So..mild tinnitus is one of my few remaining symptoms. I never had it pre lyme. Mine is not caused by drugs as I had it before tx.
I know there is a tinnitus thread.
Just wondering how people who have beaten tinnitus did it? What was the protocol?
Mine is very mild, although it can get slightly louder occasionally. I can live with it, but am concerned to stop treatment until it is gone.
Posted by joalo (Member # 12752) on :
Up.
Posted by bcb1200 (Member # 25745) on :
Another thing I have noticed about mine. My tinnitus gets louder if I yawn or turn my head to the extreme ends of rotation. Could this mean it is musculoskeletal?
I never had it until early March. I started feeling unwell in Feb and was told it was "stress." I went to a Chiropractor for a "stress relief" and he adjusted my back, neck and jaw (I had injured it 15 years prior and the chiro said it was out.) The following week my ears began to ring. My jaw was still very very sore.
I know TMJ can cause tinnitus. I actually got a TMJ splint prior to my lyme dx (another dead end.)
Today..my jaw is much much better. Not where it was, but almost. But the (Now much milder) tinnitus remains. I usually can't hear it...but it is there. One thing I have learned is I will never get my jaw adjusted again! It opens pandora's box!
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- As you are fairly new to lyme, it may take a while for this to subside. For most, when the infection has been completely addressed, the tinnitus subsides.
LIVER SUPPORT while treating lyme is very important to the ears.
Be sure to use a cell phone only when necessary and a land line phone for most of your calls.
Avoid in-the-ear pods - and if you used closed headphones, keep the very low in volume. Best to avoid any headphones but, if out in traffic and around noise, you need hearing protection and having soft levels of music can help in other ways.
* See a neurotologist (neuro-otogist), one who is LL is best. There can be dozens of causes of tinnitus.
You might consider "masking" - training for about a year with ear plugs that emit certain tones that are incrementally adjusted so that your brain can "grow" to cancel out the tinnitus - if all other considerations have been addressed.
A neurotologist will be able to help you figure out if it is from your ears or from your brain - if ear damage, inflammation, particular stress on a cranial nerve, etc.
An audiologist can check you for other things.
Be sure to be assessed for diabetes, too.
Ototoxic drugs can cause this - even aspirin. But, also to consider: infections must be treated. So, when the only choice is to use ototoxic drugs, liver and kidney support is vital, as is avoiding all adjunct drugs that are ototoxic (aceteminophen, ibuoprofen, most sleeping meds and many pain meds).
The over all toxic level of the body affects the ears.
But, so does sound. When on ototoxic drugs such as zithromax, and most antibiotics, the ears are MUCH more susceptible to damage even at lower decibel levels than usual.
Even when around a hair dryer or blender, or vacuum, etc. hearing protection can protect from damage.
Damage from concerts 20 years ago can show up today - at tinnitus, etc.
Scented products and consuming liquids or foods from plastic container (or plastic lined cans) can cause tinnitus as they are endocrine disruptors. Adrenal stress, as well, causes tinnitus.
Topic: TINNITUS: Ringing Between The Ears; Vestibular, Balance, Hearing with compiled links - including HYPERACUSIS
========================
Acupuncture has been helpful. For me, the herb andrographis has helped the most but I'm still a long way from better with my ears (or regarding lyme + co.).
Also see the BODY WORK links in the last post here:
Topic: How to find a LL ND (naturopathic doctor), acupuncturist, etc.
Includes how to find an ILADS-educated LL ND, an Acupuncturist, a doctor of Oriental Medicine (O.M.D.), or a doctor of Ayurvedic Medicine (D.Ay.), certified herbalists or nutritionists, etc.
Includes many articles and books on complementary / integrative methods - & RIFE links.
As many sleep and pain meds are toxic and hard on the liver and kidneys, here are some suggestions for sleep support that can safely nourish & calm the body: ---------------
Topic: NATURAL SLEEP - Links to articles & supplements -
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- MAGNESIUM deserves it's very own place, at the head of the table.
You may need a higher level or different kind of magnesium. I need around 1,000 mg a day. Sometimes up to 2,000. Ease up to bowel tolerance and then back down. Calcium, too, needs to be in balance.
B-12, B-6 and Folic Acid are also "required" to help tinnitus. Methyl B-12 shots may be best. See Burrascano's Nutritional Guidelines for detail. In the links at the ND thread.
Thanks to Carol in PA for all these links: ---------------
Natural Calm -
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Have you been assessed for other tick-borne infections?
In addition to the usual coinfections from ticks (such as babesia, bartonella, ehrlichia, RMSF, etc.), there are some other chronic stealth infections that an excellent LLMD should know about:
I would encourage EVERY person who has received a lyme diagnosis to get the following tests.
- at link. -
Posted by Peedie (Member # 15355) on :
BCB1200 I have tinnitus just like yours. Developed before Tx and treatment. After 2 1/2 years of treatment, it remains. Mine also gets louder when I turn my head, yawn. I hope one morning we can wake up and it will be gone - wouldn't that be great? Meanwhile, my LLMD says a good chiropractor could be the answer. Maybe your tinnitus right after an adjustment was purly coincidental, since most Lyme people have tinnitus? I'm going from one chiropractor to another...
Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :
I notice after treating with a PEMF machine that tinnitus decreases greatly for about six hours.
PEMF means pulsed electro-magnetic frequency machine - it puts out audible clicks as we hold a white coil next to us.
One Lyme doctor said it probably relaxes the nerves to the ears.
The one I tried was called a Magnapulse - about 500-700 gauss strength - there's lots of them available for sale, and medical professionals like chiropractors are probably most likely to have them.
Posted by nefferdun (Member # 20157) on :
I believe it is just damage to the inner ear and permanent for me. My son also has it and he never had lyme. We like white noise, like a fan, to cover it up. I think of losing part of my hearing as being like needing glasses, frustrating but not uncommon.
Posted by Pinelady (Member # 18524) on :
Sweet oil, heat, B12IM, liquid Mag., etc. etc. It seems to be gone.
But still get the occasion itch/fullness/and the sweet oil takes it away quick.
Posted by Rumigirl (Member # 15091) on :
Pinelady, what's Sweet Oil? A Chinese oil?
Tinnitus has MANY causes. If it's from hearing loss, it's permanent damage. But it can also be from cranial misalignment (CranioSacral Therapy helps here) or neck misalignment (osteopathic, chiropractic, etc. treatment helps). But be careful of too many force adjustments; they damage the ligaments.
My tinnitus is permanent,unfortunately, from hearing loss, head trauma, and ototoxic meds (Zithromax, esp).
Posted by Marrit (Member # 25454) on :
If accompanied by hearing loss, and especially if it came on suddenly, it is usually due to viruses. Measles and mumps are 2 common viruses that destroy hearing. I'm still investigating mine. Had NO help from the ENT's I saw, who had no clue. Mine started in one ear (with sudden loud tinnitus), then the hearing in that ear improved. Then the hearing in the other ear went down. Hearing seems to fluctuate, even lost it completely one night during a bad spell of what felt like some type of virus. Tinnitus gets quieter during low pressure (rain, storm) and sometimes immediately after a migraine. Not sure what this means. I was told if the tinnitus is in one ear only, must have MRI for tumor.
Posted by Pinelady (Member # 18524) on :
Rumigirl you can get a lg. bottle at wally world for a couple bucks.
Not sure what its made of---might call the co.
But sweet almond oil is the old time meaning from wayyy back.
It is supposed to be highly acidic so that may be why it helps.
Posted by aMomWithHope (Member # 19255) on :
Interesting........never heard of sweet oil.
Posted by lifeline (Member # 3445) on :
My lyme symptoms have lessened to the point of having had no abx for many years now, however, my tinnitus, even though much less, has persisted.
I believe it is one symptom I may have with me forever, but it does not bother me much anymore.
A white noise machine helps a lot when you're trying to get to sleep.
lifeline
Posted by Paula 007 (Member # 8002) on :
Warmed sweet oil was what parents used to put in our ears in the 50's when you had an earache. I thought everybody had a bottle. LOL Funny.
I pray the tinnitus goes away some day. That's the one symptom that nothing has ever helped in me. I take the right vitamins; the antibiotics have me (I think, finally) close to remission.
The ringing in my ears is so loud now that you've mentioned it! Ha! Sometimes I can almost forget it.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- If you buy a white noise machine, keep the receipt. Some with inner ear disorders can't handle them. Some can. The same goes for Pink noise -- and it's not always the "noise" but also the vibration of the motor that was unbearable for me.
I also tried 3 different "sound" machines. Same thing. The motor in each one was so vibrational it made me vomit. -
Posted by dyna3495 (Member # 24126) on :
Would still like to hear from someone who has beat tinnitus or at least made it less!
Posted by PhillyLyme (Member # 26468) on :
Up
Posted by PhillyLyme (Member # 26468) on :
Up
Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :
I'll repeat what I said earlier - I had six hours of silence each time after treating with a PEMF electromagnetic machine, 500-700 gauss strength.
It's simple - we hold a white coil as the machine clicks em impulses. If you could find a health practitioner with one, you could try the experiment.
Posted by 'Kete-tracker (Member # 17189) on :
I "beat" it by eliminating any foods that I noticed ever triggered a worsening of the ringing, like alcohol (Duh!) and chocolate.
I then embarked upon hearty daily exercising outside, such as when I'd cut & split a 1/4 cord of red oak in 1 day. I also took a Vitamin-B supplement, with extra B-6 & B-12, & ate a healthy balanced diet.
I think the B vitamins (as recommended by an herbal naturopath) & the exercise sort of "burned it outa me", though I'm not sure just how or why.
I can currently go for days, even weeks, with NO tinnitus, rather than the daily ringing that plagued me from Jan. of 1996 (following a mild flu-like illness ) until... oh... mid-summer of 1997.
I still get a little 'zing-ing' now & then, but it's gone by the next morning.
Posted by Carol in PA (Member # 5338) on :
quote:Originally posted by Robin123: I notice after treating with a PEMF machine that tinnitus decreases greatly for about six hours.
PEMF means pulsed electro-magnetic frequency machine.
Hmm, I wonder if a SOTA Mag Pulser would help. I did try it for migraine, but didn't have any results.
Carol
Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :
Carol, I looked it up - it lists a much higher gauss strength than the PEMF machine that's been effective for all of us who try it - pain relief, mostly, with increased energy for some.
So I don't know about yours. I guess you could try some extended time and see what happens.
![[shake]](graemlins/shake.gif)
) until... oh... mid-summer of 1997.