Tinnitus Caused by SSRI Ototoxicity When Switching from Paxil to Wellbutrin Cold Turkey

[Going_Batty]

Hello. In October 2021 my PCP had me go from Paxil 60 MG to Wellbutrin 300 MG, no decreasing, no increasing, just plain old cold turkey. What a rubbish treatment plan. I got severely sick with many side effects and withdrawal symptoms, but the worst by far was tinnitus. I was on Wellbutrin for only 3-4 days before going back on Paxil to try and reverse the tinnitus. A month later (today) I am somewhat stable, most of the side effects are gone... but the tinnitus seems to be hanging around.

It's just horrible. I am so sorry for you all.

Today I tried acupuncture for the first time, the tinnitus is defiantly quieter.

I also read that if a person must continue the drug causing ototoxicity, perhaps it could be combated with antioxidants? I hadn't heard this before.

I have never had tinnitus before. I don't know WHY my PCP had me make such a harsh jump between SSRIs. I am desperate to get rid of tinnitus, it makes other challenges unbearable.

 

[DimLeb]

@Going_Batty, hello. Sorry to hear about your unfortunate story. It's unbelievable how the medical community can screw up so many people without considering the consequences. It's almost like a sick joke how they disregard tinnitus as a side effect when there is no effective treatment against it.

A lot of people here use antioxidant supplements to help fight it like NAC (N-acetylcysteine), Turmeric, Curcumin, Magnesium, Vitamin D, Zinc, Vitamin A and E etc. I personally concluded that none of it does anything. You can, however, follow a healthy lifestyle, eating foods with those nutrients, exercising regularly and avoiding too much alcohol, sugar, salt and coffee. And always consider risks/benefits ratio if you are to take ototoxic medications like high dose aspirin, antibiotics, etc.

It's good to hear that acupuncture helps though! What technique did they use for you? I'd be grateful to know if you can share some info.

Other than that, you just have to wait it out I guess, mask it with other sounds and distract yourself as much as possible!

 

[Going_Batty]

Hello! I am not sure what caused me to have a "quiet tinnitus" day but I have been trying a mix of:

Acupuncture: the next day, tinnitus was quieter all day.

Antioxidants: I read that you can try adding antioxidants to your diet to help combat the toxins from the SSRIs. I have been drinking pom juice and bai.

Music: I have tried adding in bamboo flute/spa music instead of just white noise.

Exercises: I follow Austin Goh's tinnitus exercise routine once per day.

 

[Johan001]

@Going_Batty, unfortunately not even PCPs but even many shrinks either say cold turkey is fine or come up with a crazy tapering plan, like, cut it in half for two days and you're clean. I sincerely don't understand it, this is just criminal coming from a doctor.

Any antidepressant needs to be tapered very carefully. It took me 6 months to come off Mirtazapine and even that is considered quite fast.

Next time you taper any AD, join a support group for that particular drug and see what their advice is. They may follow Ashton protocol or something else. Never ever drop anything cold turkey, it's extremely dangerous with ADs.

 

[Brian P]

Wellbutrin is known to cause tinnitus.