sertraline

[boodv]

I'm thinking of going on sertraline to reduce my anxiety. Has anyone used sertraline and found thrir tinnitus has reduced or spiked? thanks

[ghlla]

Hi,

I'm currently on Sertraline to lower my anxiety and stop panic attacks. So far it seems to be helping me a lot, and isn't making the. T any worse that it already is. I'm sleeping better and my mood in general seems to be much better.

[boodv in reply to ghlla]

how long before it started working?

[boodv in reply to boodv]

my T has realky ramped up the last few days..

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

Boodv, with the greatest of respect, the minute duration between replies suggests that your anxiety is a real contributing factor in how difficult you are finding your tinnitus.

I know that you're being active in other threads querying medication and I think what's needed is a conversation between you and a medical professional about what options are available to you to try and improve this situation - which hopefully Ghlla's response shows is something which can happen.

Whilst the community here can offer support and advice, it's important to ensure that your decisions are made considering the whole picture of your health and medical history and to try and see tinnitus as something which may not be affected by medications which you are taking for other reasons.

[boodv]

yes, I'm just looking for medication that's won't spike my already spiking tinnitus and was trying to ascertain if any medications have worked for others. sorry

[happyrosie1 in reply to boodv]

No need to apologise - but you need to be aware that what works for person A might not work for person B and vice versa.

Also. Put “sertraline” in the search box top left and make sure that on the right-hand side you put “my communities”. I recall posters in the past talking about this, and for all I know they have been helped and no longer come on to this forum.

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

I understand this Boodv and appreciate your perspective.

What I would ask generally is that when much of the evidence and guidance on our website, which this forum is an outpost of, indicate that there is little direct evidence that medication, diet or other external factors have an effect on tinnitus, why is it that so many of our initial reactions are anticipating negative effects?

Believing from the outset that the most likely outcome is a negative one is more to do with anxiety than tinnitus - tinnitus is the thing that we have a fear of aggravating, but when the evidence doesn't point to most medications negatively impacting it, I think I would try and see the medication in the context of the condition it is treating.

There is a lot of misinformation out there and it is genuinely upsetting to see so many people suffering because a particular social media platform and the bad actors on it are harvesting clicks and engagement from people's fear, when arguably fear is one of the biggest factors in finding tinnitus difficult to live with in the first place.

[boodv]

thank you. i was looking for responses with regards to sertraline and whether tinnitus is spiked for the majority of cases.. I'm am ina bad way.. I realised my tinnitus has been mild for the last 3 months but spiked this Sunday and am v distressed..

[MAC0811 in reply to boodv]

You also shouldn’t be asking folk (like you did with me) for their mobile phone Nr on here either?? I mean “as if” I’m going to post it!? lol! Post yours though if you like!? Yes I think you need to try to consider that there are plenty of other people ‘on here’ as well as in the wider world who are going through a very hard time too with this condition and some have it worse than you.

[TinnitusUKPat Partner in reply to MAC0811]

I think the mistake has been acknowledged by Boodv - and let's not get into a 'my tinnitus is worse than yours' discussion, as there is clearly no way to know what other people are experiencing.

[MAC0811 in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

I didn’t say my tinnitus is worse than yours? But it’s true there will be people with far worse tinnitus than you and I? And people who have it a lot less? What’s wrong with saying that? And she shouldn’t be asking me to post my personal mobile Nr on here!? Look what I’ve said is fair and reasonable, and I think I know how I need to be able to speak to people, but clearly you’re not sure. Okay you have your opinion and I have mine? But I have a right to reply and to be able to defend myself and not you or anyone else will tell me otherwise. I have done nothing wrong here.

[boodv in reply to MAC0811]

I'm sorry, was panicking.. i spoke to someone else on this forum who has been so supportive.. really sorry just talking to others with experience helps..

[MAC0811 in reply to boodv]

Okay no worries, forget about it. Hope you get better soon.

[boodv in reply to MAC0811]

thank you.

[nstevens59]

I’m on 50mg a day and I started soon after my T got worse and I found I was really struggling with anxiety. First few days were hard - headaches, twitches and just felt weird but it very quickly normalised and I have found it a great help. I feel it speeded up my habituation to my T and my anxiety now feels controlled. When to take it is key and different people find different outcomes. For me mid day works best - as can cause vivid dreams. All in all really glad I pushed my doc for it. Not sure when or if I’ll be ready to stop taking it …..I’d have to be brave to do that now as I feel it’s given me my life back.

[boodv in reply to nstevens59]

thanks fir that.. do you find it spikes your T? how soon did it work?

[nstevens59]

I think my anxiety was making my T worse and since the sertraline it’s definitely lower level. I’d say 2-3 weeks before I really notices benefits

[mgte]

Personally, it has helped with the anxiety of having T. For me it took several months to kick in,and maybe 2 years to habituate.

[Red_horse]

Hi,

I can’t comment on the affect Sertraline has on tinnitus, however I can on my experience of it of taking it for anxiety purposes. Long story short, I only took 6 tablets of it last year and I had the worst experience of my life. I ended up in A&E, I’ve never experienced anything like it, I don’t have words to describe how bad it was. Panic attacks were worst I’ve ever experienced and I barely slept for a week. There’s not enough money in the world you could pay me to take a Sertraline tablet again. Since then, I’ve been taking Citalopram and had no issues apart from a couple of days of anxiety right at the start of taking it which was a walk in the park compared to what happened with the Sertraline. Citalopram has helped my mood and anxiety so much I love it! Obviously this is my personal experience, however I’ve come across 5 people up to now who all had very similar to me and had to stop Sertraline and switched to Citalopram. I hope you feel better soon 🙂

[Peppemint24]

I'm sorry this has got a bit messy Boody. I was recently on sertraline. It didn't affect my tinnitus in any way positively or negatively. I'm not on it anymore, my tinnitus is unchanged.Tinnitus UK Pat is right with his advice to get professional help and that meds affect us all differently.

Tinnitus can affect us so adversely at its worse, i sympathise with your urgent need for help, I hope you get all the support you need - you can get through this.

[boodv in reply to Peppemint24]

thank you...

[Meldge]

I wouldn’t have got tinnitus if it wasn’t for sertraline and promethazine taken together.

My advice is to stay away from prescription medication if you possibly can

It’s messed my life up

Any anti depressants make my tinnitus worse now and as many have mentioned on this forum a lot of Doctors are unaware of this.

I have a friend who has sertraline associated tinnitus and a consultant suggested he stopped taking it

I’d steer well clear of any SSRIs though most people are fine. I think 11-13% or so get tinnitus as a side effect.

[Sonnybee]

Hi boodv. So sorry your struggling at the moment. Short answer to your question is, when I first got T, about 3yrs ago, my Dr prescribed sertraline. I think its their go to drug!! It didn't elevate my tinnitus, slightly reduced my anxiety, but gave me some side affects, such as dry mouth, dehydration and a dodgy tummy. Pretty sure it was responsible for a few headaches too. I'm fairly active and like to stay healthy. I couldn't handle the side affects, so stopped the drug after 3 months. I also read some studies, that anti depressants can actually REDUCE the neuro plasticity in the brain, which is your brains ability to get over certain issues, like tinnitus. I'm not a dr so I hope I've described that correctly!!When I first got T, I tried everything to make it stop. I also stopped eating, and doing, everything I thought was causing it to spike. I soon realised that T does its own thing regardless. When it spikes, we tend to blame it on whatever we were doing, or eating, at that time. In most cases, its totally unrelated. The more things we try, the more we avoid, the MORE important we make the tinnitus. This puts it on a pedestal, and gives us the impression that its even louder.

By all means try the sertraline. It may work for you. I, personally, had better success with some mild sound therapy. Important to get the right frequency. Plus, I read a CBT book, which was a game changer. I no longer need the sound therapy. If my T peaks, I try to get on with something else. Also look at other holistic approaches for your anxiety, such as gaba, taurine and cbd oil. I've used these. Zero side affects. Check them out.

Tinnitus is a bit like climbing a mountain. It takes a while, and you can never see the top!!! But one day you will realise you where closer to the top than you thought. Most of us have been there and I can relate to your struggle. Take care friend, and hope theres something here you can use.

[boodv in reply to Sonnybee]

thank you for your lovely message..