Fasting/Diet to Reduce Inflammation for Hyperacusis?

I read a study hypothesizing that brain inflammation is linked to hyperacusis:

Noise-Induced Brain Inflammation May Result in Painful Hearing

Has anyone here tried an anti-inflammatory diet or fasting to reduce inflammation and gotten any relief for hyperacusis?

 

@Christine2222 I'm sure the keto diet would be pretty effective for this. It will definitely reduce inflammation.

 

Bumping this thread. Has anyone tried an extended fast - for example 5+ days?

 

Ok so I have an anecdotal story about this. First off, I have seen a few stories of people treating hyperacusis with LDN and my guess is that maybe it’s via fighting the neuro inflammation.

Secondly, I know someone who suffered for many years from intense migraines. He had no social life as a teenage boy and tried every possible medication offered to him. After researching for quite some time, he decided to do a 5 day fast. Needless to say, it basically cured his migraines. I don’t know if he has to repeat the fast every so often but from my understanding his improvement is night and day. Most fasting research points to the greatest amount of autophagy after 72 hours of fasting. I would think that autophagy would include decreasing neuro inflammation but it seems like it’s the last organ to receive the benefit. I am willing to try a 5 day fast but I’ve lost so much weight under the stress of tinnitus that I am trying to gain it back before I attempt such a feat.

I would love to hear from anyone else whether their fasting has helped their hyperacusis and/or tinnitus.

 

It's something I'm seriously considering. My only concern is whether I end up making things worse, so I'd like to know what dangers might be associated with a 5-day fast.

 

Logically I think messing up your electrolyte balance is a big one. Also, some people with Meniere's finds that it worsens their symptoms.

I would recommend trying a shorter fast first (1-2 days and then building up to 5 days) if you go forward with it.

 

I think the recommendation is to start with intermittent fasting, then move onto a day a week then eventual a longer fast of 3 days+. Christine is right about the electrolytes and some fasts actually encourage you to supplement with vitamins and minerals. I hope to be able to try a fast in the next little while but I have to start putting the weight back on lol.

 

Just want to give an update. The person I spoke about in the above post got his fasting advice from Alan Goldhamer of TrueNorth Fasting Center.

He not only continues with prolonged fasts every so often but has changed his entire diet indefinitely. As a result, his migraines are completely gone and he has loads of energy and a completely different outlook on life.

This is something I'm really considering trying out.

 

Thanks for the update! Do you know what kind of changes this person made to their diet?

 

I will speak to him soon. Goldhamer suggests a vegan diet but I don’t know if he is following it. I know he’s not drinking alcohol and has cut out sugar. I’ll update when I know.

 

Awesome, thanks! I knew that the TrueNorth center emphasized a vegan diet so I’m curious if your friend found it beneficial.

For me personally, I was eating a ton of veggies on the AIP diet and sometimes my ears would feel worse after eating them!

As for alcohol, I think it’s very inflammatory for some people so good call to cut it out. I initially didn’t have hyperacusis after my hearing loss incident until I drank a few cocktails later that same week. So many regrets!

 

I tried a vegan diet for about 5 weeks. Did nothing. I also know that @serendipity1996 knows someone who had an hyperacusis relapse after breaking a 24 hour fast.

I think there's something to be said though about detoxification. I recently took an interest in the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project and although it has a bad stigma due to its attachment to the Church of Scientology (bear with me), it seems to have had a real merit in helping 9-11 firefighters get rid of the conditions/diseases they have developed as a result of exposure to the smoke from collapse of the Twin Towers. It's also been used as a treatment for Gulf War Syndrome and effectively consists of a niacin flush, exercise and a hot sauna. As I say, it had a lot of flack for being some kind of cult approach due to Tom Cruise's endorsement of it, but a peer reviewed paper came out a couple of years ago seeming to confirm benefit:

A Detoxification Intervention for Gulf War Illness: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Persistent organic pollutants in 9/11 world trade center rescue workers: reduction following detoxification

THE NIACIN DETOX PROGRAM

I'm wondering if this might explain why some of us see benefit from niacin.

The thing about hyperacusis is that although the trigger seems to be loud noise or ototoxicity, it remains very rare given how many people are exposed to loud noise/ototoxicity. There must therefore be other co-factors at play. Perhaps those co-factors are genetic or environmental, but there is something unique that binds many of us. I'm not brave enough to give this protocol a go yet, but I think if I'm in the same place in a few months from now I might give it a go.

 

I’m less inclined to believe that a vegan diet will change things but I think fasting will work for some people.

In terms of Niacin, I have started taking it with Vitamin B1 as it is known to repair nerve damage. The detox program is interesting and I guess we can really never know what will work without trying it.

 

I recently had an IgG food sensitivity test done and am now following a diet restricting those foods which show elevated levels of antibodies (IgG). This is in an effort to reduce/eliminate migraines. When speaking to the nutritionalist and naturopath I was informed that the top foods that cause issues are egg whites, wheat/gluten and dairy (cow). Those foods were definitely on my list, plus corn, yeast, peas, soy and a few others (so simply going vegan wouldn't work for me - also, vegan food isn't always healthy).

So many foods these days are produced using GMOs or heavy with pesticides which plays havoc on your gut/immune system, causing inflammation and pain. Also, processed foods contain so many preservatives which can also produce an immune response. The advice given to me was to eat whole foods that aren't modified, grass-fed meat and to cut down on sugar (certain fruits), as I also showed to have high levels of candida in my blood (I had no idea). I'll have to cut out all carbs/grains/sugars for a bit in order to kill the candida, which is really going to suck because food is one of life's real pleasures for me.

Anyway, it will be worth it if it helps.

Eventually, I can slowly reintroduce foods and should be able to eat them at a minimum. It would be a bonus if it helps with the tinnitus, but I don't have high expectations.

If you can afford the IgG test ($300 CAD) I recommend it - it will save you a lot of time!

 

@LilSass, I will update you once I speak to this person about his fasting and migraines regimen. I can tell you he is a completely different person. Have a look into fasting for migraines. I’m sure the diet will help.

Where did you get the IgG panel from?

 

I've heard of this, there's a testimonial on YouTube about a guy doing it for his Meniere's.

He did 10 days. I can barely get through a whole day without eating (I'm still a lot of muscle and don't like the idea of losing it ALL... but I mean... better tinnitus?) and I still eventually do.

Wonder if I can load up beforehand.

If something about calorie deficit and having to use more ketone bodies helps, then I'd be all for it... but really only if it yields permanent improvements.

 

I lost a lot of weight between some shitty news last year and getting tinnitus this year. I’m slowly regaining the weight but it’s taking longer than I would like. I have about 7-8 lbs to go but as soon as I pack it on I’m going to smash out a 5 day fast, maybe even longer.

 

Hi @Lukee!

Yes, I would be very interested in any information you can provide. I am willing to try anything at this point to help with the migraine pain. I will need to be cautious and plan if I'm going to try intermittent fasting as it makes me weak and can sometimes provoke a headache/migraine attack.

I got the IgG panel done at my Naturopath.

Hope you're doing okay!

 

I have an update about fasting, though it’s not about the migraine story.

I was speaking to someone today from a “fasting center” in Mexico. I asked specifically about tinnitus but the gentleman on the phone did understand what I was saying. After about 10 minutes I received all the information for the program and heard about a couple of recent stories of success at the clinic. Then at the end of the conversation the man asked me what I was talking about so he could check with a doctor and get back to me at a later date. So I said tinnitus in Italian and voila, he understood what I was talking about.

He told me that a guy who worked at the clinic got squished by a cement truck when they were doing construction next door to the clinic. The truck was backing up and didn’t see the employee coming out of the side door for the clinic and eventually trapped the man between the wall and side of the truck. There was a backup beeper on the truck ringing and apparently the employees heard was just inches away from it. After a short while the realized he was stuck there after hearing him scream and they got him free.

Long story short is he got tinnitus from the backup alarm and also sustained some injuries to his body. He has since done “many” fasts and now no longer hears the tinnitus most of the time. He wasn’t available to speak to but the man on the phone had explained the entire tinnitus process, including fullness, depression and heart-racing anxiety. He said all symptoms resolved and the employee is basically back to normal and continues on regular fasts. He also told me that intermittent fasting will not work for this kind of healing, a long, water fast is required of at least 5 days but he suggest longer if tolerable.

That’s basically the story. Man got tinnitus, man fasted, man is better. Don’t know all the other surrounding factors but it seems like there is merit to fasting and he was adamant that anything related to brain or vestibular system will not be helped by IF and only long water fasts.

 

Water fasting seems extreme?

 

People on here are ingesting unknown substances, injecting themselves with untested peptides and compounds and yet fasting seems extreme? Lol.

If you really think about it from an evolutionary point of view and simple biology, it makes a lot of sense. I personally know someone who has cured their extremely debilitating migraines by fasting and there are countless success stories posted of others who have cured or greatly improved chronic conditions. In the last few years, fasting has also been widely accepted as an adjunct to chemo in the treatment of some cancers.

I get it can seem a bit extreme but generally, this is something our bodies are capable of handling and most likely are designed to operate this way. I’ve read on these forums many times that people would give a limb to cure their tinnitus so I would say 5 days of fasting is pretty tame in the grand scheme of things.

 

I have started 18/6 fasting. I am on I think day 6. My tinnitus follows a pattern and I keep a diary. Only one time ever have I had 2 tolerable days in a row. I call them tolerable days, not good days because I don't have good days. My tinnitus is always loud, severe, multi-tonal, intrusive and often painful. On tolerable days I can still hear tinnitus over the shower, it can't be masked, it is still highly somatosensory to all facial movements etc, but I lose the ultra ultra high pitched metallic chimes that waterfall over the back 2/3rds of my brain.

I often experience brief moments of joy on tolerable days and my brain doesn't feel like it is recoiling/shrinking in pain from the pitch. Anyway, I got 3 tolerable days in a row this week. NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. I got my hopes up because today is a Benzo day. Benzo days are worse than bad. I use Xanax sparingly but need it to get me through days like today. The fact that I had 3 tolerable days in a row this week can't be a coincidence with the 18/6 though. 18/6 hardly even seems like fasting really so I am keen to tighten it up to maybe 20/4. After a few weeks of that I want to throw in a 24-hour day per week.

Another thing I did this week was cut out complex carbs and some simple carbs but I ate a small baked sweet potato last night so I wonder if that it why I ruined my streak. Or maybe the whole thing is just one big old coincidence?

I can't dry fast because I need to take meds. I know it isn't popular but I am seriously thinking of giving Liam's 8 week program a try. If all I lose is a few hundred $$, I can afford it so meh...

 

I am truly happy for you and find it encouraging that you are trying these methods. I can’t speak to whether Liam is a scammer or not or whether his explanations are scientifically sound, but I can tell you fasting works. It doesn’t work for everyone and it’s not an easy solution but those that put the effort in can in fact get somewhat better.

You can tighten up you 18:6 to 20:4 but I would say it’s more important to follow a strict diet than change the hours. When you are ready, you can go for a 24 hour fast but ultimately you need to be 72 hours to get a meaningful amount of autophagy. I think a wet fast, with pure distilled water, is safer and better than a dry fast and can be tolerated longer. Ideally, 5 days seems to be the length of time where miracles happen. It’s also important to remember that when doing a strict fast, you should be resting and not exercising or doing chores. It seems counterintuitive but you really need to just park your ass on the couch or bed and rest for the days you are not eating.

Please keep us updated on your progress. And btw, I highly doubt your results are a coincidence. Keep moving in the right direction.

 

That’s great that you seem to have found some dietary changes that have helped! I hope things continue to improve. I did a two-day water fast and it seemed to temporarily help. I need to circle back and try some longer fasts. I’d love to dry fast, but I also have medical conditions that prevent me from doing that.

Honestly, the more I read about mitochondria and other healing modalities (like earthing, avoiding EMF, cold therapy, etc.) the more legit Liam seems. I don’t like his hard sale tactics, but the only thing stopping me from trying his program is that I can’t listen to computer audio because of my hyperacusis. I’ve been told there aren’t any captions or transcripts available. I’d love to hear if you decide to go through with it and what you think of it. I’m also pretty sure you can get a refund if it doesn’t help, so there isn’t much to lose in trying.

 

I recommend fruit and vegetables, and a healthy diet.

 

This helps some and is worse for others. Typically we think of vegan diet being anti-inflammatory but that’s not always the case. For some people, certain fruits and sugars actually cause significant inflammation. Generally Keto is well regarded as an AI diet though there are specifically AI diets that you can find online easily. They basically start with basics and add in food slowly to see any negative reactions.

 

I just talk out of personal experience. Just to clarify, I am not recommending a vegan diet, only a healthy diet, including fish, meat, and lots of fruits and vegetables. There are some foods that seem to work better for hyperacusis and tinnitus than others, although this may be very individual...

 

I'm going to start a water fast for 5 days straight on Sunday and see if it brings any positive changes for myself.

 

Maybe check yourself into a hospital first?

 

Buddy. I know you want results right away but I don’t advise on that. You should first start with some lighter fasting, maybe intermittent fasting. Work into 24 hour fasts then you can work your way up.

At the very most I would only consider 36 hour fast to start. See how you feel after that.