At what point have the worsenings ever been downplayed?
Every single Lenire user, myself included have all repeatedly told this community that worsenings are a strong possibility during the treatment. This has never been shielded from Lenire patients or prospective patients.
It's literally pitched to you before you even undergo any treatment in order to set your expectations.
To summarise the current state of this thread...
Something that seems to be constantly forgotten here is how unique tinnitus is to every single person. As such, so is the response to any treatment and that individual's perception of what equates as worsening or improvement. Yet everything is taken as gospel... XXXX got worse so mine is probably going to get worse too... XXXX saw improvements but it's probably just placebo. It sounds like some of you have already talked yourself out of the treatment without actually letting anybody actually finish... that's fine, your choice, but let other people make their own without descending on them like vultures.
If many of you are here to just back and forth around how much trust you DON'T have for Lenire or why you don't see this treatment being of benefit to sufferers, then there's realistically no need for you to be commenting here. Save the data and save the other people looking at this thread from having to wade through mountains of rubbish before they find actual, constructive conversation.
Sorry if this seems abrupt, but it needs saying. This thread has gone off on a real tangent and it's getting boring.
The worsenings aren't just a possibility, they're a fairly common issue that the majority of patients seem to experience to some extent, at least it seems that way among the majority of users. I don't mind the fact that it happens, as you said, medical treatments have varying effects on each individual because each of us have tinnitus for different reasons. So our experience is unique. But you got to admit, it's a fairly scary and likely scenario.
I'm certainly not shitting on Neuromod. As I said prior, I think this device will work, but it's the first of its kind. Many improvements will be made later down the road to increase effectiveness of the device.
As it stands at the moment, it seems to give most people a fairly mild reduction. It doesn't seem like it's as potent as the other two bimodal devices though. (which are nowhere near available to us, granted).
Do I think Lenire is worth the 2,500 euros and two months of worse tinnitus for just a 7 point THI reduction? No, I don't, but perhaps it's fine for a severe case who can take any reduction they can get.
Efficacy and numbers play a huge role in debating on wether or not you want to shell out money on a medical treatment. Just because I'm waiting it out on Lenire doesn't mean I'm saying their company is a complete sham, I'm just going to wait a bit longer until Lenire 2.0 or 3.0 come out. Perhaps they can improve the percentage of responders, increase the potency of reductions (more stimulatory pathways/multimodal) and iron out the initial spikes.
Perhaps Michigan's device will be out next year, by then it would be interesting to see if we could recommend one device over another for different subsets of tinnitus.