T meds

[Yam42]

Hi everyone, looking for some advice really but I know we're not medically qualified but wondering if anyone same as me. Noise induced T but anxiety bad thanks to increase T so GP changed me from usual antidepressant to Mirtazapine, about 6 months in but wondering if its making it even worse again? Seems even louder. Anyone else on this or has been and stopped for some reason? Thanks for reading

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

It's a difficult one, Yam42. There are no medications expressly to treat tinnitus, so the reaction that you're describing would seem to be an unintended effect of a medication being prescribed for another condition.

That being said, anxiety is a condition which itself often turns up the volume level of tinnitus or our attention towards it. I guess one question to answer is - is Mirtazapine helping your anxiety difficulties? Does it help to manage anxiety enough that you are able to engage with other therapies?

My understanding is that medications to treat anxiety are intended to stabilize the brain's response to stresses and intrusive thoughts so that treatments like cognitive behavioural therapy have a better chance to be effective, which potentially helps us to manage our tinnitus more proactively.

The community might find this presentation, by psychologist Dr Bruce Hubbard, helpful and informative about CBT for tinnitus distress - youtube.com/watch?v=i8CMAgK...(Not working as expected?)

[norcar]

I also was prescribed mirtazapine to help with sleep and anxiety caused by my tinnitus about 2 months ago. Reluctantly I started using it but found benefit for both sleep and mood. It probably moved me from near suicidal to being able to cope and am now getting habituated so T is no longer as intrusive as it was. I have not seen any effect on the level of T but as with all drugs there are unwanted side effects and I am planning to come off the drug as soon as I feel confident. However, these SSRI drugs are difficult to stop and must be done gradually. I don't think I am yet in a position to face the withdrawal but I would be grateful if anyone has suggestions for coming off these drugs with minimal effects.

[Yam42 in reply to norcar]

I'm no expert but I know that it should be done slowly with your GPs advice

[youngbob]

hi yam42, I was put on Mirtazapine, after trying other SSRIs, which didn’t help me, and found they made my T worse, stuck with it for a few months, then decided to stop taking it, and reduced my dosage slowly over a month, T now settled down again, now trying a low dose of olanzapine for anxiety, haven’t been on them long enough to give a opinion , but at least T hasn’t got at worse, so keeping my fingers crossed.

[P2023]

I was prescribed Mirtazapine when I first developed tinnitus in order to help me sleep. It has definitely made my tinnitus much louder. Perhaps your GP could suggest a possible alternative drug to treat your anxiety