Tinnitus Significantly Better After 72-Hour Water Only Fast, But Then Returns to Baseline

[David S]

I have done 3 or 4 rounds of 72-hour water only fasting. My quite bad tinnitus gets significantly better at day 2-3 and stays so for another 1-2 days. In fact, so good that I have moments where I do not think about my tinnitus for 30 minutes or more. For me that is a great improvement. 1-2 days after breaking the fast it returns baseline.

Any ideas what this could be? I find it hard to believe that any hair cell regeneration should be the cause? Autophony? Could it be the changed metabolism to keto? Could it be the non-existing intake of salt for example?

So far, no major lasting improvements but I am hoping for more. I think fasting in general could benefit your health, so it is not a wasted effort anyways...

On a side note, I have tried pretty much everything but up to now this is the only thing that actually helps, but unfortunately just for a short time.

 

[2noist]

@David S, I have tried water fasting for 4 days and I felt my tinnitus got better on the 2nd day of the fast, but the improvement lasted only about 1 day after stopping the fast.

I don't think it was placebo, my tinnitus literally was less loud, more things masked it.

Have you tried measuring ketones in your blood? There are devices that have both blood sugar and blood ketone meter functionality. I haven't tried it but I would be interested to know if increasing number of blood ketones correlate to tinnitus improvement. In ketosis, the number of blood ketones increase as far as I understand it.

I will try water fasting again in January.

 

[David S]

@2noist, yes, sometimes I measure my ketones. It is high after 24 hours and peeks after around 72 hours. I will soon do another round and report back.

 

[Óscar PP]

I have done 3 or 4 rounds of 72-hour water only fasting.

When you say water only, you mean not even tea?

 

[David S]

Tea and coffee shoud be ok. It does not brake the fast/autophagy.

 

[David S]

As a side note, after doing the water fasting, I don't snore anymore. Also I don't have any problems with arm sweating. Could also possibly be because I limited my coffee intake.

 

[ZFire]

I started a 72-hour water only fast yesterday. I'm currently 24 hours in and so far I have not noticed any positive changes to tinnitus.

I will update after my 72 hours is up.

 

[Mike_CA]

I saw a video from a doctor who claims cutting back on carbs helps reduce tinnitus. I'm hesitant to believe it.

 

[Jammer]

I saw a video from a doctor who claims cutting back on carbs helps reduce tinnitus. I'm hesitant to believe it.

I went on the keto diet three years ago and lost 40 lbs over one year. It did not change my tinnitus at all; still screaming today.

 

[Mike_CA]

I went on the keto diet three years ago and lost 40 lbs over one year. It did not change my tinnitus at all; still screaming today.

Congrats on the weight loss.

 

[ZFire]

I'm just about done with the 72-hour water fast (in 3 more hours). I needed the detox. My tinnitus didn't budge an inch however. In fact, I'm more bothered by my tinnitus today. It may be spiked, but not due to the water fast itself. I had trouble sleeping on an empty stomach throughout the fast and from my experience, a lack of sleep seems to make my tinnitus more bothersome.

I know water fasting can stimulate autophagy and I was curious to see if that could help me somehow. I might need to do more rounds of water fasting, but I'm honestly done with it. I will be transitioning into a 20:4 intermittent fasting. It was worth trying though especially for the other health benefits.

Can't wait to pig it out.

 

[Ryan Scott]

I went on the keto diet three years ago and lost 40 lbs over one year. It did not change my tinnitus at all; still screaming today.

Yeah, I gained a good 25 lbs since getting tinnitus lol.

 

[momus]

I just read that fasting can help lower blood pressure. Tinnitus seems to be "pressure sensitive" for lack of a better term. My tinnitus was caused by being on antibiotics, combined w/ a sinus infection and sleeping w/ earplugs due to a noisy environment.

My thinking is that things got damaged in my inner ear because w/ my ears and nose stopped up, there was nowhere for pressure to be relieved. I don't have any facts, but it makes sense. Fasting also lowers our bad, LDL cholesterol levels. The few times I tried fasting I was a little sharper, my awareness was better. So it looks like fasting has various good effects and no bad ones.

So maybe fasting works this way w/ tinnitus, if it does indeed lower blood pressure. I know for sure that when I get off my bike after a long ride or exercise hard, my tinnitus is screaming. It generally goes back to its usual level later, but I never know how long later will be.