In late August I began taking this supplement. Experiments in mice show that it can prevent and even reverse noise induced hearing loss. According to my 2014 audiogram, I have some minor hearing loss in the range of 750 - 2000 Hz, and almost total loss at 750 Hz in the right ear only. This probably resulted from a car back firing as I walked past it, although it happened over 30 years ago, long before tinnitus set in. At about 4000 Hz my hearing begins to improve again, so it's not the typical pattern of age-related hearing loss. An on-line screening test for hidden hearing loss came back at "86%: Probably No Hidden Hearing Loss, Probably Would Not Benefit from Hearing Aids". I haven't noticed any problems hearing people in noisy environments, so I'm not planning to test this further.
About Nicotinamide Riboside (NR)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24071780
NR is related to vitamin B3 and is a precursor to
nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). All of our cells depend on NAD+ for their metabolic processes. Levels of NAD+ decline as we age, making it a reasonable target for supplementation in older adults. Studies in animals have shown that ingesting NR boosts NAD+ levels, and study results have been promising enough that human trials are now underway.
In the US, the FDA classifies NR as a food supplement. This means NR is available over the counter (without doctor's prescription) although it's not yet widely available and it's not particularly cheap. I purchase mine from Amazon.
Results After Six Weeks
I test my hearing on my computer, and while the equipment is not professional quality, the results closely follow the results from the audiogram.
I was skeptical when I started taking NR, but I am happy to report that I am actually able to hear 750 Hz sounds again in my right year. And I saw results fast. After 3 weeks, with the volume set at a comfortable level, I could hear faint sounds if I put my ear near the computer's speaker. After 6 weeks the sounds were louder and I didn't have to lean over the speaker, although it helped to turn my head in that direction.
My hearing is definitely not back to normal yet, but just the fact that my right ear can pick up anything at 750 Hz is amazing. As I said, I was skeptical at the start, and I won't 100% believe it until an audiogram confirms my results, but right now I'd say that NR is the real deal and I plan to keep taking it.
But What About Tinnitus?
Unfortunately I can't report any improvement in my tinnitus. If anything it got a bit louder, but I was actually expecting that: my hyperactive neurons are receiving increased input from real sounds, so I think it's reasonable that they would react. Another thing that occurred was a noticeable increase in the frequency of my intermittent tinnitus that started a few days after beginning NR supplementation; this settled back down after a couple days.
Clearly my tinnitus is reacting to the NR, or rather to the increased levels of NAD+. Since NAD+ is reported to be neuro protective, I am hoping that my tinnitus will start to fade eventually. I'm prepared to wait: it took a long time for it to become chronic, and I would expect it to take a long time for the changes to reverse themselves.
Disclaimers
I'm not a medical professional, nor do I play one on TV.
I am not giving anyone advice, simply reporting on my experience so far.
NR is a fairly recent discovery. So far it appears to be safe with side effects reported only at very high doses, but we have no idea what long-term supplementation will do. Among other things, NAD+ supports DNA repair, and some researchers have raised concerns that boosting our levels may also boost the DNA repair of cancer cells. Others have speculated taking NR long-term may cause the body to stop producing its own NAD+ altogether, which would be a bad thing. Those of us who take it are "lab animals" in our own experiments, and we don't know the eventual outcome.
As mentioned earlier, the people most likely to benefit from NR are older adults. However, the animal experiments related to noise-induced hearing loss didn't confine themselves to older mice (to the best of my knowledge), so I would still have tried NR even if I were only in my 20s.
So for now I'm living in hope and keeping my eye on the latest research. I would be very interested to hear if others are experimenting with NR and what their experience has been.
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