Tinnitus

[bindeweede]

9/2/08
Dear Bindeweede,
This is my first post here on your forum! I've had tinnitus for 12 years. I find that the herb St. John's Wort quiets the ringing. Two capsules before bedtime are enough to give me a decent night's sleep. Have you tried this already?
- TexJingle

Welcome TexJingle

From what I've read St John's Wort can be effective with mild to moderate depression. I haven't tried it myself - a quick Google indicates some people find it helpful, some don't

At night, I put a small speaker under the pillow and listen to the radio - that tends to mask the ringing - I don't have any problem getting to sleep, usually.

I definitely won't be trying this nonsense....

As well as Ear Candling being effectively used to relieve ENT conditions its also a great way to take some time out for yourself to relax and unwind, letting go of all of your stresses.
Ear Candling can help with:
• Excessive or compacted wax
• Sinus problems
• Asthma / Hayfever
• Tinnitus
• Loss of hearing
• Glue Ear
• Snoring
• Flying Problems
• Regular colds / Flu
• Headaches / Migraines
• Bells Palsy
• PET
• Vertigo or poor balance
• Meniere's disease
• Pregnancy related conditions
• Swimmers / Surfers / Divers Ear

http://www.tranquillus.co.uk/therapi...arcandling.php

The usual garbage about the Hopi tribe. There is a thread about that here...

http://www.uksceptics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2346

[DB1923]

I have very loud ringing Tinnitus in both ears but have not read anywhere about my kind.
Sometimes I wake in the morning and its completely gone. If I happen to doze off anytime during the day (like while watching TV while sitting up usually) its back with a vengance. This happens even after a few seconds of sleep. Once its back I have it non-stop for days till I happen to wake up without it. My wife says I snort, gasp and snore a lot while I am asleep. I have experimented with not using a pillow and sometimes I find this works.
Could I have a pressure problem in my ears/sinuses? It seems like my head position while sleeping has something to do with it.
Any help or advise would be appreciated.
Thanks
John

[TexJingle]

9/9/08
St. John's Wort causes the noise of my tinnitus to be dramatically reduced - whether daytime or night time - plus it helps me have a longer night time sleep without waking up. The St. John's Wort has antibacterial and antiviral properties. Most herbs, including St. John's Wort, are not specifically just helpful for one thing and one thing only. That's the beauty of herbs.

There has been speculation that tinnitus occurs when a bacteria or virus makes it past the blood brain barrier. If this is indeed what has occurred in our brains, then it seems logical that the antibacterial and antiviral properties of St. John's Wort would be what is effecting a quieting of the noise of tinnitus. - TexJingle

[bindeweede]

9/9/08
St. John's Wort causes the noise of my tinnitus to be dramatically reduced - whether daytime or night time - plus it helps me have a longer night time sleep without waking up. The St. John's Wort has antibacterial and antiviral properties. Most herbs, including St. John's Wort, are not specifically just helpful for one thing and one thing only. That's the beauty of herbs.

There has been speculation that tinnitus occurs when a bacteria or virus makes it past the blood brain barrier. If this is indeed what has occurred in our brains, then it seems logical that the antibacterial and antiviral properties of St. John's Wort would be what is effecting a quieting of the noise of tinnitus. - TexJingle

A fairly recent report from Deafness Research uk suggests tinnitus originates from the brain or cochlea.

It is now widely accepted that one cause of tinnitus is the release of excessive amounts of the
neurotransmitter glutamate by hair cells in the inner ear. Normally, glutamate plays a vital role in
communication between nerve cells, making them more likely to send a signal onwards. However,
when the cells are subjected to stress - for example by exposure to loud noise or to drugs that are
toxic to hair cells - they over-produce glutamate, causing a negative effect known as excitotoxicity.
The result is that the original connections between hair cells and the nerves that carry signals from
the inner ear on to the brain are destroyed, but can later be replaced by the growth of new ones.
These new connections are of a different type to the originals and function differently, becoming
over-active when glutamate is released. The over-activity is then perceived as tinnitus

Sorry, it is a pdf.

http://www.deafnessresearch.org.uk/f...s-research.pdf

But I might have got that wrong.

[Mongrel]

9/9/08
St. John's Wort causes the noise of my tinnitus to be dramatically reduced - whether daytime or night time - plus it helps me have a longer night time sleep without waking up. The St. John's Wort has antibacterial and antiviral properties.

Got any studies for this?

Most herbs, including St. John's Wort, are not specifically just helpful for one thing and one thing only. That's the beauty of herbs.

...and the unregulated preparation, the unmeasured dosage, the variance of active ingredient depending on which part of the plant is used, the differences in breed of plant and the herbal industries refusal to do tests instead relying on anecdotes...
Herbs are great


Or it could just be that;
a) It's just a placebo effect
b) SJW can have an effect as an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) an effect of which is to cause drowsiness.

[Matt]

Lets not forget it's interaction with other drugs

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1802943.stm

Yes many effects indeed. Not all entirely desirable.

[TexJingle]

9/14/08
Dear Bindeweede,
I enjoyed the link that you gave us. Thanks. I still have my tinnitus. Until it's gone, I'll be open to new ideas, and if I find a cure (or even relief), I'll be sharing whatever I know with other sufferers.

I haven't examined the pdf in detail yet, but I can see that someone has put a lot of thought into it.

I grew St. John's Wort for a short time. It has very tiny leaves, and didn't grow very fast. And sadly, the Texas climate is unforgiving of the plant owner who forgets to water her favorite plant for a couple of scorching days in a row. I'm glad there's no law on 'plant rights'! I'd be in big trouble.

Bindeweede, I'm not seeing any Private Message (PM) function here on this forum. Is there one? It's nice to meet others who have been coping with this most annoying problem. - TexJingle

[TexJingle]

9/14/08
Dear Bindeweede,
I plan to do some reading on the tinnitus in relation to the words “glutamate”, “liver”, and “St. John’s Wort”. Here are some ideas:
Your link, Bindeweede, has this information on tinnitus and glutamate:
“These new connections are of a different type to the originals and function differently, becoming over-active when glutamate is released.”
This is from the deafnessresearch url that you gave us. (As a newbie, I am not allowed to post urls.)


Matt’s link contained this information on St. John’s Wort, the liver, and hyperforin:
“… the [St. John’s Wort] herbal extract contained a substance called hyperforin, which made the liver work more efficiently,…”
This is from the news dot bcc dot co dot uk url that Matt gave us.

I’ve found a link to an ‘abstract’ which relates St. John’s Wort, glutamate, and hyperforin:
“We have recently shown that hyperforin, a major active constituent of St. John's Wort, not only inhibits the neuronal uptake of serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine, but also that of L-glutamate and GABA. No other antidepressant compound exhibits a similar broad uptake inhibiting profile. To investigate this unique kind of property, kinetic analyses were performed regarding the uptake of 3H-L-glutamate and 3H-GABA into synaptosomal preparations of mouse brain. Michaelis-Menten kinetics revealed a reduction of Vmax (8.27 to 1.80 pmol/mg/min for 3H-L-glutamate, 2.76 to 0.77 pmol/mg/min for 3H-GABA) while Km was nearly unchanged in both cases, suggesting non-competitive inhibition. The unselective uptake inhibition by hyperforin could be mimicked by the Na+- ionophore monensin and by the Na+-K+-ATPase inhibitor ouabain. However, both mechanisms can be discarded for hyperforin.”

World wide web dot nature dot com slash npp slash journal slash v23 slash n2 slash abs slash 1395510a dot html


As Proverbs 27:17 says, “By iron, iron itself is sharpened. So one man sharpens the face of another. “

If this forum does not have the Private Message function, could you, Bindeweede, follow me to another forum that allows private conversations? We could exchange email addresses there. World wide web dot dyscalculiaforum dot com is one such forum. – TexJingle

[bindeweede]

TexJingle,

Yes, the forum supports private messages. If you click on the name of the member you wish to contact, you will find a PM option, but that might only work when you have made 15 posts. It doesn't seem to be active on your name yet.

If you go to the "User CP (top left of the page) you can set it so that you receive an email whenever a PM has arrived in your inbox.

[Mike K]

Hi,

I was diagnosed with tinnitus 15 years ago but it is very seldom that it bothers me at all these days. If it does seem worse on any given day I can normally pinpoint the reason quickly.

You need to concentrate on two main things: reducing stress and increasing your general wellbeing. Whether it be giving up caffeine or smoking, improving your diet or exercising more, all of these will have a positive effect on you and your sense of wellbeing. This decreases stress and that definitely reduces tinnitus. Stress has THE most negative impact on tinnitus. If you can remove as much stress as possible from your life you will notice the difference immediately.

Also, try and find ten minutes every day where you focus completely on relaxing. Try and find those same ten minutes at the same time every day and you will soon see a pattern emerging when your tinnitus reduces. Make a mental note to try and add more "pockets" of ten minutes each day if you can.

I am unable to post links as I am a new member but if you want to learn more about my experiences check out [removed] Google.

I hope some of this helps you.

Mike

[TexJingle]

9/20/08
Thanks Bindeweede,
I think I have my 'settings' set so that I can now receive a PM, unless, that is, being a newbie prevents it at this time.

I haven't gotten to do the reading on tinnitus that I'd planned. I'm in college, so my two classes have to come first. I wanted to tell you that I have had my ears 'candled', and yes, I had it done hoping that it would cure my tinnitus. That was about 10 years ago, so obviously it didn't work. But I will say that I enjoyed it and that it made me 'feel' better. I seemed to be able to hear more accutely afterward. Being, myself, a 'do-it-yourselfer' and having a friend who is also a 'do-it-yourselfer', we figured out how to do the procedure and she very kindly 'candled' my ears for me. I bought the bees waxed paper 'cone' at Wholefoods grocery store, made the paper plate (or was it aluminum?) with a hole in it that I cut out myself, and we followed whatever directions came with the beeswax candling cone. I sat in a chair in her dining room, and of course, we kept the cone tilted slight downward.

I flee from any kind of 'hocus pokus'. It is disgusting to me. In this, you and I are in complete agreement. And just now, I did look up on Google a page called 'Why Ear Candling is Not a Good Idea'. I can see how 'accidents' could happen with this procedure. But if that same neighbor lady would help me again, I'd like to have my ears candled again. It did nothing to stop the tinnitus, but it felt good.

Thanks for explaining to me how to open up the PM function on my profile. I seem to be website-impaired. - TexJingle

[OlderDad]

Radio 4 had a Dutch Doctor on it who treated his patients using a electrical stimulator. quick google brought this up

http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB....asp?Doi=99073

IIRC it was implanted under the skull but above the dura.

Pretty Drastic.

[ATR]

To mark National Tinnitus Week (9-15 February), Deafness Research UK have set up a blog which will initially involve three Deafness Research UK supporters talking frankly about how they cope with their tinnitus on a daily basis. Share their experiences and join in at the Tinnitus for a Week blog: deafnessresearchuk.blogspot.com

Do you sometimes wonder how other people manage to cope with their tinnitus? Could you make small changes that would make your life more bearable? Could you get more help for your tinnitus on the NHS?

From Saturday 7 February, meet our bloggers Kate, John and Gemma who, contrary to the usual advice of trying not to dwell on the symptoms, are focusing on their tinnitus in order to help others learn from their experiences and cope with tinnitus better.

Readers who want further information about tinnitus can call the Deafness Research UK information line, free of charge, on 0808 808 2222. The helpline is open 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday (a message can be left at other times) to answer specific questions about tinnitus. If the Information team cannot answer a question directly, it will be referred to one of Deafness Research UK’s scientific or medical advisers.


You can also email Deafness Research UK. Check out the website for all contact details.

[AudioTherapist]

My name is Tim Husband and I'm an Audiologist and Hearing Therapist working part time for the NHS and part time in my own private practice based in Sheffield.

I try to ensure my practice is strongly evidence based and am not at all a fan of exploitative quackery such as LLLT, Tinnitool, Tinnex, Hopi Ear candles etc etc.

I'm very up for evidence based discussion on Tinnitus treatments. You can read about my practice at ...hearingtherapy.net and biographical professional info plus mini blog at ...timhusband.info.

Obviously I'm at least in part trying to drum up extra traffic to my website, but I'm actually very keen to engage in robust skeptical discussion - to that end I've also set up a Facebook group called 'TinnitusTreatments with an Evidence Base' that you may want to check out.

Love to hear from you,

Regards,

Tim

[karen32]

I have very loud ringing Tinnitus in both ears but have not read anywhere about my kind.
Sometimes I wake in the morning and its completely gone. If I happen to doze off anytime during the day (like while watching TV while sitting up usually) its back with a vengance. This happens even after a few seconds of sleep. Once its back I have it non-stop for days till I happen to wake up without it. My wife says I snort, gasp and snore a lot while I am asleep. I have experimented with not using a pillow and sometimes I find this works.
Could I have a pressure problem in my ears/sinuses? It seems like my head position while sleeping has something to do with it.
Any help or advise would be appreciated.
Thanks
John

I have the same condition, I dont snort but I snore while sleeping. I will try the pillow thing to see if it works.