The Paul Stamets Stack for Tinnitus & Hyperacusis — Post Your Experience

I have tinnitus (5 years) and have become more interested in the concept of neurogenesis as it pertains to hearing loss and tinnitus. There's a more detailed term for this called Epigenetic Neurogenesis.

"Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene expression (active versus inactive genes) that do not involve changes to the underlying DNA sequence — a change in phenotype without a change in genotype — which in turn affects how cells read the genes."

I have been interested also in the use of fungi (mushrooms) as medicine and especially in their use for epigenetic neurogenesis. The world's leading mycologist (mushroom expert) is Paul Stamets. There is a video from a conference he presented at in 2017 where he discusses this in some detail toward the end of the video (start it at the 31 min mark and watch it until the end):

Paul Stamets: Psilocybin Mushrooms & The...

He presents a "Nootropic PSI- Complex stacking formula for epigenetic neurogenesis). It is a mixture of psilocybin (micro-dose level), lion's mane mushroom and niacin.

He says specifically: ".. for creativity, cognition, PTSD, and regeneration of vision and auditory neurons."

He especially calls out hearing professionals to study this further.

I have used the psilocybin and lion's mane separately and individually and I can say that I do feel sharper mentally and I think my tinnitus has benefited (been reduced) by the use of either and/or both of these fungi.

 

What Paul Stamets is proposing is microdosing psilocybin mushrooms along with Lion's Mane and Niacin, not a heroic dosage that leads to a full blown psychedelic trip (although there are some anecdotes of people silencing their tinnitus through doing that, but it can go either way depending on the nature of the trip). I have found a few of anecdotes on Stamets Stack's positive effect of tinnitus online, including a post on this forum:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/posts/441952/

My interest is more on the use of Lion's Mane along with Niacin, as Psilocybin mushrooms are illegal in most countries and it will be difficult to get your hands on. Lion's Mane is known to contain very potent NGF, and Stamets hypothesizes that Niacin flushing will push the active ingredients of the mushrooms to peripheral nerves which otherwise will only reach to the brain and central nerve. For tinnitus sufferers, this might mean it will reach our inner ears or nerves around it (well that's the theory at least).

@Curtis, just wondering if you have tried using Niacin along with the two mushrooms?

 

Psilocybin is indeed very interesting and I think many breakthroughs concerning PTSD, anxiety disorder and depression will come out of it.

Its effects are not very well understood and will need many years of research but I am confident this will lead to new treatments for many mental issues.

Regarding tinnitus, I guess it could have an effect because it touches the prefrontal cortex which is, as a lot of part of the brain, affected by tinnitus. But it doesn't touch the temporal cortex which is also linked to tinnitus:

The Brain: "Ringing in the Ears" Actually Goes Much Deeper Than That

It also has an effect on serotonin receptors: 5-HT2A and increase level of it:

SelfHacked.com - Psilocybin

But reviews in Cell Report noted that an increase of serotonin may worsen tinnitus:

Study Suggests Serotonin May Worsen Tinnitus

So I would be careful with this treatment. It is very experimental.

 

Currently I'm just using the Lion's Mane without the Niacin. I will probably get a bottle of Niacin to try with Lion's Mane since it is inexpensive.

 

Good discussion here, thanks for that all. I will say that I believe in plant medicine more than anything else. Plant medicine can figure out just what you the individual needs and deliver it. I would think twice about ever taking a prescription med for Tinnitus. Big pharma is not about helping us with our tinnitus or about fighting cancer or anything else worthy of our health.

 

Did this ever do anything for you? Am trying something similar now.

 

@GBB any updates on how this worked for you?

 

I have continued taking Lion's Mane but not Psilocybin - it's on my list but not one of the first things I'm working on.

 

Bumping this thread for those of us with hyperacusis as there have now been 2 anecdotal cases of hyperacusis resolving with this approach.

I don't think the fact this hasn't really worked for tinnitus is relevant, as I believe the pathologies are quite different. Any guinea pigs out thinking of trying the full stack - Psilocybin, Lion's Mane and Niacin? I may or may not try this in a month or two...

 

Since truffles with the same working substance as the mushrooms are still legal in my country, I have tried the whole package. I tried it mainly for tinnitus, since i barely have hyperacusis. Only in the beginning of my tinnitus onset was I intolerent to loud noises.

It has not really helped yet. First I thought it was really doing something, because I got these random spikes. So I thought: "at least something is happening, I hope something is restoring somehow". But sadly my base level tinnitus hasn't yet decreased.

 

I was a guinea pig for the Psilocybin part, but not exactly microdosing.

Psilocybin Stopped the Ringing in My Ears

 

This and Ketamine are things I might be willing to try but I'd have to be desperate and have a lot of free time on my hands. I like the idea of treatments that both treat both depression and tinnitus as the two go hand-in-hand.

 

If I didn't have to work, I could try them. Because while working I can't afford to get any worse. That's been a huge hiccup lately.

 

Can you give us a 2021 update? I see you're online now