Tinnitus Began First Week of June 2020 After Wim Hof Breathing

[MrC6688]

I usually use this one while sleeping:
https://tinnitusmix.com/download

In my opinion, listening to sound therapies while sleeping is the most effective way to listen. I think it seeps into the head better while sleeping.

Here's more on sound therapy while sleeping:

https://www.tinnitusjournal.com/articles/tinnitus-treatment-with-sound-stimulation-during-sleep.pdf

You haven't experienced any side effects from the tracks? I think I listened to the first one a while ago and I didn't like the way it made me feel, I almost felt a bit nauseous. I can always try it again though.

 

[Lukee]

Do you feel any increase in heart rate or dizziness by taking the Tru Niagen? What side effects do you feel from it, if any? This sounds really interesting.

No real side effects that I have noticed. I think I have more energy when I take it. Things were really quiet for a while but I got my first shot of Pfizer on Friday and don't know if it was that or a new medication I started that has ramped up the noise a bit. Without a doubt though the last few days leading up to Friday were very quiet with the exception of the occasional low hum, which I could only hear or feel in silence and it comes and goes.

"Low base" in your ear? I've had that happen on occasion before. It's more like a low frequency humming that comes on strong and then fades. It only happened once or twice. Is that what you're experiencing or is it a constant low hum?

It's a low frequency like an amp that's not plugged into anything but you get that bass reverb coming out of it. It comes and goes and fluctuates in intensity. I'm not sure what is triggering it outside of using the Otovent one night and I noticed it form then on. I've been having a real hard time with the ear symptoms. The tinnitus is a breeze compared to the humming, awkward feeling, ear pressure and feeling of fluid in ears when swallowing. Either way, I'm trying to move forward and hopefully time will heal these other issues.

Let us know when you get your new Saraswati mix.

I think I listened to the first one a while ago and I didn't like the way it made me feel, I almost felt a bit nauseous.

Have a look at Tullio's Phenomenon. See if this is what's happening to you. If you think it is, then maybe we are looking in the wrong direction and we might have PLF as suggested by @FGG.

 

[Sayeed]

It took me weeks to accept that my cannabis use was exacerbating the tinnitus!

Although that is the full profile of cannabinoids that I take, not just the CBD. I don't think it makes it worse overall, just when I'm high. It does heighten all the other senses though so makes sense that it would intensify any auditory stimulation, be it internal or external.

I agree... I used to smoke. I took a gummy and went to sleep. Woke up and that's when my tinnitus journey started. It could be completely unrelated but I still blame weed. It gave me a reason to stop.

 

[Sayeed]

I started using Case's Tinnitus Mix steadily a couple of days ago. I can only listen during the day though, because I have to manually restart it every time it finishes. I can't get it to download or play in a loop. I still listen to the 4 hour one too. That's the one I play while sleeping.

I'm feeling pretty positive about the sound therapy. It feels like some good things are happening with the tinnitus. I'm not feeling any ear clogging or pressure with it either. I'm thinking that maybe the ear clogged feeling that I felt at first during some of these recordings was just a reaction of getting accustomed to these strange sounds.

Here's the link to David Case's Mix and website for Mr. C:
https://tinnitusmix.com/

And here's a link to his thread if you haven't seen it yet:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/i-invented-a-sound-that-knocked-out-my-tinnitus.33001/

Should I listen to this to the point where I can barely hear the tinnitus or high enough where I can't hear the tinnitus at all?

Thanks.

 

[Renfrey]

Should I listen to this to the point where I can barely hear the tinnitus or high enough where I can't hear the tinnitus at all?

Thanks.

Hi Sayeed,

In my opinion and from my experience with it, it should be listened to just below the tinnitus level. It shouldn't completely mask it. This is what the inventor, David Case, advises also. Although it can act as a white noise/masker, that's not really what it's designed to do.

Try experimenting with the volume and find a comfortable low, yet effective enough level.

And try sleeping with it. I think that listening while sleeping is key.

 

[Renfrey]

You haven't experienced any side effects from the tracks? I think I listened to the first one a while ago and I didn't like the way it made me feel, I almost felt a bit nauseous. I can always try it again though.

When I first started listening, I went through sporadic moments of feeling fullness/clogging in the ears. And also pitch changes and shifts. But I don't get that anymore. Maybe these side effects are of part becoming acclimated to these sounds. Like it's part of breaking on through to the other side.

I think that as long as the volume is at a low and comfortable enough level, then it shouldn't cause any lasting adverse effects.

 

[Renfrey]

Hi everyone -
I don't have much to add at this point, but I seem to have a story similar to MrC, etc -- and I wanted to say "hello".

I dabbled with WHM in January; and noticed an incessant tinnitus "eeeeee" shortly thereafter. I didn't think to connect WHM with tinnitus, until I tried WHM again yesterday (3 rounds, including ~100 seconds breath hold each), and noticed the tinnitus was very loud for a few minutes afterwards. Then did a bit of Googling and found this forum.

Some other items I'll mention about my experiences:

• I've experienced some 'ringing in the ears' in the past, but it never lasted more than an hour. But now it's 24x7, for 4 months solid.
• I don't notice the 'glue ear', stickiness; or 'fullness' type symptoms.
• I do hear a crackling in my ears when I perform a 'swallowing' motion; or do certain motions with my jaw. Seems to be related to forcing a small amount of pressure/air into my ETs.
• I regularly wear active noise-cancelling headphones (work from home, need to cancel noises of my kids!). I was worried that the headphones had contributed to the tinnitus; but after reading your accounts I'm more inclined to assume it's related to the extended breath holding.
• I did not do any kind of "force air into your head" part of WHM -- just basically the hyperventilation & breath holding.

My GP doctor suggested Prednisone, but after a 7-day course, I found no relief from this.

I have not yet tried any other treatments -- but I eagerly read through most of the 400 (!) posts in this thread.

I also don't have any bad things to say about WHM -- it seems to be a great method with many benefits. There's just a group of us who have this rather unfortunate side effect.

It's very interesting to hear the same stories from so many other people. Your detailed descriptions of symptoms, attempted treatments, etc are all very helpful! Doing this on a public forum is very helpful for others (like myself) to find.

I'll be following along, and if I find anything helpful for me, I'll be sure to chime in.

Thanks for being here!!

-Jon

Hi Jon,

I'm just curious if you ever got into the cold exposure part of the WHM.

For me, it's my favorite take-away from the WHM. I still do daily ice baths and love the feeling of them. It really feels like they strengthen the immune system and the overall body.

 

[JonW]

I'm just curious if you ever got into the cold exposure part of the WHM.

For me, it's my favorite take-away from the WHM. I still do daily ice baths and love the feeling of them. It really feels like they strengthen the immune system and the overall body.

Hey Renfrey -

I have only dabbled with the cold; so far as to try turning the water cold at the end of showers. Not brave enough yet to do more than that

Also regarding WHM -- I wonder if anyone has tried to continue the breathing and breath-holding parts of WHM, after the tinnitus has begun.

It sometimes occurs to me that if breath-holding started the tinnitus, then maybe further breath-holding could help to condition the body to make it go away.

Maybe this is crazy -- but it's a thought I've had a few times; wondering if anyone else has tried it.

 

[FGG]

Also regarding WHM -- I wonder if anyone has tried to continue the breathing and breath-holding parts of WHM, after the tinnitus has begun.

It sometimes occurs to me that if breath-holding started the tinnitus, then maybe further breath-holding could help to condition the body to make it go away.

Maybe this is crazy -- but it's a thought I've had a few times; wondering if anyone else has tried it.

This seems like a bad idea to me. If noise gives you tinnitus, you wouldn't subject yourself to more noise.

 

[Renfrey]

I have only dabbled with the cold; so far as to try turning the water cold at the end of showers. Not brave enough yet to do more than that

But you're brave enough to go outside in the Illinois snow, ain't ya? What's the difference? Just kiddin', man.

Also regarding WHM -- I wonder if anyone has tried to continue the breathing and breath-holding parts of WHM, after the tinnitus has begun.

It sometimes occurs to me that if breath-holding started the tinnitus, then maybe further breath-holding could help to condition the body to make it go away.

Maybe this is crazy -- but it's a thought I've had a few times; wondering if anyone else has tried it.

Now speaking of "not brave enough", this is where I raise my hand. I think we were talking about this earlier in the thread too. However, Lukee was saying that there are some tinnitus sufferers on another forum who are basically ignoring their condition and proceeding with the WHM.

But actually, I'm still doing some mild breathwork variations - mostly without any (or very minimal) breath holding, though. One of the things that I like to do is deep slow breathing with an "expand-a-lung" device. The resistance it gives allows you to take deep, slow, controlled breaths.

https://expand-a-lung.com/

 

[Matchbox]

After reading this thread I'm a little scared to attend the 5-day summer expedition with Wim Hof at Morillo de Tou in Spain. It's in July so a few more months to go.

I think I will still go since my boyfriend encouraged me to. Wim will be there himself. I will definitely ask about tinnitus, interested to hear what he says. I will report back!!

I'll save you the trip and tell you that everything about this method screams vasoconstriction and ischemia / nerve stress and damage.

Auditory nerves in the cochlea are fragile, unmyelinated and highly metabolic with little redundancy compared to their hair cells... and... fed by insanely small capillaries. I wouldn't screw with their oxygen supply on purpose with hyperventilation and cold.

They will die.

Many cells, including outer/inner hair cells in the body can get by on no oxygen for a little while... nerves are not one of them.

This method is pure stupidity to achieve temporary results at the expense of completely avoidable metabolic nerve cell stress.

 

[Matchbox]

It's a low frequency like an amp that's not plugged into anything but you get that bass reverb coming out of it. It comes and goes and fluctuates in intensity. I'm not sure what is triggering it outside of using the Otovent one night and I noticed it form then on. I've been having a real hard time with the ear symptoms. The tinnitus is a breeze compared to the humming, awkward feeling, ear pressure and feeling of fluid in ears when swallowing. Either way, I'm trying to move forward and hopefully time will heal these other issues.

That "amp" sound you have is exactly how I'd describe mine.

 

[Lukee]

I'll save you the trip and tell you that everything about this method screams vasoconstriction and ischemia / nerve stress and damage.

Auditory nerves in the cochlea are fragile, unmyelinated and highly metabolic with little redundancy compared to their hair cells... and... fed by insanely small capillaries. I wouldn't screw with their oxygen supply on purpose with hyperventilation and cold.

They will die.

Many cells, including outer/inner hair cells in the body can get by on no oxygen for a little while... nerves are not one of them.

This method is pure stupidity to achieve temporary results at the expense of completely avoidable metabolic nerve cell stress.

I was hoping this wasn't the case. Early on in this thread you mentioned the same thing. Mr C and others believed it could be due to an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system and I feel like maybe that could contribute to it but mostly I think I agree with you that this is an ischemic injury. For some people the breath holds starve our nerves of too much oxygen and/or the rush of oxygen back to the fragile nerves causes damage, as reported by the freediving study posted earlier in the thread.

I seem to have a few more issues than some of the other members more related to what seems to be middle ear and/or ETD. I'm hoping over time they will resolve and at worst I'm left with this crappy tinnitus.

Mr C has noticed very good results by supplement with Saraswati Churna, Ayurvedic medicine but stopped after two days because his blood pressure increased. I'm wondering if one of the mechanisms giving relief might actually be the increased blood pressure, bring blood and oxygen to the tiny nerves and capillaries. This is why I was also interested in Vasobral, as apparently it increases blood flow to the brain, ears and eyes. Speaking of eyes, I had a major increase in floaters within a couple weeks after the tinnitus and I'm wondering if that had to do with an eye stroke of sorts.

I have been seeing some results with Nicotinamide Riboside; since being a form of B3 I'm wondering if it's able to help with the healing of nerves. I have read numerous reports of nerve damage being reversed by different vitamins and supplements, especially B vitamins. I got my vaccine on Friday and have since had a mild spike, I am getting a lot more high-pitched static-type tinnitus but I can't fully attribute it to the vaccine. I also started taking Montelukast on Thursday night to help with asthma but more so the ETD symptoms I've been having. So either that or the vaccine has been spiking my tinnitus but prior to that I was getting some very quiet periods right up until Wednesday, actually after a shower on Wednesday, my tinnitus was completely gone for about 30 minutes.

I believe Mr. C and Renfrey got a dose of steroids early on which may have helped them recover from some of the other symptoms. I wasn't so lucky so I think that's why maybe I have some of these other lingering issues. The steroids might have prevented further damage by limiting the inflammation.

@Matchbox, I get a pretty big spike when I've taken high dose B1 (Thiamine HCL) in the past. I'm wondering if that could be a sort of paradoxical effect of repairing nerves or stimulating the auditory nervous system and therefore increasing tinnitus temporarily. I'm hoping once my ETD symptoms resolve, I will get off the Singulair and hopefully the spike will subside and maybe I can see further improvement with the Nicotinamide Riboside. Most people claim it takes several months to see results with NR but I feel that within a few days I saw results. We are also waiting on @MrC6688 to try his new Saraswati formulation to see if he gets some relief like he did last time.

That "amp" sound you have is exactly how I'd describe mine.

Do you have any high pitch tinnitus then? The low pitch amp sound comes and goes for me. Depending on what I'm doing, position I'm lying down, etc. sounds kind of like a cat purring or a car that is running outside my house that I can just barely hear the vibrations of the engine. It's bothersome more as a feeling than a sound but either way it's bothersome. At this volume it's less bothersome than my high pitch static.

 

[Lukee]

Hey Crew. @Aaron91 believes he got hyperacusis from WHM in a sense. He theorized that WHM might have caused our eyes to be prone to damage from loud noise. I am wondering if anyone else here believes they came into contact with loud noise before getting tinnitus from WHM. Not noise so loud that it would injure a regular person, but just loud enough that someone with a predisposition to damage could get tinnitus. It's an interesting theory; I work in a loud factory so it's possible for me.

 

[Swann36]

My tinnitus started first week of June 2020 and i'm still battling it, though it has decreased. I have not tried Wim Hof since that day. How are you feeling now? Is it subsiding?

Yea, my reaction was as follows. This took place after the third and final set of breathing exercise on the third day:
1. My nasal passages became a bit clogged as if I had allergies
2. My ears became clogged (same feeling you get if you're in an airplane)
3. My ears and neck felt very warm, almost as if I was sunburned
4. A high pitched tinnitus began
5. I felt a bit dizzy
6. My blood pressure spiked

After about 2 days, my blood pressure returned to normal, my ears and neck stopped feeling warm, and the dizziness faded away. Things that remained were the "clogged" ears and tinnitus, which leads me to believe something happened to my Eustachian tubes. Perhaps when I pushed the air to my head and breathed out, there was an internal pressure imbalance that was created. I don't listen to loud music etc., so my tinnitus was not caused by damaged hair cells or cochlear damage. At least, I don't think that was the case. Other things which lead me to believe it's Eustachian tube related are my MRI and audiology tests came back totally normal after I visited my ENT back in July. And a few mornings around that time, I noticed my ears hurt as if I had an ear infection.. even though there was no fluid and they were fine upon examination. The ENT can't see the inner ear though and as I type this, I still feel as if my inner ears are a bit blocked... like that same sensation you feel from being up in an airplane.

Here's a list of things I've been doing that have been helping:
1. Craniosacral therapy. This helped a bit. You can find a Craniosacral therapist in your area.
2. ETD exercises. If you feel that your ears are blocked, along with the tinnitus, maybe check this out. Eustachian Tube Dysfunction ETD Exercises and Massage Techniques for Ear Fullness - YouTube . The chiropractor who developed the ETD exercises in this video, Dr. Adam Fields, runs a successful practice in California and I've even spoken with him on the phone. If I lived there, I'd probably visit his office, he's great. I've been doing these for the past 3 weeks and am starting to see positive results. Am doing it once a day, may go to twice a day soon. The ringing has gone down and I hear my ears crackling a bit when I do the ear pulls, which leads me to believe my Eustachian tubes are hopefully trying to open up.

Here's a book which I've found to be interesting so far:
1. Rock Steady: Healing Vertigo or Tinnitus with Neuroplasticity: Remenyi, Joey: 9781989603857: Amazon.com: Books

As for the Prednisone, my ENT put me on an 8 day cycle starting with 40mg for a few days before tapering off to 20mg a day, then 10mg a day. I tried taking one 20mg pill on the first day and noticed a significant decrease in the high-pitched ringing. The only problem was I found it to be very potent (it made me feel spaced out) and I was afraid to do 40mg a day. So my ENT had me break up the tablets in half and take 10mg in the morning and 10mg in the evening, so going for 20mg a day instead of 40mg.. this unfortunately didn't do much. So, I probably would have been better off just bearing through it and going for 40mg a day for the first few days. That said, in my opinion Prednisone is a temporary fix. I don't think it will solve the underlying problem causing the tinnitus but it does prove that the tinnitus in my case was inflammation related. Coupled with the blocked ears and ear pain, I think it's inflammation related anyway... If others have had a permanent fix with Prednisone that would be awesome to know. From my experience, it only temporarily stopped the tinnitus.

Well, I hope this helps. My journey is still ongoing. I'm not going to lose hope. Based on what I've read, tinnitus isn't a disease, but the body's way of saying "hey, there's something wrong!". I know it sucks to hear it 24-7, trust me... it sucks. But we can't lose hope. If anyone else has experienced chronic tinnitus (1+ months) from Wim Hof and recovered, I'd love to hear about it. Once I make a full recovery, I'll definitely share it with others.

Can I ask are you still doing the Adam Fields ETD exercises? If not, how long did you persevere with them?

 

[Renfrey]

He theorized that WHM might have caused our eyes to be prone to damage from loud noise.

I'm not quite sure what that means. Don't you mean "ears" rather than "eyes"?

I am wondering if anyone else here believes they came into contact with loud noise before getting tinnitus from WHM. Not noise so loud that it would injure a regular person, but just loud enough that someone with a predisposition to damage could get tinnitus. It's an interesting theory; I work in a loud factory so it's possible for me.

That's an interesting idea, one that I've considered. Although I've had my share of loud concerts, jam sessions playing guitar through cranked Marshalls back in the 80's, and working as an electrician on noisy (not constantly noisy) jobsites, I never had any tinnitus or other hearing issues from it. Sure, right after a loud concert or jam session, my ears rang for a little while, but it always went away relatively quickly. I've always considered my hearing to be very good, even after all these years and all this noise exposure.

It was not until doing the breath holding consistently for a few months that after one particular breathing session, I felt something "give". And the hissing started. It was sort of an unmistakable and memorable moment.

So I guess it's possible that previous noise exposure could be a contributing factor, but it's probably impossible to say for certain that it is.

 

[Lukee]

I'm not quite sure what that means. Don't you mean "ears" rather than "eyes"?

That's an interesting idea, one that I've considered. Although I've had my share of loud concerts, jam sessions playing guitar through cranked Marshalls back in the 80's, and working as an electrician on noisy (not constantly noisy) jobsites, I never had any tinnitus or other hearing issues from it. Sure, right after a loud concert or jam session, my ears rang for a little while, but it always went away relatively quickly. I've always considered my hearing to be very good, even after all these years and all this noise exposure.

It was not until doing the breath holding consistently for a few months that after one particular breathing session, I felt something "give". And the hissing started. It was sort of an unmistakable and memorable moment.

So I guess it's possible that previous noise exposure could be a contributing factor, but it's probably impossible to say for certain that it is.

Yes sorry it was a typo. Ears not eyes.

I think the theory is not so much previous exposure to sound but post exposure. Basically, while practicing WHM, did you get exposed to loud noises that would normally not affect you but since WHM weakened/made us more susceptible, we acquired damage. I work in a loud environment everyday so it's an easy theory for me to follow... do WHM, go to work, get tinnitus. But like you said, you can basically pinpoint it to a single session, so I don't think it's the case.

 

[Renfrey]

Yes sorry it was a typo. Ears not eyes.

I think the theory is not so much previous exposure to sound but post exposure. Basically, while practicing WHM, did you get exposed to loud noises that would normally not affect you but since WHM weakened/made us more susceptible, we acquired damage. I work in a loud environment everyday so it's an easy theory for me to follow... do WHM, go to work, get tinnitus. But like you said, you can basically pinpoint it to a single session, so I don't think it's the case.

Ah, so if we're talking about post exposure, then I probably don't fit that picture. I haven't had any loud noise exposure after this onset, nor for many many months prior to it as well.

Hey, did you ever get your inversion table set up?

I got my 2nd Pfizer shot yesterday. The hissing kicked up rather loudly while driving home, probably louder than its ever been. So when I got home, I dozed-off to some sound therapy and it went back down to low baseline levels, and it's thankfully still holding there. The spike only lasted about 2 hours all together.

 

[Lukee]

Ah, so if we're talking about post exposure, then I probably don't fit that picture. I haven't had any loud noise exposure after this onset, nor for many many months prior to it as well.

Hey, did you ever get your inversion table set up?

I got my 2nd Pfizer shot yesterday. The hissing kicked up rather loudly while driving home, probably louder than its ever been. So when I got home, I dozed-off to some sound therapy and it went back down to low baseline levels, and it's thankfully still holding there. The spike only lasted about 2 hours all together.

I haven't set it up yet. Since the other post about headstands and increased tinnitus I haven't tried it but will do it this weekend.

My tinnitus has come down quite a bit, I think I had a temporary 4-5 day spike from first Pfizer dose. I took an IV vitamin drip yesterday and today it's pretty quiet so I'm happy but I am still dealing with the other ear issues.

 

[Renfrey]

I haven't set it up yet. Since the other post about headstands and increased tinnitus I haven't tried it but will do it this weekend.

In my opinion, temporary spikes from things like exercise, neck exercises, yoga etc. aren't always bad signs. It may mean that the area is getting blood flow and worked properly, kind of like the feeling of muscle fatigue and soreness from exercising. Of course that's not always the case, but I think it's something to consider.

When you think about it, all you're doing is bringing more blood to the head at whatever rate (angle) you want. That doesn't sound like such a way-out or negative action to me. If nothing else, it should help stretch out your back.

What kind of table is it? A Teeter? I had a Teeter. They're very good quality — very sturdy with very comfortable ankle supports.

My tinnitus has come down quite a bit, I think I had a temporary 4-5 day spike from first Pfizer dose.

Good!!!

I took an IV vitamin drip yesterday and today it's pretty quiet so I'm happy

Yeah?! Vitamin drips?! Nice! Which blend did you get? I've never done that before.

 

[Lukee]

When you think about it, all you're doing is bringing more blood to the head at whatever rate (angle) you want. That doesn't sound like such a way-out or negative action to me. If nothing else, it should help stretch out your back.

I don't disagree. I think it might help, the same way I feel something happens from taking Niacin.

What kind of table is it? A Teeter? I had a Teeter. They're very good quality — very sturdy with very comfortable ankle supports.

It's not a teeter but I can't remember the name. It very sturdy and well built. It was given to me by a friend a few months ago be never got around to setting it up.

Yeah?! Vitamin drips?! Nice! Which blend did you get? I've never done that before.

First time I've ever done it. I know it was mostly Vitamin C (I think 9 grams, with some Selenium, B12, and some other stuff). I also started nebulized Glutathione last night so maybe that had an effect too but I'd put my money on the drip since it helps with inflammation.

 

[Renfrey]

It's not a teeter but I can't remember the name. It very sturdy and well built. It was given to me by a friend a few months ago be never got around to setting it up.

I did the exact same thing as your friend and gave mine away for free. I freakin' blew it.

I also started nebulized Glutathione last night so maybe that had an effect too

Very interesting. What kind of nebulizing set-up do you use? Prescription or OTC?

 

[Backpacker]

Since the other post about headstands and increased tinnitus I haven't tried it but will do it this weekend

Why? Why would you want to increase your intracranial pressure so much? More cerebrospinal fluid in your head means too much explosive pressure on your inner ear via cochlear aqueduct.

 

[Lukee]

What kind of nebulizing set-up do you use? Prescription or OTC?

I got the solution from an ND. It's from a compounding pharmacy so I don't know if you need a script or you can get it OTC in Canada. Either way, it's easy to mix with the saline and nebulize. I bought a nebulizer from the ND that is big and extremely loud but found a portable one on Amazon that is tiny and very quiet. It's so easy to use so I'm trying a protocol of taking a hit every 3-4 hours for 2 minutes. It's supposed to be useful for ETs and otitis media.

 

[Lukee]

Why? Why would you want to increase your intracranial pressure so much? More cerebrospinal fluid in your head means too much explosive pressure on your inner ear via cochlear aqueduct.

Understood. So you obviously think it's a bad idea. What about just slightly inverted to increase blood flow to the ears?

 

[Renfrey]

Why? Why would you want to increase your intracranial pressure so much? More cerebrospinal fluid in your head means too much explosive pressure on your inner ear via cochlear aqueduct.

Well, the cool thing about inversion tables is that you can choose any angle of decline or inversion. Anywhere from being fully upright, to parallel, to fully inverted, and anywhere in between.

In other words, pressure to the head is fully adjustable from mild to extreme.

 

[Backpacker]

OK, read this again.

symptoms get worse with coughing, sneezing, or blowing their noses, as well as with exertion and activity. This sort of symptom goes under the general rubric of "Valsalva-induced

You already complained:

I started to get some mild headaches and pressure in my head, mostly near my temporal lobes.

and noticed:

I did notice that they resolved mostly when I stopped doing the Valsalva maneuver

and again:

I bought an Otovent to try for my potential "glue ear" and immediately after I noticed the mild head pressure. I also started to get what seems like TTTS or MEM, a very low frequency, subtle hum that is still with me this morning. I can only hear it or feel it if I'm very still and it's only in my right ear. It certainly feels like a muscle spasm. Additionally, my ears feel fuller again, like they did at the onset of the tinnitus but not as bad.

Whatever caused your tinnitus in the first place, if you noticed one type of Valsalva hurt you, how can you be sure the other Valsalva is not gonna hurt you too?

Valsalva is not only what you do with your nose, google it, it can refer to anything that increases abdominal pressure too much. And since the other Valsalva also causes more CSF to your head I don't know if it would be good for you to do the exact same thing, just in a different way.

 

[Renfrey]

Whatever caused your tinnitus in the first place, if you noticed one type of Valsalva hurt you, how can you be sure the other Valsalva is not gonna hurt you too?

Valsalva is not only what you do with your nose, google it, it can refer to anything that increases abdominal pressure too much. And since the other Valsalva also causes more CSF to your head I don't know if it would be good for you to do the exact same thing, just in a different way.

I think there may be considerable differences between Valsalva and inversion, as the main mechanism behind Valsalva is air and breath manipulation/pressurization.

As opposed to inversion, where there is no air pressurizing involved. Unlike Valsalva, breathing during inversion would remain slow, deep, controlled, and constant. I think that the main mechanism going on in inversion would be the flow of blood and other fluids, not the flow of air.

 

[Prawnsauce]

Hi everyone.

I've just started the WHM method but been put off after finding out the link to tinnitus. The first time I did the WHM I had a weird buzzing and ringing which went after a few minutes. I've done about a week more of WHM since then but am now having a break as I don't want to take any chances.

The reason I'm posting is firstly to let everyone in here know about an alternative breathing exercise that is supposed to ground you more in your parasympathetic nervous system - look up bee breathing. I'm doing this instead of WHM at the moment.

Secondly I wondered if anyone with tinnitus had followed Wim's advice to carry on with the WHM for three weeks to push through the onset of tinnitus and whether this 'cured' the issue?

I'm sorry for everyone suffering and I hope you don't mind my suggestion and my asking of the question.

 

[Renfrey]

I got the solution from an ND. It's from a compounding pharmacy so I don't know if you need a script or you can get it OTC in Canada. Either way, it's easy to mix with the saline and nebulize. I bought a nebulizer from the ND that is big and extremely loud but found a portable one on Amazon that is tiny and very quiet. It's so easy to use so I'm trying a protocol of taking a hit every 3-4 hours for 2 minutes. It's supposed to be useful for ETs and otitis media.

ND = Nose Doctor?

From the info I've skimmed so far, it looks like all that stuff is available OTC and online. I like that. I like the fact that it's still considered a supplement and not a drug too, and that it's ok for otherwise healthy people to partake in.