Diuretics (Higrotona), Corticosteroid (Urbason), Starch-Free Diet

I frequently consume content posted by others. This time, and given I had a recent improvement, I figured it was my turn to contribute to the community!

I will not cover my entire case as it spans almost 10 years and various different treatment attempts (including alternative methods).

In short, I suffer from Meniere’s disease (MD). My vertigos have largely been controlled by using Betahistine (Serc) on a daily basis for many years. My main issues have been (1) tinnitus and hearing loss on both years and (2) fluctuating tinnitus and hearing loss. I segregate the two because I even if I am going through a "good" phase I still suffer from fluctuating tinnitus and hearing loss depending on the time of day and what I eat. And also, please be aware I always talk about tinnitus and hearing loss together as, in my case, every time the tinnitus is louder I also hear less. Frankly, when it fluctuates, I never really know if it is increased tinnitus or hearing loss.

I had a recent improvement on (1) tinnitus and hearing loss and an interesting discovery on (2) the daily fluctuations. As such, I will cover these separately below.

(1) Tinnitus and Hearing Loss
Despite having some permanent hearing loss, I would still have good and bad phases. Tinnitus and hearing loss could be better or worse. Recently I went through one of my toughest times across all the years I have suffered from MD. My hearing loss became so severe I could barely hear people speaking right in front of me with no background noise. Usually my "bad" phases would last a few days, maybe a week, then go back to my personal normal (with some degree of hearing loss and ongoing tinnitus). After 1 month of no improvement desperation kicked in and the realization that maybe this was my new "normal".

My ENT specialist prescribed corticoids. There was limited improvement and in one ear only. Clearly not enough. Then we tried intra-tympanic corticoid injection in the ear that did not improve. Still nothing. Then she prescribed a different corticoid (Urbason) as well as a diuretic (Higrotona). Voila! The improvement was so substantial I have not heard like this in years. Of course I still have some degree of hearing loss and tinnitus but with this level most people don't even know my issues exist.

We are now attempting to determine if my improvement was due to the Urbason or Higrotona. Last week (4 days ago), I stopped taking the Urbason. So far so good but still to be determined. I figured, though, the above information would already help others - hence the post.

(2) Daily Tinnitus and Hearing Loss Fluctuations
If I eat a sandwich at 09:00am by 12:00 (maybe 11:30) my tinnitus is super loud. To mitigate this I would need to eat again. But a piece of fruit would not do the job. I always needed another sandwich. Also, I could drink something with high carb content such as an orange juice but still there would be no effect - I needed to have something solid and with high simple carb content (pasta, bread, etc.).

I have spoken to a few in this forum about the fluctuations I have had and its link to carbohydrate intake. From what I have read, it’s generally accepted that most suffering from fluctuations as such, should follow a low-glycemic (GI) index diet. Some even attempt a no-carb diet. These never worked for me. I could have porridge with slices of apple (no sugar or honey) at 09:00am and another fruit at 11:00 but still the tinnitus would kick in. I also tried going carb free having eggs and bacon in the morning, and peanuts and cheese mid-morning. But I was not successful either.

Last week however, I tried removing starch. Yet again another Viola! I still need a mid-morning snack to keep my tinnitus low up until lunch. But at least I can avoid the constant sandwiches which of course made me gain weight. And I do not need to go carb-free or even low GI for that matter. I can have an orage juice (high GI) at any time and not be affected. As long as I something (fruit for example) every few hours and that something does not contain starhc, I am good. Again it's a bit early to claim this is definitely working (only started last week) but I figured this could potentially help others.

Good luck to all.

Tacio