Never heard of a benefit, but I did get dry, cracked lips and blurry vision
when I took a high dose years ago.  It's toxic and I wouldn't recommend
megadosing it.

Caffeine doesn't usually bother me.  Foods and teas high in salicylates ratchet
my T up a great deal.  It's easy to google up a salicylate content food chart
if you think they may be bothering you.

Ummm... dunno.

I've heard of folks benefiting from TRT, hypnosis, meditation, masking, ginkgo
biloba, and just plain waiting it out and getting used to it.  

Some folks use a radio, tuned between stations with a soft static sound.  White
noise machines are useful for some.

 Do people

White noise is a good thing, doesn't matter what makes it.

I don't think so, but, anecdotally, I've often noted more hearing and T
discomfort after a long time on some cell phones, though not my current one.
 

One occasional poster had a good experience with Elavil, the tricyclic
antidepressant, others say it makes T worse.  Benzodiazapenes, like Xanax help
others.

Why wouldn't they?  This is a support board, after all.

Susan

Adam, I like how in one letter email, you have summed up the questions that
make up the bulk of questions that we all have about tinnitus!

I don't know the answers to most of your questions, and I am asking them right
along with you, but the one thing I can say is that if something makes your
personal tinnitus worse, or flare up, or have some kind of negative effect,
then I would pay attention to it, if it was consistent!

So, in that light, try vitamins, try lots of things, and keep drinking your
favorite drinks unless, again, you notice a consistent direct reaction.  

Now, having said that, the problem is that when we go looking for a T
experience, we generally find it!  If you are highly aware of your T during tea
time, to SEE if there is a change, then T is likely to show a change!  Just
because you are watching and listening.........there is an attentional aspect
to T as we all know: we can be distracted and it diminishes, we can be focused
on it, and it increases...........
this is not a hard and fast rule, but I find this phenomena reported by
patients in my TRT clinic.

Take care and keep asking those questions!

Marsha Johnson, M.S.

Hi Adam,

I'm taking daily Vitamin E (antioxidant). There's anecdotal evidence it's
supposed to help, especially in the early stages. Doesn't seem to make much
difference though

I don't drink tea or coffee anyway. In my case, diary products and starches
may make it worse, though I've not checked this out carefully and it could
be coincidence...

It seems to be linked to a certain level of brain arousal. In my case the
peak occurs at a certain point before - and after - sleeping. As I go to
sleep the T peaks then gets quieter, and it also is quieter the moment I
wake up, then gets louder.  I find a few seconds of 'tone therapy' from a
small battery 9KHz generator I built, gives effective relief at this time.

During the day, concentration on a mental task, or lying down/relaxation,
brings it on.  Engagement in social activity removes it. For example, once I
was having a bad tinnitus day but then I had to go to the theatre to rig a
sound plot under very frantic, extrovert, conditions. I then just 'had no
time' for my tinnitus and it disappeared - even when I tried listening for
it.

Yes, though I used to think wearing earplugs 'forced the brain to turn the T
down', I'm not so sure now.  During the day I'm now using a miniature
amplifier unit, equivalent to hearing aids in both ears, and this is proving
very helpful. It raises the signal-to-noise ratio so much the T is rarely
audible.

No problems with the dentist for me. My T seems to have been caused by
over-intense neck massage. My ENT believes this caused a muscular reaction
around the inner ear.

My computer's fan makes it _worse_ !   This is what caused me to obtain
earplugs. I tried a white noise generator and this too made it worse.

I suppose the near-ultrasonic whistle of computer monitors could be
irritating, and the fast light flicker could also have some crossover effect
on the brain. I've already got mine set to 90Hz - the fastest it will go.

An interesting point. My ENT prescribed Dothiepin 25mg/day to deal with the
inner-ear muscle tension (it's actually a tricyclic anti-depressant). I
asked my doctor your last question. He thought that the Dothiepin would
actually relieve the muscle-tension causing my tinnitus as well as acting as
a sedative - making me less bothered about it. I've only been taking it for
three days and all I have to report so far is headache and diarrhoea !
It'll be another few weeks before I can judge whether it works.   The odd
thing is the ENT sounded so certain. I can but hope ...

Steve

                ...............

 ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, There have been some articles encouraging vitamin B or B12.
Only thing it did for me was make me break out.

caffeine,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.tea and coffee were always ok for me, but too much caffeine
would make me hyper and when hyper exascerbate the tinnitus.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,, if your tinnitus is intermittent - mine was, you probably have
good and bad ear days. When its raging it's difficult to concentrate. On the
days your tinnitus is *bad* don't push yourself too much. Kick back, relax and
tell the world to go away temporarily. When well rested your tinnitus will be
softer and you'll concentrate easier.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,stay away from loud events!!

................I think most of us tried just about anything we could get our
hands on. Some people found relied with xanax (sp?) or an antidepressant. Many
who used xanax wished they didn't because they became dependant.

..............Not to my knowledge - in this group some people found relief from
TRT. The best treatment for tinnitus is APPLE ("acceptance, patience, prayers,
letting time pass, and encouragement"). APPLE

,,,,,,,,,,,,,, all my tests came back normal including hearing tests, blood
work, x-rays, mri's, etc. I blame mine on ear wax buildup that I let go on too
long without seeing a doctor.

...............doubt it. Ive had one for 6 years without any problems.

....................difficult to say. Some got help from zoloft, some with
paxil, some with ativan and xanax - but these can be addictive.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I would recommend that anyone with severe tinnitus get on an
antidepressant. Severe tinnitus can
cause some people to be very depressed because they've lost their silence. If
you try one be sure to take it long enough to see a difference. I noticed a
considerable reduction in the noise (both severity and duration) after 3 months
on elavil 25mg.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,me too Adam. Me too.

- jean :)

Depends on the cause, if known at all, of your tinnitus.

Most causes of, or ideas about, tinnitus are well-mentioned on the
internet and in newsgroups.

However, for my intermittent tinnitus the cause is VERY clear and VERY
distinct and, more interesting, VERY curable, but NEVER and NEVER and
NEVER mentioned seriously anywhere on either the internet, or in the
official literature of regular medicine, or in the dispersed
literature of "alternative" medicine.

For me it started some 4 or 5 years ago with intermittent light
sizzling and high beeps of longer than normal duration, PLUS the well
known problems with air pressure during flight, esp. during the
landing. "Tuba disfunction" says the doctor, etc. I spare you all the
other irrelevant diagnoses he made over the next years.

Then one february/march I got this terrible high pitched beep like
from a television set in both ears, that wouldn't get away. It stayed
there for a month, finally receded somewhat and became a higher or
lower sizzle, like a shower running in the distance.

At times it was so terrible that I couldn't sleep. At others it went
away completely for a few days, then returned. I spare you all the
irrelevant diagnoses from the physician.

As I am an audiophile and live for my ears, so to speak, I became
terribly agonized. I spare you the pseudo psychological blubber that
the physicians began to feed me at that time. First they say: "No, of
course it is not tinnitus." But later on, when their crappy medicine
doesn't work, they say: "Well, it's tinnitus and it's incurable. Get
used to it."

Finally, after years of suffering, it dawned upon me that my tinnitus
had a distinct cause. And the cause was a SEVERE ALLERGIC REACTION TO
FRUITS, esp. citrus fruits, esp. oranges, mandarines and lemons, but
also to other fruits like apple, peach, apricot, kiwi, etc.

This became clear because I also developed problems in the mouth and
the respiratory organs, I got this "hot" and aching mouth, this husky
voice, these breathing problems, etc.

In my case it was not a DIRECT allergy for fruits, but a so-called
CROSS REACTION from birch pollen to fruits. That I suffered from birch
pollen allergy was already known to me for 25 years. But this cross
reaction developed only in recent years.

Cross reactions that are related to certain main allergies (tree
pollen, grass pollen, fungus, dust mite), are a well-known,
statistically proven, and well-researched phenomenon among
allergologists. However, the rest of the world of medicine doesn't
know a sh.t about it and doesn't care at all.

The problem is that such allergic reactions are many times difficult
to discover, because they may take 24 hours or more to develop after
contact with the provoking foodstuff. I my case drinking orange juice
on tuesday would cause problems on wednesday or thursday. Not easy to
figure out!

Once I knew, it was clear as two plus two makes four.

I have never heard of, and never spoken to, an otologist or any other
doctor that could or would make a connection between tinnitus symptoms
on the one hand and cross reactions for birch pollen allergy (hey
fever in february/march) on the other. This is a shame. A real shame.

Of course most tinnitus patients have cochlear damage, other hearing
damage, meniere, or what not. But a few, probably more than a few,
suffer without doubt from undiscovered allergic reactions. Those
patients could be helped, if anyone would care.

So if you have hey fever in february-april, you know, red eyes,
sneezing, dripping noze, then it is time to think about the
POSSIBILITY of cross reactions for foodstuffs. No CERTAINTY, only a
POSSIBILITY.

If so, look for citrus fruits, apples, pears, peaches, apricots,
kiwis, tomatos, potatoes, strawberries, the little black maw-seeds on
some tasty bread rolls, etc.

It will NOT help most people suffering from tinnitus. But it MAY help
a few.

Regarding the SYMPTOMS of tinnitus, not the CAUSES, it is my
experience that many times music makes it worse, esp. high frequencies
from the speakers. The sizzles react to the music, echo the music.

If I stand in the bathroom with the tap running, it lessens. It is
more than a masker noise; it really lessens, unfortunately not much
longer than 30 seconds.

But for me the real cure is not eating fruits. If you do this for a
year, you get this feeling that you really miss some important
vitamines, although you swallow vitamine pills every day.

So yesterday I took some orange/peach juice. I even put my glass of
poison in the microwave, because that sometimes helps. But lo and
behold: today I am sizzling again!

However, the fact that I now know the cause of the sizzles and beeps
and thick ears, diminishes the agony to a large extent. I know: today
orange juice ==>tonight and tomorrow sizzle; in the afternoon the
wrong chocolate ==>tonight head ache; now one and only one hazelnut
==>in 20 minutes a thick throat; now a little piece of a green apple
==>in 20 minutes severe pain in the eyes.

Would not believe so.

For me nothing worked. However, there is this theory that IN SOME
CASES an oxygen therapy in a high pressure cabine MAY help. This
pressure cabine was used 25 years ago for open heart operations, to
bring more blood cells into the blood, before the advent of modern
heart lung machines. As a side effect they noticed that some patients
with cochlear damage regained better hearing and less tinnitus after
the therapy. But it is not well-known nowadays.

It is very unfortunate that some persons feel the urge to demonstrate
time and again their deep personal agony with the world at large in
the form of personal attacks to other, innocent, persons.

Ernst Raedecker

"You don't have to learn science if you don't feel
like it. So you can forget the whole business if
it is too much mental strain, which it usually is."

  Richard Feynman