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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by bcms on August 3, 2001, at 20:59:42
My father suffers from terrible ringing in head. He also suffers from anxiety/depression through out his life, and has taken different AD's in the past. I read somewhere at one time when I was researching this for him that the "ringing" is caused from AD's. I do not want to suffer from this later in life. He is 57, and is miserable. Anyone know anything about this? Worth finding out. THanks
Posted by JohnL on August 4, 2001, at 5:06:52
In reply to Long term effects of AD's? Ringing in head?, posted by bcms on August 3, 2001, at 20:59:42
> My father suffers from terrible ringing in head. He also suffers from anxiety/depression through out his life, and has taken different AD's in the past. I read somewhere at one time when I was researching this for him that the "ringing" is caused from AD's. I do not want to suffer from this later in life. He is 57, and is miserable. Anyone know anything about this? Worth finding out. THanks
I too suffer from ringing in the head, what they call tinnitus. In my own personal experience, drugs of all kinds can cause or worsen tinnitus. Others can quiet it down. Only trial and error can identify the good ones from the bad ones, since it is different from person to person.
With the benefit of hindsight, I can now see that the drugs that did not work for my depression were also the same drugs that worsened my tinnitus. If I experienced louder tinnitus from the first day on a new drug trial, that was a clear indication it was the wrong drug. There is no formal procedure that I am aware of that uses tinnitus as a screening tool, but on an anecdotal basis I think it makes sense. Increased tinnitus merely indicates to me that the drug is doing the wrong stuff, or is affecting the wrong chemistries.
All of the SSRIs worsened my tinnitus except one. That one is Prozac. Prozac also turned out to be the only one that was helpful for my dysthymia. There are clinical studies that discuss anecdotal side observations that Prozac quieted tinnitus in some patients.
The antipsychotics Zyprexa or Amisulpride also quiet down my tinnitus. Both of them also coincidentally happen to work very well on my dysthymia. In clinical studies Nortriptyline has shown some use as well, though for me it was only somewhat helpful.
Other psychiatric drugs that have been shown in clinical trials to help quiet tinnitus are the benzos, such as Xanax, Klonopin, or Valium. Also, in clinical studies, the mood stabilizers such as Depakote or Tegretol have been used for treating tinnitus. The quietest I ever experienced was on the anticonvulsant Lamictal. It just wasn't helpful for my depression, so I discontinued.
For someone suffering from stubborn depression and tinnitus simultaneously, the patient could try a combination of Prozac 20mg + Zyprexa 2.5mg to 5mg. One could try the benzos if the other drugs were not helpful. Prozac+Xanax, or Prozac+Klonopin, etc. Some people have found relief with antihistimine type drugs.
Drugs such as Wellbutrin, Buspar, Pindolol, tricylcic antidepressants, and others all worsened my tinnitus. And like I mentioned, if they worsened my tinnitus immediately it was a good indicator that the drug would not be helpful for my depression. Whatever the particular drug was doing, it was doing the wrong stuff for me.
Unfortunately there is no straight forward way to treat ringing in the head. Drugs can either worsen it or help quiet it down. Trial and error is the only way to tell. Prozac+Zyprexa quiet down my tinnitus so much that I hardly ever even notice it any more. On the other hand, I remember when I was on Wellbutrin and Remeron, the ringing was so loud it was actually louder than the road noise and the radio while driving 65 MPH with the windows down. Geez, that was loud!
Since the patient is miserable, I wouldn't fool around. You could go straight to Prozac+Zyprexa. In my opinion, that could combination holds the highest potential of killing two birds with one stone as quickly as possible. If not helpful however, other drugs include the benzos, Depakote, Tegretol, Lamictal, Neurontin, antihistimines.
John
Posted by Andy123 on August 4, 2001, at 16:20:06
In reply to Re: Long term effects of AD's? Ringing in head?, posted by JohnL on August 4, 2001, at 5:06:52
Have you tried Hydergine (ergoloid mesylate) for tinnitus? Its for age related dementia and it would be an off label use for the drug, but i've read that it might be effective.
Posted by An^j^el on August 8, 2001, at 16:35:46
In reply to Re: Long term effects of AD's? Ringing in head? » JohnL, posted by Andy123 on August 4, 2001, at 16:20:06
My name is Angel. I am a Therapist and work with people who have mental and psychological and emotional disorders... or so the doctors call them "chemical imabalances". My current client has "auditory halucinations" similar to like the ringing you speak of. The docs have prescribed and altered and reexamed and reevaluated and represcribed and now the poor boy is tormented by the tug of war of the pharmaceudicals introduced to his body. When I suggested that he approach this as a spiritual war, he was all ears!! These voices were telling him what to do and it wasn't pretty and they taunted in a sing song manner. He obsesses over them "laughing at" him and this angers him. Long periods of seemingly zoning out when there is no seizure activity after which he complains of a terrible headache and tells me that his head is beeps. He will perseverate over songs and the such and locks into verses of movies and plays them back over and over in his head. He is a 10 year old boy who is afraid to be alone in his house because this is when the voices and noises torment him the most. Unless (I think) it is just when he has nothing to distract him from them so they only seem more apparent. Anyhow I went into the house with him and we proclaimed, "I demand in the name of Christ you will no longer torment Brad!" At once Brad wrapped his arms around me and cried, "You saved me, Oh Jesus, You saved me" He still hears things in his head, however, and at times he will respond out loud... "What? what did you say, God?" as he looks up and to the corner of his mind. I ask him what God is saying to him and in a very non-chalant manner snapping his wrist back tossing one hand to the side he answers me "Oh He tells me that He loves me".
I hope this is some encouragement for you. God Bless You!! ^j^ Angel
Posted by Angel-2 on March 6, 2002, at 1:39:36
In reply to Re: Long term effects of AD's? Ringing in head?, posted by JohnL on August 4, 2001, at 5:06:52
Here is my 2 cents... I got tinnitus after years of using Prozac. And it's driving me crazy.
I have good reasons to believe that Prozac shouldn't be seen, on a long term basis, as a solution to a tinnitus problem. It might help for a while... but worsen it on the long haul.
Good luck.
A-2
Posted by Angel-2 on March 7, 2002, at 20:07:59
In reply to Re: Long term effects of AD's? Ringing in head?, posted by An^j^el on August 8, 2001, at 16:35:46
Dear Angel. This is Angel-2. You may haven't noticed, or you may lack some basic med+bio information: this is not "auditory hallucinations" we're talking about in here. The "ringing in the ear" is as real as your comp screen in front of you. It is called a tinnitus. And no, I'm not in denial: depression is depression, hallucinations are hallucinations... and tinnitus is tinnitus -and it's very annoying, by the way. It makes you undersatnd why Van Gogh decided to cut off his ear, ya know?
A-2
Posted by Automated Lady on March 10, 2002, at 17:43:49
In reply to Re: Long term effects of AD's? Ringing in head?, posted by JohnL on August 4, 2001, at 5:06:52
Yes - so true. I think Celexa started my tinnitus in the first place (I was only on it a fortnight but it never got better) but then Efexor took it away completely. It was wonderful. The efexor definitely worked for me better than any other med I've been on, too, but sadly had bad side effects in exhaustion, compulsive eating and lack of motivation, so I had to come off it. I'm now trying Celexa again, but I'm a bit worried it's going to make my tinnitus worse. Do you find that if you keep taking a drug the tinnitus increases, or does it settle at one level?
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