Someone with knowledge in neurology or psychiatry please weigh in on my case

Hi. I believe i caused myself tinnitus by taking a strong stimulant called Armodafinil during the day for concentration at work and by taking Ambien (Zolpidem) to get the edge off of the Armodafinil at night at to help me sleep. On day 4 of this practice, I feel like some sort of dam in my brain broke. It happened at lunch time at work. I took a 1/4 of 150mg Armodafinil tab in the morning and slept with the help of an Ambien the night prior to that. Suddenly, I was gripped by a panic attack that lasted all day. I knew something was wrong but I thought it would pass. That same night I had to take another 5 mg of Ambien because no way I would be able to sleep in that state. Then I wake up with another panic attack at 2 am. I realized something was seriously wrong. I discontinued the armodafinil then and was biting on Ambien and taking it at night for the next 5 days when I went to the emrgency where they said there is nothing to be done, I just have to rife it out. That night I flushed everything down the toilet. Here I am, 8 weeks since that case. Developed tinnitus in week 4. The anxiety and panic is subsiding except for the tinnitus.

 

Will someone please give their opinion as to what may have gone wrong. I am seeing psychiatrists but everyone is clueless. IT is my intuition at this time that i created strong tension for my glutamate/GABA system. I feel like I fried it. But i feel like if drugs got me into this situation, they may help me too. Thank you

 

here I will tag some people that I feel have some knowledge in this field

Well, that doesnt sound very nice at all... -Sorry to hear...

 

Sorry, I couldnt begin to say what might have gone wrong that day.. I even wondered what you ate for lunch..!!??

 

I guess sometimes larger sudden “brain” changes can just happen in response to meds and their changes too, and to be fair its reported in relation to healing sometimes as well... (fwiw)

 

The only real time I think I “threw a rod” or “snapped a crank”, was with a sudden C/O (cross over) on a non benzo, but significant med to me, and shortly-ish after my valium and lyrica tapers... I think everything added up and I was too fragile under it all...  Anyways, I had a big brain zap/body jerk and lost nerves to half my face, -and a few other nerve/muscle things kicked off...

But thats just my story, and it might be better to hear from those that dealt more with anxiety and panic events...  And I wasnt on your meds either..

Do you feel its more a “reaction” or Withdrawal..?? -though that might be splitting hairs..??

Is anything helping to ease things..?? I know the calmer/relaxed/rested I am, the less my Tinnitus/sensory/nerve problems are.. T is a stubborn one for many people...

 

Best wishes...

 

Sorry, my texting is a bit rough these days..

 

 

I’m not a neurologist or psychiatrist, not sure there’s any of those folks here, but I think you might be missing a smoking gun about why you’re symptomatic.  Your signature says:

‘2018-2019 Recreational use of alprazolam.. 2-3 weeks at a time with multiple months of breaks in between’.

 

This alone has the potential to cause the withdrawal issues you’re describing, in my opinion. I’d be less inclined to blame three doses of Ambien or the armodafinil.

 

Here’s a pretty inclusive bit from drugs.com on armodafinil:

https://www.drugs.com/sfx/armodafinil-side-effects.html

Oh yeah, I forgot about the “qualification” bit... -I sure didnt reply as someone “in the know”...

-More just as someone who had an “ooops” moment too, -saying Hi, and that im hanging in there...

(Paraphrase of the decade.. lol)

Thank you guys. Challis I think you are right about the smoking gun... more like the kindling gun

Challis is probably right, but I would avoid both stimulants and sedatives from now on. That includes caffeine, which increases the neurotoxicity in benzo and alcohol withdrawal. The tinnitus should slowly get better on its own if you let your system get back to normal (ie. avoiding psychotropics).

Here is a support group where Lapis has posted a number of studies on how benzos can cause damage to the cells of the inner ear through ototoxicity and cause dizziness, vertigo, tinnitus etc. http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=128947.0

Well, that doesnt sound very nice at all... -Sorry to hear...

 

Sorry, I couldnt begin to say what might have gone wrong that day.. I even wondered what you ate for lunch..!!??

 

I guess sometimes larger sudden “brain” changes can just happen in response to meds and their changes too, and to be fair its reported in relation to healing sometimes as well... (fwiw)

 

The only real time I think I “threw a rod” or “snapped a crank”, was with a sudden C/O (cross over) on a non benzo, but significant med to me, and shortly-ish after my valium and lyrica tapers... I think everything added up and I was too fragile under it all...  Anyways, I had a big brain zap/body jerk and lost nerves to half my face, -and a few other nerve/muscle things kicked off...

But thats just my story, and it might be better to hear from those that dealt more with anxiety and panic events...  And I wasnt on your meds either..

Do you feel its more a “reaction” or Withdrawal..?? -though that might be splitting hairs..??

Is anything helping to ease things..?? I know the calmer/relaxed/rested I am, the less my Tinnitus/sensory/nerve problems are.. T is a stubborn one for many people...

 

Best wishes...

 

Sorry, my texting is a bit rough these days..

 

trazadone helps me a lot. even half a pill 25mg. stops the jerks and lets me fall asleep

Maybe this post will offer some help or information: Tinnitus: http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=106121.0