Tinnitus Gets Worse with NO2 Supplements

Hi! I’ve been an reader of this forum for a couple of years and have learned a lot, thanks!

I’ve been trying to keep track of what makes my tinnitus worse, and it seems to be supplements that I use and love for working out, like L-Arginine and Beetroot juice, which are NO2 makers. I was prescribed Cialis for a short time to deal with the side effects of Zoloft which I don’t take either anymore. I believe Zoloft was the origin of my tinnitus.

Has anybody else had this experience with drugs/supplements that generate more Nitrous Oxide in your blood, supplement or prescription wise?

And if y’all experience “fullness”, or a swimmer’s ear feeling, is there anything you can do about that?

 

Yes, someone just recently made a thread about vasodilators making their tinnitus worse:

Tinnitus Gets Worse from Vasodilators (Any Supplement, Food or Drug Causing Vasodilation)

 

I took a nitric oxide supplement called Berkeley Life Professional Nitric Oxide Support which caused recurrent SNHL. My tinnitus and hearing loss was caused by PDE5 inhibitors so it's not surprising Nitric Oxide made it worse. I wish I didn't take it...

 

Has anyone used nitric oxide indicator strips by HumanN to test prior to supplementing with nitric oxide boosters?

My nitric oxide is depleted. I have a history of Babesia, which is known to deplete nitric oxide.

Not sure if I should look at boosting nitric oxide in light of the above posts...

 

You can do some tests before with food or supplements that has less strength in boosting NO, and see if your tinnitus gets louder. For example, eat some red beets, or some black raspberries, or take some Resveratrol or Pycnogenol, and see what happens with your tinnitus.

Also, does your tinnitus get louder after exercise? In my case, yes, because the vessels open when you work out or play a sport long enough to accelerate the heart and sweat for some time.

The advantage with small dose and less potent supplements is that the effect, at least for me, is reversible. But in the case of very potent vasodilators/NO boosters, like Viagra, the louder tinnitus stays for days even with one single small dose, and the few times I took some, it made my baseline tinnitus worse, significantly. I have no proof that the permanent worsening was from Sildenafil, because I never took it again, and will absolutely not try it "just to see". But the week-long worsening after taking it was clear, though.

 

I got the opposite experience. My tinnitus started after a doctor stupidly put me on a double dose of Omeprazole for several months at the same time as a high dose of the sleep medication Zaleplon. I went off both.

Not sure about the sleep medication, but I do know that all PPIs suppress severely nitric oxide production.

So, I am tempted to see if NO2 supplementation will help, not hurt.

Stay tuned. I’ll let you know.

 

I would be interested in your results if you went ahead with NO2 supplements.

I suspect NO2 has something to do with the fluctuations in my tinnitus (I have Babesia, which feeds off NO2).

My tinnitus is consistently worse with rising air pressure. I have been scouring the net to find links between NO2 and air pressure. I have discovered that oxygen is a major determinant of NO2 synthesis and metabolism. I know that HBOT upregulates NO2 synthesis.

I do know that I have depleted NO2 levels (more prominent on louder days) by testing with NO2 salivary strips.

So, the plan is to add in L-Citrulline and to continue with the beets. In the event that this is a microcirculation issue, I am also starting Boluoke.

 

The only reliable information I have is that the more I exercise, the more my tinnitus seems to amp up. So w/ mine, it's strictly a matter of my blood pressure increasing, which has been making my tinnitus more noticeable for over 30 years. It just is what it is.

Believe me, I have exhaustively attempted to map out a list of medications that may or may not have increased my tinnitus and can't find a link other than weed, which made it so annoying that it wasn't worth it. Coffee will make it a little more noticeable too, but again, that goes back to blood pressure.

I term it as noticeable vs. louder because there are so many variables involved. It could be really amped up, but if I'm outside or really busy, it isn't that noticeable even though it could actually be louder. There's a great deal of subjectivity mixed in w/ the objective facts. Lying down makes it seem louder, but I can't sleep standing up, LOL. Nasal congestion, allergies, etc, increase it too. There is a long list of things that seem to make it worse, and the list of things that help doesn't exist. It's all about damage control.

 

L-Arginine and Beetroot -> Potassium up -> Tinnitus up.

 

I also work out 4 days a week, and have worked out for about 15 years. I stopped taking pre-workout supplements years ago, none of that stuff is really FDA regulated. In general, I would say stay away from it; you honestly do not need it for a good workout.

 

I find this interesting.

I've had tinnitus for 25+ years. I've tried every herb, vitamin, and drug you can get to improve my tinnitus. Almost 90% of all that stuff I tried did nothing or made it worse. The cause of one's tinnitus can have different mechanisms for sure. For me, my tinnitus is most definitely from hearing loss. In the beginning, I thought it all started from using Advil for a bad tooth; it's still a suspect. Working in an environment with so much noise didn't help either. I would be okay with just hearing loss, but the high-pitched ringing can drive the best of us crazy. I learned to live with it and tune it out, just not think about it and don't stress if possible.

A common thing I see here is meds to correct a problem; at least for men, it's often for high blood pressure. The high blood pressure meds often cause erectile dysfunction, and then you get meds for that as well. This process keeps going until you get high cholesterol, triglycerides, diabetes, a fatty liver, heartburn, edema, poor circulation, etc. I only have my theories as to why all that happens and NO2 is a starting point.

Lately, I've been drinking 4 to 8 oz of Beet Juice with Lemon juice per day. I don't want to take much more than that amount because I'm on medications. It's only been a few weeks, and my Blood pressure has dropped, near perfect readings of 120/80 mmHg. I have also lost 25 pounds in the last year. Maybe if this keeps going, I can get off some of my meds. Also, my cholesterol and triglycerides look good. I came here after noticing my tinnitus has been lower; I still have hearing loss, though. I just got in from mowing the lawn that raises my tinnitus, and it's less bad.

I wouldn't say NO2 will make tinnitus worse or better, but I guess it all depends on the mechanisms of your tinnitus. The NO2 vasodilatory effect that increases oxygen delivery to the organs, I think, could raise the tinnitus volume, but is that only a temporary effect, and would your mind adjust? As they say, sometimes things get worse before they get better. The oxidative stress and inflammation caused by poor diets may cause cochlear damage. I've tried many flavonoids and antioxidants, and those made my tinnitus much worse. These days, I try to stick to the more natural things for my nutritional needs; supplements are not requirements. I've paid enough in supplements to put kids through college. Nothing like paying for super expensive methylated multivitamins; get your DNA Methylation Screening, and eat real healthy food, is my advice.

Also, make a note of the "Beetroot > Potassium up > Tinnitus up." I've taken a lot of Potassium in both supplements and food sources. I have never noticed Potassium to be a cause for my tinnitus levels. Beetroots are high in folic acid, which may help with hearing. Nitrates cause vasodilation, which in turn may drop blood pressure. Thus, the ringing in your ears could be caused by the sudden drop in your blood pressure. I can see here that the original post sounds like this was for a workout stack, probably for better pumps and stamina. All of that in itself opens a mystery box of supplements, stimulates, and other anabolic and metabolic increases with lord only knows what all sorts of effects they have on the body and mind while you are stressing the body out during a workout.

For me right now, I will keep drinking the Beets and Lemons, forget about the tinnitus stress, and let my mind return to a resting place. If my tinnitus gets worse and I pin it down on NO2, I'll come back and say it, if nothing else, at least to help someone else or maybe just myself.

 

This is really interesting, as after I work out, my tinnitus gets so much better for a couple of hours, and then it returns to normal.

 

The relationship between tinnitus and NO2 can be explained by the NO/ONOO cycle theory, see this.

It doesn't seem to catch any attention here, though.

 

I think if exercise makes your tinnitus worse, it might be a defect in your Krebs cycle, responsible for lactic acid metabolism?