advice

[Lakeshiker]

hiya. Because my anxiety was so bad the doctor put me on sertraline. After 4 weeks of increased anxiety and no sleep and not being able to eat at all I was a nervous wreck. I was told it can take a couple of months but because I was no better after the 4 weeks and a mess from no sleep he changed my tablets to mirtazapine. He said to do a straight change which I did and I have slept but anxieties still the same. I don’t think the sertraline made my tinnitus worse even with no sleep. So if could of slept I would have stayed on them. I’ve had two nights on mirtazapine and my tinnitus seems louder. But it’s so hard to tell if it’s the mirtazapine or just changing tablets and the anxiety. Has anyone had any experiences of mirtazapine? Thanks

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

Hello Lakeshiker

Mirtazapine is used primarily to treat anxiety, depression and obsessive compulsive disorders. Most reports of medication affecting tinnitus are self-reported and the difficulty in ratifying them is that anxiety, depression and OCD issues can themselves increase our focus on and difficulty in coping with tinnitus. It's a 'chicken or egg' type comparison.

I think if you can view the medication that you're being treated with as primarily for treatment of anxiety, with no relationship to tinnitus, they perhaps have a better chance of working.

Medications take a while to become effective - if they are going to work for a patient - and they're usually a means to an end. Stabilising anxiety might make talking therapies and counselling more straightforward to work with, when our anxious thoughts are not interrupting us.

The hopeful outcome of that treatment is that we need neither the medication to regulate our emotional wellbeing or to check in with a therapist to process our anxieties, at which point tinnitus is much less likely to be a problem for us, as we're able to put it in context.

[Lakeshiker in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

Thanks for your reply. I was gutted the sertraline didn’t work for me as I’ve read lots of positive posts about it in here and it didn’t seem to have any effect on my tinnitus, in fact some days it was low and manageable. But no sleep and no food and crazy off the scale anxiety for 4 weeks was a nightmare.

I’ve only had the mirtazapine for two days and I have slept and I can eat and so far my anxiety is a lot less so on the whole it seems better, however my tinnitus definitely seems to have changed . The only reason I asked on here is because of the knowledge people have as I’m new to tinnitus really. I’m on 15mg of mirtazapine, maybe I could try 7.5mg as like you have stated no medication would be the best option. But I feel I need a little help at the minute. My doctor said I could try amitriptyline for the sleep and it gives a little help with the anxiety as maybe I don’t need much for the anxiety. It’s so hard to find a balance. But thank you for your reply 😊

[Peanutd1959 in reply to Lakeshiker]

Just keep going with metazapine. I found that sleeping was much better with this. I do still have tinnitus but is more manageable. I had sleep music playing through headphones at night which helped. Unfortunately with anxiety and depression, it takes time to know what works for you. Unfortunately, there is no medication that is 100 % for everyone. Keep persevering try to make small goals for yourself. Reward yourself when you achieve them. Tell yourself that you can and will be OK. I've had cbt.,therepy, meds, the works. However I'm now med free, enjoying life again, so yes, keep going!! X

[Lakeshiker in reply to Peanutd1959]

Good to hear your med free and enjoying life, it gives me hope that I’ll get to that point. If you don’t mind me asking how long were you taking mirtazapine for and what dose?

I have a sleep headband but find it annoys me more than anything. I struggle with finding sounds that mask my T or that I like for sleep. Different during the day, I have a few I listen to it nighttime I struggle, my u tube is full of them 😂

[Peanutd1959 in reply to Lakeshiker]

Hi again. I was on sertraline and metazapan at first. High dose of both. After 3 or 4 mths dropped to 30 mg. And 30 mg. Stopped sertraline, carried on 30ml metazapan. Then 20 the nil. The whole process took about 12 to 14 mths. Sounds a long time but I felt much better after 3 mths to 6 mths. Remember aswell I was affected mentally during covid which affected me immensely. I also left the radio on at night.

[Lakeshiker in reply to Peanutd1959]

Hiya, thanks for replying. I might try the radio instead of sounds, anything is worth I try. I’m not sleeping again properly on 15mg of mirtazapine but my anxiety seems ok and I do feel like I’m getting things done more. I’m trying to keep the meds low but maybe that’s the problem, I don’t know. Sleep is a big issue though as I’m awake and can’t stop tuning into the T all night so I start the day on a negative. I do feel my T is louder since starting mirtazapine though. Or is it, it’s so hard to tell. The sertraline seemed to keep me awake as well in 50mg and anxious and I was struggling to get through the day because of anxiety but my T seemed lower, maybe i should have tried a higher dose. Surely it’s better to be on no meds? Maybe my T is just loud and I have to deal with it somehow. I do feel a bit alone as my family don’t seem to get it and I’m off sick with nothing to do but trying to work with T so loud will be a stress in itself. I’ve only been taking mirtazapine for 4 days so maybe I need to give it a bit longer.

[Peanutd1959 in reply to Lakeshiker]

Hi again. A few days is not long enough for the body to adjust. I suggest that upping the dose at a later stage. No one can understand tinnitus if they havent had it. When you are suffering from anxiety, tinnitus seems to more of an issue. If you are off work, it's hard to occupy yourself to not think of tinnitus. There is a tinnitus website with various types of things you can try. Don't overburden yourself to much with advice, just try a few things at a time. I find going into nature for a while in the day, whether it raining or not, helps. Go for a shower after, nice smelliest, hot drink afterwards something to break the day up. I'm blurbing on and on..... Please keep in contact, it does help having a place to say what you are thinking. People on this website are a source that has helped me. X

[doglover1973]

Hi there. I'm so sorry you're suffering. What you describe isn't unusual in the early days of T . It's a dark place but it gets lighter over time. I have no experience of either meds but I can recommend talking therapy. It helps enormously.

[Lakeshiker in reply to doglover1973]

Yes I’m thinking of cbt but not sure where to find any

[doglover1973 in reply to Lakeshiker]

You can either ask your GP or go privately. There are long waits on the NHS of course. If you decide to pay you could try the website Psychology Today. There will be counsellors local to you. I waited months for everything on the NHS but I paid for CBT because I couldn't cope with my T at the time. I had 6 x 25 minute sessions. They were very helpful.

[Lakeshiker in reply to doglover1973]

Ok thank you. I’ll speak to my doctors on Monday and look into private. I don’t mind paying if it helps 😊

[amelie123]

My ENT consultants recommended Amitriptyline as they now use it for nerve pain etc. I take it when I need a nights sleep and it is quite effective.

[Lakeshiker in reply to amelie123]

Does it help with anxiety? I think it’s similar to mirtazapine. But yes I think I might try it if I don’t like the mirtazapine. I’m speaking to my doctor on Monday. He has taken my bloods to check everything. I’ve seen an ENT consultant and had an MRI but they didn’t find anything so I’m no longer seeing anyone. I’ve been given some tinnitus maskers and told to wear them 6 hours a day but when I’m outside I can’t hear the white noise they play but can still hear the tinnitus so not sure if that’s right. I know you are suppose to wear them so the sound is just below your tinnitus. For some reason if I’m in the house even with tv and sounds on my tinnitus seems louder. Makes it hard to relax 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Barbiebabbs]

My tinnitus is different it got caused by one of my ears was real sensitive to sound for years and I got depressed and I felt like I had a floaty spell so first thing I do is get my ears checked well when you got depression and anxiety you do some stuff you would normally do so I kept going back to ear doctors so they finally made my ear ring and then I taught me into another hearing test which made both my ears and my head ring but I got prayed for a few times , and I started to when my ears would ring I would just get my mind off on something else and I would tell myself it's not there it's not there and it finally just stopped if if I heard any it was very very low and I'm building a house and I'm dealing with my boyfriend/friend whatever we are he stresses me out really bad and then between dealing with him and dealing with the builders and all that I have gotten so stressed out that few days ago my head and ears started buzzing really loud when I noticed it more in the morning so now I got to start all over again

[Lakeshiker in reply to Barbiebabbs]

That’s amazing if you got it to go by telling yourself it’s not there. Mine is loud so it’s so hard to ignore it, although I try to or if I can’t I try to just carry on regardless. I’m going to try harder to distract myself. I definitely thing stress and anxiety can cause it. Have you been to see your doctor?

[Bluehazemax]

Hi,

[Chumpiechops]

Hi, I am on a very low dose of Sertraline due to initial anxiety following the T diagnosis. It works well for me, as I could not sleep I was also prescribed a very low dose of Amitriptyline which works a treat.

[Lakeshiker in reply to Chumpiechops]

My doctor wouldn’t do that as I asked. But my anxiety on Sertraline wasnt getting any better and I couldn’t eat. It seemed to be making me worse on the whole, bit weird really. But thanks for the info 😊

[Chumpiechops in reply to Lakeshiker]

I hope you get the support you need 🙂

[Kimijo66]

Remeron ( Mirtazapine) is one of those Antidepressants that has very few side effects and the big side effect is it makes you sleepy, it blocks histamine which is good if you have allergies. I find with this medicine the lower the dose the better the sleep. I take this medicine and have had great results but it doesn't fix the problem. Doing therapy EMDR, neurofeedback etc. helps more. This medicine also makes you want to eat lots of carbs so make sure you are stocked up on veggies and fruit and not the junk food. I have Tinnitus and there are days that are high pitch, and some days that are low roaring sounds, I still feel like this is park of PTSD.

[Lakeshiker in reply to Kimijo66]

Yes I have been feeling hungry since starting it, but after 4 weeks of no food I’ve got a few pounds I can gain 😂

I’m going to look into cbt and other therapies etc it’s just so hard to focus on anything other than T, but I’ll definitely try.

My ENT consultant found nothing and my hearing is good, apart from very slight lose at high frequency but still above 30 so he thinks it stress related as I get a lot of tension headaches. Although I’m having issues with my ears feeling blocked then unblocked for months now.

What dose of Mirtazapine do you take? I’m on 15mg but was think g of dropping to 7.5mg.

I really appreciate the advice and replies from this website, it’s good to talk to people who understand 😊