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Intermittent Fasting for Tinnitus Relief

#67
Lisa88 said:
Myself and others with tinnitus have seen huge benefits with intermittent fasting. T fading and almost gone in some cases.

There is science behind this that shows detox and the brain/gut connection can relax the central nervous system, as well as improve brain chemistry itself.

The 5:2 diet is a great example of intermittent fasting. One example of this is fasting for 24 hours on 2 non consecutive days per week, i.e. dinner to dinner the next day, and on that next day only eating 500 calories. On the 5 other days of the week, eat normally.
https://thefastdiet.co.uk/

Some of the science:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...lp-live-longer-long-stay-away-superfoods.html
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I don't understand... how can this help tinnitus, when by fasting you are depriving yourself from nutrients... won't there be a chance of suffering slow hearing loss from the hair cells dying from not having what they need?
 
#69
I definitely feel that is a BIG influence in my tinnitus from the food I eat and intestinal health ..
I see comments above from people who don't believe this will work and that may be true --- IF your problem is something that is not related to GI health .

I worked with a nutritionist from Wisconsin a few years ago after I had a severe gall bladder attack and I followed her instructions to avoid all sources of sugar, coffee, teas, herbal formulas etc and my tinnitus was almost completely silent . But when I added coffee back in, the tinnitus came back in a few minutes .

There is no doubt in my mind that for many of us there is a dietary component .
I don't know if intermittent fasting is necessary, but certainly removing inflammatory foods and giving the intestines some quiet time to heal is really important .

The foods which seem most problematic to me are high salicylate , high oxalate, high xanthine foods
Big raw salads particularly spinach ( which is very high in oxalate , salicylate and histamine invoking ) are a problem.
Coffee, teas and chocolate are high in oxalate as well as xanthines .
 
#71
LucyLou128, I haven't finished my diet experiment with tinnitus yet but so far I can already see that sugar and salt are the bad guys. My gut is very dodgy with leafy veggies. I have zero spike after eating most meat, that I know for sure. Bacon however is a complete ringing disaster within seconds. Chocolate spikes me up for an hour or so.. Not long but it does.
 
#73
Lane said:
@foam -- Copius amounts of organic liver seems to soften my tinnitus.
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I'm scared of liver now... It's basically all I ate for two months before getting tinnitus, I worry I overdosed on some nutrients.. I felt great in theory but I'd much rather go back to feeling tired and having a clear soundless head
 
#74
foam said:
It's basically all I ate for two months before getting tinnitus, I worry I overdosed on some nutrients.I
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@foam -- Wow, that's interesting. My first guess is that too much iron might be responsible, but that's only a guess. When I felt so good (and my tinnitus softening a bit) after that day of a lot of liver eating, I thought I'd repeat it pretty often. But I didn't really feel drawn to do that again. Maybe my body was telling I had gotten what I needed, and not to overdo it.
 
#75
Lane said:
@foam -- Wow, that's interesting. My first guess is that too much iron might be responsible, but that's only a guess. When I felt so good (and my tinnitus softening a bit) after that day of a lot of liver eating, I thought I'd repeat it pretty often. But I didn't really feel drawn to do that again. Maybe my body was telling I had gotten what I needed, and not to overdo it.
Click to expand...

Tinnitus is starting to affect your judgement. It is terrible what this condition can do to people.
 
#76
Lane said:
@foam -- Wow, that's interesting. My first guess is that too much iron might be responsible, but that's only a guess. When I felt so good (and my tinnitus softening a bit) after that day of a lot of liver eating, I thought I'd repeat it pretty often. But I didn't really feel drawn to do that again. Maybe my body was telling I had gotten what I needed, and not to overdo it.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what happened.. I have an immune system disease that responds well to eating keto. Then I got used to eating liver and I enjoyed it.. So I was eating a big bowl of chicken liver every day. It was the best I felt for years. I continued this for a couple months. Eventually I felt like eating carbs so I did that for a few weeks but continued eating liver (and kidney). During this time I was also taking Vitamin D supplements as it was Winter and I wasn't going outside at all. Then one day... I didn't get to sleep and the tinnitus just came on strong and hard. I've been looking back and adding up the nutrients I was getting (and not getting). I must be crazy overdosed on Vitamin A, D and Folatae.. Probably Iron also, but I'm not sure how long or if these things will recover. I had a few really good days recently but today is very loud and bad.. I've got a white tongue I can't shake either, it came along at the same time as the Tinnitus.
 
#77
foam said:
During this time I was also taking Vitamin D supplements as it was Winter and I wasn't going outside at all. Then one day... I didn't get to sleep and the tinnitus just came on strong and hard.
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@foam -- One thing I discovered as I was searching for nutrients that can cause tinnitus was that Vit. D was the first one I ran across. Below is an introductory paragraph from THIS ARTICLE: -- Regarding the magnesium deficiency they mention, my understanding is the fastest way to restore a magnesium deficiency is to apply magnesium oil (magnesium chloride) transdermally. If you decide to try it, it might be especially useful applying it around the ears.

Ringing in the Ears After Taking Vitamin D
by Kerri Knox, RN
(Your Easy Immune Health Host)

If you have Ringing in the Ears after Taking Vitamin D and Tinnitus from Vitamin D. There is actually a reasonable explanation for this phenomenon, and a reasonable solution as well. The phenomenon of ringing in the ears is a common but not well known Sign of Magnesium Deficiency, and this fits right into why you can have the problem of ringing in the ears after taking vitamin d. One thing that you can be sure that it's NOT, is a vitamin d overdose. Even taking a couple of 'megadoses' of vitamin d will NOT cause you to have an overdose- I PROMISE! So, please refer to this as a 'side effect' of vitamin d and not 'toxicity'. You are NOT vitamin d toxic, you are magnesium deficient!

foam said:
I've got a white tongue I can't shake either, it came along at the same time as the Tinnitus.
Click to expand...

You might want to consider seeing an acupuncturist, or a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, as they are generally very good at diagnosing tongue conditions, and where they might be originating from. From what I can gather, acupuncture also has one of the higher success rates for successfully treating tinnitus.
 
#78
Lane, yes I have read some interesting things about Vitamin D and tinnitus. There was one person on these forums a few years ago that was sure, they got tinnitus from similar dosages I was taking (10,000 iu a day) which looking back even though I was getting no sun.. was pretty silly as I would have been getting enough from my food alone. The person that thought they got it from vitamin D also updated and said the tinnitus went away after 6 months. I am taking magnesium now :). There's also a research paper about a guy whos Vit D levels were over 200 from supplements while on holiday in the sun.. and he got massive tinnitus from it, I don't think his tinnitus recovered though.
 
#79
I'm trying fasting for the second time, first time round was a 72 hour fast only consuming water. It was very difficult but I think my tinnitus improved. Previously I was really struggling to keep it together on a daily basis. But maybe only a 20 percent decrease has been enough to allow me to cope day to day. There has been periods of a few days here and there over the last 3 months since I last tried fasting where the ringing has increased again above the bearable level but on the whole possibly better. Just past the 48 hours period on my second fast last night was hard the ringing bad for a few hours when trying to sleep. But woke up this morning and my main struggle was hunger. The noise has changed from a high pitch around 12khz to a sort of funny fuzzy feeling in the head possibly more like a high pitched white noise. Hard to describe. But at this point an improvement. Possibly this also related to not having any food.

From reading other peoples experiences this obviously doesn't work for everyone. But if it's not something you have tried it's worth a go. I decided to do the 3 day fast rather than intermittent fasting based on reading some studies about nuroplaticity. In that this type of fasting might improve nuroplaticity and thus help the brain deal with what ever is going in inside. On thing to note is that in have perfect hearing, and no ent issues. The ringing is subjective.
 
#80
Well a short update, things appeared to have improved in my second day of fasting 3rd day was rough for various reasons hungry and the ringing was pretty strong, I then had a few days where it was pretty good. But tonight its back with a vengeance, had a coffee around 5pm. Seemed to be the trigger. But not sure. Who knows... I still think it's worth trying although this second time doesn't seem to have been as beneficial. Will maybe try it again in a months time.
 
#81
foam said:
I'm not sure what happened.. I have an immune system disease that responds well to eating keto. Then I got used to eating liver and I enjoyed it.. So I was eating a big bowl of chicken liver every day. It was the best I felt for years. I continued this for a couple months. Eventually I felt like eating carbs so I did that for a few weeks but continued eating liver (and kidney). During this time I was also taking Vitamin D supplements as it was Winter and I wasn't going outside at all. Then one day... I didn't get to sleep and the tinnitus just came on strong and hard. I've been looking back and adding up the nutrients I was getting (and not getting). I must be crazy overdosed on Vitamin A, D and Folatae.. Probably Iron also, but I'm not sure how long or if these things will recover. I had a few really good days recently but today is very loud and bad.. I've got a white tongue I can't shake either, it came along at the same time as the Tinnitus.
Click to expand...
I give blood regularly to reduce iron stores which is measured by your Ferritin blood level. The suggested ranges for Ferritin are very high and ignore the very strong associations between high Ferritin, like above 200, and increased rates of heart disease and cancer. I read a book about it; "Dumping Iron"
 
#82
Leodavinci said:
I give blood regularly to reduce iron stores which is measured by your Ferritin blood level. The suggested ranges for Ferritin are very high and ignore the very strong associations between high Ferritin, like above 200, and increased rates of heart disease and cancer. I read a book about it; "Dumping Iron"
Click to expand...

I had my levels tested (was 400). Do you know how long it takes to come back down? I can't really give blood as I have a chronic disease. Guess they could take it and throw it in the bin...
 
#83
It may be a blood sugar issue. While an initial hearing injury caused my tinnitus it's continued to get reinjured and more severe because of blood sugar issues. I strongly recommend buying a glucose meter and monitoring throughout the day for a few months. Carbs and sugar are horrible for mine. 2 months no carb plus fasting and daily walking is like a night and day difference and finally got my tinnitus to a manageable level. I suspect that a large percentage of tinnitus sufferers are at least pre-diabetic.

If you have a fear of needles I recommend these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074M663HX?ref=ppx_pt2_dt_b_prod_image
 
#84
i've been searching for a keto on this site because I think that it has caused my tinnitus. Especially when I started to do longer fasting to detox. after looking on here it seems it might because of the way we are metabolizing proteins. maybe I'm getting too much protein?
I have been on the keto diet for about six months and to my goal weight now so maybe that has something to do with burning more food Ketones because I don't have the fat to burn? I am getting rain fog and really feel strange after eating
 
#85
I have started 5:2 and 16:8 at the same time. It def lowered my tinnitus. Some weekends I slip up and have broken routine because of a pizza party or special occasion. After 2 or 3 days of being slack, I notice the return of the tinnitus into the severe loudness levels. I can always hear it, but it goes from the pure loud tone to more of the cicadas with the constant tone MUCH lower underneath. I personally don't mind the cicadas as that's all you can hear in the summer evening down where I live. This seems to be having a positive influence after doing the diet for 3 weeks. Def worth a try. Further proof, I did the same diet for 3 months last year and had the same effect. I only stopped because I was renovating a house that I purchased and was eating fast food and whatever, whenever I could. It takes about 2 weeks to notice the deference. I am attempting to make this a lifestyle change.
 
#86
Johnny Karate said:
I have started 5:2 and 16:8 at the same time. It def lowered my tinnitus. Some weekends I slip up and have broken routine because of a pizza party or special occasion. After 2 or 3 days of being slack, I notice the return of the tinnitus into the severe loudness levels. I can always hear it, but it goes from the pure loud tone to more of the cicadas with the constant tone MUCH lower underneath. I personally don't mind the cicadas as that's all you can hear in the summer evening down where I live. This seems to be having a positive influence after doing the diet for 3 weeks. Def worth a try. Further proof, I did the same diet for 3 months last year and had the same effect. I only stopped because I was renovating a house that I purchased and was eating fast food and whatever, whenever I could. It takes about 2 weeks to notice the deference. I am attempting to make this a lifestyle change.
Click to expand...
I'm thinking of trying intermittent fasting. On those two diets do you have to eat particular foods or low carb etc? What do you eat on a typical day?
 
#87
all to gain said:
On those two diets do you have to eat particular foods or low carb etc? What do you eat on a typical day?
Click to expand...

@all to gain -- When I began, I tended toward a more ketogenic diet, meaning more fat and protein foods, and less carbohydrates. It was OK for a while, but I got a bit tired of it. After I started adding more grains/carbs, I noticed I felt better overall, and didn't see any detriment to my tinnitus.

Another thing I noticed was my body became more tuned in about the foods I was eating, which allowed me to get a sense of what foods are better for me than others. I suspect the same will happen for you. You may find that a ketogenic type diet works better for you, but there's no way of knowing until you start doing a little experimenting. I think an initial key is to try to pinpoint certain foods that are especially problematic, with sugar, coffee, chocolate, and other foods often being in that category.

BTW, two days ago, I took down some metal blinds in my bedroom, and I immediately felt a difference in how I felt. Since then, I seem to be noticing a slight improvement in my tinnitus, and my overall well being. It's all pretty quite stunning. I don't know what the modus operendi might be on this, but I think it may have to do with EMFs/radiation. I've heard you should never use a cell phone in a car, because it causes the radiation to bounced around, and be far greater than normal. Perhaps this is what happens with metal blinds as well. It may take me a while to figure this out.
 
#88
Lane said:
@all to gain -- When I began, I tended toward a more ketogenic diet, meaning more fat and protein foods, and less carbohydrates. It was OK for a while, but I got a bit tired of it. After I started adding more grains/carbs, I noticed I felt better overall, and didn't see any detriment to my tinnitus.

Another thing I noticed was my body became more tuned in about the foods I was eating, which allowed me to get a sense of what foods are better for me than others. I suspect the same will happen for you. You may find that a ketogenic type diet works better for you, but there's no way of knowing until you start doing a little experimenting. I think an initial key is to try to pinpoint certain foods that are especially problematic, with sugar, coffee, chocolate, and other foods often being in that category.

BTW, two days ago, I took down some metal blinds in my bedroom, and I immediately felt a difference in how I felt. Since then, I seem to be noticing a slight improvement in my tinnitus, and my overall well being. It's all pretty quite stunning. I don't know what the modus operendi might be on this, but I think it may have to do with EMFs/radiation. I've heard you should never use a cell phone in a car, because it causes the radiation to bounced around, and be far greater than normal. Perhaps this is what happens with metal blinds as well. It may take me a while to figure this out.
Click to expand...
Thanks Lane.

I've tried a very low carb diet before, and although it gave me even energy levels, I didn't like it. This time I will have more carbs, but not too many. I will cut out all junk food, including chocolate. I don't drink coffee, so that's not a problem. Not only do I want to try intermittent fasting, but I want to cut out lots of salt.

I'm thinking:

oatmeal
pasta (not sure)
semi-skimmed milk
eggs
olive oil
almonds
walnuts
pollock
salmon
avocado
bananas
apples

Not sure which vegetables to eat yet. Maybe broccoli and brussel sprouts. I was eating spinach, but for some reason it seems to spike my tinnitus. Like you said, I will need to experiment, which may take a long time. I'm not taking any supplements yet, but I may experiment with those, too. I seriously need to lose weight and get more exercise.
 
#89
all to gain said:
I'm thinking of trying intermittent fasting. On those two diets do you have to eat particular foods or low carb etc? What do you eat on a typical day?
Click to expand...
I just eat a prepackaged salad that house some type of meat in it like turkey or bacon. These salads stay around the 300 calorie mark. Then I will have 3 scrambled eggs for dinner if I choose to eat that meal on a fast day. Just gotta stay below 600 calories for a man and 500 for a woman. On none fast days I just try to keep my calories below 2000 a day and i only eat between 1230 pm and 830 pm on all days.
On a side note, when I cheat or get off schedule my Tinnitus spikes... starting to wonder if i have an allergy or something is causing inflammation. Who knows. Wish there was specialty doctors who cared enough. Oh well. Fingers crossed for a magic pill one day.
 
#90
I've attempted the 5:2 diet in the past for unrelated reasons and it was absolutely not for me. I have IBS and an "over sensitive stomach" so the full 24 hours of fasting was actually quite painful for me. I have been looking in to the 16:8 or 15:9 methods of intermittent fasting and I tried it for a few days and felt great, but let myself go over the weekend. I'm skimming over all this information and I'm wondering...do you think the other forms of daily IF would be just as beneficial? I'd definitely love to give this a try.
 

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