Drugs for Tinnitus

Anti-Depressants, Tranquilizers,and Muscle Relaxants

Anti-drepressants are drugs used to prevent or relieve mental depression. Tranquilizers are drugs that promote tranquility by calming, soothing, quieting, or pacifying without drpressant effects. Muscle relaxants are drugs that reduce tension in the muscle.
Many tinnitus sufferers become depressed from having to deal with the constant noise. Treating the depression may make the tinnitus seem less severe. But beware that certain ototoxic anti-depressants may worsen tinnitus. SSRI anti-depressants may temporarily worsen tinnitus for the first few weeks, but risk fewer side-effects as compared to the older tricyclic drugs.
Tricyclic anti-depressants, such as Nortriptyline and benzodiazepines, such as Alprazolam (Xanax) were used in one study in which some people reported improvement.
Possible reasons:
Patients just think they feel better (placebo effect).
Since these drugs are central nervous system depressants, auditory responsiveness diminishes.
Tinnitus is stress-related - i.e. muscle tension in neck & jaw restricts blood and lymph flow.