i thought i already did this, but here goes again. i ordinarily take coumadin ( afib ), symbalta ( depression and major back pain (13 fused levels)), gabapentin (see previous), and bupriprion for appetite suppression and energy (ineffective as to both). i have a schwanoma in my middle left ear that gives rise to ringing in my left ear... not minor, but not major, either. pain doctor increased symbalta. as soon as i began to take the increased dosage i experienced a massive increase in the volume in the ringing in my left ear... to the point where i couldn t hear someone talking with me on the phone held against my right ear. since i was aware that that could be a symptom of extremely high blood pressure, and because of pressure in my head, i stopped taking the symbalta. i had stopped taking the bupriprion when i increased the symbalta because i wanted to mix as few chemicals as possible. and bango! ringing in the ear. not as loud as with the symbalta, but there nevertheless. (i hadn t been aware of it before then, but i have no idea whether in fact it was there before.) the pain dr. had prescribed toprimate, which i hadn t taken before, either. started to take that. guess what? ringing in the ears, notwithstanding that it made me totally lethargic and dopy, the complete opposite of what you d think of something causing high blood pressure. i had my blood pressure taken a few days ago, a day after i d stopped taking all the new stuff, but not enough to get it all out of my system. bp was 155 over 84. it s usually about 125-130 over 65-72. my pulse averages 53. it was 70 that day, so something s up. i just don t know what it is. the obvious answer is stop taking all that stuff. that far i ve already gotten. the problem is that i m always in pain, have been for years. can t do much, can t go anywhere because it hurts to do that. i always cycled, worked out, etc., and now all i can do is stay home because i hurt. is there anything i can take that isn t on the controlled substance list that isn t going to stroke me out as a side effect of pain control? pain doctor recommended that i increase