Kava Kava for Tinnitus — Post Your Experience!

Just tried the drink for the first time. Tastes like soapy dirt.

 

How is it after 2 weeks?

 

Did it help your symptoms?

 

It seems to give me a similar effect as the pills, smoothing it out and lowering the volume a notch, but I'll have to retest a few times.

 

I got the Loa Waka Kava root (the one you have to prepare with the strainer) and tried it yesterday. It did not seem to have an impact on my tinnitus.

To the ones who are making the drink: how many tablespoons of Kava and how much water are you using?

 

The pills work better for me for sure, more tinnitus impact and longer duration.

 

While I was still drinking it, 3 tablespoons and somewhere around 16oz of water.

 

Thank you! I am going to try it again...
I am sorry it gave you such a hard time.

 

Wow okay I just did 2 heaping tbsp (not level) micronized on a completely empty stomach and not only do I feel GREAT, like I'm invincible, but my tinnitus is DRAMATICALLY lower, like softer than even Xanax makes it. I was fasting today so there is nothing in my stomach. I know I'm a strong responder, and maybe I'll have some backlash, but this is pretty nuts.

Edit: I should also note I maybe have had 20 glasses of alcohol in my life and have never done any drugs, so may just be very sensitive to this stuff, or maybe it's genetics.

 

I am considering testing it myself as I have responded incredibly well to benzos the handful of times I've tried.

@GBB what time of the day do you usually take it? Does it affect your sleep at all? Thanks!

 

For the pills and drink I just take it whenever. It has not affected my sleep although the drink has made me noticeably effervescent, like I can't stop moving my legs, so probably would not do it late at night.

 

Unfortunately, Kava Kava did not work for me.

I felt tired and then dizzy. And I felt like I was inside my own head... My tinnitus was everywhere, my ears, my head, my eyes, around me... It was weird. Maybe cool if there were no noise, but that is not the case.

Hope it works better for other people who decide to try!

 

@Amaranta, your experience sounds awful; so sorry.

What type of Kava Kava did you try?

 

This is the one I tried... I did 3 tablespoons in about 450 ml of water, and I drank half of that. The other half is still sitting in my fridge, in case you want to try it, haha.

Hope it works for you if you go for it, @Quiet please!

 

I had the same experience and feeling. Over time though I was getting more of a tolerance and it was reducing my tinnitus less and less, until I was waking up to a bad spike every morning and drinking it would hardly touch it. Then stopping it entirely put me into one of the worst week long spikes ever before I normalized. Hoping this doesn't happen to you.

 

This was my experience the one time I tried it. The tinnitus was louder and I felt tired and not really able to do the things I'd normally do as a distraction. So yes, just trapped.

 

I’m sorry that happened. I’ve been using it since November, trying to take breaks when I can. So far it *seems* not to make my tinnitus worse over time. That being said, I appreciate it’s not super simple, and I need more time/data.

 

So while I’m waiting for my other new venture (TPP) to arrive from Amazon, I’m starting tonight with a 1 capsule dose of liquid Kavaroot.

Sedation of any sort is desired. I usually take Xanax, which is really the only medication and/or supplement to date that has helped my tinnitus at all.

I could use some good vibes.

 

How did it go?

 

Decided to give Kava one more try even after my horrible spike last time. Seems like each time I do it I get different results.

I took it about an hour ago on an empty stomach and it hasn’t done much for my tinnitus as far as lowering it. It actually does seem a bit louder but not as bad as last time and I do feel more relaxed overall.

It did give me some ear fullness and more sensitivity (I’ve experienced this in the past with cannabis use, pre-ear issues, especially with edibles). Also makes me more aware of vibration type noises (fridge from the other room and the space heater next to me).

Will be interesting to see how the tinnitus is as the day goes on I guess. Wish it did lower my tinnitus, but it’s nice to feel a bit more relaxed for a bit.

 

Just tried micronized Kava root by Kalm with Kava for the first time. Mixed it with almond milk and drank it on an empty stomach.

It didn't do much for my tinnitus but it made me feel more relaxed and a tiny bit high, which is quite the accomplishment in and on itself since THC is not an option any longer.

 

@GBB, so... I’ve been taking the Kava Kava in liquid capsules every night before bed. At this point (1 week) it’s not doing anything for the tinnitus; good or bad.

But... it sure is helping with my chronic anxiety. Bedtime is usually stressful as my tinnitus gets very high and loud. Masking sometimes helps somewhat, but not all the time and not very well. So I usually need a Xanax 3-4 times a week.

This week, because I didn’t think to take the Kava Kava after a stressful event during the day, I did take 1/2 of one Xanax pill. Next time I’ll try the Kava Kava.

Because (thus far) it’s not spiking nor aggravating the tinnitus, I will continue to take it at night before bed. I hope that at a minimum it continues to help with the anxiety. I’ve been a bit concerned about getting dependent on Xanax.

 

@Amaranta, I posted above about my 1 week experience with Kava Kava to date. But I wanted say thank you for your encouragement in trying it. So far, I'm glad I did.

It's helping with my anxiety for sure. The jury's still out on the tinnitus. But at least it hasn't adversely affected it. That's huge!

 

Did I read correctly that you suffer from hydrops?

 

I tried Kava Kava. It did not work for me.

Greetings from Brazil.

 

I can confirm you can develop tolerance to Kava. First one pill helped me, then two, now three barely makes a dent. You can probably cycle off but it definitely isn't doing what it used to. It helped me for about three months.

 

It's truly ridiculous how easy it is to develop tolerances to things that may or may not help but it's much harder to tolerate the actual problem.

 

Yes, but with time, once you get used to the tinnitus you will think back and ask yourself how you were not able to tolerate the tinnitus sounds as they are so insignificant. Experience talking.

 

How can you say the sounds are insignificant?

There is a big difference and vast array of sounds people experience, some of which go beyond the call of human tolerance.

Different levels, depths, timbres, locations in the head, consistency, the list goes on. It is not just 'insignificant'.

 

Cruise - you intrigue me. You seem so measured. Give us hope: your anxiety was terrible at onset; you heard your tinnitus not just at night/in silence... but you overcame and have mostly periods of silence now (I hope so). Your story seems pretty inspiring.