After reading this forum when I was at my lowest, I feel morally obligated to post my story to give some hope to other Wellbutrin tinnitus sufferers.
I (29 y/o male) took Wellbutrin for 12 days, titrating up quickly at the following dosages:
150mg
300mg
300mg
300mg
450mg!!! (accidental third dose)
300mg
300mg
300mg
300mg
150mg
150mg
150mg
My ringing started immediately with the drug and increased with the dose - becoming most intense and alarming at 450mg. It was always a higher pitched ring/eeeeeeee noise for me. I was able to make the noise change by bending my head forward, and getting stressed would make it spike for a second, until I calmed down with deep breathing. Bending over quickly once also make it spike for me, but it went back down fast (not gone, just back to normal).
After stopping the drug (and not taking any other ADs), I can confirm dramatic improvement in the ringing after 7 weeks. It is so low currently that I need to plug my ears to hear it, and cannot hear it unless in total silence (even an electric light buzzing will cancel it out). I tracked my progress by comparing the ringing to my fans (1 fan vs 2), and other noises I could rely on to be consistent (bathroom fan, etc). The ringing used to be way worse. There was a time when it very loud and distracting - especially in the afternoon - and I could even hear it over my 2 fans at night. But after all the improvement I have experienced, I have complete confidence it will be fully gone by 3 months. I'm posting this story a bit early (before it's fully gone) because I will forget to do this by then.
After reading some of the horror stories on here, I felt sure I was doomed. But I asked a friend of mine who also had ringing during and after using ADs, and he told me it's totally normal and does go away. I read other forums - especially depression forums - and saw the same thing reported. Get used to the idea that it might take 2-3 months to fully subside or longer, and only if you're off all the meds. Don't panic and stop cold turkey if you can avoid it. I have also been taking vitamins during this time. I took Vitamin 2 at 2500IU, and 400mg of Magnesium to help absorb the Vitamin D and avoid a Magnesium deficiency because of the Vitamin D. Don't OD on vitamins and supplements - be deliberate and be aware that taking one vitamin can cause a deficiency in another one.
Here are some observations I made during the worst of my ringing that helped calm me down. Maybe they can help you too:
Remember: tinnitus is super super common when taking ADs and afterwards. Most of what you read on forums like these are people at their worst, but you never see how they turned out in the end. One guy reached out to them, and said 70-80% had their tinnitus go away eventually, but they never posted on this forum about the improvement... And who knows if Wellbutrin actually caused it in the remaining 20-30%. Trust your body to heal itself, and help it by being kind to yourself.
Last note: Controversial opinion time - I am not convinced that Wellbutrin is ototoxic in the traditional sense. Ototoxicity causes physical/structural damage to the systems involved in hearing (i.e. damaging the hair cells), from what I understand. Wellbutrin modifies brain chemical abundances that can impact how excitable the neurons are, but doesn't damage them in any meaningful way. They can reset if given the chance. I suspect that people reporting permanent tinnitus from Wellbutrin are mistaken about the cause of their tinnitus. They may have had loud noise exposure and just didn't realize it, or don't remember. For Wellbutrin to be 100% the cause of your ringing, it must have started immediately after taking the drug or upping the dose. It's possible for it to be the cause in other situations, but I suspect it's much less likely.
I (29 y/o male) took Wellbutrin for 12 days, titrating up quickly at the following dosages:
150mg
300mg
300mg
300mg
450mg!!! (accidental third dose)
300mg
300mg
300mg
300mg
150mg
150mg
150mg
My ringing started immediately with the drug and increased with the dose - becoming most intense and alarming at 450mg. It was always a higher pitched ring/eeeeeeee noise for me. I was able to make the noise change by bending my head forward, and getting stressed would make it spike for a second, until I calmed down with deep breathing. Bending over quickly once also make it spike for me, but it went back down fast (not gone, just back to normal).
After stopping the drug (and not taking any other ADs), I can confirm dramatic improvement in the ringing after 7 weeks. It is so low currently that I need to plug my ears to hear it, and cannot hear it unless in total silence (even an electric light buzzing will cancel it out). I tracked my progress by comparing the ringing to my fans (1 fan vs 2), and other noises I could rely on to be consistent (bathroom fan, etc). The ringing used to be way worse. There was a time when it very loud and distracting - especially in the afternoon - and I could even hear it over my 2 fans at night. But after all the improvement I have experienced, I have complete confidence it will be fully gone by 3 months. I'm posting this story a bit early (before it's fully gone) because I will forget to do this by then.
After reading some of the horror stories on here, I felt sure I was doomed. But I asked a friend of mine who also had ringing during and after using ADs, and he told me it's totally normal and does go away. I read other forums - especially depression forums - and saw the same thing reported. Get used to the idea that it might take 2-3 months to fully subside or longer, and only if you're off all the meds. Don't panic and stop cold turkey if you can avoid it. I have also been taking vitamins during this time. I took Vitamin 2 at 2500IU, and 400mg of Magnesium to help absorb the Vitamin D and avoid a Magnesium deficiency because of the Vitamin D. Don't OD on vitamins and supplements - be deliberate and be aware that taking one vitamin can cause a deficiency in another one.
Here are some observations I made during the worst of my ringing that helped calm me down. Maybe they can help you too:
- Moving my head in certain ways made it change (this was comforting because it made me realize I had some influence over the noise. Do the neck exercises and don't dismiss them).
- Stress/ anxiety made it spike (this was comforting because I could work on reducing stress/ anxiety).
- It was improving over time (trust in the trend).
Remember: tinnitus is super super common when taking ADs and afterwards. Most of what you read on forums like these are people at their worst, but you never see how they turned out in the end. One guy reached out to them, and said 70-80% had their tinnitus go away eventually, but they never posted on this forum about the improvement... And who knows if Wellbutrin actually caused it in the remaining 20-30%. Trust your body to heal itself, and help it by being kind to yourself.
Last note: Controversial opinion time - I am not convinced that Wellbutrin is ototoxic in the traditional sense. Ototoxicity causes physical/structural damage to the systems involved in hearing (i.e. damaging the hair cells), from what I understand. Wellbutrin modifies brain chemical abundances that can impact how excitable the neurons are, but doesn't damage them in any meaningful way. They can reset if given the chance. I suspect that people reporting permanent tinnitus from Wellbutrin are mistaken about the cause of their tinnitus. They may have had loud noise exposure and just didn't realize it, or don't remember. For Wellbutrin to be 100% the cause of your ringing, it must have started immediately after taking the drug or upping the dose. It's possible for it to be the cause in other situations, but I suspect it's much less likely.