I Killed the Ringing. It Has Been 3 Weeks of Silence.

I'm not really sure how (or why) I got tinnitus ... with a touch of hyperacusis... but I did. It could have been the 100 Grateful Dead concerts, or just that I'm getting older. I turned 50 in May of this year (2018) and everything seemed to change. My metabolism stopped (lol,... it could have been the wine and pretzels that caused the weight gain), my back started hurting, and then... two days after a Taylor Swift concert (she's not even that loud) I woke with an unbelievably loud, high pitch sound in my ear. A visit to the hearing clinic proved that I have hearing loss with very high pitched sound.

I have a Type-A personality, and any time I have a physical or mental challenge I attack it with every tool in my belt. (15 years ago I had an obsessive fear of flying. So, I learned how to fly and got a pilot's license. Problem solved.).

I read every blog, website, facebook post, anything that would lead me to the answer to tinnitus. Every. Single. Post. was negative. It took my anxiety to new heights... which made that F*ing sound that much louder.

My sound(s) include cicadas in the back of my head, in one ear or the other (depending on the time of day) and / or extremely high pitched constant sound (usually in my left ear).

I mentioned I had a touch of hyperacusis. I swear to God I could hear the fluorescent lights when I walked through Target. It was loud. To prove it (to myself) I inserted earplugs and, voila, sound is gone. So I knew at that time it was the hyperacusis. But when I got home, good 'ol Mr. T. would reappear. WTF . It was driving me mad.

It is now July 31, approx 2.5 months after initial (serious) onset of tinnitus. I am living in silence (99.9%). I don't know if any or all of these things lead to me being silent, but here's what I did. It may or may not help you, but I pray it does.

*Stopped drinking coffee
*Started taking LipoFlavanoids (found at Walgreens or on Amazon)
*Stopped taking ZzzQuil (the sleep aid equivalent of NyQuil). I read somewhere this was ototoxic. Not sure if it is, but fuck it. I will do anything.
*Started taking Melatonin supplements which helps you sleep (I read somewhere that a study was done with 60 elderly sufferers of tinnitus. They researched the effectiveness of melatonin supplements. positive results. So I started taking 3mg (when I had wine at night) or 5mg (when I didn't drink alcohol).
*Went to acupuncturist every Monday afternoon (I told her about the tinnitus and she did some pretty freaky things with the needles, burning my skin behind my ears, ringing a bell, etc.). She also gave me herbs to take. I don't care. I would drink dog urine if they said it would remove the ringing.
*Went to a chiropractor 3x (once per week for three weeks... then I stopped)
*(By the way, after the initial visit to the acupuncturist and the chiropractor my Tinnitus went full blast loud. I asked them about it and they said it's normal; that they opened up some sh*t and it's starting to release. not sure if any of that is true, but the T did die down after 18-24 hours after initial visits).
*APPLE CIDER VINEGAR!!!! I think this was the best thing I did. 2 tsp diluted in 10 oz water 3x per day (10 min before each main meal). Be sure to rinse your mouth and gargle. The vinegar will ruin enamel on your teeth if you don't rinse.
*APPLE CIDER VINEGAR!!! I mixed a 30% ACV 70% water solution and did 1/2 ear dropper in each ear 3x per day.
*EXERCISE!!! I did P90x3 (google it). It a series of 30 minute workouts. When my T was especially loud I did the 30 min Yoga workout, then immediately jumped into a steaming shower. (side note, I lost 20 lbs from the exercise )
*I loved my wife. As crazy as it sounds, the T brought my wife and me closer together. And the cool thing is her affection and empathy helped me a lot.

If any of this helps reduce your sounds even the slightest, I will be happy. If you want to talk directly with me, please message me here with a contact number / email. Happy to talk to any and all.

mark.

 

What do you hear in a quiet room? What do you hear if you wear earplugs in a quiet room?

 

When it was at its peak I’d hear a very loud high piercing tone in my left ear. Earplugs would not change this. I think I had both tinnitus and hyeracusis.

 

But even now when I wear earplugs in a quiet room I hear a very slight (VERY slight) high pitch in my left ear.

 

It is very impressive that you got there in such a short time. Hopefully in another 6 months it will be completely gone. If that ever happens, please let us know!

 

I am cautiously optimistic. I continue to pray for you and others with this condition. One day there will be an absolute cure for all. I know it.

 

You are in now silence + you got leaner and fitter + you earned new healthy habits How cool is that!

 

One revision to my original post (I don't know how to edit the post itself). The APPLE CIDER VINEGAR (ACV) is the Bragg brand and contains "the mother." It is available at Target or on Amazon (and someone told me Walmart too).

 

How did you know that this was safe to do? Where did you get the idea to do this?

 

No coffee.

 

I read that people use it as ear drops for ear infections. I figured I'd give it a try. I did it for 3 weeks. no adverse effects.

 

Pay attention to the source you read stuff from. Not all sources are trustworthy.

 

ear drops cannot stop tinnitus. the cochlea is not absorbing ACV in water. it just falls out like pool water. the eardrum blocks it - otherwise we'd all die everytime we went under water from the brain flooding

 

Hello Mark. Do the ACV drops actually make it to your inner ear? -- I would think that the drops would stop at the ear drum and, therefore, not really help.

I'm trying the ACV in water now. -- My wife is very healthy and we had a whole un-expired bottle in our pantry.

 

It was prob all those Bobby screams at the Dead shows!

 

Too many things to try.It will take ages to test them individually.I wish we knew which one actually helped.

 

Perhaps none of them had much impact at all, compared to the simple passing of time.

 

I read this in Morgan Freeman's voice.

 

@Meburk2

How are you doing now? Is it still silent? I'm planning to give this a go.

 

Hi there.

For how long did you use the ACV eardrops?

I'm asking because I started today with your recipe.

 

If by some miracle this works, please keep everyone here posted. Good luck.

 

I’m not sure it will do anything since it can’t pass the ear drum?

 

Did @Meburk2 make a full recovery?