The Mechanism that Causes Noise-Induced Tinnitus Found and Drug that Can Prevent It

[Markku]

I'm 4 months in. Should I try an epileptic medicine pill?

I don't know about Norway, but in Finland it's not trivial to get a prescription for anticonvulsants as they are not indicated for tinnitus. Off-label prescriptions are difficult to get.

But as Hudson said, if this is something you'd like to try, ask your doctor and see what (s)he thinks.

 

[Erlend]

I can get it from a friend who has epilepsy. One pill? Or should I take more?

 

[James White]

I can get it from a friend who has epilepsy. One pill? Or should I take more?

If it's retigabine yes, that's the antiepileptic drug that was tested but if you are not epileptic... well, i don't know what that would do to you ...

 

[Erlend]

Looks like I'm gonna have to take loads of pills.. Im not gonna do that

 

[Golly]

I can get it from a friend who has epilepsy. One pill? Or should I take more?

@Erlend;

I strongly urge you to avoid borrowing pills from a friend. This kind of experimentation can be very dangerous.

Work with your doctor. I am not sure how things operate in Norway, but it's quite possible that a neurologist or psychiatrist will prescribe off-label medications, such as Retigabine or Trileptal.

-Golly

 

[object16]

Hi, the internal neurons have set up a repetative circular type of firing sequence, it seems like there is an internal balance that has been disrupted by the loss of hair cells, which I believe based on this article at some point will be treatable. Finding of where this is taking place, is very important. Personally I am taking lyrica which is also an anticonvulsant, and while lyrica does not really change the tinnitus for me, it gives me longer periods of sleep where the brain is more able to both listen to the white/pink noise that I constantly feed it, and restructure the synapses using plasticity. I believe that lack of sleep is deleterious for the nervous system - for example when i lost total sleep for 2 weeks, i went psychotic, etc, so the brain needs sleep to regenerate itself, and my theory is that if I'm able to sleep longer this helps with the process. This is only my theory, but other people have noticed that when they take a sleep med, the tinnitus is often better in the morning. It gets worse during the day, as we are exposed to constant noises that we did not have to deal with prior to the industrial age - so all of these so called "normal" sounds with 80dB limit, I don't really believe, because when we were gathering nuts and berries and hunting for animals for food, the ear had to be extremely acute to detect an animal in the area that was looking to make us their next dinner. With my degree of "normal" hearing loss, there is no was I could here the rustling of blades of grass to indicate there is a leopard etc. or some carnivorous cat in the vicinity. During the past 2 weeks with my flare-up of increased tinnitus, I'm sure that the lack of sleep was also contributing to it, and now that I'm on a decent sleep med it is easing up for me.

 

[SomeGuy]

Well, hell. If I wasn't participating in a trial already I might try this myself. I could at least ask the doc if they would let me. Maybe that's what I'll do next. I could join the blue man group if it helps treat tinnitus.

That gave me a good laugh. It shows how far we are willing to go to solve an invisible problem. I would be there in heartbeat too.

 

[Golly]

@Hudson;

Thanks for reminding me. I will e-mail him this morning. I'll let you know what I find out. -G

@Hudson:

My friend wrote back to me and said that he has had difficulty getting in touch with his usual doctor. However, he still plans to ask for a script for Retigabine (or another seizure medication) when he finally sees the doctor.

I may have mentioned this, but my friend already takes Trileptal and finds this quite helpful in reducing tinnitus volume (I will post this on another thread soon). The fact that my friend has partial relief with Trileptal is the reason he is motivated to combine it with another anti-consultant. His theory is that while Trileptal calms down part of his brain, a drug targeted at another region could calm down the rest.

I'll certainly post here as soon as I receive news from my friend.

-Golly

 

[Erlend]

It worked for rats if given right after onset.

But humans are bigger, things go slower. Could epilepsy drugs be effective in humans after months with T?

Please someone respond, so little activity now and I'm a mess atm....

 

[Erlend]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...TINNITUS-reduces-hyperactivity-cells-ear.html

 

[Markku]

Well, read the previous replies in this thread. For example, Golly mentioned above that his friend has benefited from Trileptal.

I may have mentioned this, but my friend already takes Trileptal and finds this quite helpful in reducing tinnitus volume (I will post this on another thread soon). The fact that my friend has partial relief with Trileptal is the reason he is motivated to combine it with another anti-consultant. His theory is that while Trileptal calms down part of his brain, a drug targeted at another region could calm down the rest.

Please ask your doctor though. These drugs can have adverse effects.

 

[Erlend]

Problem now is that if it works a little bit I will hate myself for not having taken them sooner. I just asked a Dr on twitter he said it was safe

 

[Erlend]

Another Q: I have basically been masking my T 24/7 since I got it 5,5 months ago. Is it possible that I have "postponed" it from getting into my brain? (making am101 more likely to work on me)

 

[Hudson]

@Hudson:

My friend wrote back to me and said that he has had difficulty getting in touch with his usual doctor. However, he still plans to ask for a script for Retigabine (or another seizure medication) when he finally sees the doctor.

I may have mentioned this, but my friend already takes Trileptal and finds this quite helpful in reducing tinnitus volume (I will post this on another thread soon). The fact that my friend has partial relief with Trileptal is the reason he is motivated to combine it with another anti-consultant. His theory is that while Trileptal calms down part of his brain, a drug targeted at another region could calm down the rest.

I'll certainly post here as soon as I receive news from my friend.

-Golly

Golly,

Did you ever hear anything back from your friend? It seems like there is some interest in this topic!

 

[Erlend]

http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/k3kbr/why_isnt_the_sound_of_tinnitus_normalized_out/

 

[t-man]

Another Q: I have basically been masking my T 24/7 since I got it 5,5 months ago. Is it possible that I have "postponed" it from getting into my brain? (making am101 more likely to work on me)

I don't think so. I've masked my T since I got it, didn't seem to slow down progression any.

 

[Danny]

http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/k3kbr/why_isnt_the_sound_of_tinnitus_normalized_out/

awesome arguments.

 

[Golly]

Golly,

Did you ever hear anything back from your friend? It seems like there is some interest in this topic!

@Hudson:

The last I heard, he had not received a prescription for Retigabine. He already takes Trileptal on an as-needed basis, but would like to add this drug to the mix. He reasons that the Trileptal must be affecting one of the affected areas in his brain, as he does experience partial relief in the form of a reduction in volume. The fact that he doesn't experience complete silence leads him to believe that some other brain region remains overactive. I'll let you all know if/when he tries Retigabine and whether it takes care of the residual noise he still experiences.

-Golly

UPDATE: Sorry, I just realized I am repeating myself (see post #40)! Sorry for the redundant answer. I'll e-mail my friend today to see how he is doing. I am not sure if I have mentioned this before but in addition to volume reduction, my friend tells me that Trileptal reduces the "aerial extent" of his tinnitus. I can only imagine what he means by this, but he has explained it as a kind of localization of the sound, which he finds easier to cope with.

 

[Champ]

Autifony seems to think their compound that targets another but similar family of potassium channels suppresses chronic noise induced tinnitus. I don't think the investigators looked into chronic applications for this study at all, though. Everyone wants to address acute tinnitus because I think that's where they feel the best option for treatment at this point is. Baby steps I guess.

Acute tinnitus also can go away at high rates... so testing your drug on those people will give some "false positives".

It's important though to get something that works for tinnitus in general. Then we can try those same techniques on chronic suffers. Frankly, no one has given any sound scientific reason why a treatment that can work for acute cases won't work for chronic cases. I suspect it'll be less of a leap than people think.

 

[dan]

Expert Lawyer Says Research Gives Hope For Tinnitus Cure

University Study Finds Epilepsy Drug Can Prevent Hearing Condition
18/06/2013

By [EMAIL='helen.macgregor@irwinmitchell.com']Helen MacGregor[/EMAIL]
Industrial deafness experts have welcomed a study into an epilepsy drug which revealed for the first time the reason why tinnitus occurs and could prevent the condition occurring in the first place.
Researchers at the University Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that retigabine prevented the chronic and debilitating hearing condition from developing after exposure to loud noise in mice.
The research published online by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that mice treated with the FDA-approved epilepsy drug retigabine immediately after exposure to loud noise did not develop hearing problems.
The team now aims to develop a drug that is specific for the two channels in the brain linked to tinnitus to minimise the potential for side-effects.
Louise Scott is a member of the committee of the Birmingham and District Tinnitus group, a trained tinnitus adviser and Irwin Mitchell solicitor who specialises in claims for noise induced hearing loss and tinnitus.
She said: "Tinnitus is a devastating condition that leaves sufferers with hearing problems and frustrated by the constant noise in their ears.
"We continue to be contacted by people who suffer tinnitus and noise induced hearing loss through no fault of their own, after being exposed in the workplace.
"We welcome the research on such a potentially devastating condition and the findings are hugely important and may even one day lead to a cure which would benefit the thousands of people who are diagnosed with tinnitus every year."

 

[Leo1994]

Well, as long as it can protect me for getting even higher tinnitus, I would be thrilled if this would work. Im gonna try to get my doctore to prescribe it to me.

 

[Leo1994]

The thing with Retigabine is that it comes with some serious side-effects:

http://www.mhra.gov.uk/Safetyinformation/DrugSafetyUpdate/CON296401

I am not sure a neurologist would be altogether comfortable prescribing this drug off-label. But if anyone does try Retigabine for tinnitus, please report back the results!

-Golly

But that is for long term use. I mean, i would be happy if i could use it once every 2 month when i got out

 

[Erlend]

when will there be human trials based om these findings?

 

[nills]

Another Q: I have basically been masking my T 24/7 since I got it 5,5 months ago. Is it possible that I have "postponed" it from getting into my brain? (making am101 more likely to work on me)

brother you have asked this before and I think it does n`t work that way ... you can`t trick the brain that easily. and what you call masking is just feeding sounds to your ear ... nothing special except that you push your T to subconsciousness/attention ... but the mechanisms are still working in the ear and brain. even if you feed sounds to a dying frequency your brain is not going to receive it and will react accordingly.

 

[Leo1994]

Does this work?
I ardy have tinnitus but my tinnitus is keep getting worse summer after summer because of noise exposure (even with earplugs). This summer im planning to stock myself with alot of vitamin A, C, E and Magnesium + Melatonin 3 mg to prevent futher damage. But im also thinking about getting retigabine (gonna try to get it from my docotore), but do you guys think it will help me against getting futher damage?
I need some preventinve drugs... cuz only earplugs aint enough..

 

[rainman]

Does this work?
I ardy have tinnitus but my tinnitus is keep getting worse summer after summer because of noise exposure (even with earplugs). This summer im planning to stock myself with alot of vitamin A, C, E and Magnesium + Melatonin 3 mg to prevent futher damage. But im also thinking about getting retigabine (gonna try to get it from my docotore), but do you guys think it will help me against getting futher damage?
I need some preventinve drugs... cuz only earplugs aint enough..

might want to look into this article
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2007/nov2007_report_hearingloss_01.htm

"While the ALA was more effective for protecting hearing at low frequencies, ALC did better at higher frequencies"

"It clearly demonstrates that hearing loss can be prevented—and even reversed—by simply taking a combination of antioxidants that includes ALA and ALC"

- all this must be the most fascinating bunch of a information i came to know about, today. Other thing i read from somewhere is that, if you take those 2 together then ALA should be about 1/4 of the amount of the ALC. Go figure lol

side note; I'm using only ALC and its doing wonders for my depression.

 

[Leo1994]

might want to look into this article
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2007/nov2007_report_hearingloss_01.htm

"While the ALA was more effective for protecting hearing at low frequencies, ALC did better at higher frequencies"

"It clearly demonstrates that hearing loss can be prevented—and even reversed—by simply taking a combination of antioxidants that includes ALA and ALC"

- all this must be the most fascinating bunch of a information i came to know about, today. Other thing i read from somewhere is that, if you take those 2 together then ALA should be about 1/4 of the amount of the ALC. Go figure lol

side note; I'm using only ALC and its doing wonders for my depression.

Thx! Im gonna try this.
Btw, can it be dangerous to combine to many antidoxiants? I mean, im planning to take vitamin a, c, e magnesium, melatonin, retigabine and now ALC (maby ALA as well). Maby i should ask the doctore

 

[Golly]

Thx! Im gonna try this.
Btw, can it be dangerous to combine to many antidoxiants? I mean, im planning to take vitamin a, c, e magnesium, melatonin, retigabine and now ALC (maby ALA as well). Maby i should ask the doctore

As a general rule, you should consult your doctor before taking any substance, as benign as it might appear. As for Retigabine, did you actually get a prescription?

-Golly

 

[nills]

Does this work?
I ardy have tinnitus but my tinnitus is keep getting worse summer after summer because of noise exposure (even with earplugs). This summer im planning to stock myself with alot of vitamin A, C, E and Magnesium + Melatonin 3 mg to prevent futher damage. But im also thinking about getting retigabine (gonna try to get it from my docotore), but do you guys think it will help me against getting futher damage?
I need some preventinve drugs... cuz only earplugs aint enough..

If I had the luck to knew what was coming like you and change my choices I would stop playing with fire untill I was certain something like AM-101 or another drug could help me if I got in trouble... ofcourse I knew about ringing ears, but not about chronic tinnitus. Be carefull friend, your still on the good side.

 

[nills]

Team Pittsburgh discover biological processes underlying tinnitus 25/05/2013

A team from the University of Pittsburgh have discovered the biological processes underlying tinnitus . This condition, known in the medical world is known as tinnitus , until now had no apparent physiological cause .

People with tinnitus can hear sounds that other people do not hear, especially in a quiet environment . About five percent of the population suffers from the condition. There are many medical and environmental causes can be mentioned such as hearing loss , stress, or a concussion . Yet forty percent of the cases of tinnitus is still unexplained.

The Pittsburgh researchers went looking in mice to see what happens in the brain. They specifically looked at the so-called KCNQ channels . These are a some kind of locks/valves that can pump potassium ions in and out of cells.

First they gave the mice tinnitus by playing for 45 minutes a tone of 116 decibels. During this treatment , a part of the mice were administered the anti-epileptic drug retigabine . This medicin is known to act on the KCNQ channels , which also plays a role in tinnitus according to the resauchers . If that indeed were so, it would ensure that the retigabine-mice might would have less or no tinnitus, and that was indeed the case .

Fifty percent of the mice that had received nothing , suffered from tinnitus . With the regitabine-mice less than twenty percent was suffering from Tinnitus.

Tests

The researchers are now planning to develop drugs that works on KCNQ channels, but has fewer side effects than the regitabine medicine. That should be first tested on mice and than humans . So it will be a long time before a drug reaches the market .The team's findings can be found in the scientific journal PNAS .