Possibly Found the Cause of My Tinnitus (Processed Carbs)

[Mr Worried]

So after a lot of trial and error, I've realized that processed carbs seem to be the main cause of my tinnitus.

If I decide to snack it up a bit too much, my tinnitus will start going nuts. If I eat clean for a while, my tinnitus will fall back to a level that I can live with. This makes me believe that it all has something to do with a blood sugar problem, but what could it mean? Could this be a sign of pre-diabetes or something?

 

[MartinH]

That's my opinion as well. I've been looking at my trends/spikes and it seems to be correlated to blood glucose levels. I have been diagnosed with diabetes, and take metaformin 2x a day to keep my levels down. I've gotten away with it and go thru the roller coaster where I really watch what I eat for a while and then, well I just get tired of caring. So I guess I'll be the guy that tells you how stupid he is, and hope someone else will benefit from it.

What I can tell you is that I've been eating quite a lot of junk food that I shouldn't be. It never seemed to be a problem, although obviously it was in the background. I'm 53, right at about that point in life where things start going wrong. I've only had tinnitus for about 10 weeks and it's been all over the place. My pattern has been, more or less, have a bad T day, don't eat much, stressed out, work my arse off and don't go to sleep until I can barely crawl into bed so I can actually fall asleep. After a couple of intrusively loud days, I'll have a couple days off from it. Near silence. Hey what a great day right? I've been suffering, at times hanging on by a thread, so let's have some ice cream and some other stuff. A couple days later it comes back. I went thru that a few times before I noticed the pattern. I cut out all processed sugar for a week, well 6 days anyway. No snacks that I didn't have to peel (oranges, but mostly apples and a banana here and there). But positively nothing with processed sugar, and most of what I ate was pretty low in sugar and carbs. I did that for six days and had 4 full days of near silence, I had to plug my ears and really listen for it. I'd hear it in the morning just a bit (google rebound rebound hyperglycemia and Somogyi effect) but before I was up for an hour it was almost gone. It was, pardon my language, fucking glorious. So I granted myself a free day on Sunday. Wrong answer. Monday was good, but I recall I "heard it coming" , then woke up Tuesday morning very early, and my old friend was back. Only it didn't go away like it had been for the last few days. It's nearly 9pm now and its still at a solid 4/10 level for me.

So that's been my experience. I'm surprised there isn't much talk here about blood glucose, diabetes, etc. There seems to be a lot online about it. There are a lot of pre-diabetics out there that don't know they are.

My advice to anyone is to cut as much sugar as you possibly can out of your diet. REally look at what you eat and check the labels. Plan your meals and for God's sake exercise a little. I've allowed myself to deteriorate since I retired from the military and I know better. I can tell you after a week (less my free day sunday) I already lost 10lbs and I have mad energy. I did 60 minutes on the treadmill this morning and burned just short of 600 calories and I felt better than I have in a long time. Don't count on pills or anything else to put down your T. The best bet, in my opinion, is to get as healthy as you can be. At the very least you'll feel a lot better.

 

[emmalee]

My advice to anyone is to cut as much sugar as you possibly can out of your diet. REally look at what you eat and check the labels. Plan your meals and for God's sake exercise a little. I've allowed myself to deteriorate since I retired from the military and I know better. I can tell you after a week (less my free day sunday) I already lost 10lbs and I have mad energy. I did 60 minutes on the treadmill this morning and burned just short of 600 calories and I felt better than I have in a long time. Don't count on pills or anything else to put down your T. The best bet, in my opinion, is to get as healthy as you can be. At the very least you'll feel a lot better.

MartinH, this is great advice. Like you said, "At the very least, you'll feel a lot better."

 

[cspc]

So after a lot of trial and error, I've realized that processed carbs seem to be the main cause of my tinnitus.

If I decide to snack it up a bit too much, my tinnitus will start going nuts. If I eat clean for a while, my tinnitus will fall back to a level that I can live with. This makes me believe that it all has something to do with a blood sugar problem, but what could it mean? Could this be a sign of pre-diabetes or something?

It's a sign of insulin resistance and maybe prediabetes. I'm not sure about your blood sugar levels. I would suggest you to do a blood test for blood sugar and an insulin resistance test. I've done these and I found that I have intermediate insulin resistance. My blood sugar levels were normal.

 

[Mr Worried]

It's a sign of insulin resistance and maybe prediabetes. I'm not sure about your blood sugar levels. I would suggest you to do a blood test for blood sugar and an insulin resistance test. I've done these and I found that I have intermediate insulin resistance. My blood sugar levels were normal.

That's my opinion as well. I've been looking at my trends/spikes and it seems to be correlated to blood glucose levels. I have been diagnosed with diabetes, and take metaformin 2x a day to keep my levels down. I've gotten away with it and go thru the roller coaster where I really watch what I eat for a while and then, well I just get tired of caring. So I guess I'll be the guy that tells you how stupid he is, and hope someone else will benefit from it.

What I can tell you is that I've been eating quite a lot of junk food that I shouldn't be. It never seemed to be a problem, although obviously it was in the background. I'm 53, right at about that point in life where things start going wrong. I've only had tinnitus for about 10 weeks and it's been all over the place. My pattern has been, more or less, have a bad T day, don't eat much, stressed out, work my arse off and don't go to sleep until I can barely crawl into bed so I can actually fall asleep. After a couple of intrusively loud days, I'll have a couple days off from it. Near silence. Hey what a great day right? I've been suffering, at times hanging on by a thread, so let's have some ice cream and some other stuff. A couple days later it comes back. I went thru that a few times before I noticed the pattern. I cut out all processed sugar for a week, well 6 days anyway. No snacks that I didn't have to peel (oranges, but mostly apples and a banana here and there). But positively nothing with processed sugar, and most of what I ate was pretty low in sugar and carbs. I did that for six days and had 4 full days of near silence, I had to plug my ears and really listen for it. I'd hear it in the morning just a bit (google rebound rebound hyperglycemia and Somogyi effect) but before I was up for an hour it was almost gone. It was, pardon my language, fucking glorious. So I granted myself a free day on Sunday. Wrong answer. Monday was good, but I recall I "heard it coming" , then woke up Tuesday morning very early, and my old friend was back. Only it didn't go away like it had been for the last few days. It's nearly 9pm now and its still at a solid 4/10 level for me.

So that's been my experience. I'm surprised there isn't much talk here about blood glucose, diabetes, etc. There seems to be a lot online about it. There are a lot of pre-diabetics out there that don't know they are.

My advice to anyone is to cut as much sugar as you possibly can out of your diet. REally look at what you eat and check the labels. Plan your meals and for God's sake exercise a little. I've allowed myself to deteriorate since I retired from the military and I know better. I can tell you after a week (less my free day sunday) I already lost 10lbs and I have mad energy. I did 60 minutes on the treadmill this morning and burned just short of 600 calories and I felt better than I have in a long time. Don't count on pills or anything else to put down your T. The best bet, in my opinion, is to get as healthy as you can be. At the very least you'll feel a lot better.

At the very least it's a good excuse to get in the best shape of my life and eat clean. I'll have to go ahead and schedule a blood test to find out if I'm headed into diabetic territory.

I'll get the test and update the thread. I'm sure there's a few more sufferers on the forum who have the same issue but haven't noticed it yet

 

[MartinH]

I think you're on the right track. I can also report that this morning my T was lower and over the past hour or two the tone has broken up a little. Yesterday I was really strict on diet. I really think this is a big part of the answer for me. I don't know if there's any scientific basis for it or not, but soursop tea, I think it's more commonly referred to as graviola, is supposed to help lower your blood sugar along with a lot of other health benefits. I started drinking that quite a bit last year and my A1C dropped a point, despite my shitty diet.

Being as healthy as you can be is really the way to go. Not that I'm the sharpest tool obviously, I've ignored my condition for a long time because I thought my body was strong. I'm not obese or anything. But even though I don't see it when I look in the mirror, I'm not that kid I saw 30 years ago.

My doctors apparently didn't see any correlation. I mean, they never mentioned it and they know what drugs I'm on, so I hope they noticed I'm diabetic. I rely on the U.S. Navy for my healthcare and I get a new primary care physician every 6 months. My experience with providers has been overall pretty disappointing. It seems like if you have something that doesn't fit the checklist you're screwed. There doesn't seem to be any thinking outside the box going on at the Navy Hospital. From what I can tell though, it seems that it's that way everywhere.

 

[cspc]

I think you're on the right track. I can also report that this morning my T was lower and over the past hour or two the tone has broken up a little. Yesterday I was really strict on diet. I really think this is a big part of the answer for me. I don't know if there's any scientific basis for it or not, but soursop tea, I think it's more commonly referred to as graviola, is supposed to help lower your blood sugar along with a lot of other health benefits. I started drinking that quite a bit last year and my A1C dropped a point, despite my shitty diet.

Being as healthy as you can be is really the way to go. Not that I'm the sharpest tool obviously, I've ignored my condition for a long time because I thought my body was strong. I'm not obese or anything. But even though I don't see it when I look in the mirror, I'm not that kid I saw 30 years ago.

My doctors apparently didn't see any correlation. I mean, they never mentioned it and they know what drugs I'm on, so I hope they noticed I'm diabetic. I rely on the U.S. Navy for my healthcare and I get a new primary care physician every 6 months. My experience with providers has been overall pretty disappointing. It seems like if you have something that doesn't fit the checklist you're screwed. There doesn't seem to be any thinking outside the box going on at the Navy Hospital. From what I can tell though, it seems that it's that way everywhere.

Doctors aren't creative. They don't even search the internet enough. You might have more things than one that cause your tinnitus or hear loss and even doctors cant find all of them because you are not in the typical group (I have no dizziness, but when I eat too much salt my low buzz starts - Its like Menieres without the dizziness). Do your best with exercise and healthy eating . I'm doing the same. I read somewhere that cinnamon helps to reduce blood sugar levels, triglycerides and cholesterol https://www.diabetes.co.uk/natural-therapies/cinnamon.html.

I found an interesting thread: https://forum.tudiabetes.org/t/diabetes-related-menieres-disease/6748/2

 

[Mr Worried]

I've ignored my condition for a long time because I thought my body was strong. I'm not obese or anything.

I think that's the part that was my downfall. I've got an absolutely ferocious metabolism that doesn't put on weight no matter how bad I eat. That probably lead me into becoming careless with my diet, which resulted in some kind of blood sugar problem that I probably have now.


I'll have to try that Graviola tea that you mentioned. I've seen it around since forever, but never bothered to try it

 

[MartinH]

Yep... In my 20's and most of my 30's i could get away with anything. Early 40's the MD warned me... for several years. As you get older it just doesn't go that easy anymore. The good news is you can really turn it around with a little discipline. Which most of us could use anyway.

Graviola tea is actually pretty good. I have a tree in my back yard so I just pull the leaves every other day and boil them.

 

[MartinH]

Doctors aren't creative. They don't even search the internet enough. You might have more things than one that cause your tinnitus or hear loss and even doctors cant find all of them because you are not in the typical group (I have no dizziness, but when I eat too much salt my low buzz starts - Its like Menieres without the dizziness). Do your best with exercise and healthy eating . I'm doing the same. I read somewhere that cinnamon helps to reduce blood sugar levels, triglycerides and cholesterol https://www.diabetes.co.uk/natural-therapies/cinnamon.html.

I found an interesting thread: https://forum.tudiabetes.org/t/diabetes-related-menieres-disease/6748/2

I heard that too... cinnamon & ginger. I'm going to start adding ginger to my tea for sure. Another thing that I heard was soak a piece of okra in water overnight, cut into 4 or 5 sections. It secretes this slimy (but tasteless) stuff. Fish out the okra in the morning and drink it. I prefer mine cold, I guess cold slime is better than room temp slime. I'll have to look online about the best way to get some cinnamon into your body. Most of these supplements go thru your system without being absorbed from what I read. I do though recommend supplements by onnit.com.

 

[MartinH]

So here's my "update" report.. I'm probably more convinced now than ever that my diet is most of the issue with my T. I haven't posted for a few weeks and since then I've really cleaned up my act and started exercising, let's call it at the moderate level. I'm amost 53 and a little overweight. I'm up to a 4.5 mph run for 40 min on the treadmill burning up about 650 calories at a shot. Cut out almost all processed sugar and eat reasonable portions now. I lost 12 more pounds. Instead of the usual dessert I have a couple oranges or an apple or two.

As for my T, as of my last post, is down to about 15% of what it once was. My level 1 was I'm not sure if it's there unless I listen. 5 is fairly irritating but somewhat able to distract msyelf. 7-8 was I'm not sure how long I can take it, and above that, which I never got to, I'd define as putting my personal affairs in order. Only partially joking there. I haven't had a day above 3 or 4 for a couple weeks. Most days are 2's, I only think I had one 4 day this week ( I do write it down). Overall I'd say I'm much better 3 month into this. I also started some coaching with Glen at rewiringtinnitus.com. We've only had one session because of my schedule issues but, the one session I can say definitely helped me. There's some meditation exercises that come with the coaching that absolutely work if you're open minded about it. I won't give away his advice because I'm a firm believer that someone's effort, and he's put a lot into his program, is worth something, and to me it definitely was. Just one example is while you're meditating imagining a volume button, I can actually turn down my tinnitus for brief periods. The good in knowing that is that I know it's something I can learn to control to some extent. Anyway, to me it was worth the small amount I paid.

My other message to all of you that are just starting on the tinnitus journey, is that it does get better in time. It took me almost 3 months before it settled down, which could mean a few things depending on how you look at it. I really thought life was going to suck when this started, but here I am 3 months later probably feeling better than I have in a decade at least. The ringing is still there, but I'm not scared of it anymore. Sometimes I can just tell it to "go back to your room" and it works.

Sorry no time to edit this and make it shorter.. I just wanted to check in.

Hope everyone is well.

 

[Mr Worried]

Just got the blood test results back.

Blood sugar was fine and far away from pre diabetes (phew). However, they discovered that my Ig E level (something to do with measuring allergic reaction levels) was really high.

I had no idea that I was allergic to something, and I'm not sure if that's a factor in my hearing issues, but I've been referred to an allergen specialist to try and pinpoint what it is.

F R I C K

 

[John_415]

Just got the blood test results back.

Blood sugar was fine and far away from pre diabetes (phew). However, they discovered that my Ig E level (something to do with measuring allergic reaction levels) was really high.

I had no idea that I was allergic to something, and I'm not sure if that's a factor in my hearing issues, but I've been referred to an allergen specialist to try and pinpoint what it is.

F R I C K

Hey, I just had my Eg E allergy test done as well, rather would have had that I didn't take a test because: I have some allergic reaction to... of all things, meat. And I really like my steak and mushrooms.. I suppose I should now just have, the mushrooms-_- and see if that clears some T up. Anyways im also getting my vitamin D levels measured with a blood test the comming weeks, perhaps something for you to also try?

 

[Mr Worried]

Hey, I just had my Eg E allergy test done as well, rather would have had that I didn't take a test because: I have some allergic reaction to... of all things, meat. And I really like my steak and mushrooms.. I suppose I should now just have, the mushrooms-_- and see if that clears some T up. Anyways im also getting my vitamin D levels measured with a blood test the comming weeks, perhaps something for you to also try?

Vit D testing was also part of the test, and it came up a-ok.

I've never heard of someone being allergic to meat before. That's really odd

 

[John_415]

Vit D testing was also part of the test, and it came up a-ok.

I've never heard of someone being allergic to meat before. That's really odd

I had a 4 out of 6 allergy rating on the tab called: meat mix (beef, pork, chicken, lamb). The rest is all ok, I could switch to fish I suppose.

 

[Mr Worried]

I had a 4 out of 6 allergy rating on the tab called: meat mix (beef, pork, chicken, lamb). The rest is all ok, I could switch to fish I suppose.

That's not so bad. It's better for you anyway