MT, you've just made me wonder something..... If quitting Benzos can result in seizures then that must be because of a sudden increase in brain activity/excitation. That would also result in increased T. Maybe this is why its reported in the Ototoxic Drugs Exposed book that people get T when coming off Benzos. In my case, I wonder if by taking one and then stopping twice a week I am getting the increase in brain activity effect?
Since my tinnitus started with Xanax, I have often wondered the same thing as Louise.
To recount my story, I took a dose of Xanax after experiencing anxiety caused by another medical problem. I woke up an hour after taking it with my ears ringing like crazy and they have been ringing ever since. I was unable to sleep the first two nights after the T started, so I called my doctor and asked for something to help. She said "more Xanax". I had already read that Xanax was possibly ototoxic and brought that up, and reiterated that the tinnitus started after taking a dose of Xanax. She said there was no firm evidence it was ototoxic. She said it was listed as a symptom of withdrawal but that I had not taken enough to experience withdrawal. So I began taking 0.25 mg at night. It helped me go to sleep, but I would wake up a few hours later with my ears ringing just as bad as ever if not worse sometimes.
To make a long story short, I later began seeing a shrink for the anxiety and depression caused by this horrible ailment. He too said Xanax was not ototoxic and pointed to Kevin Hogan's good experience with it. He encouraged me to take 0.5 mg 3 times a day until the antidepressant he prescribed kicked in. I protested, but eventually gave in. He said I would not get addicted at that dose. There is no question that taking it helps for about 2-3 hours, but then the ringing returns full strength after than. 1.5 mg per day was too much for me, however. It made me a drowsy zombie. I fell asleep several times driving home from work. Not knowing better, and having been assured I would not get addicted, I decided to cut back to 0.25 mg twice a day. Big mistake. I found out I was addicted and that Xanax withdrawal is a horrible, horrible experience. The shrink had me go back up to 3 x 0.5 mg per day. I've been weaning myself off of it since then (against his objections).
I can tell you that so far taking less has not made my tinnitus any better or worse overall. (I am now down to 0.25 mg 3 time/day). The T is still better for the first 2-3 hours after taking a dose, and then returns as bad as ever after that. Sometimes I think I'm just continually putting myself through Xanax withdrawal as Louis suggested, and maybe that is the root cause of the ringing. I'm hoping when I get off it completely that the ringing will be gone, but in truth I doubt that will be the case. I'm going to get off the stuff no matter what though.
All I can say to those thinking about trying Xanax it is, "Caveat emptor". Clearly some people get great results with it. I, however, would rather live without it.
Just a note about my doctors - one might think I'm seeing a couple of losers, and maybe I am, but they are doctors with great creditials, are professors at the local, well recognized medical school, and are well recognized experts in their fields. But medicine is clearly a crazy world. There's a lot of guessing, and a lot partial understanding, not a whole lot of certainty about anything. They play the odds, and if you're on the low end of the bell curve, you're likely going to get hurt. What I mean is, say Xanax is ototoxic to 1% of the population. Your doctor won't hesitate one second to even worry about that. If you're in the 1% that is effected though, your screwed and just written off as one of the unlucky ones.
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