Choice of Stem Cells

[James Connelly]

This is what he told me. There are other clinics in Arizona also offering similar treatment so maybe there is some truth to that. Unless they are all just scams lol.

Haha, more than likely knowing our luck!

I asked him and in short, he said that the FDA have no say over it, Arizona state are ok with umbilical cord cells being used as long as clinics don't say treatment is a cure and that they're purely used for experimental purposes.

 

[Karj]

I've been following a lot of the talk here that @attheedgeofscience, @SmallRonnie, and a few others have dove into, and am scheduling an appointment with Innate Healthcare for early 2023.

Tentatively I'm looking at doing 1.2 billion cells (quoted at $26,000 USD) IV, Intranasal, Behind the Ear Injection (all UMSC), as well as exosome drops in the ear.

 

[James Connelly]

I've been following a lot of the talk here that @attheedgeofscience, @SmallRonnie, and a few others have dove into, and am scheduling an appointment with Innate Healthcare for early 2023.

Tentatively I'm looking at doing 1.2 billion cells (quoted at $26,000 USD) IV, Intranasal, Behind the Ear Injection (all UMSC), as well as exosome drops in the ear.

Nice. I've been talking to Innate Healthcare a lot recently. Have you got tinnitus, hearing loss or both?

 

[SmallRonnie]

I've been following a lot of the talk here that @attheedgeofscience, @SmallRonnie, and a few others have dove into, and am scheduling an appointment with Innate Healthcare for early 2023.

Tentatively I'm looking at doing 1.2 billion cells (quoted at $26,000 USD) IV, Intranasal, Behind the Ear Injection (all UMSC), as well as exosome drops in the ear.

Brave of you to make the decision! I hope it goes well for you if you get it done. I'm still undecided to be honest.

 

[Karj]

Nice. I've been talking to Innate Healthcare a lot recently. Have you got tinnitus, hearing loss or both?

A bit of hearing loss above 15 kHz (a few years of playing drums as a kid, with a month or two of not wearing earplugs), and tinnitus from that in ranges NOT at/above 15 kHz. More "in my head" than "in my ears" type. It's manageable with dietary change, sleeping habit change, meditation, etc, but I work in audio professionally and the dark days are hard nonetheless.

 

[Karj]

Brave of you to make the decision! I hope it goes well for you if you get it done. I'm still undecided to be honest.

Thank you!

I have a consult with their other doctor, Luminita Alexe, today. Provided that goes well, I'll be booking travel and accommodations this afternoon, and out there in AZ in late January for a week of treatment.

EDIT:

I spoke with Dr. Alexe just now. Booking flights, Airbnb, etc now.

Also, I'm looking at starting a thread/journal to track all of this, as well as a bit more history on my hearing/tinnitus.

 

[SmallRonnie]

Thank you!

I have a consult with their other doctor, Luminita Alexe, today. Provided that goes well, I'll be booking travel and accommodations this afternoon, and out there in AZ in late January for a week of treatment.

EDIT:

I spoke with Dr. Alexe just now. Booking flights, Airbnb, etc now.

Also, I'm looking at starting a thread/journal to track all of this, as well as a bit more history on my hearing/tinnitus.

Nice one! It will be great to see how you get on. There's potential you might see some immediate improvement right after the local injection like someone did who went to StemCells21.

Otherwise waiting 8 months or more to see full effects, if any.

I guess the clinic does seem legit, he's probably overselling the count on the cells a bit but that might not matter.

I've been considering going to one of these soon myself too but can't decide where to go.

 

[James Connelly]

Thank you!

I have a consult with their other doctor, Luminita Alexe, today. Provided that goes well, I'll be booking travel and accommodations this afternoon, and out there in AZ in late January for a week of treatment.

EDIT:

I spoke with Dr. Alexe just now. Booking flights, Airbnb, etc now.

Also, I'm looking at starting a thread/journal to track all of this, as well as a bit more history on my hearing/tinnitus.

Nice one! All the best.

Did you speak to Dr. Whitney at all?

Where are you from?

 

[Karj]

Nice one! It will be great to see how you get on. There's potential you might see some immediate improvement right after the local injection like someone did who went to StemCells21.

Otherwise waiting 8 months or more to see full effects, if any.

I guess the clinic does seem legit, he's probably overselling the count on the cells a bit but that might not matter.

I've been considering going to one of these soon myself too but can't decide where to go.

Yeah, the clinic does seem legit. I'll see how things progress over the following months, I guess

Nice one! All the best.

Did you speak to Dr. Whitney at all?

Where are you from?

Yep, I spoke with Dr. Whitney last week, and Dr. Alexe yesterday. With how their schedules work at the moment my options were to see Dr. Whitney 2 days one week, and 2 days the following week, or see Dr. Whitney for the first 2 days, and then Dr. Alexe for the following 2 days. For travel / work / financial reasons it just makes more sense for me to have the treatments done back to back across the 4 days, than to split them up.

As for where I'm from, North East coast area of the US. I thought about driving, but best case scenario it's some 34 hours of driving without stopping - doesn't feel worth the extra time and stress. I'm a little nervous about the flight and COVID-19 exposure, but I'm vaxxed, boosted, and will be masked up and staying away from folks as best I can. Necessary risk, I suppose.

EDIT:

I made an intro post here with more info, in case y'all are interested:

Tinnitus from Myriad Potential Sources

 

[SmallRonnie]

Yeah, the clinic does seem legit. I'll see how things progress over the following months, I guess

Yep, I spoke with Dr. Whitney last week, and Dr. Alexe yesterday. With how their schedules work at the moment my options were to see Dr. Whitney 2 days one week, and 2 days the following week, or see Dr. Whitney for the first 2 days, and then Dr. Alexe for the following 2 days. For travel / work / financial reasons it just makes more sense for me to have the treatments done back to back across the 4 days, than to split them up.

As for where I'm from, North East coast area of the US. I thought about driving, but best case scenario it's some 34 hours of driving without stopping - doesn't feel worth the extra time and stress. I'm a little nervous about the flight and COVID-19 exposure, but I'm vaxxed, boosted, and will be masked up and staying away from folks as best I can. Necessary risk, I suppose.

You're much safer with COVID-19 at this stage. Almost nobody wears masks anymore in the EU.

What is it that each doctor is doing specifically?

 

[ErikaS]

Thank you!

I have a consult with their other doctor, Luminita Alexe, today. Provided that goes well, I'll be booking travel and accommodations this afternoon, and out there in AZ in late January for a week of treatment.

EDIT:

I spoke with Dr. Alexe just now. Booking flights, Airbnb, etc now.

Also, I'm looking at starting a thread/journal to track all of this, as well as a bit more history on my hearing/tinnitus.

Hope you come back and share your journey @Karj! Very interested to see how it is carried out at a clinic in USA. Crossing fingers for optimal results!

 

[IndyMLVC]

Thank you!

I have a consult with their other doctor, Luminita Alexe, today. Provided that goes well, I'll be booking travel and accommodations this afternoon, and out there in AZ in late January for a week of treatment.

EDIT:

I spoke with Dr. Alexe just now. Booking flights, Airbnb, etc now.

Also, I'm looking at starting a thread/journal to track all of this, as well as a bit more history on my hearing/tinnitus.

I spoke with him this week and he told me they have several people coming to treat tinnitus but he said that he doesn't know the outcome of how the stem cells will work for it. I was impressed that he's so honest.

I'm considering it because I have several maladies that stem cells might help.

 

[ErikaS]

I spoke with him this week and he told me they have several people coming to treat tinnitus but he said that he doesn't know the outcome of how the stem cells will work for it. I was impressed that he's so honest.

I'm considering it because I have several maladies that stem cells might help.

@IndyMLVC, did he tell you exactly how he would administer the stem cells? Is it the same for all tinnitus and/or hearing loss patients?

 

[IndyMLVC]

@IndyMLVC, did he tell you exactly how he would administer the stem cells? Is it the same for all tinnitus and/or hearing loss patients?

He did. However, my situation is not as simple as others here.

What I discussed with him is the following conditions:

• Tinnitus/hearing loss
  
• IBS/Gastro
• Anxiety/PTSD
• Autism

So much of what I'm dealing with is interrelated. Since I woke up in November 2009 with a hearing deficiency, no doctors could figure out what my issue was. It's only left-sided. All audiograms were totally normal but it has disrupted my life on a daily basis. I've contemplated ending my life over the imbalance that I feel sonically on a daily basis. None of my family nor my friends could understand why this was affecting me so drastically.

Cut to 2 years ago when, as an early 40-something adult, I was diagnosed with autism. Since then, it's been a process of putting together the pieces of the puzzle that are my life. The autism is most likely why I can't deal with the imbalance in my hearing. Going into a corner with headphones on and listening to music was the only way I could survive in the world. The autism also is most likely why I *ONLY* focus on the ringing. People with autism are generally more likely to have gastrointestinal issues, of which my IBS has been a daily hindrance for almost 20 years.

Now, getting back to the stem cells, I presented the doctor with all of the ailments and what was told was the following:

• IBS - probably the easiest fix, in his experience. Although we don't definitively know what causes it, IBS is pretty much dysbiosis - a war bad vs good bugs in my gut. The stem cells will boost my immune system and turn off the anti-inflammatory response. They would be injected into the belly-button.
• Tinnitus - he honestly doesn't know what effect stem cells will have on it. He said that he does have some people coming up to treat it and will see how it goes. For obvious reasons, he can't fill me in on the exact outcome of each patient but he said the they will be updating the website with any positive findings that they have.
• Anxiety - they've definitely had improvements with PTSD using stem cells.
• Autism - the problem here is that 95% of those treated with stem cells for autism are kids. There are very concrete things that they're fixing (ie poor attention span, etc). It seemed like it's never been used on an adult.

He said it would be administered via both Intra-nasal and IV over 2-3 days. His recommendation was 300 million for treating autism/chronic diseases with a cost of $11,500.

Now, granted, I wasn't SOLELY going for the tinnitus so my conversation was not targeting that. If I hammered into that, would the price go up and would it be administered elsewhere? I have no idea. I'm weighing my options.

Would I rather be broke and a little better? What if I do it and NONE of my conditions change?

Life is continually changing for me and I have a great deal of difficulty finding joy in anything anymore. I'm in my mid 40's and haven't had a relationship in almost 20 years. I don't really care about my job or much of anything any more. Perhaps it's worth a shot.

 

[ErikaS]

He did. However, my situation is not as simple as others here.

What I discussed with him is the following conditions:

• Tinnitus/hearing loss
  
• IBS/Gastro
• Anxiety/PTSD
• Autism

So much of what I'm dealing with is interrelated. Since I woke up in November 2009 with a hearing deficiency, no doctors could figure out what my issue was. It's only left-sided. All audiograms were totally normal but it has disrupted my life on a daily basis. I've contemplated ending my life over the imbalance that I feel sonically on a daily basis. None of my family nor my friends could understand why this was affecting me so drastically.

Cut to 2 years ago when, as an early 40-something adult, I was diagnosed with autism. Since then, it's been a process of putting together the pieces of the puzzle that are my life. The autism is most likely why I can't deal with the imbalance in my hearing. Going into a corner with headphones on and listening to music was the only way I could survive in the world. The autism also is most likely why I *ONLY* focus on the ringing. People with autism are generally more likely to have gastrointestinal issues, of which my IBS has been a daily hindrance for almost 20 years.

Now, getting back to the stem cells, I presented the doctor with all of the ailments and what was told was the following:

• IBS - probably the easiest fix, in his experience. Although we don't definitively know what causes it, IBS is pretty much dysbiosis - a war bad vs good bugs in my gut. The stem cells will boost my immune system and turn off the anti-inflammatory response. They would be injected into the belly-button.
• Tinnitus - he honestly doesn't know what effect stem cells will have on it. He said that he does have some people coming up to treat it and will see how it goes. For obvious reasons, he can't fill me in on the exact outcome of each patient but he said the they will be updating the website with any positive findings that they have.
• Anxiety - they've definitely had improvements with PTSD using stem cells.
• Autism - the problem here is that 95% of those treated with stem cells for autism are kids. There are very concrete things that they're fixing (ie poor attention span, etc). It seemed like it's never been used on an adult.

He said it would be administered via both Intra-nasal and IV over 2-3 days. His recommendation was 300 million for treating autism/chronic diseases with a cost of $11,500.

Now, granted, I wasn't SOLELY going for the tinnitus so my conversation was not targeting that. If I hammered into that, would the price go up and would it be administered elsewhere? I have no idea. I'm weighing my options.

Would I rather be broke and a little better? What if I do it and NONE of my conditions change?

Life is continually changing for me and I have a great deal of difficulty finding joy in anything anymore. I'm in my mid 40's and haven't had a relationship in almost 20 years. I don't really care about my job or much of anything any more. Perhaps it's worth a shot.

Thank you for sharing all of this, @IndyMLVC. Your journey has not been easy at all, I very much hope the stem cell therapy brings relief you deserve.

 

[James Connelly]

He did. However, my situation is not as simple as others here.

What I discussed with him is the following conditions:

• Tinnitus/hearing loss
  
• IBS/Gastro
• Anxiety/PTSD
• Autism

So much of what I'm dealing with is interrelated. Since I woke up in November 2009 with a hearing deficiency, no doctors could figure out what my issue was. It's only left-sided. All audiograms were totally normal but it has disrupted my life on a daily basis. I've contemplated ending my life over the imbalance that I feel sonically on a daily basis. None of my family nor my friends could understand why this was affecting me so drastically.

Cut to 2 years ago when, as an early 40-something adult, I was diagnosed with autism. Since then, it's been a process of putting together the pieces of the puzzle that are my life. The autism is most likely why I can't deal with the imbalance in my hearing. Going into a corner with headphones on and listening to music was the only way I could survive in the world. The autism also is most likely why I *ONLY* focus on the ringing. People with autism are generally more likely to have gastrointestinal issues, of which my IBS has been a daily hindrance for almost 20 years.

Now, getting back to the stem cells, I presented the doctor with all of the ailments and what was told was the following:

• IBS - probably the easiest fix, in his experience. Although we don't definitively know what causes it, IBS is pretty much dysbiosis - a war bad vs good bugs in my gut. The stem cells will boost my immune system and turn off the anti-inflammatory response. They would be injected into the belly-button.
• Tinnitus - he honestly doesn't know what effect stem cells will have on it. He said that he does have some people coming up to treat it and will see how it goes. For obvious reasons, he can't fill me in on the exact outcome of each patient but he said the they will be updating the website with any positive findings that they have.
• Anxiety - they've definitely had improvements with PTSD using stem cells.
• Autism - the problem here is that 95% of those treated with stem cells for autism are kids. There are very concrete things that they're fixing (ie poor attention span, etc). It seemed like it's never been used on an adult.

He said it would be administered via both Intra-nasal and IV over 2-3 days. His recommendation was 300 million for treating autism/chronic diseases with a cost of $11,500.

Now, granted, I wasn't SOLELY going for the tinnitus so my conversation was not targeting that. If I hammered into that, would the price go up and would it be administered elsewhere? I have no idea. I'm weighing my options.

Would I rather be broke and a little better? What if I do it and NONE of my conditions change?

Life is continually changing for me and I have a great deal of difficulty finding joy in anything anymore. I'm in my mid 40's and haven't had a relationship in almost 20 years. I don't really care about my job or much of anything any more. Perhaps it's worth a shot.

I've spoken to Dr. Whitney about hearing loss and tinnitus and we agreed that he'd inject stem cells behind/underneath the ear.

 

[SmallRonnie]

they have several people coming to treat tinnitus

That's probably just me and James they're talking about lol. I have no plans to go there currently but might in the future.

I was impressed that he's so honest.

Gotta remember that, at the end of the day, he's just trying to sell you his service. Not saying he is a snake oil salesman but a lot of the stem cell clinics are.

I found it difficult to try and find confirmation on how legit his clinic is.

Ideally, it would be good to talk to several independent patients who were treated by him. People who are 100% legit and not someone he recommended since they could be planted.

The testimonials look good but are not good to trust since they could all be fake. The testimonial from the fire chief in their city though does make it seem legit.

I'm just being paranoid but it really could all be legit.

If one of us here goes there and reports back, that would be helpful but of course, even these type of reports are very subjective. There's no better way of getting the information though, bar waiting a few decades for research.

I've spoken to Dr. Whitney about hearing loss and tinnitus and we agreed that he'd inject stem cells behind/underneath the ear.

Nice, I do think that would be very beneficial. I would love to have some concrete evidence that he provides what he says he does.

If he really does offer the exact treatment that he says, then it's one of the better options for treating tinnitus if you can afford it, in my opinion. The treatment would be almost identical to the one from StemCells21 but a lot cheaper.

A big thing is that it's actually very hard to measure the quality of the stem cells. I asked him about what passage they were and he didn't know right away but maybe that's not too important.

The guy with the arsenal logo said he felt an instant reduction in his tinnitus when he got the injections around his ear in StemCells21. I also read a Chinese research paper that injected growth factors behind the ear and it improved hearing. Growth factors are basically stem cells I believe.

 

[ajc]

The guy with the arsenal logo said he felt an instant reduction in his tinnitus when he got the injections around his ear in StemCells21.

Lol. No way do stem cells EVER provide INSTANT anything. The word instant here is the hallmark of placebo.

I like your attitude though, you're not eating these stem cell salesmen's pitches without thinking about it first. There are so many scammy clinics who take any patient and claim it's gonna help. I find it disgusting when a person with ALS for example is told that their situation will improve from stem cells. It won't. They will still die. Some of these clinics and their "doctors" are more or less criminals.

 

[IndyMLVC]

Thank you for sharing all of this, @IndyMLVC. Your journey has not been easy at all, I very much hope the stem cell therapy brings relief you deserve.

Thank you for reading. I have made no decisions whatsoever. At this point, I'm just trying to make it through each day in one piece.

 

[ErikaS]

@SmallRonnie, have you at all looked into SunaVae at Advanced Rejuvenation in Sarasota? I had a consult with them. They are using client's own VSELs + exosomes and doing two intratympanic shots to the affected ear(s) as well as IV administration. You can also do laser treatments.

It was recently confirmed that I had inner ear damage/hearing loss in my right ear from ear infection 5ish months ago which is what caused my tinnitus. My tinnitus is multi-tone and so reactive, so I am seriously looking into stem cell treatments, especially because I'm still less than 6 months-1 year from damage.

 

[Nick47]

@SmallRonnie, have you at all looked into SunaVae at Advanced Rejuvenation in Sarasota? I had a consult with them. They are using client's own VSELs + exosomes and doing two intratympanic shots to the affected ear(s) as well as IV administration. You can also do laser treatments.

It was recently confirmed that I had inner ear damage/hearing loss in my right ear from ear infection 5ish months ago which is what caused my tinnitus. My tinnitus is multi-tone and so reactive, so I am seriously looking into stem cell treatments, especially because I'm still less than 6 months-1 year from damage.

@ErikaS, well, ask them for published evidence.

 

[SmallRonnie]

@SmallRonnie, have you at all looked into SunaVae at Advanced Rejuvenation in Sarasota? I had a consult with them. They are using client's own VSELs + exosomes and doing two intratympanic shots to the affected ear(s) as well as IV administration. You can also do laser treatments.

It was recently confirmed that I had inner ear damage/hearing loss in my right ear from ear infection 5ish months ago which is what caused my tinnitus. My tinnitus is multi-tone and so reactive, so I am seriously looking into stem cell treatments, especially because I'm still less than 6 months-1 year from damage.

Is this the same clinic that is now doing the Dr. Shim treatment?

I have looked into these and I do not think that the treatment would do anything for tinnitus at all.

Using your own stem cells is not good for difficult to treat things. It's only good for joint issues really. I'd definitely save your money for something else.

Umbilical cord stem cells are the very best but they are not legal in the US. So anyone offering it in the US is either lying about it and a scam or they are knowingly breaking the law. Some clinics argue they are not breaking the law but it's debatable.

If you want to go for stem cells, then StemCells21 has the best track record but it's very expensive and might not work.

Some people here might be going to that other doctor in Arizona so maybe wait and see if that goes well.

I am so paranoid about these scams, I wouldn't be surprised if some people in these forums were shills from the clinics giving fake reports.

 

[ErikaS]

Is this the same clinic that is now doing the Dr. Shim treatment?

I have looked into these and I do not think that the treatment would do anything for tinnitus at all.

Using your own stem cells is not good for difficult to treat things. It's only good for joint issues really. I'd definitely save your money for something else.

Umbilical cord stem cells are the very best but they are not legal in the US. So anyone offering it in the US is either lying about it and a scam or they are knowingly breaking the law. Some clinics argue they are not breaking the law but it's debatable.

If you want to go for stem cells, then StemCells21 has the best track record but it's very expensive and might not work.

Some people here might be going to that other doctor in Arizona so maybe wait and see if that goes well.

I am so paranoid about these scams, I wouldn't be surprised if some people in these forums were shills from the clinics giving fake reports.

Thanks for the feedback, @SmallRonnie. I will have to take a look back and see what the doctor in Arizona is offering that is different than one's own stem cells. The VSEL stem cells are the patient's own, but I am almost certain the exosomes used at Sarasota are placental.

He uses the ShimSpot device for intratympanic injection, however they said they were not happy with protocol or results they were seeing with Shim protocol for the ear, so they no longer do the PRP and stem cell from bone marrow.

 

[SmallRonnie]

Thanks for the feedback, @SmallRonnie. I will have to take a look back and see what the doctor in Arizona is offering that is different than one's own stem cells. The VSEL stem cells are the patient's own, but I am almost certain the exosomes used at Sarasota are placental.

He uses the ShimSpot device for intratympanic injection, however they said they were not happy with protocol or results they were seeing with Shim protocol for the ear, so they no longer do the PRP and stem cell from bone marrow.

That clinic in Sarasota looks terrible to be honest. The doctor only just learnt how to do the intratympanic injections last year. He's probably not even a real doctor. I would stay far away from that clinic. You don't want to be another guinea pig spending thousands on some unproven and even unlikely to work treatment. Also placenta is potentially cancerous.

You might improve slowly naturally. Or just wait a year or two and maybe FX-322 will be out. Well, maybe 3 years.

There are a lot of other cheaper things you can try first. There are definitely better clinics than that one. A lot of the better ones are outside the US.

 

[ErikaS]

That clinic in Sarasota looks terrible to be honest. The doctor only just learnt how to do the intratympanic injections last year. He's probably not even a real doctor. I would stay far away from that clinic. You don't want to be another guinea pig spending thousands on some unproven and even unlikely to work treatment. Also placenta is potentially cancerous.

You might improve slowly naturally. Or just wait a year or two and maybe FX-322 will be out. Well, maybe 3 years.

There are a lot of other cheaper things you can try first. There are definitely better clinics than that one. A lot of the better ones are outside the US.

Thanks for the input. I received feedback from two patients, a woman and a man. The woman said she is noticing tiny improvements day by day. She reported that the crazy wind/screeching sound in her right ear is gone, and now both of her ears just kind of hiss as more background sound, the only time it really bugs her is going to sleep. The man reported two weeks post treatment that he was having less sound sensitivity with his tinnitus and notably decreased brain fog (he has other chronic things going on).

I personally don't think Dr. John is out to "get" people, as a lot of their focus is on long haul COVID-19, Lyme, treating root causes of chronic conditions (mold, parasites, viral load, etc) and helping the body heal through functional medicine interventions. I'm not saying his SunaVae protocol is legit, but he was also willing enough to say to me "we weren't seeing results we could stand behind with Dr. Shim's protocol and I'm not going to go into someone's bone marrow if I'm not confident in the process and protocol". Not many want to air failures or something that didn't work so I at least appreciated that.

 

[SmallRonnie]

Thanks for the input. I received feedback from two patients, a woman and a man. The woman said she is noticing tiny improvements day by day. She reported that the crazy wind/screeching sound in her right ear is gone, and now both of her ears just kind of hiss as more background sound, the only time it really bugs her is going to sleep. The man reported two weeks post treatment that he was having less sound sensitivity with his tinnitus and notably decreased brain fog (he has other chronic things going on).

I personally don't think Dr. John is out to "get" people, as a lot of their focus is on long haul COVID-19, Lyme, treating root causes of chronic conditions (mold, parasites, viral load, etc) and helping the body heal through functional medicine interventions. I'm not saying his SunaVae protocol is legit, but he was also willing enough to say to me "we weren't seeing results we could stand behind with Dr. Shim's protocol and I'm not going to go into someone's bone marrow if I'm not confident in the process and protocol". Not many want to air failures or something that didn't work so I at least appreciated that.

Stem cell treatments definitely do work for certain things. Going outside the US is usually best.

 

[Artemis2K]

He did. However, my situation is not as simple as others here.

What I discussed with him is the following conditions:

• Tinnitus/hearing loss
  
• IBS/Gastro
• Anxiety/PTSD
• Autism

So much of what I'm dealing with is interrelated. Since I woke up in November 2009 with a hearing deficiency, no doctors could figure out what my issue was. It's only left-sided. All audiograms were totally normal but it has disrupted my life on a daily basis. I've contemplated ending my life over the imbalance that I feel sonically on a daily basis. None of my family nor my friends could understand why this was affecting me so drastically.

Cut to 2 years ago when, as an early 40-something adult, I was diagnosed with autism. Since then, it's been a process of putting together the pieces of the puzzle that are my life. The autism is most likely why I can't deal with the imbalance in my hearing. Going into a corner with headphones on and listening to music was the only way I could survive in the world. The autism also is most likely why I *ONLY* focus on the ringing. People with autism are generally more likely to have gastrointestinal issues, of which my IBS has been a daily hindrance for almost 20 years.

Now, getting back to the stem cells, I presented the doctor with all of the ailments and what was told was the following:

• IBS - probably the easiest fix, in his experience. Although we don't definitively know what causes it, IBS is pretty much dysbiosis - a war bad vs good bugs in my gut. The stem cells will boost my immune system and turn off the anti-inflammatory response. They would be injected into the belly-button.
• Tinnitus - he honestly doesn't know what effect stem cells will have on it. He said that he does have some people coming up to treat it and will see how it goes. For obvious reasons, he can't fill me in on the exact outcome of each patient but he said the they will be updating the website with any positive findings that they have.
• Anxiety - they've definitely had improvements with PTSD using stem cells.
• Autism - the problem here is that 95% of those treated with stem cells for autism are kids. There are very concrete things that they're fixing (ie poor attention span, etc). It seemed like it's never been used on an adult.

He said it would be administered via both Intra-nasal and IV over 2-3 days. His recommendation was 300 million for treating autism/chronic diseases with a cost of $11,500.

Now, granted, I wasn't SOLELY going for the tinnitus so my conversation was not targeting that. If I hammered into that, would the price go up and would it be administered elsewhere? I have no idea. I'm weighing my options.

Would I rather be broke and a little better? What if I do it and NONE of my conditions change?

Life is continually changing for me and I have a great deal of difficulty finding joy in anything anymore. I'm in my mid 40's and haven't had a relationship in almost 20 years. I don't really care about my job or much of anything any more. Perhaps it's worth a shot.

You sound a lot like me. Autistic with unilateral hearing loss, although I'm 28.

Please update us as soon as you do it, if you do decide to move forward.

 

[IndyMLVC]

You sound a lot like me. Autistic with unilateral hearing loss, although I'm 28.

Please update us as soon as you do it, if you do decide to move forward.

Thanks. I probably won't, although the evidence is theoretically stronger for the other issues. I'm on an antidepressant that's helping me ignore it a bit... and not get so upset. I wish I wouldn't have to be on it but... here we are.

 

[Artemis2K]

There's a clinic in Charlotte, NC, called Neogenix that seems rather reputable. Has anyone heard of it? It could be an option for those that are interested in stem cells in the East Coast that don't want to travel to Florida or anywhere further out. I sent an email asking for their options and general costs. Hopefully I can get a response.

How would someone get something to the cochlea if not intratympanic? I couldn't find the discussed possibilities here again. Then again, I was tired lol.

 

[ErikaS]

There's a clinic in Charlotte, NC, called Neogenix that seems rather reputable. Has anyone heard of it? It could be an option for those that are interested in stem cells in the East Coast that don't want to travel to Florida or anywhere further out. I sent an email asking for their options and general costs. Hopefully I can get a response.

How would someone get something to the cochlea if not intratympanic? I couldn't find the discussed possibilities here again. Then again, I was tired lol.

I believe StemCells21 injects in the back of the ear, or at least that's how they did in the past, but I could be wrong. And I believe someone said above that a doctor at Innate Healthcare said he would feel comfortable going into the back of the ear.

Please let us know their response to you. I quickly looked on their website and didn't see anything about the ears/hearing loss, but maybe they will get back to you and share otherwise.

I do believe the best injection scenario is somewhere around or in the ear as well as IV.