tinnitus symptom coming back

Hello,

sorry for my english, I'm french.

 

After 3 years of withdrawal benzos, I felt really better: tinnitus and anxiety went down.

And it imporoved the 2 years after with a normal life.

 

But, since last year, tinnitus (and hyperacousia) came back (and anxiety) and it's more and more loud.

 

It's a nexw nightmare

 

Any advices?

Has anything changed in your life, new stress, medications, supplements, medical challenges?  Have you seen a doctor for this?  Do you suspect this is being caused by your benzodiazepine use?

Dehydration and stress have both a bad influence , so make sure you avoid that.

Noise machine helps me sleep at night, when tinnitus becomes really bad

Besides that you might wanna check some doctors of hearing in your area and make an appointment for the future.

Thanks for your answer.

My ears are ok: I regularly consult an ORL (ears specialist) doctor and the tests (audiograms) are good.

My tinnitus was created by benzos in 2016 and decreased after 2019 (my benzos withdrawal lasted 1 year in 2016-2017) and even if the tinnitus (and hyperacusis) was present in 2020-2021, it was low and stabilized and I could have a almost normal life (mountainering, skiing for example...)

Tinnitus and hyperacusis came back last year (beginning of february 2022) because of stress created by retinal tear on one eye (end of january 2022) and death of my old mum (end of december 2021). There's a link between these events.

But I'm surprised that tinnitus and hyperacusis don't decrease after one year. I tried sophrologist and another therapist but it was no used.

 

No new medications since last year

 

Supplements: vitamin d since more than one year because I don't have enough. Blood tests (every 4 monthes) show that I have  almost enough vitamin d because of the supplement (a natural one). But I decided to stop it too one month ago (caution).

I had 2 dental implants in spring 2022 but it didn't improve or increase tinnitus

I know stress plays a role in so many area's but had no idea it could bring on tinnitus so far removed from your benzodiazepine experience, I'm sorry.  I hope others will stop by because the only experience I have with it was short lived during my recovery.

Tinnitus is known to flare in stressful times for any tinnitus sufferer so I'm not surprised. I ended up on benzos through CBT for tinnitus actually and although that was the worst thing that could have happened and obviously made everything worse (and I was doing other treatments like acupuncture that had great effect at the time), I now realize after much research that the cause of tinnitus doesn't matter.

 

Tinnitus is only there when there is at least some tiny hearing loss so a loss of a few haircells and stress. Any kind of stress (it's also a neurological glutamate condition). So it can be noise induced, due to pressure differences, due to medications, it really doesn't matter, it activates the stress network in your brain.

 

Once there's tinnitus you start from the same place regardless of the cause to try to filter it out. Filtering out tinnitus occurs in the brain and requires neuroplasticity and thus depends on the person. I realized too late as rivotril was sprained on me as something innocent but many of my friends have way worse hearing than me and have no tinnitus or only for a few days/weeks. That's because they had less of a stress reaction to it. My tinnitus was severe as the stress was severe due to cortizone and I'm highly sensitive.

 

The same unfortunate thing now with benzos, once there's dependency it doesn't matter if you took it a few days versus years, the dependency is there and you'll have the withdrawal. Those symptoms and intensity depend on taper and neuroplasticity, so different for everyone.

 

One might even argue then that it's no surprise, Pamster, that you managed to come off so well CT of such high doses of clonazepam with a relatively short withdrawal and managed to work and also had tinnitus go away fast and forever compared to maybe more sensitive people for whom symptoms can come back. You were obviously still one of the unlucky ones getting on this forum, but maybe not so unlucky for an unlucky one 

 

New stress can trigger the filter in your brain to drop again and the tinnitus to come back to the forefront. Even people that are not "tinnitus sufferers" sometimes hear a tuut when they are stressed but then it quickly goes away. Have you tried tinnitus retraining therapy? I wish I had done that instead of that awful center I ended up at. Treblehealth is a good youtube channel with lots of info and guided meditations and so on. I wish I had contacted them to help me when tinnitus was still my main issue. Good luck!

Sorry for the long post, I went down a two month rabbit hole about tinnitus this summer and forgot to check the two real things of importance: cortizone effects and withdrawal and whether rivotril was actually safe or not but on this I now know more unfortunately than the ENTs, GP, professor audiologists I spoke to. If you have any questions, feel free to pm me, I can even (try to) answer in French (no guarantees with benzo brain unfortunately)

I still have Tinnitus & am about 6 years out.  Spazzie.

Yes, it seems one of the most persistent symptoms unfortunately. Insane atinnitus therapist recommended this to me. Just made everything worse. Have you tried tinnitus retraining therapy or anything else?

Thanks for your answers.

I'll make them translate by someone because I don't understand everything (but I understand almost everything).

 

I didn't try tinnitus retraining therapy: a neurologist (doctor and researcher) in Lausanne (Switzerland), not far away from my home, proposes it but he wrote on his web site that it concerns all tinnitus but not "benzos tinnitus". Moreover, I went far away in France to consult ears doctors "specialists of tinnitus" but none doctor is a tinnitus specialist, even if they pretend it...

 

I had tinnitus before benzos because of sound trauma  (the last one was after an Iggy Pop concert (and it was a day of stress not because of the concert but I should'nt had go to it) and it lasted 3 monthes; after this concert, more than twenty years ago, I'he always been avoiding loud music and loud noises, I've always been very careful with my ears in all situation and I know that benzos withdrawal symptoms concern previous "weakenesses" of the body.

 

When I was ok with my ears and my eyes in 2021, I could hear permanently my tinnitus and hstill had hyperacousia but I didn't care (it was lower): homeostasis. Idem for my eys problems: I managed. That's what I hope coming back.

I unfortunately figured out the same because the tinnitus experts I spoke to recommended me rivotril. But I don't agree with your doctor about not benzo tinnitus. Tinnitus is tinnitus. It's a feedback loop in your brain that's wrong. The cause doesn't matter for the treatment. I wish I had done tinnitus retraining therapy instead of the CBT center I went to. I probably would have been habituated by now. There's also a forum for tinnitus called tinnitustalk. (Wish I had joined that one instead of benzobuddies as they warn against rivotril  )

You did a mistake with Ritrovil but all of us on this forum made mistakes with benzos. And mistakes are part of life... We must cope with them.

I have hundreds of floaters in the eyes because of a stupid surgeon I trust 30 years ago and who made a mistake with the way he used laser during the surgery.

Afterwards, I could find a very good medicament (homeopathic collyrium) which really helped me(even now) with floaters.

 

And when I was stressed by floaters some years later (because it became worse), I couldn't sleep and decided not to use sleepings pills (too dangerous) but benzos (I thought it was safer!!). I red about undesirable effects on the benzos'notice (Xanax/alprazolam) the doctor proposed me and nothing was written (Sanofi, french manufacturer of the xanax are lyers)!!!

Later, during the withdrawal, I red the notice of the Valium/Diazepam (european manufacturer: Roche) I used and all the benzos' potential undesirable effects (tens) were written (tinnitus...). So, if the french doctor had first advised me Valium, I wouldn't have took it because of risk of tinnitus...

 

So, don't feel guilty about having using Ritrovil; you did what you thought was good for you at this time. And now, you are a more lucid and best person...

 

You did a mistake with Ritrovil but all of us on this forum made mistakes with benzos. And mistakes are part of life... We must cope with them.

I have hundreds of floaters in the eyes because of a stupid surgeon I trust 30 years ago and who made a mistake with the way he used laser during the surgery.

Afterwards, I could find a very good medicament (homeopathic collyrium) which really helped me(even now) with floaters.

 

And when I was stressed by floaters some years later (because it became worse), I couldn't sleep and decided not to use sleepings pills (too dangerous) but benzos (I thought it was safer!!). I red about undesirable effects on the benzos'notice (Xanax/alprazolam) the doctor proposed me and nothing was written (Sanofi, french manufacturer of the xanax are lyers)!!!

Later, during the withdrawal, I red the notice of the Valium/Diazepam (european manufacturer: Roche) I used and all the benzos' potential undesirable effects (tens) were written (tinnitus...). So, if the french doctor had first advised me Valium, I wouldn't have took it because of risk of tinnitus...

 

So, don't feel guilty about having using Ritrovil; you did what you thought was good for you at this time. And now, you are a more lucid and best person...

 

I wouldn't say lucid. But those audiologists and doctors don't know anything here. The internet is a better source.

Yeah the professor audiology of the country and tinnirus expert publicly answered my bad review stating that rivotril does NOT cause tinnitus... What a loser

The same in France.

 

Last year, young french people (less than 20 years old) increased their consumption of antidepressants more than 50%; and I think it's the same with benzos...

I think at least rivotril is banned in France though... And I literally was lied to because I refused other benzos and z drugs and asked something non habit forming like a natural advice for sleep. Should have just had a glass of wine now and then but I'm not a drinker. I regret that immensely. 12 days of alcohol would not have had this effect.

 

Yeah they prescribe too often, even to people like me saying they don't want those things. The best thing for depression is exercise. But now I'm too sick to do so. Sad.

Ritrovil is allowed in France as all benzos...

 

Xanax began having bad effects on me after 1 year but I was having one pill per week, no more...