Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

[Louise]

Well done Goofy. If you havent had a flare up sincve you started and are getting some lower times then it mustve done something. Hope tomorrows dive does more!

 

[amro]

Hello goofy,louise and all

I signed up on this website only to post in this important and great thread. I started reading about your dives goofy and i was with u in dive 7. I kept reading ur posts,But as u are endin your dives i said i have to write to you.i've ended my third quart 5 each.but i ll give it another 5 trial so that they ll be 20 and that would be the last. Sinc i strted reading your posts i said that man is writing about me except that i started my hbot on DYA 20 which is according to everyone on the net is good. And the results NOTHING. What did it 4 me was the stugeron it worked but only in decreasing the hissing. My t was also noise induced i got no hearing loss audiogram.i took the inamous ginko shitty biloba i take 240 mg per day. I know that it takes alot so that ginko works but atleast show me something ginko. Tye best thing about this pill is its name biloba what a nam.anyway i dont know what to do this is my 37th daay so whats next 4 you. And what do you recommend me. I hope it turns outgood to all ov us
Drugs that im taking
Stugeron 175 mg
GB 240 mg
Vincamine 60 mg
And the hbot
Ahh pardon my english i have to share that im egyptian and english isnt my second langusge im 22 thats all peac out

 

[Eric N]

I have been watching this thread too, I am not really sure how HBO is supposed to help with tinnitus since it is a brain issue and even if HBO can magically repair the hearing loss that does not mean the tinnitus will stop. I am seeing more and more people getting tinnitus without having any hearing loss, I would not be surprised if it is the shock to the nervous system by loud noise rather than the actually hearing damage that triggers the tinnitus.

I am kinda upset I blew 500$ on it

 

[Louise]

Whoah Eric N. People on here sometimes say they have no hearing loss because their audiologist tells them they dont because their hearing still falls within the wide tolerance of the guidelines for 'hearing loss'. Remember that most audiologists are only testing and checking people in terms of 'do they need a hearing aid to hear speech'. That is not what tinnitus is all about but its all that is available right now because we are badly served. Some people take their audiologists word for it and dont even ask for a print out of the results to see if they do have a dip. My audiologist actually told me that I have the hearing of a woman in her 20s! NO I DO NOT. I have a hearing loss 'notch' at high frequencies that is typical of a noise-induced hearing loss. But still the NHS guidelines say that this is no hearing loss to speak of and so does not require hearing aids. So they continue to tell people that their hearing is 'perfect'. They do NOT understand hearing loss in terms of tinnitus.
That's one point. The second is that we all only get tested to 8khz. As we know, the hairs in the cochlear are arranged with the higher frequencies at the beginning and so they will take the brunt of noise coming in. There could be loads of people who show 'no' hearing loss up to 8khz but profound loss above this.

Now on to HBO.... the point is that it can help the repair of the physical damage done to the cochlear by increasing oxygen supply there, period. If you catch it early enough and let the oxygen repair the damage then the brain will sort itself out. The oxygen helps the healing process and at such high concentrations then its really going to help. But healing still needs time! Oxygen does not 'magically' repair, it just does repair. Thats how the body works, oxygen repairs. No magic about it.

I know it seems like a big ask to go into a chamber 15-20 times but really when you think of it in terms of how the body works and uses oxygen to repair then 15-20 days is not that long.

HBO is used throughout the UK for MS and I've personally heard it described as the difference between a person being able to walk or not. Thats the power of oxygen. These MS people do their initial 20 sessions and then go every week for it, they give the oxygen time to work.

I think its wrong to dismiss this treatment just because it puts us out to attend the sessions or because it is too costly.

 

[Markku]

Yep I agree with Louise. I'm pretty sure there is some sort of hearing loss in the majority of cases, however not always. I'm sure way too often people are told "they have no hearing loss", when in actuality they do have, maybe not much, maybe in higher-frequencies above speech, but still, they are left not-knowing because of the standards and practices of how hearing tests are carried out. The basic tests aren't tailored for tinnitus.

The pitch of tinnitus can be higher than 8kHz, and if the tests generally measure up to that... (plus the fact which Louise mentioned, that you can have notches even when you are told you have normal hearing).

It can't be ignored, however, that there are reports of HBO either improving or completely "curing" tinnitus. That doesn't happen to all, and the chances decrease dramatically the more time passes by.

I don't believe for a second that once you get tinnitus, it's immediately stuck forever in the brain (even if the cilia or other cause in the ear were fixed).
It's another matter altogether whether that phenomenon happens gradually over time. As we all know, even if the vestibulocochlear nerve is cut, tinnitus can remain... fascinating.


Effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in comparison to conventional or placebo therapy or no treatment in idiopathic sudden hearing loss, acoustic trauma, noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus. A literature survey.

These patients can still be helped with HBO therapy. 18 patients only underwent primary HBO therapy. In all other 50 studies evaluated here with a total of 4, 109 patients suffering from idiopathic sudden hearing loss, acoustic trauma or noise-induced hearing loss and/or tinnitus, HBO therapy was administered as a secondary therapy, i.e. following unsuccessful conventional therapy. If the onset of affliction was more than 2 weeks but no longer than 6 weeks, one half of the cases showed a marked hearing gain (in at least 3 frequencies of more than 20 dB), one-third showed a moderate improvement (10-20 dB) and 13% showed no hearing improvement at all (fig. 2). 4% no longer experienced tinnitus, 81.3% observed an intensity decrease and 1.2% an intensity increase of their tinnitus condition. 13.5% remained unchanged (fig. 2).

If HBO therapy was administered at a later stage, but still within 3 months following onset of affliction, 13% showed a definite improvement in hearing, 25% a moderate improvement and 62% no improvement at all. 7% no longer suffered from tinnitus, 44% reported an intensity decrease, a similar percentage noticed no change and 5% a temporary deterioration of their tinnitus condition.

If the onset of affliction was longer than 3 months up to several years, no hearing improvement can be expected in the majority of patients (fig. 3); however, one third of the cases reported an intensity decrease of tinnitus, 60-62% reported no change and 4-7% noticed a temporary intensity increase (fig. 4).

In conclusion, it may be deduced that HBO therapy is recommended and warranted in those patients with idiopathic sudden deafness, acoustic trauma or noise-induced hearing loss within 3 months after onset of disorder.

 

[amro]

So we are three here that hbot did nothing almost to them.this is what it seems i think so.
Anyway. I am completin my 20
are you recommending me louise to do another audiogram with all set o frequencies. Is this what did you do

Did anyone know sessions nimber that are done in this study.

One more thing did any one try dexamethason. Is it effective or not .

 

[jazz]

hi joe

it s started in may 2008,after a nose surgery.i was often having headache because of bones in nose wich wasnt let me breath well.it seems i have giant frontal sinus wich are giving me headache if they don t have enough air.so after that surgery,i was often having feelings of my ears been blocked(no air was circulating )so my ent told me to block nose and mouth and push air inside the ears ,while doing that in may 2008,the tinnitus started and has never stopped since.

you know the whole story

That's the same way I got my tinnitus--from the valsalva maneuver! I had eustachian tube function and was told that "popping my ears" would give me relief--but it gave me tinnitus!!

 

[Louise]

So we are three here that hbot did nothing almost to them.this is what it seems i think so.
Anyway. I am completin my 20
are you recommending me louise to do another audiogram with all set o frequencies. Is this what did you do

Did anyone know sessions nimber that are done in this study.

One more thing did any one try dexamethason. Is it effective or not .

I'm saying that everyone should ask to see their audiogram for themselves and check the results. This is because audiologists have a wide tolerance for reporting 'normal hearing' or even 'perfect hearing' or even 'you have the hearing of someone in their 20s (when you are 50)' to you. They think if the loss is less than 20-25db then you have normal hearing. But this is only a gauge for whether you need hearing aids or not.
Also, yes, I wouldnt just trust one audiologist. I got a real difference at 4khz between two different lots of audiolgists. Always get a second opinion, or as in my case a 5th!

I havent tried dexamethason or any other steroid. It was too late for me when I found out about these.

I dont know how many sessions the people had in the study that Markku posted and I cant swear to the number that were in the study I read that showed 70% success (of some relief) but I think the one I read was 20. You need to Google it and dig around to find out.

Something to bear in mind when having HBO, I would think it a good idea to take a vasodilator whilst having it and (my personal opinion) strong antioxidants. The HBO massively increases oxygen in the blood but if the blood aint getting to the inner ear very well then its not going to have as much effect as it could. The vasodilator would improve blood supply to the inner ear.

What 'depth' are you going to and for how long?

Good luck with your 20 sessions Amro, dont discount it until you've finished.

 

[amro]

This exactly what the ent told me " You have A very normal hearing. I dont know why you are experiencing tinnitus".
I got a print o my audoigram the y are all under 15 db so maybe the ent was encourad by this results. I dont know ehy all ANSI audiograms are up to 8 khz only. There must be a reason. Anyway in this range i got a normal hearing 100% spech recognition in both ears. I m going to search another qudiologist and tell him about an audiogram up to 20 khz.

Im completing my 20 sessions. I wish they do anything.

Im taking 2 VDs vincamine (increase brain oxygen supply mainly) and stugeron plus the GB bevore the sessions. As it will obviously should help. I did this rom session 10. I know i should have done this beore. But i think age plays a role here. My circulatory shouldnt be bad. What makes me worry is my bad diet and sleep regimen.
Ciao
Btw try to vigure out the session's price in egypt
Hint: its cheaaaaaap

 

[Louise]

Sounds like you're doing all the right things Amro. You wont find a hearing test up to 20khz (but do try!). I've been having a nightmare trying to find one above 8khz here in the UK. There are a couple of reasons why they dont exist much.... apparently they cant 'calibrate' above 8khz and also there's no need as they see it as speech falls within 6khz and they are only interested in the test for supplying hearing aids for speech.

Go on then how much are the sessions?

How many have you done?

 

[Louise]

Its because they cant calibrate sounds above 8khz. Ive been told that by a few of them. Also there'snot much drive for them to do so is there when speech falls within 8khz and the manufacturers are only interested in producing aids for people who cant hear!! Like I said, the tinnitus community are badly served. This is one real area where they could help us. They need to be able to test to 22khz and produce aids to that frequency too!

I did an on-line test but that only slid up the frequencies and you stopped it when you could hear anymore. Mine was 13khz I think. But I want a proper test which shows the ups and downs n my hearing > 8khz just like the tests we have now show you. Then I want an aid that fits those lost frquencies exactly.

Even the aids we have now are only a rough setting. Even the tests we have only test a few frequencies. Why dont they test all frequencies instead of just octaves or half octaves and give us aids that match exactly.

 

[Goofy]

Sorry I haven't posted for a couple of days. Just haven't taken the time to write. So I have been home for three days now and the T is about the same as last week. Today was my first day back to work and T seems a little higher this afternoon. I am not around loud noise at work so not sure if stress or something else that would make I that way. I have slept better the past couple nights since I got home.
So far I would say that HBOT helped lower my T some because I haven't had a bad spike in my T for three weeks now. I wish it was gone of course but I will take what I can get.
Amro, I wish you the best on your treatments and hope you see some improvement soon. How deep and how long are your dives for???

 

[Louise]

Thanks for the info Goofy. I'm glad it helped a little. The healing it started might continue hopefully.

 

[amro]

I did 18 mostly around 45 to 50 mm hg
I did notice a decrease specially after the 17th but I don't know if it is the hbot or not i am sure it has done something.
I am taking drugs also. So I can't state accurately. I think that both contributed. I hope it wont rise again. I wanted the hissing to go but its better than nothing.
But theres an important point: taking VDs before sessions as Louise mentioned . I had tarted to take them after 10 sessions. And other 7 it got really soft hissing. I am going to do 20 and thats it no more OR what do you think.

All I can do is just to hope for you and me.

 

[Louise]

What I think is - do more. Do 30. You did ask me what I think

 

[Goofy]

Up till Monday I was doing good then that evening my T increased for some reason. Since Tuesday it has been annoying and won't let up. It isn't horrible but very bothersome especially when I try to sleep. I am not sure what caused it to increase, I don't think it is because I am back to work. I was hoping that it would stay the way it was after I finished HBOT. Maybe after the weekend it will calm back down.

 

[mick]

I hope it calms down for you, too, Goofy. Don't let the transient spikes bother you.

 

[Goofy]

I hope it calms down for you, too, Goofy. Don't let the transient spikes bother you.

Thanks Mick
I have been trying to ignore it and not worry about it. Sometimes that is hard to do.

 

[Louise]

I'm sorry to hear this Gooft. Im sure it is only a spike as Mick has said. But, is your job stressful? As we know stress can have a bad effect on T.

 

[Goofy]

I'm sorry to hear this Gooft. Im sure it is only a spike as Mick has said. But, is your job stressful? As we know stress can have a bad effect on T.

My job is a little demanding, but most days it is not to stressful. I try not to let my job bother me, but sometimes it does.

 

[Louise]

It could be the slight increased stress then?

 

[Markku]

Goofy: I just earlier today went through the answers of the Global Tinnitus Survey and let me tell you that 70% of people experience DAILY spikes.

Yes, we need way more answers than we currently have (about 110 as of this writing) to be able to make generalizations, but still it's clear as day that spikes are the reality for many, unfortunately.

You'll be better tomorrow, I hope!

Wishing you a relaxing weekend,
Markku

 

[Louise]

I did my survey when I'd logged off when the pop up came up. Just wanted to say!

 

[Plucky]

I went for 10 of these "dives" two groups of of five consecutive days, one hr each session and the last two seemed to make the t worse, no positive residual effects either and I just parted with 1400$ to find this out
Frank

 

[Goofy]

Well as of today my T has been the same level for 5 days now. This is really getting annoying because it hasn't lowered any. The only thing I can think of is I have been taking Lipoflavinoid for about three months now and stop taking then last weekend. I not sure if it was helping or not but now I am thinking maybe it was. I am going to try it again and see if it helps. I am also trying Ginko as of yesterday. Maybe one of them will help.

 

[Louise]

Good luck Goofy. Someone told me a while ago (an acupuncturist) that maybe I should view my T as a 'long game' which will have ups and downs along the way and that its just to be expected. I hope your spike is part of this 'long game'. Our member Mike posted once that he had a pattern of I think it was 10 days of louder then it went down.

Please let us know if going back onto the Lipoflavenoids helps.

My T is currently getting louder, especially in the right ear which had no noise for the first 5 months then started up. I hate it. But because the Pregabalin is controlling my anxiety I just say, (excuse my language), "F*ck off" to it and carry on about my business as much as poss.

 

[amro]

sorry i had to evaluate my case. I did 20 sessions it was pretty low. I told them at the center that I want to stop seeing if it is going to heal or not . I stopped 3 days. It didn't so I decided to continue the 30. and this will be the lAST.
I did my 21st session cant sense any difference.

 

[Louise]

Good luck Amro, I really hope you get something from the next 9 sessions.

 

[Goofy]

Day #6 now and my T is still very annoying. It just won't calm down. My left ear is the worse and my right ear comes and goes. Every once in a while my right ear really chimes in for a second or two and that really
concerns me.I try not to worry about it but I hope it doesn't increase also. I know this sounds bad but sometimes I feel like . I would never really do that. I hope it lowers soon. I don't understand how after HBOT my T was pretty calm and now it won't let up.
I tried listening to different masking noises earlier and couldn't find any that worked. The biggest problem is I tried using headphones and I had to turn the volume to try to drown my T and it worries me with it that it is to loud so I turn it back down. The best time is in the morning when I take a shower it drowns out my T. I have found shower noises but just not the same.

 

[Louise]

I know how you feel. I'm having two days of it being louder and especially in the right ear which wasnt affected for the first months and has always been quieter than the other.
Wish I know what to tell you other than, tell it to F off because really that's all there is. Its a fight. Although I know we should accept & surrender. Just dont feel like doing that when it reaches a new high.

I wouldnt use the headphones. Not up above the T anyway. What do you think to having more HBO?