What to Take? — Recent Hearing Loss/Tinnitus

[dares2love]

Hello!
I am seeing an ENT, no diagnosis yet. Hearing test came back within normal range, but with some high-range loss in left ear, my worse tinnitus ear. I do also have allergies which are raging in Southern Texas right now. Awaiting Jan 3 ENT appointment to learn more about all of that. Waiting for further knowledge is difficult as I feel I want to DO something to help myself!

Possible hearing loss cause... I had an MRI 1st of Sept, noticed periodic tinnitus late Sept or early Oct. Had no idea about any hearing loss. Was suffering from insomnia month of Oct and used noise cancelling headphones for silence all night for maybe 4-5 weeks, which I have learned could have been a perfect storm contribution. Tinnitus went constant on Nov 8.

The t fluctuates daily. I had a hope-filled 30-min gap of silence in the worst ear just a couple days ago, followed by recent two days ringing louder than usual. Tonight is maybe a bit less than usual.

I am wondering if my ears are still determining how much hearing loss and how much tinnitus will remain.... ? and what, if anything, I can do in terms of best chances protocol for nutrition, supplements, etc to hope for best outcome. Your time and insight is appreciated.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I am wondering if my ears are still determining how much hearing loss and how much tinnitus will remain.... ? and what, if anything, I can do in terms of best chances protocol for nutrition, supplements, etc to hope for best outcome. Your time and insight is appreviated.

It can take over two years for your body to determine how much T will remain. Check out
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822
for some answers to your questions.

 

[dares2love]

Wow, very helpful thread, thank you, Bill. Two more questions (for now)...

Before tinnitus, I took Natural Calm magnesium for occasional anxiety. It worked so well for me, keeping me from popping an occasional clonazepam. I have taken the Calm twice since tinnitus, and both times had a spike within minutes. Granted I took it in the evening when I tend to spike, so hard to say!

Any tips regarding these questions?

1) How does one accurately judge if something has indeed produced a spike, or if it is coincidence, or some other factor? How much testing is adequate, I wonder. I have a lot of fluctuation at this point so it is tough to figure out. About the time I think something helps or hinders it proves me wrong!

2) Should one tend to take the spike as the body's way of seriously rejecting that substance, or not? Magnesium being a good example; arguably healthy and ideal to take regardless. I suppose just a matter of personal judgment if it is worth enduring a spike or not for long-term benefit?

 

[Bill Bauer]

I have taken the Calm twice since tinnitus, and both times had a spike within minutes.

Strange. Many people (including myself) take magnesium in the hope that it will eventually help with tinnitus. You should definitely listen to the signals from your body (and not take anything that spikes your tinnitus).

I have been taking magnesium before bed, so for all I know it also spikes my tinnitus (while I sleep). I will try taking it during the day time.

1) How does one accurately judge if something has indeed produced a spike, or if it is coincidence, or some other factor? How much testing is adequate, I wonder. I have a lot of fluctuation at this point so it is tough to figure out. About the time I think something helps or hinders it proves me wrong!

You are right, the more natural fluctuation one experiences, the more testing one needs (compared to someone who normally doesn't experience fluctuations). Another thing to keep in mind is the potential upside vs potential downside. The probability that any given supplement will make tinnitus go away is low, so as soon as the probability that it can make tinnitus worse is high enough, it might no longer make sense to experiment with that supplement...

2) Should one tend to take the spike as the body's way of seriously rejecting that substance, or not? Magnesium being a good example; arguably healthy and ideal to take regardless. I suppose just a matter of personal judgment if it is worth enduring a spike or not for long-term benefit?

When they get a spike, most people new to tinnitus incorrectly assume that it is going to be permanent. I learned (from personal experience over the past 22 months, as well as by reading the posts here) that most spikes are temporary spikes. Nevertheless, it seems to me that if one keeps doing things that cause temporary spikes, Eventually one of those spikes might end up being a permanent spike. Personally, I think of those spikes as a signal from my body. I try to minimize the number of spikes that I will get. When someone breaks an arm, they often use pain to judge what movements are not ok at each stage of healing...

 

[Bill Bauer]

@dares2love There are many types of magnesium supplements. I take Magnesium bis Glycinate. You might experiment with other types of magnesium supplements, and see whether they spike your T. The spike might not be due to magnesium, but due to the other substances in your particular magnesium supplement.

 

[dares2love]

@Bill Bauer The Natural Calm is a powder you put in warm water and drink. It goes into your system quickly as relaxant. Maybe that's the problem. I have some mag glycinate capsules I will try. I like that each capsule is only 120mg so I can play with dosage. It even says, "for sensitive individuals" on the bottle. Hey, that's me!