Fluctuating Tinnitus Must Mean More...

I've read the threads where some people have louder/worse T when they are stressed or anxious. Stress and anxiety don't affect the level of my T. I've carefully considered and monitored this and, for me, it really doesn't.

I've read those about certains food/drink making it 'spike'... mine spikes with tea - so I've stopped drinking it. It spikes with chinese food (sauce) so I've stopped eating that. It also spikes with black coffee - even decaff so it's not the caffeine! I've eliminiated and reintroduced everything else and nothing else makes a difference - salt/sugar etc - nothing.

I don't get anxious anymore - I may at some point in the future but I believe that I may be past that stage altogether. I get annoyed. Really annoyed when it's loud or when it's constant. It bugs me and it stops me achieving as much as I want to... and I have loads that I need to achieve!

I think I'm lucky that I do get periods without any T and I get days & days with it so low that I can barely detect it. But this doesn't help my brain get used to it.

Today, all through last night (kept waking me up - annoying!!) and yesterday it's been a constant, annoying, loud buzz. Two days ago it was barely there. A few days ago it had disappeared altogether.

It's the fluctuating that I am now concentrating on and I have to say that I still think that something physical is making it fluctuate. In my mind it has to be. I'm not taking any supplements or drugs & there's no pattern to suggest that what I eat is making it fluctuate.

I know these neuron thingies in the brain are swiffling (new word!) around all over the place but I don't think my brain changes completely for 2 days and then changes back.

I think it has to be something squiffy with my eustachian tubes and their fluid. I can always tell what a day's T will be like by what it's like about 20 minutes after I get up. So the night has to have affected it. And it's at night when you're lying down and your ear fluid is squishing about everywhere.

A pretty pointless post as it won't really help anyone but it made me feel marginally better .

 

I've decided to try to stop going round in circles wondering why the T fluctuates so much & instead do something to test a few theories. The first is that it's something to do with congestion in my eustachian tubes - because this would align with it changing all the time. It's been nearly 7 months so I would have thought that any congestion would have sorted itself out by now... but maybe not.

So first of all I'm going to try changing my diet to include curry & other congestion relief foods every day. I'll top it up with extra strong Halls eucalyptus 3 or 4 times a day.

It may not work but at least I'll feel as though I'm trying something. If it does work then maybe I will regret not persisting with the nasal spray they gave me at the start of my T - it made me shake so I stopped using it.

Mine was there first thing this morning & now it's gone again. It'll probably be back in a couple of hours but something has to be causing it to go away....

 

I can't figure it out. I wish I could but I have went through alot of what you said was going on. I think stress plays a role and diet plays a role.But really don't know. If this was the case I should have had it Most of my Life. So who really knows whats going. Had it for 8 months now and when I think I have it figured out and comes back with a new twist.

 

Hi Mike,

Stress has absolutely no effect on my T - at all. I suspect that if you are really worried about the tinnitus then being stressed about that plus something else must be the reason for so many people saying stress makes it worse. I just know that it doesn't affect mine.

It seems such a small thing to do... increase spicy foods and suck menthyl.. seems as though it can't possibly get rid of something as powerful as T which can turn our whole lives upside down.

But yours and mine go up and down. Something has to be causing the change in the volume & to make it disappear.

They say that once your eustachian tubes are blocked it can be almost impossible to unblock them but I'm going to have a really good try.

I still have no idea if it's got anything to do with congestion - but it's worth a go .

Hope you're having a low T day!

Jane

ps. the menthol is making my right lower eyelid twitch - weird

 

i was wondering if ETD can last a long time. i have had t for a year now with tmj disorder and am wearing a stabilizing orthotic and my ears still crackle and when I lay down and turn and expose my right ear it sounds loud and pulsates and when I stand up sometimes it sounds different - any opinions

 

So many people in here say that their T goes up and down. For some it is high in the morning and then goes down and for some it gets higher during the day. Many of us have 'good days' and 'bad days'.

It's fine to talk about neurons and receptors and damage to our ears but there has to be a simplistic reason for T changing so much. Many of us feel that what we consume does have a profound effect on our T.

This post is to ask that all of you who feel this way (and for those who even just suspect that food and drink have an effect) to post what you have discovered so far please. Maybe this will help others. I'm pretty sure it will help me!

I'll start:

tea - I know that this makes my T spiral out of control almost immediately
cayenne - I believe that this makes my T worse the next day
cinnamon - I believe that this calms my T down a few hours after eating it
pears - I think that they make my T worse the next day
salt - I'm almost certain that it makes my T worse the next day if over a teaspoon is consumed
MSG - This or something in chinese sauce makes my T spike almost immediately
coffee - A little is fine - more makes my T spike almost immediately
chocolate - I suspect that this has a bad effect... not sure

Click

 

My T gets worse by eating and drinking almost anything except water and veggies. My life is tasteless enough even with yummy foods and spices let alone without them. I suppose I have food allergies and I'm dead sure these allergies affect my T terribly. So, I'd better live on water and veggies to death.

 

Thanks Mahdi - I feel much better now.

 

The only things I've noticed have an effect for me are alcohol and MSG. Both make it worse.

For some people alcohol makes it quieter. By chance someone told me that alcohol is the 'antidote' to glutamate. I dont know how true this is.

 

For me sugary foods and drinks seem to spike it but not all of them. Too much fruit for example can sometimes cause it to seem louder but not when taken in smaller amounts.

However fruits which are not anywhere near as hybridized as Apples, strawberrys, etc seem to be fine though. Coconut and Avocado never set it off. Nor do fresh vegetables. I generally avoid junk and processed foods these days. Not sleeping well also aggravates my tinnitus quite badly at times as it's noticeably quieter if I have a good 8 hours uninterrupted sleep.

 

Fruit is something I never suspected at first but I found that citric acid definitely affects it - badly. I'm not sure why, but for me ripe pears are worse than apples. Even marmalade, jam and other things that contain citric acid do make mine spike.

You are so right about amounts though Molan. It confused me at first but I've found that it's a 'build up' over a few days... so you can eat a little and nothing happens but if I had a pear, some cheese and perhaps something with chocolate in it - POW.. the next day it was dreadful.

I'm not sure if all of this only applies to certain types of T - does it matter whether it began because of noise/trauma or whatever? Once it begins perhaps we can all bring it down to a lower level by really watching everything we consume?

 

It's because most fruits have been so hybridized that some estimates claim they contain up to 30 or 40 times more sugar then they did in their original form. From what I understand the majority of Coconuts and Avacados today are still very close to their original state so that is why they are much better for you. I can eat as much of them as I like and it dosen't affect my Tinnitus. However if I ate lots of apples, bananas, strawberrys etc I definetly notice a change in the noise levels.

 

So you think that sugar spikes your T? I was thinking that it was the acidity content.

I don't eat coconuts but same for me with avocados - no spike.

 

I read somewhere that sugar is supposed to affect T.

This is an interesting article..... http://www.tinnitusformula.com/library/sugar-metabolism-affects-tinnitus/

 

That is what I would go along with but obviously it's just my opinion and I could be completely wrong about it. Bananas have less acid then an apple for example, but when I used to put them in a smoothie my Tinnitus would be more noticeable.

I would highly recommend the Coconut! Although it does take a while to get used to opening them and cutting out the meat. That part I could definitely do without but you get used to it. However if you have a Vitamix you can make great coconut milk and yoghurt.

 

I just wrote a long note on another thread about cumin and paprika; my condition seems most likely to worsen after a shift in diet toward Mexican food. Sugary foods don't seem to make a difference; I consume lots and lots since quitting alcohol a few years back. I'm a coffeeholic, and I do see a spike when consumed in quantity amidst a period of stress. Hard to give up. Same with tobacco. Not sure about cayenne, which is also in Mexican food (field test to come). Chocolate, cinnemon, or any fresh fruit or vegetable doesn't seem to bother me. While I don't eat much of it, junk food meals, TV dinners, and other processed food sources seem to aggrevate my condition.
Paul D

 

I've had wine and ice-cream tonight and mine is louder. Knew I shouldnt have done it

 

Hey Click!~

Nice thread. Getting people to think about what spikes the T and what calms it.

I noticed and was going to ask people here if they had any reduction while taking benedryl. For some reason, I noticed a slight reduction. Also, when I take a small bit of Ativan.

 

Mine was awful yesterday - screamed all day and it really got to me... hated the whole day. When it comes back after going away it's so horrid.

Today the morning buzz was really low and then at 11.20am the T went away completely. It's back now but SO low it's wonderful. You can see why I need to know why it fluctuates - because it fluctuates so much for me from one extreme to the other.

Creating a diet that keeps T low has to be useful for us all I think.

I haven't had any alcohol since I was 22 (and that was quite a while ago!) but I've read that it makes T worse although non alcoholic beer is supposed to be good for it - hops perhaps?

Hot spices definitely make mine go up - I had so many when I was eating spicy food to try and clear the eustachian tubes that I absolutely know this.

Not everything has an immediate effect for me - eg. citric acid makes mine go up the next day.

It's all such an effort isn't it - I'm tired!

 

Bad girl

 

Welcome back Calin. I'm so sorry to hear about your sister. Hope you're managing to stay strong.

Jane

 

So yesterday, after responding to various threads and the T constant but not REAL bad, I noticed a sharp spike about an hour after dinner. Most likely culprit - boxed potatoes. Suspected trigger: MSG, listed 1st on the "Contains less than 0.5% of:" list. Paprika, already under scrutiny as enemy #2 after cumin, was also on the ingredient list.

 

MSG is a definite one I think memguru. Paprika does make my T spike - all hot spices (unfortunately).

Thanks for responding all of you - PLEASE keep adding more as you find out what affects you.

 

MSG = monosodium glutamate.
Glutamate = neurotransmitter involved in exciting nerves
Excited nerves = louder tinnitus

 

I wish they'd called ALL foods that excite the nerves 'glutamate' - it would make my life right now a lot simpler

 

I went for my appointment with the NHS Tinnitus counsellor today (have waited 3-4 months for that). You know that they wont have it that T changes dont you? No, its not the T its that you notice it more or your reaction to it is different. They would never believe you Click but I and others on here know its true. Why wont they believe it does change?
Mine has now started properly in the other, previously good ear. I suppose I put it there with the power of my thoughts? No, physiological function put it there. I just give up, honestly.

 

In a search on glutamate and tinnitus, I found this article from Deafness Research UK. It also touches on caffeine and findings on various treatment methods:
http://www.deafnessresearch.org.uk/factsheets/tinnitus-research.pdf

 

It's one of the reasons that I didn't go up to the TRT clinic in London Louise. I was told that they will take what I say about the change in volume with a pinch of salt. And also that all they do is try to teach you that 'it's not going to kill you' - 'you're not going to have a stroke' etc. etc. I don't think I could cope with the attitude.

I spoke to a friend of mine and she told me exactly how the NHS treat it. They really believe that 'when you listen it's bad' & 'if you ignore it then it's not there' - totally psychological. What they fail to realise is that it's impossible to ignore it when it's loud. How do they know whether the people who can ignore it have it as loudly as I do? They don't. They really don't know very much at all.

There are a couple of other people close to me who I know believe that it's psychological and that people (me!) who 'obsess' about it have it bad...' take your mind off it and it goes away'. Thankfully those closest to me know me better than that. I do agree that distraction helps - but the volume of mine stays the same whether distracted from it or not.

Mine is loud when it's loud regardless of how I feel. And it's low when it's low, again regardless of my reaction etc.

I know that food etc. makes a difference and I think that perhaps it can be kept low - although I'm not sure yet.

Was it any help at all - your appointment? Or did you just leave feeling worse than before?

 

That's an interesting document memguru.

Louise, it also mentions hearing aids - was yours an open fit digital one?