Vegetarianism and / or Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency and Tinnitus?

Hi all - I've had chronic tinnitus for about a week. It is not related to any type of noise trauma, blockage, ear infection or sickness. I'm not taking any meds at this time, not have a big history. I don't drink alcohol.

For about a month I had been getting somewhat frequent little "blasts" or ear ringing - loud wave of sound, would come up like a freight train passing, then go away within a minute. That was not a normal thing for me, so I took notice. However last Sunday night, I went to bed with some ear ringing, and it has not stopped.

Went to my Dr. who checked basic hearing, looked in my ears, and said let's give it a week and then go to an ENT / Audiologist. No apparent causes here.

Of course, I've read basically the entire internet about this problem, and it seems as thought B12 deficiency and Iron have a big link to Tinnitus. I've been a vegetarian for over two decades. I eat egg and some dairy, but when I thought about how much Iron and B12 I get from those sources, it really doesn't add up to nearly the recommended daily allowance. I started taking B12, Iron, Magnesium, Zinc and Ginkgo on Tuesday. The symptoms have not been getting worse. I can't tell if there is much improvement, but it seems like the issue is now more in one ear, and has turned into more of a power line buzz / cicadas than a loud ringing. But, it's easy to get confused about the changes.

My question: anyone out there with Vitamin deficiencies have their tinnitus go away when they started supplementing? If so, how long did it take? Were/are you a vegetarian?

My dr ordered bloodwork for Monday, and I have an ENT appt this week. I'm really stressed about all this - any ideas would be so greatly appreciated.

 

I came into tinnitus from the other side (I was Vegan for a very long time in the past) but developed Tinnitus after a few months eating lots of liver and probably way too much vitamin D and not enough magnesium and potassium. The electrical buzz is hard to stop... You are probably very deficient in B12, I was as a vegan.

 

Iron deficiency can cause tinnitus from "vein noise" as far as I know, so probably different from a ringing

For what it's worth, I got tinnitus when I decided to go vegetarian / almost vegan. I don't think it's what caused my tinnitus though but who knows

 

Thanks for sharing. Did you supplement Magnesium and Potassium? How is your condition today?

 

I've only had Tinnitus for 10 weeks but it's "less bad" than it was. I am supplementing magnesium now and eating enough potassium.. Better late than never. I'm also spending a lot of time outside as there seems some body clock relationship with my tinnitus. Also as the post above says.. Low iron levels can cause some kind of tinnitus for sure. I've had pulsitile tinnitus before and that went away after I took iron and generally looked after myself better, it wasn't a ringing though is was classic blood whooshing.

 

Thanks for sharing. I'm really glad that you are feeling "less bad" after 10 weeks. You're right on Iron, that's a tricky one, too and can wreak havoc. I hope you feel a little better each day - would love to hear your progress.

 

Being a diabetic I finally realised I had a vitamin deficiency and some days the tinnitus was screaming driving me mad, the tinnitus was caused from ear infection so with that and the combination of vitamin, I have begun taking vitam B supplement its early hopeful it will help.

 

Thanks for the info - please keep me posted on your progress!