Why Doctors Often Find it Difficult to Diagnose and Treat Tinnitus Study

[barbc56]

Recently, I've noticed several posts here on PR where tinnitus was mentioned. By coincidence, I ran across the following article. I also have tinnitus. It's fairly loud, but have learned to pretty much ignore it.

I can imagine how tortuous it would be not to be able to block it.

A steadyannging in ears, can originate from a large number of distinctive issues, for example, ailment or wounds. Notwithstanding, analysts have recently discovered why the ringing can be so difficult to treat.

As indicated by Tech Times, this discover originates from the University of Iowa and was distributed in Current Biology. Here, scientists utilized a brain checking procedure generally used to treat epilepsy to guide the methodology of tinnitus. They did this by measuring brain activity amid episodes of tinnitus, looking at stronger and weaker events of the condition. They additionally measured these outcomes against brain patterns seen when the volunteers were presented to a sound intended to copy the manifestation.

While this is vital in treating the ailment, the most critical find was that action specifically connected to tinnitus was exceptionally broad and crossed an expansive extent of the piece of the brain. Interestingly, the brain reactions to a sound they played that emulated tinnitus were confined to simply a little territory.

This demonstrates that tinnitus not just fills in the sounds missing in the wake of listening to harm, yet that it additionally spreads into different zones of the brain. Tinnitus is the impression of a sound that is regularly portrayed as ringing, however that truly isn’t there

http://www.esbtrib.com/2015/04/26/1...-it-difficult-to-diagnose-and-treat-tinnitus/

Barb

 

[ahmo]

After some years of tortuous tinnitus, it became evident it was linked to adrenals. If ever it returns beyond a gentle hiss, I now know I need to look at what's stressing adrenals.

 

[lansbergen]

Mine cleary was associated with the infection/inflammation. With overall improvement it disappeared and has not come back yet.

 

[WillowJ]

Cool way to do a study. They should use such techniques more often.

I can reduce tinnitus by avoiding excitotoxins. Can't get rid of it altogether.

 

[Valentijn]

Recently, I've noticed several posts here on PR where tinnitus was mentioned. By coincidence, I ran across the following article. I also have tinnitus. It's fairly loud, but have learned to pretty much ignore it.

I can imagine how tortuous it would be not to be able to block it.

A Dutch woman recently got legal euthanasia for it. Her tinnitus had started out mild, but progressed to being very severe over several years, until it became constant and unbearable.

Somewhat ironically, she had been a BPS-type practitioner for stress-related issues, though not overtly for CFS.

 

[perchance dreamer]

How horrible that the Dutch woman's case was so unbearable that she felt like she had to choose euthanasia!

I have a mild case, which really only bothers me at night. I deal with it by using earplugs and a white noise machine.

 

[jimells]

A Dutch woman recently got legal euthanasia for it. Her tinnitus had started out mild, but progressed to being very severe over several years, until it became constant and unbearable.

Somewhat ironically, she had been a BPS-type practitioner for stress-related issues, though not overtly for CFS.

Wow. What a sad story.

A long time ago I met a military veteran whose hearing was severely damaged by artillery. The doctors told him maybe they could stop the ringing with surgery intended to make him deaf. The kicker was that after the surgery, the tinnitus could still remain. He opted to skip the surgery and treat the tinnitus with alcohol.

Today I have pulsating tinnitus. In a way it's kinda entertaining. I can take my pulse by listening - no fingers or wrist required.

 

[lansbergen]

I can take my pulse by listening - no fingers or wrist required.

Yep.

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

Today I have pulsating tinnitus. In a way it's kinda entertaining. I can take my pulse by listening - no fingers or wrist required.

Same here. When I tell doctors I can take my pulse without using my hands they don't seem to get it. When I hold up my hand and start snapping my fingers in rhythm to my pulse, that visual aid seems to get the point across.

I don't find it entertaining at all. It keeps me awake at night and is the first thing I hear in the morning. I also have a pounding heartbeat and between that and the tinnitus I'm miserable. I take atenolol to keep the two in check and that in itself is one miserable drug that keeps me even more fatigued.

I've had hearing tests and cardiac tests that don't show anything wrong. I suspect adrenal issues too.

 

[jimells]

Same here. When I tell doctors I can take my pulse without using my hands they don't seem to get it. When I hold up my hand and start snapping my fingers in rhythm to my pulse, that visual aid seems to get the point across.

How could they not understand the concept? I'm constantly dismayed by the inability of doctors to comprehend what patients are telling them. No doctor has ever expressed the slightest interest in investigating or treating my tinnitus - because it can't be measured with a blood test?

Of course, they have never investigated or attempted to treat most of my symptoms...

 

[barbc56]

@jimells

The article is saying that tinnitus is a difficult condition to treat.

Whether doctors are dismissive of this condition or dismissive of our symptoms is a different issue. An issue that may be valid, but not the subject of the article.

I've had dismissive doctors and doctors who are not but that's my experience.

Barb

 

[zzz]

The fact that the study found that tinnitus affected large regions of the brain is consistent with the theories of Dr. Montoya and others that microglial inflammation across the brain plays a crucial role in causing the symptoms of ME/CFS.

Dr. Montoya, of course, has been studying the effect of Valcyte on ME/CFS patients for many years, and has seen its anti-inflammatory properties that have been so helpful for so many people. However, in addition to being a microglial inhibitor, Valcyte also appears to be an NMDA agonist (direct or indirect) at standards doses, which results in the inflammatory symptoms in so many people who get sick while taking it. The inflammatory properties of Valcyte can lead to tinnitus (among other things), and this tinnitus can be very severe in some people.

Yet at very low doses, the anti-inflammatory properties of Valcyte predominate over the inflammatory properties. This means that low dose Valcyte can be used to cure the neurological problems that standard dose Valcyte (or ME/CFS in general) causes. Although I never took Valcyte at a dose that was high enough to cause tinnitus for me, I have had severe tinnitus for many years, and I have found that a dose of 14 mg/day (1/32nd of a tablet) of Valcyte is the best treatment for tinnitus that I have ever found. By itself, it has reduced my tinnitus to almost undetectable levels, and has allowed me to take other medications that I previously couldn't take because of their tinnitus-producing effects.

Low dose Valcyte has also been found to reverse the side effects of standard dose Valcyte in myself and others. For example, both vertigo and peripheral neuropathy that were induced by standard dose Valcyte were eliminated by low dose Valcyte. This is due to the multiple modes of action of Valcyte.

As Dr. Montoya has found, Valcyte has strong immunomodulatory effects, and I have personally noticed that this has allowed Valcyte to be effective against a wide range of viruses. Since this effect is mediated by the immune system, and is not a direct effect of Valcyte on viruses, using a low dose of Valcyte does not risk creating treatment-resistant strains of viruses. Furthermore, pulsing low dose Valcyte (e.g., using it five days a week) appears to increase not only its immunomodulatory properties, but also its neurological benefits as well, as the anti-inflammatory properties tend to be longer lasting than the inflammatory ones, and regular breaks in Valcyte dosing appear to prevent the inflammatory effects from building up.

 

[Sidereal]

Today I have pulsating tinnitus. In a way it's kinda entertaining. I can take my pulse by listening - no fingers or wrist required.

I have this too, intermittently. For years I thought it was normal and that everyone could hear their pulse in their head.

 

[GhostGum]

A Dutch woman recently got legal euthanasia for it. Her tinnitus had started out mild, but progressed to being very severe over several years, until it became constant and unbearable.

Somewhat ironically, she had been a BPS-type practitioner for stress-related issues, though not overtly for CFS.

I am curious, but could she not have decided to become deaf instead? Through surgery. I find it hard to believe this option had not been explored though, but surely tinnitus does not remain with complete deafness?

 

[barbc56]

surely tinnitus does not remain with complete deafness

It might be because of the following, but I'm not positive about this.

Tinnitus is the impression of a sound that is regularly portrayed as ringing, however that truly isn’t there.

Now I'm curious if this could be a treatment. I'll have to do some digging.

Thanks.

Barb

 

[barbc56]

Found this article discussing myths about tinnitus. From what I've read it depends on the source of the tinnitus.

5. Cutting the auditory nerve will cure tinnitus

It might seem that, because tinnitus is experienced as a sound, cutting the nerve that carries sound signals from the ear to the brain might make it stop. But this is not the case. This is because the brain is involved in the perception of tinnitus and not just the ear. Even if the auditory nerve is surgically cut, tinnitus continues. Reduction of tinnitus occurs as the brain's perception of tinnitus changes, either naturally over time or with the help of different strategies or interventions

http://www.hearinglink.org/tinnitus/myths

Barb

 

[Effi]

@barbc56 there was a link on the page that you posted that led me to this information

This study is very important at looking at the future of tinnitus treatment. Because so many pathways in the brain are activated by the condition it can be difficult for medicines or other treatments to reduce the symptom. Neurofeedback, in which patients learn to control their brainwaves, is often utilized to control the persistent ringing.

I don't know how neurofeedback works. It sounds a bit dodgy...

Neurofeedback is direct training of brain function, by which the brain learns to function more efficiently. We observe the brain in action from moment to moment. We show that information back to the person. And we reward the brain for changing its own activity to more appropriate patterns. This is a gradual learning process. It applies to any aspect of brain function that we can measure. Neurofeedback is also called EEG Biofeedback, because it is based on electrical brain activity, the electroencephalogram, or EEG. Neurofeedback is training in self-regulation. It is simply biofeedback applied to the brain directly. Self-regulation is a necessary part of good brain function. Self-regulation training allows the system (the central nervous system) to function better.

 

[Andielyn]

Wow, this is all very fascinating. I also have tinnitus, I'd say moderate. I also have intermittent pulsating tinnitus and can take my pulse rate. My doctor has never really offered any help for me. (As a note, I am not diagnosed, a rather new member with many symptoms.--I did not know tinnitus was associated.) ~Andielyn

 

[jimells]

The article is saying that tinnitus is a difficult condition to treat.

It's even more difficult to diagnose and treat when one doesn't even try.

I have a sister with bad tinnitus. She uses some kind of hearing aids to counter it. She has a lot more money than I do, so the doctors were willing to try to help. Since I'm living (if one can call it that) on disability, they don't bother to try.

 

[barbc56]

I don't know how neurofeedback works. It sounds a bit dodgy

Yeah, it is. I think the same thing of biofeedback. Any changes don't always last in the long term. However, I might be a bit prejudiced as I had biofeedback and it didn't work.

Thanks for finding that.

Barb