Why Does Alcohol Make Tinnitus 5-10x Louder?

[Julia]

I am not talking about the hangover after a loud night. But when I drink, I have much louder tinnitus that night, even if I dont pay attention to it. I also do not go to loud places.

Should not drinking basically lower the tinnitus as you wouldn't pay so much attention to it? For me it is just the opposite, a fire alarm ringing in my ears. Why is this?

 

[Daveyrvancleef]

Hey Julia, I don't know your answer, but I think I have the same experience. I went to the theatres(sound was not that loud), but I drank allot of beer. I went to my home and it was very silent. I heard my tinnitus and it felt like a fire alarm. I have the same experience of loudness(also the same level of loudness) when I go out, and I that is 3-4 hours in a loud environment(with earplugs off course). As if I could feel the sound in my head.

BTW I googled, and i'm not sure it's an answer, but it's something:

"It may have to do with the way your body metabolises sugar. Alcohol reduces to sugar in the body almost immediately. There has been a lot of research over the years that links tinnitus with sugar metabolism issues. Studies show between 84% and 92% of people with tinnitus have a metabolic disorder called hyperinsulinemia. This is an elevation of insulin levels in the bloodstream and is the first step in the long, slippery slope down to Type 2 Diabetes. A clinical trial in Brazil put tinnitus patients on a diet suitable for diabetics and restricted sugar and alcohol intake. Over 50% of the patients who adhered to the diet had significant improvement or complete resolution of their tinnitus."

And

"Alcohol expands your blood vessels. Have you had your CT scan done? Your tinnitus might caused by either too thin or too big blood vessels of your head and neck. There is a particular one very close to your ear and if this one expands it puts pressure on your nerves or the inner ear."

 

[Julia]

That actually sounds very sensible. Back those times I didnt use any sugar or alcohol, my tinnitus was off. If this is true, is our tinnitus caused by something else than inner ear damage and is curable?

 

[Daveyrvancleef]

Well you could try it again and monitor your tinnitus? I presume the damage to the ear or the tinnitus is not always related to exposure of loud sound, but maybe has other related factors like neck injury/stress/anxiety/depression etc. BTW I'm not that good at diets, I think i'm too addicted to sugar. With 'my tinnitus was off' do you mean you had no tinnitus anymore?

 

[Julia]

Well yes, I didnt hear tinnitus for a year. I was training hard at the gym and eating healthy. When I first had tinnitus 2-3 years ago, it felt even louder than now. But it has compeletely dissappeared in a year. At least I can't remember even once noticing it. I even told my mom my tinnitus has disappeared. My doctor said I had an inner ear damage, so it makes me confused. Now after starting sugar and alcohol again, the t is back.

 

[Daveyrvancleef]

Are you going to avoid sugar and alcohol now? If so and if there are results after a few weeks/months, please share! That will motivate me too for removing sugar, processed food and other unhealthy eating habits.

 

[Julia]

Possibly yes.

Sugar addiction is the easiest addiction to deal with. You can not cure an alcoholic or a drug addict in just two weeks, but a sugar addict yes. I believe sugar also raises blood pressure which causes more tinnitus.

I also think that for a tinnitus patient it is not wise to avoid silent places, especially if you do not go totally mad with it. I dont know if my tinnitus stopped just because I learned to endure it or if it had something to do with my improved health. But it did really stop, so there was nothing more to "endure".

 

[Daveyrvancleef]

Well if I could do the sugar withdrawal for two weeks, yes then my addiction is lesser and it's easier to say no to sugary food. The thing is I can only do that for 3-4 days. Quitting cigarettes(9 years, 1,5 pack a day) and quitting Weed/Hasj was a more comfortable experience for me.

My experience with avoiding silent places is a thing I would not want to do it again. It made me more anxious about the sound in my head. So now I just deal with it, meditate, and just accept it as your own. Sometimes I really like rooms that are silent, so I could hear the tone. After a while it won't bother me and the sound drops from 9/10 to a 7/10.

 

[Julia]

And what is your blood pressure? How did your tinnitus start? Do you have an inner ear damage?

 

[Daveyrvancleef]

And what is your blood pressure? How did your tinnitus start? Do you have an inner ear damage?

Well, last time I checked it was bit a higher than normal, but the doctors said it was possible due to the panic attack that I was experiencing. In the past I had another check and they said I was pretty healthy. So I cannot give you a number, but I presume I had no bad values.

I'm not sure, but when I was 12 I could hear a tone, but it was 2/10. I did not care about it. Between the age of 16-25 I was going to allot of parties, drinking alcohol, not thinking about protecting my ears. Now it's close to a 9/10, so I think I made it worse due to exposure of loud sound.

Do you have a high or low blood pressure? And when was your first experience with tinnitus and what was the cause of it(your doctor says it's inner ear damage, but maybe you have a feeling that there are other factors)?

 

[Julia]

Okay. That sounds like it can be ear damage? I think if you ever could learn to "endure" it, your brain could automatically take the tinnitus down as a healthy or a safe sound you should not even notice, like a wall clock you don't notice but sometimes it can really disturb when trying to sleep.

My blood pressure also is much higher than it was at some point. It now is 130/85. Not really high tho. I first noticed my tinnitus by a random coincidence. I lived with my parents those days. I had a new aeration in my room that sounded like an annoying hum. I listened to it all night and the day after I thought it was tinnitus. I was really anxious about that, listening to it all the time and that was when I developed the real tinnitus, a high pitched ring in both ears.

 

[Daveyrvancleef]

Yes, I think it's mostly ear damage. I just have vague experiences that tells me it's not really ear damage. When I have a bad neck posture in bed, my tinnitus can go from 8/10 to a 10/10. Then for me it's so bad, I just want to cry, but the tears are not coming because I'm in a constant fight/flight mode XD. I have had that experience twice now. And two years ago my tinnitus was 'gone', maybe I habituated.

So you tell me your tinnitus came from listening to an annoying humming sound and the anxiety? Just out of the blue? Did you had some loud sound exposure before? And do you 100% know that 'new aeration' was making that annoying humming sound?

BTW what's an Aeration? Google shows me pictures of grass.

 

[Julia]

Also for me, moving my neck causes louder tinnitus. Also moving my jaws does the same.

I actually mean an air conditioner, sorry. Yes I am 100% sure my tinnitus started by anxiously listening to the new sound. I never could hear that same sound outside of my room. I do not think I had a loud sound exposure but you can never be sure. But still I have some ear damage.

 

[Daveyrvancleef]

They also tested my hearing, and I had a bit of damage in the higher frequencies. I think around 7000/8000 hz. At what frequency did they measure your damage?

 

[Julia]

I don't remember but it surely were the frequences of my tinnitus. How can the hearing test even work when you can not hear the similar frequancy sounds to your tinnitus just because the tinnitus is masking those sounds?

 

[Mario martz]

Hey Julia,
for some people it seems that alcohol can spike, others experience the opposite.
for me sugar, salt and msg spike my t as rocket.
havent try alcohol... but i will.
some people have had relief drinking wine.
maybe you should try it!

 

[Tom Cnyc]

Alcohol does not increase tinnitus. Certainly not by a factor of 10

 

[Daveyrvancleef]

I don't remember but it surely were the frequencies of my tinnitus. How can the hearing test even work when you can not hear the similar frequency sounds to your tinnitus just because the tinnitus is masking those sounds?

I never thought like that. In the test I was focusing on beeps that were different than my tinnitus and so I could score really high. I had a very small dip at high frequency. I could have missed the beep due to the high pitched noise in my head. And if the tinnitus was gone, maybe I could hear the beep? Then tinnitus would not be a symptom of ear damage, but something else.

So if I could find my paper with the test results on it, then I would know how high my tinnitus frequency is. Then I could do the ACRN Tinnitus Protocol with the right frequency.

How high is your tinnitus(1-10) and do you hear it all the time?

 

[Vaba]

I drink heavily and often. Right now, I am drunk (TGIF). However, my T is exactly the same as how it is normally.

Nothing you do will permanently alter the volume of your T, if it is chronic, and not temporary.

When I'm dead sober, when I'm dead unconscious drunk, when I've downed 2 gallons of coffee or just gotten back from the gym, the screeching sound will be waiting for me.

Ultimately, the volume and sound returns to the exact same pitches and volume, when I am sober.

 

[Daveyrvancleef]

The thing is they say it's chronic after six months. But what's chronic and is there any research around chronic tinnitus that shows evidence it's really chronic? I have zero knowledge about that topic and have a feeling thst science still can't prove 100% where that sound is coming from. Only a paper in Germany tells it's mapped in the brain but I did not read about chronic tinnitus in that paper. I'm really tired btw Goodnight!

 

[whale]

When I drink Alcohol initially it lowers my T, and I can actually enjoy myself but that night it will give me sleep apnea and bruxism so that night I will wake at 3 to 4 AM with raging T.

 

[LukeYoung]

Many people react differently.. I know when I used to have a couple drinks, I would get slight headaches.. which I think would make my T worse.. I have no touched alcohol since onset, and don't plan on it.

Some have spikes from Sugar.. I don't seem to. I have moderate amounts of caffeine from cans of soda.. but not full coffees as I think coffee is a dehydrator and ultimately would make T worse.

It's really trial and error I guess