Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19) and Tinnitus

Amen, Arnold Schwarzenegger:

I said this to someone in the comments, but I think a lot of you need to hear this.

I always say you should know your strengths and listen to the experts. If you want to learn about building biceps, listen to me, because I’ve spent my life studying how to get the perfect peak and I have been called the greatest bodybuilder of all time. We all have different specialties.

Dr. Fauci and all of the virologists and epidemiologists and doctors have studied diseases and vaccines for their entire lives, so I listen to them and I urge you to do the same. None of us are going to learn more than them by watching a few hours of videos. It’s simple: if your house in on fire, you don’t go on YouTube, you call the damn fire department. If you have a heart attack, you don’t check your Facebook group, you call an ambulance. If 9 doctors tell you you have cancer and need to treat it or you will die, and 1 doctor says the cancer will disappear, you should always side with the 9. In this case, virtually all of the real experts around the world are telling us the vaccine is safe and some people on Facebook are saying it isn’t.

In general, I think if the circle of people you trust gets smaller and smaller and you find yourself more and more isolated, it should be a warning sign that you’re going down a rabbit hole of misinformation. Some people say it is weak to listen to experts. That’s bogus. It takes strength to admit you don’t know everything. Weakness is thinking you don’t need expert advice and only listening to sources that confirm what you want to believe.​

 

This part is clearly about a lot more than just COVID-19 and it is extremely well said.

 

I agree it's good to listen to experts, but they're not always right either. It brings to mind the book about how the best and brightest used extremely faulty logic to get the U.S. entangled in Vietnam. But so much of the U.S. establishment went along with the war because they trusted the "experts". It took a generation of young people who weren't even old enough to vote to begin pointing out the fallacy of their "expertise". Arrogance can make an expert into a dunce in no time at all.

The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam - Goodreads

This touches on the very thing that I think creates so many problems for those advocating for vaccinations. They virtually never admit that they don't know as much as they should, or that vaccine research and development should be incorporating many more safety features. From my perspective, anybody who makes claims like "all vaccines are safe and effective" instantly loses credibility with me. Because that's simply not the case.

I'm not an "anti-vaxxer", but there is a whole LOT that could be done to make vaccine research and development MUCH safer. But pharmaceutical companies usually don't do that, because that's generally not the primary intent of their research. Their primary intent is to maximize profits. Follow the money. In the vaccination field, the drive for profits has lead to a lot of avoidable tragedy. Greed can make an expert into a dunce in no time at all.

Perhaps the greatest enemy of experts however is vanity. They become so enamored with their expertise, that they lose all perspective--and humility. -- "Excerpts" are just as vulnerable to human frailties as anybody else, especially if they're in a position of power. "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely".

Which brings to mind how many experts in the field of conventional medicine are talking about nutritional approaches to try to stem the COVID-19 crisis. Virtually none to the best of my knowledge. Yet they generally don't hesitate to take pot shots and Chiropractors, Osteopaths, NDs and others in natural health field who are documenting great success with their patients using simple, safe, and inexpensive treatments.

 

I agree. There's a general sentiment to what he's saying that goes a lot further than the message itself.

There will be always be caveats to statements like these, but I think it's the general tone of the statement that resonates. Everybody is quick to challenge the opinion of experts nowadays, because of our access to the internet. I understand what you are saying, but I don't think Arnie intended to take it that deep.

 

Don't get me wrong, I agree with him and think his sentiment is correct.

But boy is that not true with hyperacusis. In hyperacusis world, there's almost an inverse relationship between "expertise" and good advice.

I would rather get advice from someone on this forum with hyperacusis than Jastreboff himself.

I don't think the same phenomenon is going on with COVID-19. But power can be corrupted in the medical world. Most of us know that.

But yeah, 99% of the time, the people not listening to the experts are morons being fed pseudoscience.

 

So Hydroxychloroquine is ototoxic? Okay. So the people proclaiming that and writing that off is advising everyone to not take ANY drugs or medications, right?

Because almost all or virtually all medications have been considered or classified as ototoxic! I guess some more probable than others but I seem to recall this discussion (Déjà vu).

I wasn't necessarily advising to take it either. I never did. My POINT was authorities so meaning government and public health dismissed it automatically and quickly and it sure wasn't because *it's ototoxic.* They are prematurely rushing through these options because they demand the vaccines. They won't accept any other options.

There's no known guarantee that vaccines will be safe and free from ototoxic possibility. In fact, going by the long list of drugs being ototoxic and the impact on the body, it could be. The "experts" don't know for sure. Saying they do is a lie.

 

Lol. Newsflash: there are experts who say the COVID-19 response is overblown and a vaccine is not needed and potentially harmful.

So, what you and Arnie really mean to say is, "cherry pick which experts you will listen to" because it fits your narrative and it's what your peers are doing.

 

Yea, that's the gist of it. I think even he realises it's not all-encompassing. It's mainly aimed at those who spend all day trolling online, I reckon.

 

"Divide and conquer" is the goal of those who would destroy our lives. Don't let them fool you into using their playbook.

 

Maybe it's just a coincidence but my wife is going to get a COVID-19 test today after a loss of smell and headaches.

I had some dry cough the last days.

Before this my severe tinnitus was more tolerable and easy to ignore. I read this forum only once or twice a month. I wasn't so anxious about a cure. I thought I was nearly 'habituated". But now the volume is really high. More tones and I am reading this forum again, really frequently. Maybe I was not habituated, just the volume was lower.

I will get a test if she has COVID-19. Some study says 40% of sufferers had a worsening of tinnitus from COVID-19.

 

Permanently or just a temporary spike? There's a difference. I know, before COVID-19 existed, any time I have a headache or a cold, my tinnitus would ramp up and that is saying something considering the usual (baseline). When the headache went away or I recovered, the spike or intensified tinnitus would go back to its (similar) horrible state. What I am trying to say is I could recognize a difference whenever I have a headache or cold. It's the same thing now. I have had headaches since COVID-19 but no colds yet, knock on wood.

Since tinnitus has a brain element to it, I don't think that is extraordinary or anything like that. So, just saying.

 

That article has no content or info regarding time frame and extensive feedback from 'patients' for how long the tinnitus was worse.

They recovered but tinnitus was still bad.

Don't people have this problem with colds, flus and headaches? Tinnitus spikes often remain after a cold subsides and one recovers.

If they asked these people who supposedly got COVID-19, MONTHS LATER, and the tinnitus is still noticeably worse, then yeah, that's alarming but that info is not contained in that article.

Some people, for e.g., Bill Bauer, claim spikes can last for many days and many months. I don't know what duration spikes from having colds, flu, being really sick, having bad headaches and migraines, are but I think they last more than a day?

I want more context from the study, duration of the worsening tinnitus and whether there are any differences in the patients, ages, severity of tinnitus, how long the "virus" bothered the patient and so forth.

That's all I have for now.

 

Finally the test is done and she doesn't have COVID-19. My worsening could be just noise (no concerts, no pubs, nothing too loud though...) or just the mysteries of tinnitus. I had some pain in my ears yesterday when I went to bed. Seems like a "reactive" trebly component is back after months.

Thanks for the feedback and support.

 

No problem. I have the same mysteries but I have loud noise where I live and can't control it much, if at all. I plug my ears or use earplugs if I have time. Sometimes, I get ear pain after a loud sound and conclude, "it was probably that" but other times, it's a mystery and no apparent cause so there is only speculation and guessing.

I'm glad she had good news and hopefully, your ear pain subsides and goes away soon. Take care.

 

Thank you for the kind words

 

Hi bro, I hope you and your loved ones are well. I appreciate your voice of reason along with others here among a whirlwind of chaos. I don't believe he has any evidence for this statement either. Sometimes I find it helpful to ask the right questions to get people to think about the reasons supporting there beliefs. I might be wasting my time doing so as some are caught up in certain ideas so deep there isn't any help to persuade them onto another path. I thought I'd give it a shot though. I am concerned a bit with PeteJ sometimes as he seems to be on a destructive path and I wish I could help him in someway

Lots of love and respect from Toronto,
Stu

 

Thanks for the kind words bro. Just curious and no disrespect at all, but why Lucifer as a name?

Love and respect,
Stu

 

This is a single anecdote, nothing more, and of course could be pure coincidence, but all the same I think pretty interesting. This was emailed to me by a long time good friend who suffers from tinnitus and hyperacusis, so I trust the account:

"I am just sharing some information.
One of my brothers who suffers from T took the Moderna Vaccine the other day. First shot and he woke up free from T. He can’t believe it.
I told him to let me know how it goes after the second injection."​

 

I just love the show so I decided to choose Lucifer as my name.

 

I have nothing but respect and admiration for people trying hard to bridge communication gaps and try to combat disinformation. I, by nature, am pretty cynical and selfish, and so it's very likely that I might write someone off as "not possible to help" when really it's just that "LinearB is too self-absorbed and pessimistic to find the correct mechanism to reach that person and get them to see their own cognitive dissonance".

Having become aware of pretty serious cognitive dissonance in my own views several times in my adult life, I believe it's generally scary, and also there is a tendency to just double down and try to stick with our previous ideas even in light of new, contradictory information. Suppressing that is difficult and it's down to each individual. There probably are lots of useful things that can make it more likely to succeed; I've never worked in outreach to cult members, but there are people who do, with some success. Similar principles would apply here.

I'm doing as well as I can ask to be doing in these strange, sad, difficult times. I have plenty of non-COVID-19, non-tinnitus anxieties on my plate. I am trying to avoid them by spending as much of my free time as possible skiing dangerously in the woods, and also teaching our kid to ski much more safely right in our driveway.

My hips and legs are a mass of bruises and inflamed tissues right now, it's great. I will be back out there Tuesday morning, when it might be close to -17 C (it hit -19 last night). Bundle up, because COVID-19 means no ducking into the lodge to warm up

Hope you're doing very well!

 

Ahhh I see. I didn't know it was a show.

 

I appreciate your humility bro.

I'm glad you're doing well under difficult circumstances and truly strange times. I hear ya staying occupied when anxiety is up is KEY!! Sorry to hear about the injuries, hopefully they heal up quick

Got some difficulties these days (I guess we all all do though), but I will survive and make the best of the hand I was dealt. Thanks for the kind words.

Love and respect,
Stu

 

Now, that Biden is in, the COVID-19 regulations are more relaxed. The CDC is conceding the PCR test is flawed and pro sports believe the "Biden medicine' is fighting the magic virus. Cool, eh?

 

I can't believe you've just repeated that on here . I saw this exact message posted on Facebook by someone I know, and I laughed, as it's clearly fake news. It was taken from a tweet by Andy Swan, and was published in an article by a far-right organisation called the Gateway Pundit. They are known for publishing hoaxes, lies, and conspiracy theories.

The people I have seen repeating this are the same ones I see spreading all the other fake news. It's like a disease.

The WHO report, this is based upon, was published on the 13th of January, and Joe Biden's inauguration was on the 20th, so there's the first whopper. The report was nothing more than a reiteration to lab technicians about the importance of reading the user manuals that come with the testing kits, so as to ensure that the results are interpreted correctly. I saw them state this a while back; it's nothing new.

Fact is, false positives remain rare. The more concerning problem is with false negatives, anyway.

People are so quick to spread false information, it's unbelievable really how bad this problem has become.

I have a genuine question for you, Pete, and I'm not trying to be horrible here: what makes you believe something you read at first sight? I say this as you are very receptive to fake news, and you also like to spread it.

 

SARS-CoV-2, whatever it is, seems real and deadly enough to some of those who contract it. So I don't think it's really about faking that. It's about questioning numbers that when posted without citation are just anecdotes, right?

Unfortunately what we've seen here is a repetition of what's happening all over the place. The mainstream broadcasts a narrative, people question parts of the narrative that don't sit right, then those supporting the original narrative regurgitate it, but with generous helpings of "right-wing conspiracy theory", "hearsay", "shady internet sources", "blood on their hands", "cognitive dissonance" etc etc etc. It's all Godwin's Law.

 

I agree with your general sentiment. One should always question the reality that surrounds them. If someone says something is yellow, but you are definitely seeing blue, then you should make your case. The truth will always be found somewhere amongst the biases.

In the case of the coronavirus, I am basing my opinions on what's happening in my immediate area. In other words, you could switch off the mainstream media and nothing would change for me; I would still be aware of nine people dying from it, and of others who have been in intensive care with it. The MSM is very insignificant in all of this.

My aunty is in hospital and was awaiting surgery to have a stent fitted, but a lady on her ward tested positive for COVID-19, so it has been cancelled. She has been waiting over a year for this so she is really upset about it.

I think my issue is with those who call it a hoax, and with those who spread clear and obvious misinformation. A disease shouldn't be politicised, but that's exactly what's happening with this. People forget that this also happened with HIV. At the time, many denied it was real, and the same arguments we are seeing now were used back then as well. There are still HIV deniers now.

 

Can you link to some examples of what you're talking about? Scrolling back several pages, the only things I see being dismissed as conspiracy theories are... conspiracy theories.

Please tell me what part of the narrative "doesn't sit right" and then provide peer-reviewed data to support your claims?

I personally do my best to never post numbers without citing their original source, preferably some piece of peer-reviewed research, as well as media hot takes if necessary.

You can throw the media narratives in the trash and only look at peer-reviewed papers with, say, 5 or more citations, and you're still looking at thousands of pages of data to sort through, but they mostly paint a pretty consistent picture of this disease. So, getting real numbers that support the general trajectory of public information on this is pretty easy, and people who post numbers without understanding them and linking to their original, falsifiable source are being intellectually lazy.

You've made a very specific claim, which is that this forum dismisses anything that doesn't fit the "media narrative" as a "conspiracy theory". Can you show me, say, 10-15 posts from the last 2-3 weeks which fit that model?

Also no one called Pete a Nazi; where's the Godwinning?

 

Wasn't fake news, liar.

COVID Test Scam: Cycle Threshold Values Being Deliberately Omitted

There's several articles discussing this.

Experts: US COVID-19 positivity rate high due to 'too sensitive' tests

Even MSM is 'mentioning' it.

 

Don't forget about "fake news" and "misinformation."

Anyway, yeah, your point is still valid. Ironically, fake news was originally used to describe the MSM and their biased leftist-centric angles.

But, I don't like to bring political spectrums into the coronavirus topic. However, you're exactly correct: anything questioning the official narrative is instantly labeled "right wing conspiracy theory" in addition to the "disinformation" tag. I think it's equivalent to labeling or calling someone 'stupid' or a 'white supremacist' or something to that nature.

Try discussing COVID-19 from the perspective of an Inquisitive and Questioning mind and you will be ultimately censored or banned on many sites including but not limited to Reddit, Discord and Telegram. Why is that? If the facts "speak for themselves," why can't people question and discuss it? What are people afraid of? I think the percentage of people who believe and "follow" the official narrative is over 50% still. That's amazing considering all the contradictions, conflicting info, doctors and other health professionals who question and disagree with the official narrative. But, the politicizing of the topic is alarming because the left controls the narrative and who gets to discuss it. Corporations are on board, too and that includes Big Tech. Why do so many not care about that? Even most Republicans who are called "right wingers" don't seem to care. They are in league with this, too. That's wild.

 

Pete, your claim was this.

This comment is horseshit, I'm afraid to say. You were duped by fake news and you ate it up. Why are you citing articles from August of last year to prove what you said is true? This makes no sense at all considering Biden was only inaugurated on Wednesday. The PCR debate has been done to death and the conclusion is that false positives remain a rare event. The alternative, which is to not test at all, is absurd, and would lead to more lives being lost.

Before you copy and paste statements that are shared across social media, at least verify whether there's any truth to them first. There's a lot of lunatics sharing some crazy information right now.