I've used NAC.
My multi vitamin (Life Extension's Mix) even has it.
The dosage for me has been 600 mg per day.
When my tinnitus started back in April 2010, it wasn't more than a few weeks when I stumbled upon NAC. I started taking it immediately, but I can't attribute any improvement to it.
However, I think I mostly like NAC because of the supposed protection to my hearing. I hope it might i.e. prevent further worsening of tinnitus...
There are some possible serious side effects, though:
Researchers at the
University of Virginia reported in 2007 study using very large doses in a mouse model that acetylcysteine could potentially cause damage to the
heart and
lungs.
[24] They found that acetylcysteine was
metabolized to
S-nitroso-
N-acetylcysteine (
SNOAC), which increased
blood pressure in the lungs and
right ventricle of the heart (
pulmonary artery hypertension) in
mice treated with acetylcysteine. The effect was similar to that observed following a 3-week exposure to an oxygen-deprived environment (chronic
hypoxia). The authors also found that SNOAC induced a hypoxia-like response in the
expression of several important
genes both
in vitro and
in vivo.
The implications of these findings for long-term treatment with acetylcysteine have not yet been investigated. The dose used by Palmer and colleagues was dramatically higher than that used in humans;[24] nonetheless, positive effects on age-diminished control of respiration (the hypoxic ventilatory response) have been observed previously in human subjects at more moderate doses.[25]
Hmm, just did some google searches and found something about
melatonin.
Drug-mediated ototoxicity and tinnitus: alleviation with melatonin.
Reiter RJ,
Tan DX,
Korkmaz A,
Fuentes-Broto L.
Source
Department of Cellular and Structural Biology, The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.
reiter@uthscsa.edu
Abstract
This review evaluates the published basic science and clinical reports related to the role of melatonin in reducing the side effects of aminoglycosides and the cancer chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin, in the cochlea and vestibule of the inner ear. A thorough search of the literature was performed using available databases for the purpose of uncovering articles applicable to the current review. Cochlear function was most frequently evaluated by measuring otoacoustic emissions and their distortion products after animals were treated with cytotoxic drugs alone or in combination with melatonin. Vestibular damage due to aminoglycosides was evaluated by estimating hair cell loss in explanted utricles of newborn rats. Tinnitus was assessed in patients who received melatonin using a visual analogue scale or the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory.
Compared to a mixture of antioxidants which included tocopherol, ascorbate, glutathione and N-acetyl-cysteine, melatonin, also a documented antioxidant, was estimated to be up to 150 times more effective in limiting the cochlear side effects, evaluated using otoacoustic emission distortion products, of gentamicin, tobramycin and cisplatin. In a dose-response manner, melatonin also reduced vestibular hair cell loss due to gentamicin treatment in explanted utricles of newborn rats. Finally, melatonin (3 mg daily) limited subjective tinnitus in patients. These findings suggest the potential use of melatonin to combat the ototoxicity of aminoglycosides and cancer chemotherapeutic agents. Additional studies at both the experimental and clinical levels should be performed to further document the actions of melatonin at the cochlear and vestibular levels to further clarify the protective mechanisms of action of this ubiquitously-acting molecule. Melatonin's low cost and minimal toxicity profile supports its use to protect the inner ear from drug-mediated damage.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21673362
Founder
Member
