Well, melatonin is the precursor to serotonin -- so they have that relationship, at least.

I wonder if it's a logical hypothesis to suggest that if blocking serotonin uptake increases tinnitus, that reducing serotonin levels thereby lowers it?
But there are clinical trials that find that melatonin actually can lower tinnitus.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21859051
 
This study does not really prove anything except give the researches a hypothesis based upon mouse models. The problem with AD medications and Tinnitus is the millions of people on these type of drugs. How many of these people went to a concert or are on other medications and just started their AD medications?! With 60,000 people in America each year having sudden hearing loss and even more having tinnitus onset, its very difficult to prove a casual link.
 
This seems right to me because I was on an anti-depressant called sertraline which is based on the seratonin pathways and it made my tinnitus worse. My tinnitus was caused by damage to my cochlea by head collision, I lost hearing in one ear and tinnitus started.
 
This seems right to me because I was on an anti-depressant called sertraline which is based on the seratonin pathways and it made my tinnitus worse. My tinnitus was caused by damage to my cochlea by head collision, I lost hearing in one ear and tinnitus started.

Is that MuteButton you've got? Did it ever go for sale in Ireland? Any good?
 
My tinnitus was nearly always effected negatively by antidepressants, even Valium makes it worse, melatonin has either at least no effect or tones down some spikes, it definately makes me sleep easier and I have visual dreams every night on it which is cool :)
 
I've been on an SSRI for a few years since developing T and it helped me a lot. I didn't have any increase but instead probably diminished since it took my mind off it. Wellbutrin I tried for a week and that on the other hand made a noticeable increase in my T.
 
Is that MuteButton you've got? Did it ever go for sale in Ireland? Any good?

I was on the trial. It won't be for sale until 2018 I think. It reduced my tinnitus slightly. It seemed to work best when I used it before bed and then when I woke up during the night it had reduced. I wish I had it a bit longer than 12 weeks.
 
I still do not understand if SSRI is harmful to tinnitus. I have been taking SSRIs escitalopram for the fifth month already. Someone applied it? How did it affect your ringing?
 
I was on the trial. It won't be for sale until 2018 I think. It reduced my tinnitus slightly. It seemed to work best when I used it before bed and then when I woke up during the night it had reduced. I wish I had it a bit longer than 12 weeks.

That looks like a PoNS (Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator) device. I believe you can purchase them now for use in modulation of brain plasticity. They stimulate the trigeminal nerve to act on neurons in the brain.

What sort of tones are played through the headphones? If you could replicate the tones, this is a therapy that you may be able to knock up in a DIY version at home.
 
I'd been on Sertraline for years and I'd come off of it for about 5 months before the tinnitus started. I'm now back on it in the hope it'll help with my anxiety over developing tinnitus. The greater my anxiety the greater/more noticeable my tinnitus, the greater the tinnitus the greater my anxiety. Its not the tinnitus thats bugging me so much its the anxiety in many ways. I get the feeling if i was very high, tinnitus would feel just fine. Alas you cant be high all the time. Even some of the times isnt great for you.

It's quite irritating though, that given how many people have this and the potential for drug companies et al to make zillions, there still doesn't even seem to be much of a basic understanding of how it works.
 
That looks like a PoNS (Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator) device. I believe you can purchase them now for use in modulation of brain plasticity. They stimulate the trigeminal nerve to act on neurons in the brain.

What sort of tones are played through the headphones? If you could replicate the tones, this is a therapy that you may be able to knock up in a DIY version at home.
Where can a PoNS device be purchased from?
 
Where can a PoNS device be purchased from?

There are a couple of firms that sell these devices. I've never seen one personally in action, but they are being touted for various conditions where modifying brain plasticity may be beneficial.

One company is called Helius, but there are other models available. Really, all they are, are little devices that zap your tongue with a light electrical pulse. I'm not sure I'd be willing to pay big bucks for them, but I guess if they work, money would be a non issue.

The other thing is establishing the kinds of tones you'd need to hear. I wonder if they are similar to ACRN. I'd like to hear people's experiences with them.

https://multiplesclerosisnewstoday....lator-recommended-for-iso-13485-certification

http://www.popsci.com.au/tag/electronic-device
 
There were meant to be positive finding with helius and tinnitus that was to be presented in USA and France, that's all the information there was but I couldn't find these "findings". If you do a quick search on google you'll probably come across where it says that but couldn't find anything else.

http://heliusmedical.com/index.php/...habilition-laboratory-tcnl-using-pons-therapy

Later this month, results from research on Tinnitus suppression using PoNS Therapy and targeted auditory training programs will be presented by Yuri Danilov and co-authors at the International Federation of Oto-Rhino Laryngolocial Society World Congress in Paris on June 27, 2017.

"We continue to discover and investigate new and exciting potential uses for the PoNS Therapy. The latest results are very promising, but will require continued research to understand the physiological changes taking place and to improve the methodology of the intervention," said study author and Research Director of TCNL, Dr. Yuri Danilov.​
 

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