^we prefer evidence based medicine, not saying you might not be on to something. There are a few very weak trials on piracetam with small benefits, but we're talking very small benefits. Also reference for the gabapentin ototoxicity claim?
in my country (we have one of the best healthcare system in the world) Piracetam is the standard treatment a doctor give you for tinnitus and it work very good for alot of people according to my doctor but not for all , maybe it depend on the cause of your tinnitus.
Personally Piracetam work WONDER for my tinnitus and trust me i had a very loud one, generally it dont work with dose like 2-4 grams at-least not in the beginning, you have to overdose it at 8-10 gr (although i have read a study that say 8-10 gr is the standard dose for piracetam to work )
i don't know exactly the science behind it, but piracetam affect NMDA receptors in the brain and in the hear too (maybe by normalizing their activity? ) and this is why it work, as an example the new anti tinnuts medication that is being developped AM 101 is a non competitive NMDA receptor antagonist and i heard that their Phase IIB trial were a success
as for Vinpocetine google it, there is alot of people using it for tinnitus and its work good for me maybe even better than piracetam alone
those are OTC cheap supplements with practically no side effects so why not give them a chance (1 or 2 months) before screwing your brain with heavy medications that has even less evidence of working and will not work for sure ?
as for gabapentine
here are the side effect of this medication according to the Physicians Desk Reference, the Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties, the American Health Foundation etc
Gabapentin
Ototoxic effects:
Cochlear:
hearing loss : 0,1 - 1% ( AHF, PDR )
HyperAcusis : 0.1 - (AHF, PDR )
Tinnitus : 0.1 - 1% ( AHF, PDR )
Vestibular:
Ataxia : 3,3 - 12,5% (cps, pdr)
Dizziness: 2,8 - 28 % (CPS, PDR )
Labyrinthitis : 0,1% (AHF, PDR)
Nystagamus: 8,3 - 20,4 % (CPS, PDR)
Vertigo > 1 % (CPS, PDR)
Outer / Middle Ear:
Earche/ear pain : 0,1 - 1 % (AHF, PDR )
Feeling of fullness in the ears (that mean generaly hearing loss) : 0,1 - 1% (AHF, PDR )
Otitis Externa : < 0,1 ( AHF, PDR)
Otitis Media : 1,2 % (placebo 0 % ) (AHF, PDR)
Perforated Eardrum : <0,1 % ( AHF, PDR)
Risk assessment : CLASS 4
some of these side effects may seem to you unlikely to happen because they don't exceed 1% but don't forget that you ears are already injured so there is a very strong chance you WILL experience them !
for example i have used Seroquel in the past , according to the PDR, seroquel give hearing loss in less than 0,1 % of it users, so when i read this i didn't worry
because less than 0,1 % is low but the day after i took it i woke up with a fucking hearing loss that subsided only a week after and that only after taking 1 pill of 200 mg, in the past seroquel had no side effect on my ears but after i injured them i'm now sensible to every ototoxic medications out there !
this is why you have to be extremely carefull of what you take, and because there is no mention of ototoxic effects on the insert of your medication doesn't mean it's devoid of ototoxicity because when the medication is on clinical trial they don't take people with injured ears! ( tinnitus, hyperacusis, hearing loss etc ...)
This is why you rarely see ototoxic side effects on insert of medications
Hope i helped
ps: Does anyone have a problem with pubmed ? it don't give me any search result