Tinnitus from Short-Term Medication (Trazodone, Clonazepam)

Hi, everyone!

I have been lurking here for a few months and am now comfortable enough to share my tinnitus story.

In December, 2022 I had a major anxiety attack while on vacation. After barely being able to get on a plane home, I saw my doctor as soon as I could. I was prescribed Clonazepam for anxiety and Trazodone to help me sleep.

From the first dose of Trazodone, my ears were ringing. But, since I had been an antidepressants before and it went away after a few days, I kept on taking it. I stopped the Clonazepam after 11 days, and everything went haywire. Anxiety through the roof, tinnitus, restlessness, and so on. I stopped the Trazodone after 20 days figuring it was making me more anxious. A trip to the ER when my blood pressure went through the roof resulted in a prescription for Escitalopram, and Zopiclone to help me sleep. It was doubling down on what was already a disaster.

The Zopiclone produced nothing but horrors that do not warrant discussion here. As far as tinnitus goes, the Escitalopram sent it through the roof in just three doses.

I took three more smaller doses of Clonazepam after that, which were the last I took of any of the pills. The resulting adverse effects and withdrawal from the meds was an absolute nightmare. While a lot of the symptoms have or are winding down, my tinnitus lingers.

The noise has always been constant, although it has changed over the months. In the beginning it was LOUD. For those of you old enough to remember old, toxic felt markers, you will know the screeching sound they would make when scribbled. That was the sound in my head, over top of the classic eeeeeeeee tone. I am pretty sure I had some hearing loss at the outset as well, or else just massive distortion. At the gym, all of the droning noises like the fans, cardio machines, and treadmills would sound like one big, deafening noise. It felt like going deaf to hear it.

Today, 6-7 months later, things are a little calmed down. The marker sound has reduced to a static hiss, albeit a fairly intrusive one. The classic eeeeeee tone is not often present anymore. The distortion has almost entirely cleared as well. Loud sounds of rushing water or high-speed wind through the ears attracts the ringing, though.

I am hopeful things will keep improving until I can write a proper success story. Reading about the experiences of those already on these forums has been a big help to me, especially in the early days when terror and thoughts of ending it all arose.

Thanks for reading my story! May we all heal.

 

I hope things calm down even further for you! Fans and droning noises drive me crazy as well, but it's getting better. As far as Escitalopram goes, I got my current tinnitus after just three doses... my reaction to the medicine was severe enough I went to the ER because I didn't know what was wrong with me. Needless to say it was a pointless trip, they sent me home diagnosed with a headache... Which I didn't even say I had!

 

Thanks, Tryn2BHopeful!

I find it interesting that we both have the same susceptibility to fans and droning noises. I wish I knew for certain if it was one drug or all of them together that brought on tinnitus and made it stick. Can I ask a question about what you hear?

I find that my tinnitus is an added noise, rather than a sound that blocks out other sounds. So I'll still hear very quiet noises along with the tinnitus. For louder noises, they don't drown out my tinnitus. It's like I hear what I would normally hear, and then tinnitus gets thrown on top. It makes it seem like the tinnitus must be very loud to be heard over other loud noises, but when external noises are removed, the tinnitus is at its regular level. Is yours like that?

I sympathize with you regarding your trip to the ER. I have not found doctors to be of any help with this. My GP, who prescribed the Trazodone and Clonazepam, instantly said "there's no cure for that" when I told him I had ringing in the ears. On subsequent visits when I report that it is still there, he doesn't even say anything. If there's no pill for a condition, I don't think he knows how to treat it.

 

It infuriates me the quacks give out these poison pills, at least without a warning. However rare this condition may be as a result of these medications, they should never be given without a warning. Then you could decide for yourself if you are willing to take the risk.

Sorry it happened to you. Mine is self-inflicted (noise during sinus infection), I have no one else to blame, except not being told/taught by anyone loud noise can cause tinnitus and hyperacusis.

That's reactive tinnitus. Mine has been like that, too. Not right away, it developed into this a few weeks after the onset. People say the reactivity tends to improve (lessen) with time. Seems to be so. Reactivity is said to be connected to hyperacusis, where external noises - all or certain frequencies - appear louder than normal, to a point of being annoying or very uncomfortable (on the extreme end there is pain hyperacusis, where sounds cause physical stabbing pain in ears).

 

My tinnitus sounds like a static hiss, sometimes other sounds cause it to break apart, but it's always there. It also reacts to external noise. It is getting better, it was to the point that even my own voice made it louder.

 

I am sorry to hear of your struggles but glad to hear that things have calmed down a bit for you. I hope it continues to improve!

As I have also been taking Zopiclone but stopped recently out of fear of making my tinnitus worse, do you mind me asking how Zopiclone impacted you?

 

Oh, so this is reactive tinnitus. I had read about it a lot on these forums but was never quite sure how it operates. I guess I have known all along.

I understand the feeling of blaming yourself. I had been on antidepressants before this, and never really had a good experience. I remember holding the first Trazodone in my hand and thinking, "you know this might not go well." I was in dire straights, so popped it anyway... sigh. I hope you find a time when you can let go of the feelings of blame. You didn't ask for this. No one did.

 

Hi, Juliane.

I am happy to share, but I am not sure how relevant my experience with Zopiclone will be. I was already in the throes of adverse drug reactions or withdrawal when it was prescribed, and it only made things worse. I only took it three times. It may have also been during the same days when I tried the Escitalopram.

For one, It would get me under, but not keep me asleep. It really didn't do anything to relieve the insomnia that was crippling me. The second night I took it I awoke after about two hours and my whole body was feeling an intense, crawling burning sensation. The worst was my head. It felt like there were needles of fire shooting out of my brain through my scalp. I also head nightmares and disturbing dreams. One of the weirdest experiences was having a dream that was totally irrelevant to me. I wasn't even in it. I remember waking up and thinking, what did that have to do with me? I suspect it was a feature of depersonalization, which I was experiencing at the time, but even at that, I an sure it was brought on by the Zopiclone. Despite weeks of depersonalization, it was the only time I had such a weird dream.

As for tinnitus, it was already there and super loud. I don't think the Zopiclone made any difference. It didn't make things any quieter, that's for sure.

If you haven't seen it, you might want to check out BenzoBuddies.org. While Zopiclone is not a benzo, I believe all of the Z drugs are quite similar. There are threads and support groups there for people tapering off of Zopiclone or experiencing withdrawal. You don't mention going through anything like at the moment so maybe you don't need to. If things start to get weird, you can find answers there though.

 

Thanks a lot for taking the time to post this thorough explanation. I am so sorry to hear of your horrible experiences with medication :-( I do hope and think things will improve for you step by step.

I "only" took about 20 Zopiclone pills and while they did help me sleep at a time where it was either that or go days and nights without sleeping, I felt they also increased my anxiety. And the effect quickly wore off. And they actually helped on my tinnitus, but unfortunately that did not last. For now I am trying to stay off them but they might become necessary again. I am far from habituated and quite severely depressed. But I am scared of antidepressants and your story confirms that there is reason to :-(

All the best of luck to you. Please keep us updated.

 

I can understand that, but here I am taking ANOTHER antidepressant to help get over the problems the other caused!

 

Sorry to hear that :-( Is the new one working?

 

After reading your story @Juliane, I can understand your reluctance to take medication to deal with your symptoms of depression, and I don't blame you. It sounds like you've had a really rough ride.

I can relate with parts of your experience. Although I didn't have a reaction to any medication I've taken, I did experience a crazy amount of reactivity/distortion early into the onset of my intrusive tinnitus. It got a lot better over time, but in the beginning, it was crazy the amount of noise that would surround me in the presence of external sounds. Nowadays I get this whisper of a ziiing in the presence of fan-like sounds, but nothing more than that typically, unless I happen to be having a rare high-reactivity day.

Are you considering alternate ways to treat your depression, like therapy, CBT, meditation?

 

Well it helps me sleep and takes the edge off... but I still have more problems than when I started.

 

I am really sorry :-( Not fair at all. May I ask how you are worse than before you started? If you don't want to share, that's of course completely fine ❤️

 

No need to be sorry, it's not fair and it's unfortunate, but at this point it doesn't matter.

Basically I went in with some physical symptoms and maybe some anxiety... The doctor said nothing was wrong with me and it must be anxiety, so prescribed me Escitalopram (Lexapro). 2 days in, the tinnitus started along with it basically kicking my butt to the point I could barely get out of bed. I will say it's not the first time I would have taken Escitalopram, I took it before with no issues so I didn't think much of taking it.

Fast forward 6 weeks. I don't take the Escitalopram, I stopped it day 3, but I still have tinnitus, the physical symptoms are gone (mostly fixed by some physical therapy after I saw a different doctor), and now I DO HAVE ANXIETY caused by the tinnitus. I take Mirtazapine for sleep (which helped A LOT), it does increase your appetite which isn't a big deal but I have to watch my weight as I am a diabetic type 2 in "remission". 6 weeks ago I was ready to jump off a bridge, I was seriously concerned about my own wellbeing; but now I am dealing with it and moving forward. Not every day is a good day, but not every day is a bad one either.

So to wrap that up... I am in a better place than I was 6 weeks ago, but in a worse place than I was before I took the Escitalopram to begin with. I have moments that I wish I never took those pills, but I have to remind myself that I was doing what I thought was best under a doctor's supervision.

As far as whether taking an antidepressant is right for someone, I can't really say. Firstly, just because it happened to me, doesn't mean it will happen to someone else. Secondly, if you're at the point of no return, it might bring you back from the edge and it might be worth the risk. For me, had I known this would happen, it wouldn't have been worth the risk.

 

That's brave of you! After all of my bad experiences, I don't think I will ever touch antidepressants again. It's tough because if I found one that worked for me, I bet it would make real difference.

Like @Juliane, I too am curious about your new antidepressant, if you don't mind sharing. Hopefully you can settle into it and find some relief.

Stay strong.

 

Yes, sounds very much like what I had. Luckily you stopped the Clonazepam shortly after taking it. I unfortunately found the most incompetent doctor in my entire state and have been dealing with that head noise for about 18 months now. In addition, I went through a complete fucking nightmare beyond human comprehension getting off, especially at the end.

Mine is also settling.

Take a look at my post about Treble Health and this guy who "cured" his tinnitus. He emailed me and his was from Clonazepam too, he is just in denial. Anyone who has heard that God awful noise would know.

Was the electric static noise unmaskable, i.e. just rode over all external noise?

 

Oh man. I feel for you. While completely understanding that everyone's nightmare is different and by most accounts I read mine was "mild" (you know, in the way that a dumptruck backing over your head is mild compared to, say, a mountain falling on it), I can say that I had a taste of it. It has to be the hardest thing a person will ever deal with.

Like yours, my tinnitus is all but unmaskable. The only thing that can mostly cover it up is one specific solfeggio frequency "mind healing" track I stumbled across on YouTube.

Glad to hear that yours is settling too. I think that, one day, we will find the quiet again!

 

Ah yes... that is what I "hear".

 

Thanks for your considerate post which I am just noticing now.

I am in therapy and have tried acupuncture. Acupuncture seemed to help with my sleep in the beginning of this nightmare but maybe it was placebo.

As for meditation, I think I am still too anxious and stressed to give it a try...

Do you have any good experiences with "alternative" treatments?

 

Hi @Juliane, no worries at all, good to hear from you. I did try acupuncture myself, and it didn't seem to have an effect on my tinnitus or my sleep. I do have a family friend who recently had an onset of tinnitus, and she tells me that acupuncture lowers the volume of her tinnitus. So it seems her tinnitus is related to her central nervous system.

I do meditate, and meditation works very well for me, but not all of the time. Sometimes if I'm having a loud day, if I get into a deep meditation state (like, it feels like I'm just about to fall asleep), my tinnitus switches off while I'm meditating. Sometimes when I meditate in the morning of a loud day, it switches off my tinnitus for the remainder of the day. I can't rightly explain why it does that. Tinnitus can be so mysterious.

 

Interesting thought that your friend thinks her tinnitus is related to her nervous system. It definitely sounds logical!

And great that you benefit from meditation. Perhaps one day I will try it. As of now I am still too traumatized by the new sound and loudness... Tinnitus is for sure mysterious, and not so in a good way.

 

I meditate to help fall asleep. After 5 months of doing that, I find it works really well. I have never been able to shut off my tinnitus with meditation though. Could you elaborate on what kind of meditation you do/how do you meditate? It seems to me you have the ability the utterly calm your mind. I would love to be able to do that.

Cheers!

 

Hi @WCJohn, happy to elaborate. One thing you should know about my tinnitus is that it's daily intermittent, so some days it's loud (shower loud), some days it's mild, and some days it's quiet (like whisper quiet to silent). I've learned that the switching trigger is deep sleep when I dream. Not sure why my tinnitus acts this way.

So I experimented with meditation to see if I could imitate the deep sleep state. I found that if I lay on my side in fetal position and do imagery meditation (I typically imagine I'm on a beach, engaging all 5 senses) for about 20-30 minutes, I can get into this deep relaxation state where I feel like I'm floating on air.

If I do this on the morning of a loud day right when I wake up, I'm sometimes successful (like 25% success rate) at flipping the trigger, so to speak, and the loudness dissipates. At any other time of the day, it only dissipates while I'm in the meditative state.

 

Thanks, @Joe Cuber. I'll give it a try. I don't expect to knock out my tinnitus like you can, but it sounds very calming.

 

An update.

It's been about two months and a week since I posted this thread. Today is the worst day for tinnitus that I have had in about 3-4 weeks. Even at that, things are still progressing, however slowly, in the right direction.

I find that the noises in my head tend to reduce in scope rather than volume. It's like the noise is the same volume, there is just less of it. I don't know if that makes sense, but there's no other way to describe it. Like starting with 1000 crickets all chirping the same sound, and then cutting the number down to say, 300 or so. Same sound, just less.