‘Is Cortisol Now Our Enemy Number One’

[valeri]

Oh dear - I am so sorry Valeri.

How did your acoustic damage occur?

My tinnitus started during a very bad cold, heard a little pop in my ear and that was it.

 

[Jazzer]

My tinnitus started during a very bad cold, heard a little pop in my ear and that was it.

So no appreciable acoustic trauma then Valeri ?
Almost unbelievable.
Is it your left ear?

 

[valeri]

So no appreciable acoustic trauma then Valeri ?
Almost unbelievable.
Is it your left ear?

Right ear!

It's gone worse over the years and very very reactive with low frequency noises making my life pure hell

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@jeas @Jazzer @Hariz Nonis Trying to place time into a bottle is as difficult as trying to place tinnitus into a bottle.

Many who receive tinnitus just from noise exposure have it mildly, but those who have high pitch severe tinnitus often also have other physical input.

When physicals/disease is involved for onset they can increase after onset and travel causing other problems where they can also become a tinnitus factor.

There's many causes of tinnitus, but hearing loss to some degree is present. 12% with physical tinnitus having proper therapy will see your T disappear. Up to 50% with physical tinnitus can see great improvement as substantial.

Stress can be one concern either before or after receiving tinnitus as stress can relate to any function in the body.
The biggest association with tinnitus other than hair cells is infection from injury or biological trauma. Also high on the list is association to nerves or blood flow.

Physical tinnitus has a few major causes. Here are some.

Neck - injury - posture. Hyperextension of the vertebral artery and/or other arteries slowing blood flow - atherosclerosis.
Injury to the altanto axial, occipital joint and foramen magnum.
Muscle pressure spasms on the c spine and arteries.
Jugular vein trauma.

Jaw - oral - mouth and infection. Injury. Some problems can spread to other areas or can start from neck or facial. Oral can start from jaw problems or cause jaw problems. Jaw problems can start from neck problems.
There's millions of connecting roads with parts of the body that can associate with tinnitus.

Thanks for listening, but besides from some links that I have previously given - these thoughts are from a noted tinnitus doctor with three specialties, one being endo. She has said that she has studied most research articles and found that most are not accurate or have little to do with most tinnitus. She takes on few patients as she spends many hours with each patient as she did with me.

I reviewed three friend here with this doctor.

One has neck and jaw tinnitus and she nailed the cause as this person wrote to me with results from a MRI and the problem matched.

Another one here said he got hearing loss from being in a band, then one day it increased from direction of sound being placed to an ear. She said initial cause was from a medical history infection that weakened hair cells.

Another one here is searching in all directions for a cause. He has ETD and also got water get in his ear. She said with ETD and a mild hidden ear infection that it wouldn't take much bacteria to cause tinnitus. Non drinking water can have 60 forms of bacteria. She is concerned that he will make his tinnitus more severe from stress.

Just another link.
http://www.medicalook.com/Mouth_diseases/Tooth_infection.html

 

[Jazzer]

Thank you @Greg Sacramento,
- so many diverse causes.

My own initial startup of mild 'T' we have discussed before, was probably sarcoidosis, when the mild variety lasted from 1992 to 2014.
A severe acoustic trauma then saw it peak overnight, continuing until the present day.

As we can fix headaches and even migraine with drugs, my 'naive' wish would be for a tablet to fix or reduce noise.
But we are nowhere near it are we Greg?

 

[Jazzer]

Right ear!

It's gone worse over the years and very very reactive with low frequency noises making my life pure hell

'Tinnitus Talk' reminds me of my own sweet boys Valeri - they have their own 'Support Forum.'

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@Jazzer The lady doctor that I saw has 18 years of medical school with multiple degrees that relate to tinnitus. From the digestive systems to the nervous system to everything above the shoulders.

There's no cure for hearing cell loss tinnitus, but she know true physical causes that might have some added involvement. She also mentioned that dentist need to get more tinnitus education and spend more time with tinnitus patients.

She was very honest with me and told me that my severe pain problems are very serious and will require a lot of surgery which I knew, but now I know what to focus on first.

 

[Jazzer]

@Jazzer The lady doctor that I saw has 18 years of medical school with multiple degrees that relate to tinnitus. From the digestive systems to the nervous system to everything above the shoulders.

There's no cure for hearing cell loss tinnitus, but she know true physical causes that might have some added involvement. She also mentioned that dentist need to get more tinnitus education and spend more time with tinnitus patients.

She was very honest with me and told me that my severe pain problems are very serious and will require a lot of surgery which I knew, but now I know what to focus on first.

You are obviously in good hands now Greg,
thank goodness.
My own dentist is great.
I have my teeth descaled manually, and he is very aware of my tinnitus problem.
With regard to there being no cure for noise induced tinnitus, I was instinctively sure of that from its first inception.
What a totally "SHIT" condition it is.
I still curse the ignorant culprit that caused it, as I am sure that you must Greg.
Dave x

 

[TuxedoCat]

@Jazzer

Hi Dave, How are you? Well, I hope. Saw you are interested in Cortisol, and wondered if you were aware of BTA's activity in the area.

BTA have funded a study of cortisol secretion in tinnitus patients by at Leeds Trinity. The principal investigator was Dr. James Jackson in the Department of Psychology.

Dr.Jackson's study showed that cortisol secretion over the course of a day is lower in distressed individuals with tinnitus.

According to Dr. Jackson, "The most logical explanation is that this is about whether or not patients feel a sense of control over their tinnitus - those that don't have a more blunted rhythm than those who do. This suggests three important elements. Firstly, that chronic tinnitus has real physiological effects. Secondly, it is caused by certain aspects of tinnitus which would allow for more targeted intervention and thirdly, that if we can measure distress, we can also measure effectiveness of any interventions."

Dr Jackson added: "There is some excitement here about what we have found. Being able to distinguish between the most distressed individuals with tinnitus and those that have adapted more effectively, or have learned to live with their tinnitus would be a huge boon. We can aim to move people from one group to the other, and have an objective, physiological measure of whether the intervention has worked and has increased well-being too.

The full stories are on BTA's website at the links below. I also searched PubMed and did not find a paper, so results are not published yet.

The use of the Cortisol Awakening Response as a biomarker of distress in people with tinnitus

Exciting new research gives hope to tinnitus patients

TC

 

[Jazzer]

@Jazzer

Hi Dave, How are you? Well, I hope. Saw you are interested in Cortisol, and wondered if you were aware of BTA's activity in the area.

BTA have funded a study of cortisol secretion in tinnitus patients by at Leeds Trinity. The principal investigator was Dr. James Jackson in the Department of Psychology.

Dr.Jackson's study showed that cortisol secretion over the course of a day is lower in distressed individuals with tinnitus.

According to Dr. Jackson, "The most logical explanation is that this is about whether or not patients feel a sense of control over their tinnitus - those that don't have a more blunted rhythm than those who do. This suggests three important elements. Firstly, that chronic tinnitus has real physiological effects. Secondly, it is caused by certain aspects of tinnitus which would allow for more targeted intervention and thirdly, that if we can measure distress, we can also measure effectiveness of any interventions."

Dr Jackson added: "There is some excitement here about what we have found. Being able to distinguish between the most distressed individuals with tinnitus and those that have adapted more effectively, or have learned to live with their tinnitus would be a huge boon. We can aim to move people from one group to the other, and have an objective, physiological measure of whether the intervention has worked and has increased well-being too.

The full stories are on BTA's website at the links below. I also searched PubMed and did not find a paper, so results are not published yet.

The use of the Cortisol Awakening Response as a biomarker of distress in people with tinnitus

Exciting new research gives hope to tinnitus patients

TC

Hi TC
My 'T' has not varied from day one of its severity increase.
My coping method is a session of deep meditation in my bath, after getting up.
I have trained myself to hear it - not listen to it - and go into a meditational doze.
No distress - no anger - it's just there.
Sometimes I repeat the exercise later in the day.
Hope you are good TC.
Best
Dave x
Jazzer

PS - don't make the mistake of thinking I am always so well controlled though Tux.
I still have bad times. xx

 

[JasonP]

I'm starting to think that cortisol increases my tinnitus. For example, I remember a few examples where short term stress has exacerbated my tinnitus. Stress may also make the tinnitus "seem louder" for me. Due to my dysautonomia though, I think I have been under a lot of chronic stress. I'm wondering if I can get the dysautonomia under control, the tinnitus will decrease overall.

 

[bobvann]

Hey Dave hang in there! I had a very interesting experience this week. I stubbornly decided to once again visit sound therapy with hearing aids. Turns out that the lovely young inexperienced audiologist I had trialed the Oticon hearing aids left. She was in Canada and her husband lived across the border in the US. She would go back on weekends. Due to all the border restrictions she moved there.

The new clinician is very experienced and also suffers from tinnitus & chronic pain, is a musician & a scientist. He states that we are 5 to 10 years away from a solution. They figured out how to turn it off in the brain; they just need to figure out how to do it long term. He told me THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE WITH USING HEARING AIDS AND HEADPHONES AKA AIRPODS if one does not need aids for actual hearing! He told me more or less not to waste my $$! He could have easily sold me hearing aids. He said all we really have for now is meditation and exercise in concentration & distraction!

He does not really subscribe to TRT.

Just from the session I think he would be great at counseling & would have done TRT with him in a heartbeat!

We discussed snake oilery.

This was on Wednesday. Following this I had one of the most quiet days yesterday!
Unfortunately it was short lived. He did give me some mental exercises.

The clinic did not charge me for the appointment...

 

[Elmer B Fuddled]

I can go 2 or 3 days of quiet although the tinnitus is still there. Unfortunately being human, arguments can and do appear. That is huge factor for stress and anxiety. I've noticed that when I become stressed my feckin tinnitus gets very high pitched loud. On those days Tai Chi doesn't work. A long walk in the silent forest helps.
Since the onslaught of this I have been 98 percent of the time able to shut it off through mind control, or completely ignoring it.

My tinnitus was from ETD and a doctor who said my eustachian tube was fine.

I had already known that I had hearing loss due to working in the woods felling trees with no ear protection, it didn't cause tinnitus but it did cause a loss. After retirement (couldn't be happier) I finally went to have hearing tests. And then hearing aids. The aids help but they don't help when stress overrides.

To move forward with the tinnitus I think, and what works is when I wake tinnitus is the last thing I listen for. I'm more concerned if when I do wake I'm alive and still capable of getting out of the fart sack.

One must be able to decide "do I really need to hear if my tinnitus is still there every morning?" No, because no matter what happens a bit of silence a drop in ringing, it's still there.

Now Dave glad your trip was good and you got to relax.

We have a new member to the family.
Meet Groucho.

 

[bobvann]

It may not be PC but I would name that cat Adolph

Looks like like my former cat Moo who I had to put down at 2, which was heartbreaking ..

 

[Elmer B Fuddled]

It may not be PC but I would name that cat Adolph

Looks like like my former cat Moo who I had to put down at 2, which was heartbreaking ..

View attachment 41185

Adolph came to mind as did Julias which was Groucho's real name. We had to put our other cat down because of an inner ear infection that caused the brain to become swollen and cause vestibular disease. That was very sad to watch as all motor control was lost, and no cure.

But as I posted cats are number 1 for stress control.

 

[bobvann]

Molly was sick lat week. She is better now... Cats are the shit!

 

[donotringatme]

I'm starting to think that cortisol increases my tinnitus. For example, I remember a few examples where short term stress has exacerbated my tinnitus. Stress may also make the tinnitus "seem louder" for me. Due to my dysautonomia though, I think I have been under a lot of chronic stress. I'm wondering if I can get the dysautonomia under control, the tinnitus will decrease overall.

It's the other way around. Your cortisol increases because of the stress tinnitus gives to you. Cortisol is mandatory for us, the hard part is for it to be balanced in production and related to other hormones. Balance is key. I hope you can improve.

Try finding some GOOD hand-picked chamomile, boil water in a small pot for coffee (dunno English word) then once the water starts boiling, throw some chamomile in, let it in for 1-2 minutes (the darker the water gets, the stronger) and then pour it on a big glass using a colander(?). Take a tbl spoon of honey (again, try to find GOOD one, not commercial crap), stir and wait for it to cool a bit, then drink it before sleep. It is a natural sedative, they give it to babies to sleep. I hope it helps you.

 

[Peter Q]

Is Cortisol Now Our Enemy Number One?'
I have been reading and re-reading Laura Cole's excellent informative book,
"Living With Tinnitus."
(Incidentally, I would not be without this
'Reluctant - Owner's Manual.')

Chapter 26 - 'Brain Waves & Hearing Loss' is particularly significant for us all.

Those living with extreme stress secrete higher levels of cortisol.
Raised levels of cortisol in the blood stream can have the effect of reducing grey-matter in the hippocampus, by reducing the activity of neurogenesis.
Without replenishment, the hippocampus loses volume.
Less volume means reduced function.
A shrinking hippocampus is a classic marker for Alzheimer's.

Laura Cole's book suggests that both regular meditation and regular exercise can help to restore grey-matter, soothe the entire nervous system, and even lessen the perception of tinnitus.

We have somehow to master our tendency to dwell in a state of permanent anxiety.
Accepting that our former way of life has gone for good, is a terribly difficult thing to do.
(I sometimes wonder if living with anxiety is a forlorn attempt to 'cry out to our mama.')


Don't get me wrong folks - I do it plenty.
But I need to try to do better.

Perhaps acceptance is the only way forward.
It seems that unless and until we can approach this position, circumstances may have a tendency to deteriorate even further.

I would appreciate thoughts and ideas on this aspect folks.

Dave x
Jazzer

@Jazzer, Dave, I fully agree with you about the connection between increased levels of cortisol and many conditions such as tinnitus. The body and psyche become overwhelmed by over-arousal and makes for a permanent state of increased hyper awareness or hyper vigilance. The only answer is to allow one's whole system to calm down, and create a relaxed, positive outlook. This helps a return to homeostasis.