Tinnitus Spike Possibly from Taking Zoloft (Sertraline) or Withdrawal from It

Hello Everyone,

It has been a long time since I posted here as my tinnitus got to a point where it stabilized and I was habituated to it. To the point where even when I did notice it or had a brief spike, I wasn't bothered.

My current spike has only been going since two nights ago, and may be intermittent (but it's been tricky to determine that), but I feel it's urgent to seek advice here because I don't know if I have a time limit to act on my situation.

So, I had a very bad anxiety episode a month ago and was prescribed 50 mg of Zoloft by psych. I was feeling so bad that I took it without looking into it first but when I did, I found some things I didn't like (and had side effects I didn't enjoy) and so decided I wanted to taper off. Ironically, none of these things were related to tinnitus but I won't waste time going into them.

I was told I should only have to cut my dose in half for a week and then I could stop because I wasn't on it for very long. I was on 50 mg for 2.5 weeks and then did 25 mg for a week and my last dose was on Saturday. So I was on it for 3.5 weeks total, and hadn't felt the therapeutic effect yet.

While on it, I can't remember having any spikes except one this past Wednesday or Thursday morning and it was a brief one when I woke up that I attributed to my window fan (that and sometimes my A/C in the summer will cause a brief morning spike). Then Saturday night while watching a movie with a friend I noticed my tinnitus was louder than the movie (we were watching at a reasonable volume) and it bothered me because it was a spike without a direct immediate cause (like the fan or A/C).

I finally today looked up if SSRIs can worsen tinnitus and now I see there is some research that says so. I am honestly very anxious now that this could become a permanent spike if I don't act quickly (or worse, even if I do).

Looking for help in any of the following ways, please:

1. Can anyone with SSRI experience, especially Zoloft, tell me if the taper regimen I was given was faulty? Should I have cut down my doses in smaller increments and over a longer period of time?

2. Can anyone tell me from their experience if a spike from an SSRI, or withdrawal from one, got better over time and, if so, how long did it take?

3. Does anyone know of research with stats on the outlook of tinnitus worsening from SSRI use? I am researching myself and have only found research that says SSRIs can make tinnitus worse, but nothing really on an outlook.

I apologize for the long post. I want to thank anyone and everyone that comments!

 

I took Sertraline for 4 days and had an adverse reaction along with Hydroxyzine, which started my tinnitus. It has been 3 months and 4 days since silence was stolen from me.

I was told to stop taking it with no taper. It was only 25 mg.

1/100 Sertraline users will develop or experience worsening tinnitus. Allegedly it goes away with discontinuance, but I am one of the many anecdotal people who are here to report that is bollocks. I suspect SSRIs either damage the brain directly or indirectly in some way allowing for neuroplasticity to take hold based on the changing chemicals in the brain, or overload certain receptors and cause the hyperactivity in the DCN itself. I suspect that it's possible SSRIs, in the case of tinnitus onset, disrupt the brain's previous compensation preventing tinnitus precept.

I have only found anecdotes. Your taper doesn't seem bad/wrong in any way.

 

Sertaline seems to be commonly implicated with tinnitus, which I think is much more often than any stats you find would tell you. It's come up in Tinnitus Talk discussions often.

I had taken Sertraline (Zoloft) for just a few days when I noticed a new chirping type ringing sound in my left ear. I already had existing tinnitus. I switched to Escitalopram (Lexapro) after a week, which didn't change anything, and then after 7 weeks taking a full dose, I weaned off over only 2 weeks since I wasn't on it long. I never had brain zaps. The chirping seemed to lessen within a few weeks but hasn't gone away completely in 11 weeks since weaning off both SSRIs. I can't say if my overall baseline of tinnitus changed while on the SSRIs as it varies regularly as it is.

I never felt the slightest benefit from either of the SSRIs, and they caused stomach pains, which I'm still experiencing 11 weeks after weaning off.

 

Any hyperacusis on medication?

 

I have mild hyperacusis that became more clear to me last July and seemed to be at its peak over the next couple months after that, but that was before I started on any SSRIs. I did not notice any change in hyperacusis during the time I was on them.

 

It is good that you have habituated for quite a while @Bob90 and I hope this continues. I am sorry to know you have been experiencing spikes. A person can habituate to tinnitus as you have, yet still experience spikes. Some people believe spikes are a normal part of noise-induced tinnitus, but this is not true because they can be significantly reduced or completely eliminated with treatment.

Spikes usually (but not always) affect people who have noise-induced tinnitus. The person will often have hyperacusis or experience some oversensitivity to sound which can manifest itself in many ways. This oversensitivity can improve by itself over time as a person habituates; however, if it persists and treatment is not sought, then it's possible the spikes can become a long-term problem. The only way to treat it is using sound enrichment, which I have covered in many of my posts on my started threads. A person can try self-help using a sound machine or seek professional with an audiologist that specialises in tinnitus and hyperacusis management - it may require wearing white noise generators and having regular counselling. This form of treatment will take time.

Some medications can increase tinnitus temporarily or long-term, but this is not the same thing as a tinnitus spike. Stress and anxiety are known to increase tinnitus, but usually, the tinnitus will return to baseline once the stress is brought under control; sometimes, medication may be required to achieve this. Please note this is not the same thing as a tinnitus spike.

Spikes are an indication of an underlying problem within the auditory system that needs to be treated in the manner I have explained above. Spikes often occur when a person is subjected to certain sounds or a loud sound even though they have habituated to tinnitus; the underlying problem, which is oversensitivity (hyperacusis), hasn't been treated. Please click on the link below and read my post.

All the best,
Michael

Are Spikes from Loud Noise Permanent? | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum