Zinc Pills Stopped My Tinnitus :)

Cam Gibb

Member
Author
Nov 9, 2017
1
Tinnitus Since
2001
Cause of Tinnitus
Unknown
Getting more Zinc stopped my faint high-pitched tinnitus tone.

I added 50 mg of Zinc with food, along with my usual multivitamin, 1000 mg of Vitamin C, and 3000 IU of Vitamin D3 with K2. I have been taking the multivitamin, Vitamin C, and Vitamin D3 with K2 for years.

After about a week, the tone stopped. However, my stomach started to feel a bit off and slightly sore within days of this discovery. I ended up vomiting the food I had eaten, so I skipped meals that day and stopped taking Zinc just in case. The next day, my stomach was fine. A day later, the faint tinnitus tone returned.

I waited a few days to allow any potential excess Zinc to clear. Then I started taking Zinc again but reduced the dose to half a pill, which is 25 mg of Zinc. The next day, the faint tinnitus tone was gone again. I would say this pretty much confirms it, as the tone had been present for many years, only changing in volume from time to time.

My multivitamin contains 15 mg of Zinc, which was not enough, as I had been taking it for many years without noticing any change. Combining the 15 mg from the multivitamin with 50 mg from the additional supplement gave me 65 mg of Zinc per day, which was likely too much. So far, my stomach is doing fine after a few days on 15 mg plus 25 mg, totaling 40 mg of Zinc per day.

If you have tinnitus, you might consider trying 30 to 50 mg of Zinc per day to see if it helps. However, check with a medical professional first, especially if you have any health conditions or are taking other medications.

It is interesting because most tinnitus is believed to be caused not by a problem in the ear itself, but by disrupted signals, or a lack of signals, between the ear and the brain. Zinc is involved in supporting the function of our neural pathways.

You can think of it like using two different conducting metals placed in an acidic solution, even something as simple as a lemon. This setup will generate electron flow when the metals are connected to a voltmeter or similar device.
 
Started zinc last night. Could be imagining it, but I feel like maybe there is a small intensity drop in my tinnitus this morning. Will update.
 
Day 5 of taking 50mg of Zinc daily. I still have tinnitus but I have certainly had a decrease in intensity. I'd say its dropped by 25%. Very happy!
 
Did anyone of you measure your zinc levels in blood before you started taking it?

I considered to try zinc, but my zinc levels are already slightly above the reference chart, so I´m not sure if I will benefit from it or if it will harm my system.
 
A neat trick I recently learned with another member to test if you are zinc deficient is to buy liquid zinc and taste it, if it tastes like water then you are zinc deficient if it tastes like regular metal than you aren't zinc deficient.
 
Day 5 of taking 50mg of Zinc daily. I still have tinnitus but I have certainly had a decrease in intensity. I'd say its dropped by 25%. Very happy!
Same question here: Which kind of Zinc have you been taking?

It would be helpful to provide some more info :)
 
I tried to upload a picture of the bottle but it didnt work. It's chelated zinc pills from the health store. 50mg per pill, one pill a day. It's helped a lot! I was damn near suicidal a couple weeks ago. Today, I still have T, but it's manageable all day now. Just a but bothersome in the mornings and at night. I'm thinking about doubling the dose. I'm gonna try that next week if my improvement plateaus.
 
I tried to upload a picture of the bottle but it didnt work. It's chelated zinc pills from the health store. 50mg per pill, one pill a day. It's helped a lot! I was damn near suicidal a couple weeks ago. Today, I still have T, but it's manageable all day now. Just a but bothersome in the mornings and at night. I'm thinking about doubling the dose. I'm gonna try that next week if my improvement plateaus.
How long have you been tinnitus. What intensity was he at the beginning? What is the cause of the appearance of tinnitus - do you have hearing loss of up to 8 kHz on an audiogram, even small ones?
 
I tried to upload a picture of the bottle but it didnt work. It's chelated zinc pills from the health store. 50mg per pill, one pill a day. It's helped a lot! I was damn near suicidal a couple weeks ago. Today, I still have T, but it's manageable all day now. Just a but bothersome in the mornings and at night. I'm thinking about doubling the dose. I'm gonna try that next week if my improvement plateaus.

You have only had T since august. Isn't their a big possibility that your T just improved on its own, and that it was not the zinc pills?
 
Still, it could be a coincidence. I am not convinced that it was the Zinc.
Initially, my subjective probability that zinc would help anyone was 0.1%. But the fact his T began improving soon after he began taking zinc makes my subjective probability that zinc Had worked in his case (and might help someone else beside him) to be 3%...

A 3% chance to cause an improvement in one's tinnitus is HUGE.
 
Initially, my subjective probability that zinc would help anyone was 0.1%. But the fact his T began improving soon after he began taking zinc makes my subjective probability that zinc Had worked in his case (and might help someone else beside him) to be 3%...

A 3% chance to cause an improvement in one's tinnitus is HUGE.

What?! 3% is not HUGE. it is a very little percentage, their is 97% chance that your T will NOT improve from the Zinc, which is very high.
 
What?! 3% is not HUGE. it is a very little percentage, their is 97% chance that your T will NOT improve from the Zinc, which is very high.
The cost is negligible, the potential benefit (that one would get if this were to work) is priceless.

Probability of winning the lottery (6/49) is 1 in 13,983,816. 3% of 13983816 is 419,514. So 3% is over 400,000 more likely than winning the lottery. Lowering one's tinnitus is almost as exciting as winning the lottery. If people are willing to buy lotto tickets, they ought to be willing to pay a fortune for zinc. Zinc doesn't cost a fortune, so one should be jumping at this opportunity...
 
The cost is negligible, the potential benefit (that one would get if this were to work) is priceless.

Probability of winning the lottery (6/49) is 1 in 13,983,816. 3% of 13983816 is 419,514. So 3% is over 400,000 more likely than winning the lottery. Lowering one's tinnitus is almost as exciting as winning the lottery. If people are willing to buy lotto tickets, they ought to be willing to pay a fortune for zinc. Zinc doesn't cost a fortune, so one should be jumping at this opportunity...

Even so, I would make sure that one is Zinc deficient before taking a supplement. You don't want to overdose on Zinc because it will cause other trouble.
 
Initially, my subjective probability that zinc would help anyone was 0.1%. But the fact his T began improving soon after he began taking zinc makes my subjective probability that zinc Had worked in his case (and might help someone else beside him) to be 3%...

A 3% chance to cause an improvement in one's tinnitus is HUGE.

Where do you just pull these random numbers from....
 
Even so, I would make sure that one is Zinc deficient before taking a supplement. You don't want to overdose on Zinc because it will cause other trouble.

I agree with you!

I was thinking about starting with zinc supplements, but did some blood tests and it came up with numbers slightly above the max-level in a reference chart. More people should check their blood before doing any supplement...
My B12 was sky high, because I took an oral supplement for 1 month before checking my levels.

Edit: And as a side note, some people think having high levels of i.e. B12 is a good thing. The number can even be way over the reference level, like mine is. I dont know how things are with zinc, I would have to look into that.
 
Initially, my subjective probability that zinc would help anyone was 0.1%.
Where do you just pull these random numbers from....
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/subjective_probability.asp
Subjective probability is a probability derived from an individual's personal judgment about whether a specific outcome is likely to occur. It contains no formal calculations and only reflects the subject's opinions and past experience.
 
Arches has 15 mg zinc x 2/day so 30 mg total per day suggested. I am in no way endorsing Arches as I am skeptical of a lot of things related to tinnitus help. I happen to have some on hand that I've not used in quite some time. Taking zinc and B vitamins probably won't hurt anything but may not help either IMO. I may try some zinc pills but lately nothing has worked to quieten my noise. I'm more inclined to try gabapentin /klonopin again.
 
How long have you been tinnitus. What intensity was he at the beginning? What is the cause of the appearance of tinnitus - do you have hearing loss of up to 8 kHz on an audiogram, even small ones?

4 months with T

Intensity at the beginning was maybe 6/10, now about 3 or 4/10

Cause was a 1 second 13k blast of feedback from a PA system.

Haven't been hearing tested yet but feel like hearing is still good
 
You have only had T since august. Isn't their a big possibility that your T just improved on its own, and that it was not the zinc pills?

Absolutely possible. But timing would be a pretty big coincidence.

I would still recommend people try it. Really nothing to lose and everything to gain. Hell, even if you (or I) just get placebo'ed into believing it works, who cares?
 
TBH I'd take a guarenteed zinc overdose for a small chance that my tinnitus could be improved. It's not exactly heroine.

I found this on Wiki regarding zinc toxicity, and it looks like you have nothing to fear with the dosage you are on.

High levels of intake by humans
Zinc has been used therapeutically at a dose of 150 mg/day for months and in some cases for years, and in one case at a dose of up to 2000 mg/day zinc for months. A decrease in copper levels and hematological changes have been reported; however, those changes were completely reversed with the cessation of zinc intake.

However, zinc has been used as zinc gluconate and zinc acetate lozenges for treating the common cold and therefore the safety of usage at about 100 mg/day level is a relevant question. Thus, given that doses of over 150 mg/day for months to years has caused no permanent harm in many cases, a one-week usage of about 100 mg/day of zinc in the form of lozenges would not be expected to cause serious or irreversible adverse health issues in most persons.

Unlike iron, the elimination of zinc is concentration-dependent.
 
Absolutely possible. But timing would be a pretty big coincidence.

I would still recommend people try it. Really nothing to lose and everything to gain. Hell, even if you (or I) just get placebo'ed into believing it works, who cares?

I agree that placebo effect is almost just as good, if you think its working then whats not to like...

Still, I wouldnt encourage someone to try zinc before they have made sure that they are zinc deficient....it is no good overdosing on this stuff.
 
before they have made sure that they are zinc deficient....it is no good overdosing on this stuff.
As @Makrohn 's post demonstrates, an overdose will not have any detrimental effects.

As for being "zinc deficient", those guidelines are for healthy people. The amount of zinc that one might need to reduce tinnitus might be a lot higher than that recommended dosage.

In other words, people who are in pain benefit from taking aspirin, even though they don't have an aspirin deficiency.
 
As @Makrohn 's post demonstrates, an overdose will not have any detrimental effects.

As for being "zinc deficient", those guidelines are for healthy people. The amount of zinc that one might need to reduce tinnitus might be a lot higher than that recommended dosage.

In other words, people who are in pain benefit from taking aspirin, even though they don't have an aspirin deficiency.

To each their own. I wouldnt want to overdose on this, it can cause other trouble in the body.
 

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