Tinnitus Is Getting Worse!?

Over the past week my tinnitus (which sounds like a high pitched hiss and also a low pitched drone) is SO much louder At times, it feels like it is vibrating through my face, teeth and head. Last week, I went back to the dentist (endodontist) and he used Novocaine to rule out a tooth issue (he believes that I have trigeminal neuralgia, a chronic nerve/pain condition). Could the Novocaine have caused this spike? I also recently started taking alpha-lipolic acid and vitamin d so I'm not sure if either of those caused the spike? I also have been eating an anti-inflammatory diet to help with the nerve pain and a lot of those foods contain salicylic acid (similar to aspirin) and I'm not sure if that is making the T worse? Additionally, I just started acupuncture and I'm going to a chiropractor tomorrow. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what may be increasing the volume? If it was due to the Novocaine, should it settle back down in time? I'm going on three months and thought the T would get better in time, not worse? I'm so scared...

 

It's just a spike, it'll go down I have them from time to time.
All Tinnitus sufferers have it from time to time and for most it goes down.
Mine took some 2 weeks? to go down but it did.
Don't be scared.

 

I'd cut that out and see.

 

http://www.easy-immune-health.com/ringing-in-the-ears-after-taking-vitamin-d2.html
Ringing in the Ears After Taking Vitamin D

"Vitamin D requires magnesium as a 'cofactor' in order to be converted from 'Vitamin D' into it's active form in the bloodstream. This conversion process requires and even uses up magnesium in the process, often creating overt signs of magnesium deficiency in those who are unknowingly marginally deficient in the first place.."
​

In short, take Magnesium if you are taking Vitamin D.

​

http://www.audiologyonline.com/ask-the-experts/alpha-lipoic-acid-and-tinnitus-130
Alpha Lipoic Acid and Tinnitus

"Alpha lipoic acid "... supports nerve system function, and plays an essential role in generating mitochondrea in the hair cells of the inner ear. It has also been shown to improve overall energy and age-related hearing losses...Alpha lipoic acid converts to DHLA (dihydrolipoic acid) which is known to recycle glutathione which, in turn, recycles vitamin E. Because it has such powerful action against free-radicals, there is also evidence that it plays an important role in reducing presbycusis and improving cochlear function, as well as providing protection against noise and auditory toxicity caused by ototoxic drug therapies."​

Alpha Lipoic Acid looks like something I should try.

I wouldn't know anything about nerve pain, but when my joints hurt omega 3's seem to help me. Because I worry about flaxseed and the questionable issues it has on a mans health, I take krill oil and fish oils instead. We eat a lot of Omega 6's today from vegetable oils and what we need more of are anti-inflammatory Omega-3 Fatty Acids. In short, reduce your sugar intake for starters. Then replace vegetable oils such as grape seed, cottonseed, safflower, corn and sunflower oils with macadamia oil and extra virgin olive oil. Macadamia oil will cost a lot more than Olive oil but its a good replacement for peanut oil in stir-fry's and vegetable oil in baking goods.

Because you made a change in your diet maybe you should reduce the new diet down to something that is more 50/50 of what you might normally eat. Sometimes, hidden allergies can cause tinnitus. Some foods that are highly allergenic include nuts, peppers, nightshade vegetables, dairy products, wheat, and berries. When I eat a lot of blue berries my T volume goes up, although that could be from the sugars, so much for the antioxidants. Walnuts also make my throat close up if I eat too many for long periods of time, and some nightshades I suspect are spiking my T also.

So as you can see, when we think we are eating healthy, it's a debatable subject for the individual. There are people eating bacon and drinking whiskey that live 100 years without any medical problems.

 

Thanks for the replies and information. I'm fasting today to try to clear out my system a little. I have a bad habit of trying lots of different things at the same time and therefore I don't know what's helping or making things worse.

 

It's also frustrating because I'm dealing with both T and also a lot of nerve pain in my face, and what makes one better can make the other worse

 

Yeah, drink some Fiji water and fasting is a good idea. Maybe a nice long walk could help, but you live in New York, so maybe a fast short walk is safer.

You might also want to read this article.
Food Sources of Alpha-lipoic Acid
http://www.livestrong.com/article/132100-food-sources-alpha-lipoic-acid/

I figure you can get more Alpha-lipoic Acid without taking more pills. When was the last time anyone here ate kidney, heart and liver? I eat broccoli almost every night at least. My thought process is one of eating the foods that have the nutrients I need first before taking another vitamin.

 

That's a good idea--I had a bad reaction to taurine a few weeks ago and should have just eaten more eggs and other taurine rich foods. I've just been feeling so desperate and wanting a "quick fix". Too often, however, I seem to be making things worse

 

Just to be clear, this is talking about vit D2. Vitamin D3 is the bio active form of vit D. So I'd just make sure you're getting D3 then you don't have to worry about it. For the record, I do happen to take vit D3 and magnesium daily, and they don't seem to have any affect on my tinnitus.

 

I am at 3 months with Tinnitus. One thing I've found is the need to test things one at a time, like a controlled experiment. For example, yesterday I came down with a cold/flu and felt terrible. I was achy and had a headache. I took some Feverfew for the headache which helped some but it didn't hurt my Tinnitus which is something I was keeping a close eye on. Today I'm taking it again cause I'm not worried about it making it worse. I used to take Ibupropen and aspirin (low doses) as a regular thing to control stiffness and general pain. Now I know how bad those two drugs are for the ears. I beleive it is one of the reasons (along with noise damage and age 55) I got Tinnitus to begin with. Today, to control my sneezing and runny nose I've been trying capsules of Ginger and Turmeric and both have worked great with zero problems to the tinnitis. In the past (pre-tinnitus) I would have taken an antihistmine like Benedryl but those are Ototoxic as well. In fact, I almost feel like the Ginger and Turmeric it is soothing on my tinnitus in a nice way. So the main point here is experimenting one thing at a time and finding new and better alternatives. Take care..

 

Hi @Scicia, is the nerve pain in your face constant or does it come and go?
I have constant pain in my face and teeth, as well as tinnitus. It all started at the same time so I think it's all related.
My own T has gradually got louder over the past year, and more tones have appeared. I'd recommend going to see a neurologist, I'm now on drugs that help with the pain.
Be careful with chiropractors, I went to one who wrenched my neck round and caused weeks of agony.

 

Don't worry about making your T worse...it is a non issue.

Here2help...backed by Dr Nagler as knowing more than 99 % of experts states this...

"The extent of a person’s suffering with tinnitus has no relation to how loud it is, how soft it is, its pitch, it’s so-called reactivity, its lack of predictability, or whether it is continuous or discontinuous"

 

Thanks everyone for all of the helpful responses and suggestions! I've been trying to slow things down and try one thing at a time (for example, today I'm adding rooibos tea because a couple people on this forum said it helped their tinnitus). After the volume increased I stopped taking the alpha lipolic acid and vitamin d but at some point soon I'll try adding them back in one at a time.

@65vwbus the nerve pain seems to come and go (but is never gone completely). Two weeks ago it was an 8/10 and now it is a 2/10. I started accupuncture last week and have also been taking more zinc and magnesium which I read can help with nerve pain. I also have been drinking "golden milk" (tumeric paste and coconut milk) which may be helping the pain?? What medications have you been on? The doctor/neurologist want me take gabapentin but I'm scared that it might make the tinnitus worse. Do you have any thoughts as to why your tinnitus has gotten louder with more tones? Have you found anything that helps?

 

Great news that your pain level has gone down. I'll have to try the zinc and magnesium . I tried acupuncture a few times but it REALLY hurt on my right side and made me cry!
I took Topiramate months ago which I think is what made the tinnitus worse. I also find the more stressed I get, the louder it becomes, I can hear it over busy traffic. It was just in one ear until a month ago, when I tried an online sound thing thats meant to help tinnitus- it gave me a new permanent tone in my left ear.
I was on 900mg of Gabapentin for months before the Topiramate, didn't really help the pain, but didn't seem to make the T worse. I'm currently taking Dosulepin, it's been the only drug so far that gave me some relief, like you though, mine never totally goes away either.