Here is a further update on my Gabapentin and Klonopin experience. The first time (as I said earlier in the thread) I did 200MG Gabap and .5MG and had 11 hours of low to no T. After that, I tried to lower it to 100MG Gabap and .25 Klono to see if that worked just as well. What I get from that is an "electrical buzz" which is much more tolerable than the very high, shrill T I usually experience.

After awhile, I decided to stop altogether just to see what my T was doing. I had about 3 very low T days (most of the time quite tolerable, even for me who hasn't habituated well to the various sounds of my T yet), then suddenly a bad T day. After that bad day, I went back on the 100MG Gaba and .25 Klono, and immediately back down to the slight "electric buzz.." (This was just a two days ago.)

Since you generally have to work your way up to the various levels of Gaba (the first few days can make you drowsy/groggy), once I get past the drowsy period (which I now counter with coffee since that recent study came out saying caffeine does not effect T!), I will probably bump it up to 200MG Gaba or .5MG Klono or both, or both to see if that takes away the buzz like the first time I took them.

I'm to take this combo 3x a day, but sometimes I only feel like I need it 2x a day, so that is all I do (morning and then a few hours before bed).

I broke down and tried the gaba/xanx combo and it lowered my t instantly. i still do my white noise every day and today during church - i could only hear the electrical buzz of my t and the white noise from my instruments.

i will update on my experiences - like if it quits working. i do xanax .25 mg four times a day and 200 mg of gaba -one in the morning and one in the late afternoon - i tried one at bedtime yesterday to see if i would wake up with lower t - but i couldn't perceive a difference there

but - beware- both are addictive and both have to be tritrated up after awhile and your brain will stop making gaba on it's own - waiting for your gaba dose to do the job -

withdrawals from gaba - is flu like symptoms in bed - laying there weak - for 3 days an dry heaving - even if you tritrate down and quit - under doc's instructions - the withdrawals will get you - at least with me - i surfed the net about this and read many similar accounts - yeah, it's a B. So just understand as you go into it.

I do have much lower T and even forget i have t -

doing the TRT has habituated me to whatever t i have - so if i have a bad day - i filter it much better - so I can't say i would regret or ditch the TRT - it's a drug free way to control my mental and emotional response to T.

So adding Gabapentin to your Xanax helped? Thats great news! It's interesting how these two drugs work together so well. My relief only seems to last a few hours but McMurdo seems to get much longer periods of relief.

I've been able to takes breaks in my Gaba without any issues. I've gone from 600mg a day to nothing for two days and have been fine.

Mandie--That is very helpful!! I asked my Dr about when the Klonopin no longer works for me, then what? He said, then we can try gabap with Xanax. I wondered if that would really work, and he said he thought it should because they are similar but different. I had no idea whether gabap would really magnify the Xanax the way it does the Klono, but it sounds like it did for you (instantly)! Thanks for the post!

I can't speak to the Klonopin because I have never been on it before, but I never felt addicted to Gabap and I have been on it (at much higher doses) twice before for severe pain. I had no withdrawal symptoms whatsoever, and I have two friends who have been on and off it several times and they have not problems when stopping it either, cold turkey. So I guess it just depends on the person. : )

I WILL say you generally do have to "ramp" up with Gabap because it can make you groggy the first few days. But if you keep at it, your body gets adjusted and the grogginess stops. I don't think a lot of doctors are good about telling you this--one of mine DID mention it, but the other two didn't. Maybe they assumed I already knew because I had taken it before, but still...I wonder if they (docs) tell people about this initial feeling that goes away after a couple of days. (When I took 600 mg of Gabap 3xday for nerve pain, it took me several weeks to ramp up to that level--200, then 400, then 600.)

I look forward to hearing your further updates! Thanks again for telling us about the Gabap/Xanax combo and how it worked. I really was wondering!! I also found it interesting that you alternate the meds instead of taking them at the same time. I take mine together, but have wondered about alternating them...sounds like it works to do it that way.

I think it's kinda weird/interesting that Klonopin alone did nothing for me and Gabapentin alone did nothing for me, but in combo they lowered my t right away and for a long time....

McMurdo, I am so happy for you and hope it stays working - and it seems you are on what would be considered low or reasonable doses.

I have no idea why gaba w/d were so hard on me and not the other meds - i didn't expect it and my doc was stumped.

so if everyone else fine - well thank God- who needs more suffering in this world?

I take a small amount of gaba with one .25 mg xanax in the morning and then just .25 xanax twice during the day and on the last dose of xanax. 25 another 150 mg of gaba and it did lower instantly - i didn't expect it - i wasn't looking for it - because i had taken gaba before - but without xanax and couldn't know to do it together - my doc was against it - i am using a previous gaba prescript i had saved from before- so what happens when i ask her? I don't know.

I'll keep up my experiment until i have to finally say something to get more gaba - and at that time will decide whether it's worth begging for.

all of these drugs are considered addictive, controlled substances - i think gaba isn't - but klonopin and xanax are -

so yeah, stay with your doc - keep being tracked - keep monitoring your overall health - keep vigilent about side effects that could impair judgement - esp. driving a car.

if it is working and we are being and acting responsible - we'll be okay - if get smarty pants and double doctor - double up on meds while keeping docs in the dark - if we go anna nicole or something - we'll hurt ourselves far more than tinnitus ever did -

So yeah, we can't get smarty about it - i've gotten smarty about it in the past and got addicted - and the w/d almost killed me - so now - i know - and i don't do it -

i keep emergency rations of some meds in the back of the cabinet - just in case break glass- if i feel i was having a terribly hard day with tinnitus - but now a days - i haven't been reaching for them. so i hope to continue to be like i am now - i hope to stay in the place with meds i am now.

i want to be healthy - i want that- psychologically, spiritually, emotionally, physically - to be there for my family - so yeah, it's a lot to think about every day - i have to think more about it than others because of my past - but yeah,

i am happy for everyone getting relief and changing their lives- thank God - mandie

Mandie--You are SO right about being responsible with it! You made a very good point about driving that I did not mention. I did not drive the first two days on Gabap because I felt too loopy. Others may not have felt as loopy in the beginning, but for me I did not want to take the chance because I felt like it would be like driving drunk. Again, other people may be fine. So, yeah, like you said, Mandie, just be careful, esp those first few days on the Gabap.

I also could not agree more with this that you wrote:

"i want to be healthy - i want that psychologically, spiritually, emotionally, physically - to be there for my family - so it's a lot to think about every day."

Also, thanks for the more details on when you take the meds (how you alternate them) and the dosages. Very, very helpful!

Oh, JSYK, I recall you once saying you are so busy with the kids and all you do that you just don't have time to be "addicted to Xanax," and you said it in a funny way (I think it was in your journal), and I brought up the topic of addiction with Xanax with my Dr. when he mentioned that as a next thing to try when the Klonopin no longer helps, and he said, "Really, only about 6% of people get addicted to Xanax, and you are a busy person, with kids, a job, running to different events--these are GENERALLY not the kind of people who get Xanax addictions, though it can happen to anyone." I immediately thought of your post about "I don't have TIME to get addicted!!" : )

I'm SO happy the combo helps you, and I hope if you decide you want to continue that your doc is agreeable to listening to you/your experience and giving you more Gabap. We have all been thru enough suffering already without having that stress (of trying to convince docs) added in!

Again, thanks for further info!! : )

How's this working for everyone at this point? My GP will give me a script for gabapentin after she checks to make sure my liver enzymes are normal. Is this still working? I'm hopeful.
suera

I started taking Trileptal and Nortriptyline so I don't take Klonopin as much as I used to. I might take .25mg a day now. I think one of the other drugs is reducing the effects of Klonopin because it doesn't work as well as it did when that and Gaba were the only drugs I was taking.

By itself the Klonopin and Gabapentin combo provided more relief that anything else I've taken but the effects only lasted a few hours. I was taking them many times throughout the day and I began to think it wasn't a good long term solution.

The Trileptal and Nortriptyline combo doesn't work as well but the effects last all day. They have reduced my multiple volume 4 tone tinnitus to a single TV static in the center of my head. I think that will be easier to habituate to. I still take the Gaba/Klono if I have a spike but now it's hit or miss with the effectiveness.

Someone said that Klonopin is the most prescribed drug for tinnitus in France. I have no idea if that true or not.

Sue--I'm taking gaba/klono 3x a day...400MG and .5MG. I think it does keep my T lower and more in the middle of my head than my ears, which I seem to tolerate better. However, I don't get any "instant" lowering when I take it. I just maintain the lower T I wake up with (for the most part), or I get slightly louder T as the day wears on, but not the shrill teakettles or dog whistles I had before.

I started out at 200MG gaba and went up to 300 then 400.

I tried going off the klono for awhile and had so many bad T days I went back on after 5 days. (I kept taking the gaba so I wouldn't have to ramp up again if I went back on the gaba/klono mix.)

I will say that I basically feel that whatever I wake up with, the gaba/klono keeps it at about that level all day. In other words, I can't take it on a bad day and have it make my T better/lower.

I also take Nortryptaline (75MG) at night and SOMETIMES a 25MG in the afternoon. I think the Nortryp DOES lower my T after I take it.

It's such a crap shoot isn't it? Ugh, I'm not feeling as hopeful about it. But like you McMurdo my usual T is dog whistle high pitch or tea kettle hiss, if I even get a break from that I guess I'll call it a win. Thanks for the input I guess realistically this doesn't seem like a long term answer.
suera

Its probably not a good long term solution but I have heard of some people taking it for as long as 4 years. I say try it and let your self be the judge.

Trust me, my luck won't work that way.
suera

I've been taking 300mg gaba/.5 mg klono 3x/s a day for over a couple of months. At first I felt sure it was bringing the T volume down - not a lot maybe 20 %, but that was enough to make it worthwhile.

Now the effect is not so clear. My script for gaba is for 600mg 3xs, so maybe I'll try to go up to that. I'm tired of being tired though!
I'm used to having energy and drive to do stuff. Not so much now. I am getting older though, 56, could have something to do with it!

I'm going to talk to my doc about Trileptal and Nortazpine(?).

So, Bobsdream - at 600 mg you really saw (heard) a difference?

Best to all in the new year.
Bobby

I didnt do 600mg for very long because it made me loopy. I went back to 300mg and it seemed about the same. How long have you been taking it? If the side effects are worse than the benefits you should probably stop. I noticed a big difference right away.

When I went up to 600 I also got loopy. I have taken 600MG Gabapentin WITHOUT klono with not problem, but with the klono mixed in, it made me stupid, lol. I might try 600MG Gaba with a little less klono and see how that works.

Nortryptaline I take at night (75MG) before bed and sometimes an additional 25MG in the afternoon on a bad day. It may be my imagination, but the Nortryp seems to drop my T a couple levels after I take it.

I don't really feel tired from any of it. And I like that the gaba/klono mix puts the sound more in my head instead of my ears. I seem to handle it better in there. : )