Ear ringing / tinnitus posts and threads.

Some news:

Link:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/16/us-health-hearing-tinnitus-idUSKCN0PQ2I520150716
 
FWIW, Sarah Myhill suggests gut fermentation as one possible cause of tinnitus:

http://www.doctormyhill.co.uk/wiki/Fermentation_in_the_gut_and_CFS

I suspect allergy to gut flora may be responsible, or part responsible, for many conditions such as irritable bowel, irritable bladder, arthritis, muscle pain (fibromyalgia), so-called intrinsic asthma, urticaria, tinnitus, venous leg ulcers and possibly age related deafness.
 
Hello all. I want to post something recent that has me a bit down at the moment. I've had a high pitched tinnitus (around 10-20khz I suppose) for as long as I can remember. I think it's from childhood ear infections. I've always been careful with loud noises, and have earplugs I use in various places (even movie theaters are too loud these days).

Saturday was my sister's wedding. It was very nice, seemingly perfect even. I had gifted her two large scale paintings and people seemed to like them. My cousin persuaded me unsuccessfully to get on the dance floor. But after a second try when he was dancing himself, I was able to be childlike enough to do so (and people were surprised and said I never do that). I even had some slick shoes on and clicked them a few times, thinking "There's no place like home." But I felt bad about a detail the next morning, and I'll tell that story.

When it was time for the dancing of the bridge and groom with their parents, everything was fine. Shortly thereafter, the party music came on and the floor filled with people. They increased the volume a lot. Someone was talking to me and had to yell in my ear to even have a conversation. And my soft-spoken voice was hardly heard.

Judging by the pictures' time stamps that I took, I can estimate that I sat through this not thinking much of it for about an hour. At that time the loudness was annoying enough that I went outside and thought about leaving early, or even going to a drug store and buying some earplugs. I usually have a bag with a pair in it, but I had a suit on and only brought some jars of water, being minimalistic. And I've been to weddings before, and bringing earplugs didn't cross my mind.

Anyways, while outside I met a relative who is VERY hard of hearing, and you always have to yell at him. And he said that it was loud, so I knew that I wasn't just OCDing or something about this. I was also thinking that there are a lot of people in there, some closer to the speakers than I was, and even a newborn in the crowd. I thought I might tell the DJ could he turn down the music 10 or 20%. So I thought about it and went and got my mom and went outside and asked if I should ask about lowering the music. She didn't give me a direct answer and shortly went back inside to do something else. But maybe I was a bit indirect though. I told her that our relative that is nearly deaf had even said it was loud, and he could feel the columns of the building shaking when touching them.

So I had evidence that I was reading the situation correctly. I was even thinking of asking my sister if it was ok, because she has OCD too and I think she would understand. But I didn't think much about it and returned inside again. I guess for a guy I'm too agreeable. But I still figured that there are a lot of people being exposed to this. At that point I think I started to get in the dance floor and monkey around. I couldn't resist Gangnam Style and the Harlem Shake, and I figured that if I couldn't be like a child, I would lose a little part of myself. I took more breaks outside, but it was so cold that I quickly shivered. So judging by pictures I took, it was a little less than 2 hours of loud exposure, because of outside breaks and increasing my distance from the speakers at one point.

I felt good when I went home, but was tired and went to bed after midnight. The next morning, I noticed a bit of (extra) ringing in my ears. After some testing in quiet rooms and using earplugs, I noticed a new frequency of tinnitus that is mid ranged pitch. The crazy high pitch I have doesn't bother me. But this sounds like a refrigerator running, or having the central air on. But it has to be really quiet, whereas the high pitch I always hear. I'm guessing the punchy bass from the music was the cause.

So I've been worried about it, hoping it would go away. My mom said that the groom's mother said it was loud, but that she wouldn't have said anything about it. I guess everyone was too agreeable, including myself. I was thinking about all the people, and the newborn present. I think I called the situation well, but did not act on it. To use a Peterson analogy, I need to learn how to use my sword. And with G's falling stick analogy, I'm the person who sees G drop the stick, but does nothing about it. I also thought that when I can read the environment and it's not just myself freaking out, that I should act on it.

So I thought I had failed myself and likely others. If there was someone who was brave enough to request it being lowered, the DJ did not comply. But my mom said it was ok to have not said anything, which seems like being externally considerate. I could see that view too. So it's a gray area I suppose. And then I thought, well nobody seemed to have been asking for it to be lowered. The position mattered too, as our table was in "line of sound" of the speaker.

I just feel really disappointed in myself. It doesn't leave a sour taste to a great event. I still enjoyed it and my sister means a lot to me. But I'm sure there is a probable timeline where I had enough willpower and sense to have done something.

So I have some earplugs that are going in my car. I've always tried to be careful with the hearing I have left, same with vision. That's what gets me, this is not something that happens to me. But I guess you can't dodge every bullet? So all I can do is take the lessons I learned due to it. The good part is that it seems my hearing is ok. But I do enjoy silence, and that's when it's more noticeable. I suspect people who go to parties, bars, and concerts have tinnitus, but maybe there is always enough background noise to mask it.

I was emotional today, crying a bit in the shower. Every time I found silence was a reminder that it is still there. Aside from using my sword properly and acting on a situation when I see (or hear) reality left and right, I came up with I must be the best that I can be. And that even if you're completely disabled, there's always something you can do. Which reminds me of the quote that it's when you choose that counts. I also thought that this is a reminder that I'm going to die, as in memento mori. I'll lose my entire body and senses one day, so it's sobering.

I'm only 30 something pages into Healing Developmental Trauma, but I was kind of thinking, "Gee what is all this thumping music doing to this newborn?" Wondering if it was a sort of threat. But he was in cradle so maybe that helped dampen it, and they weren't in direct line of sight of the speaker. I think my over concern with senses is rooted in a fear of loss. And I think I really have some Connection based trauma.

So I heard NAC can help with tinnitus, and I already take 600mg twice a day. I suppose I could double that? I have some Now Foods Ginko Biloba, but it doesn't state the harmful Ginkgolic acid ppm, which should not be over 5ppm. I haven't looked into that. I'm already taking CoQ10, and have some beef heart. I have some DMSO liquid, but don't plan to pour it in my ear. Some forum said that prednisone two days after exposure can help (just over two days now), but also up to 30 days after exposure. And usually without treatment, ringing ears can clear up within a few days, but can take one to two weeks. But I'm not anticipating.

I guess I just wanted to rant, as I felt like I had failed myself and others. I'm thinking I should have acted on this, right? All I can do now is try to treat the ringing, and if it's to stay, then take the lessons learned from this. Thanks for reading.
 
Gidday 3D Student.

I had an increase in tinnitus beginning about 4 years ago. I've also had tinnitus since before I started school so I know that it can be habituated to and mainly not affect life so much. However with the increase, I tolerated it for a few years until I finally went to the doctor.

I've been to Ear Nose and Throat specialists, audiologists and neurologists and the best information that I've had about tinnitus so far is that tinnitus seems to increase as you lose hearing - and the tinnitus frequency is often in the range of hearing loss. The more you lose hearing, the louder or more intense the tinnitus seems. So I was fitted with a new pair of hearing aids so that I could hear more noises in the area of hearing loss - which made my tinnitus seem less noticeable. I do have sensitive ears though and I carry musicians ear plugs (custom fitted) as well as normal silicon ear plugs for extremely noisy environments. I use the hearing aids mainly when I'm in quieter environments.

The musicians ear plugs have a little filter or attenuator in them and I find them great in area's like shopping centres or restaurants because I can still hear a person speaking to me if I'm looking at them and all of the back ground noises that I'd have difficulty filtering are muted.

I'm still seeing some specialists though because it seems that my tinnitus may be related to other issues, but that's the best advice I can give so far.
 
Zinc and melatonin are often used for tinnitus as well. There is also pentoxifylline and lugol, which anecdotally has improved tinnitus.
 
3D Student said:
I was emotional today, crying a bit in the shower. Every time I found silence was a reminder that it is still there. Aside from using my sword properly and acting on a situation when I see (or hear) reality left and right, I came up with I must be the best that I can be. And that even if you're completely disabled, there's always something you can do. Which reminds me of the quote that it's when you choose that counts. I also thought that this is a reminder that I'm going to die, as in memento mori. I'll lose my entire body and senses one day, so it's sobering.


Hi 3D Student,

Your searing honesty and intent nearly made me cry :(


3D Student said:
...I've had a high pitched tinnitus (around 10-20khz I suppose) for as long as I can remember.


I'm sure you're all over it but as this range is apparently uncommon for tinnitus, I thought I'd mention the topic was touched on here-


https://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,44442.msg723242.html#msg723242


- including a link to a Tone Generator.


3D Student said:
I guess I just wanted to rant, as I felt like I had failed myself and others. I'm thinking I should have acted on this, right? All I can do now is try to treat the ringing, and if it's to stay, then take the lessons learned from this. Thanks for reading.


Take it easy on yourself mate, pressure's also coming from The Wave and it's challenging.

And yep, all there is are lessons.


:rockon:
 
Hi 3DS, I’m sorry to hear that your tinnitus has gotten worse after being around such loud music. Hopefully it will lessen as the day goes on.

It seems that from what you are saying you and 2 elderly relatives thought that the music was too loud, but the rest of the people at the wedding didn’t complain or mention the music, is that correct?

If that is the case then I don’t see a reason why you should have stepped in to ask it to be lowered for everyone else’s sake. It was your sister’s wedding and none of the other guests were bothered. If the music was too loud for you, you could have moved further away from the speaker or asked your sister if you could move away as it was affecting your tinnitus. I’m sure she would have been happy to help.

I think it’s important to remember that if other people are bothered and don’t say anything, or if they have their children too close to the loud music then that is their choice to do so and you aren’t under any obligation to decide for them.

So, I don’t think you have failed by not stepping in for the sake of other’s, you just didn’t speak up for yourself and assert your own needs. That might be something to think about, why you felt like you couldn’t ask for something for yourself?

Hopefully Gaby’s advice will help and you can get a bit of relief.
 
Pentox has really helped my tinnitus but I'm also hoping that NeurOptimal work will make a difference too since I was reading about how tinnitus is mostly the brain misreading signals and that neurofeedback really helps.
 
3D Student said:
Hello all. I want to post something recent that has me a bit down at the moment. I've had a high pitched tinnitus (around 10-20khz I suppose) for as long as I can remember. I think it's from childhood ear infections. I've always been careful with loud noises, and have earplugs I use in various places (even movie theaters are too loud these days).

Hi 3d!
Since childhood I too had this high pitched tinnitus that used to be so mild I could only hear it in silence. In the last few years it has gone louder, but does not affect my hearing tests at work. I too use earplugs, especially at work where there is big machinery.
I had only one childhood ear infection which cleared on it's own, because I was scared to go to the doctor at the time.

My bigger issue since childhood is misphonia. I can't stand hearing loud chewing or a noise like when someone licks their fingers (my sister would do that after eating ribs and it drove me crazy!). Loud breathing or constant sniffles also caused issues for me in school to focus at times, if I was seated to someone who did that. What also bugs me and makes hard for me to focus is when audio is way out of balance- too much bass or too much treble.
Even to this day, no amount of pipe breathing or relaxation can stop me from getting distracted or annoyed by such noises.
I wonder if anyone else here with tinnitus has misphonia, however minor. Perhaps it is in the brain?

Recently I have gone through a slump in mood, most likely heightened by the winter blues (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and I noticed that my high pitched tinnitus would get louder when I feel anxious or stressed. Does this happen to any of you w tinnitus?

Sometimes it would be louder in my right ear while doing NeurOptimal, even though I don't put the volume loud. I was perplexed but started to look up things common to anxiety/depression, tinnitus, and misphonia.

There's a lot of research going on that points to glutamate as the problem. It has the opposite effect of GABA, where instead of calming nerves, it excites them. It's the same reason why msg heightens taste and has bad side effects (by overexciting taste).

NMDA antagonists and NMDA co-agonists seem to be what the studies have found to rectify multiple issues, such as Anxiety, Depression, tinnitus, and even schizophrenia. Some of these are drugs that are still in testing and some are supplements. A weak one is magnesium, but I've upped my dose of Mag Malate and Citrate and saw no difference besides getting the soft stools.

Out of all of the possibilities that are legal and side effect free, I will be trying an amino acid called sarcosine (NMDA co-agonist) from a site that gets good reviews ( https://brainvitaminz.com/products/sarcosine-180-gram )

Hopefully it trims down my tinnitus and brings my mood back. If tinnitus is indeed mostly from within the brain/nervous system, perhaps too much glutamate, or too sensitive glutamate system in the brain is the cause.
I will report back when I start sarcosine.
 
I recently read an article which mentioned a link between tinnitus and magnesium deficiency. Whilst I can't find the original article that it was in, I did an internet search and the results seem to indicate a clear link between magnesium deficiency and tinnitus, as well as many other conditions.

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/04/05/magnesium-tinnitus-relief.aspx

https://dailyhealthpost.com/4-interesting-signs-you-need-more-magnesium/
 
Divide By Zero said:
Even to this day, no amount of pipe breathing or relaxation can stop me from getting distracted or annoyed by such noises.
I wonder if anyone else here with tinnitus has misphonia, however minor. Perhaps it is in the brain?

Recently I have gone through a slump in mood, most likely heightened by the winter blues (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and I noticed that my high pitched tinnitus would get louder when I feel anxious or stressed. Does this happen to any of you w tinnitus?
Yes, the tinnitus does seem worse with stress.

It can because by the structures of the inner ear - one theory is that there is damage to the hair like structures in the cochlea. Then there is the vestibular nerve itself...maybe it didn't myelinate properly. It can also originate at the brain stem where the cranial nerves arise from - this can be due to upper cervical instability and the related inflammation in the area, or it can be caused by a malformation in the bones at the base of the skull that means that things can get crowded around the brainstem - like a chiari malformation -
_https://www.brainandspine.org.uk/chiari-malformations
_https://www.conquerchiari.org/articles/theories/posterior%20fossa/small-posterior-fossa-confirmed-in-adults.html
_https://www.conquerchiari.org/articles/theories/posterior%20fossa/is-chiari-0-for-real.html

There are also many medications/drugs that are ototoxic and can cause tinnitus and hearing loss, and a host of other symptoms if the balance/proprioception mechanisms are damaged _http://www.hearnet.com/features/articles/Ototoxic_Drugs_Exposed.pdf
 
I forgot this one...temporomandibular joint disfunction/misalignment can cause tinnitus too:
_http://www.tmj.org/site/page?pageId=35
 
Intense exercise, lots of it, has eliminated my tinnitus. It does come back when my intestines are playing up, but only until I move again.

I'd have usually in the past said nyet to and argue with people who do high intensity cardio about it's potential benefits, but since I started running most of my physical problems have disappeared almost completely.

I'm still not sold on running. It's only been a few weeks since I began (10km twice a week) but so far I'm
seeing some really good benefits. I also work out with weights 3 times a week, walk 5 or so km twice a week and do yoga twice a week... the more I exercise the better I feel. I just bought a bike helmet and will be riding my sons bike too here and there.

After years of bad diet and addictions in my 20s and early thirties exercise feels like the best way for me to
heal both body and mind.
 
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