My Search For Tinnitus Relief Led to Discovery Of A Unique Vagus Nerve Stimulation Technique

[Starsister]

@Wayne Thanks for your posting and the article on the vagus nerve. I'm just new to the learning curve on the vagus nerve but can see it may be connected to some things I've experienced. I often get tinnitus that just drives me crazy..like I just need a break from the noise. It's so frustrating that I have created complete control of my environment..well almost...to where I can stay away from most noises, but there is no relief from the one in my head...a constant ringing and high pitched hissing sound....your term screeching really fits.

I've had summers when I honestly couldn't tell whether the noise was cicadas out in my yard or in my ears....I finally closed the windows thinking it was cicadas keeping me awake and realized it was in my ears. Obviously ear plugs don't help so there is no escape!

I often find myself massaging the base of my scull as I always have pain or tenderness there. I'd do more but I have pain in my elbows as well as other joints and it just makes me feel worse to put pressure on any of my joints, but I'm going to read up on the vagus nerve. Something is miswired or pinching as I can't stand up or hold my head up without tiny pains shooting up and down causing me to feel faint, nauseous and sharp pains in my head and temple area making it painful to wear my glasses. I will try out your technique.

 

[kangaSue]

I just posted on another thread I thought Atlas Profilax might be good for them to consider.

There's pretty mixed reviews about doing the Atlas Profilax manipulation so I'm a bit wary of it. I don't have any other signs either such as neck or nerve pains in this area.

I think my vagus nerve problem is actually further down, in the abdomen or pelvis. I have a totally occluded left renal vein and increased abdominal venous pressure from this has dilated a lot of other pelvic and abdominal vessels as a result so more likely to be something there that is irritating the vagus nerve too.

 

[hangininthere]

I've suspected for a few years that my orthostatic intolerance is a vagus nerve problem.

My ears ring constantly for decades, as long as I can remember, since adulthood anyway. I'm used to it, luckily not bad enough to impair my daily functioning or make me miserable. Aspirin and other salicylates make it ring worse, but still not bad enough to make me miserable.

Thinking of taking choline supplement since I'm on so many anti-cholinergics in recent years - is choline the same thing that's being inhibited from the anticholergenics? I googled it, but forget what I found out, or still wasn't sure.

Have had severely sluggish bowels all my life, even as a toddler. Constipated every day.

A chiropractor alleviated my orthostatic intolerance for a few months with simple manual adjustments. He said my OI was stemming from the neck area. My insurance won't pay for as many year-long appointments I need to maintain the improvement (plus I can't keep up the pace of that many appointments on a regular basis), so the miserable OI came back. It was wonderful being able to be upright at a store and in kitchen with nary a thought of feeling faint and unable to think straight because of blood draining down from my head and having to lie down - completely forgot about it for that few months. I went from a wheelchair everywhere I went to walking in the stores and standing in line at the checkout without a thought of needing to sit or lie down.

The chiropractor didn't alleviate my constipation, though.

An elastic back brace you mentioned on a post about it helping OI, so I bought one a few weeks ago, works for my orthostatic intolerance - so does a ladies elastic belt I then bought for my denim blue jeans. It alleviates my OI. It keeps the blood from draining down to my legs too much. So glad you mentioned the elastic back brace. I just now posted about the wonderful improvement. Today I walked through store and stood in line at checkout without a thought - all because of the tight elastic belt I wore to hold my blue jeans up.

I just now tried firmly rubbing that spot on back of neck. It gave me a bad feeling - I felt a strong wave of nausea and like my head would explode. Tried it four times in 10 minutes, just for a second each time, same reaction.

EFT tapping (Emotional Freedom Technique) gives me a bad reaction, too, but different - it activates my bipolar right off the bat when doing it and for several minutes after.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) works really well for me, immediately alleviates my racing thoughts and anxiety and brings me back down to earth in the here and now, when I remember to do it.

Wow, I'm really glad the technique you mentioned here - rubbing that spot on base of skull - is working right off the bat for some here. Wonderful tip, Wayne.

Patti

 

[Wayne]

Thiamine as a possible treatment for tinnitus... Below the link is part of the fairly lengthy post...

Thiamine Pyrophosphate (TPP) Stopped My Tinnitus!

... I suspect that what I am about to share is related to helping decrease inflammation in the Eustachian tubes or nerves. -- The miracle substance that helped me is called Thiamine Pyrophosphate (TPP.) This is also known as Coenzymated Vitamin B1, Thiamine Diphosphate, and Thiamine Cocarboxylase. I bought this from a company called Source Naturals on Amazon. I think it was 11 bucks.

Brief primer on TPP:

Thiamine that you ingest in food or supplements is usually some sort of free thiamine compound. Most supplements are Thiamine HCl, and many foods are usually fortified with thiamine mononitrate (like flour and rice.) This is not the ACTIVE form of thiamine in the body, though. Your body needs to attach TWO phosphate groups to free thiamine; TPP then enters the Krebs (Citric Acid) cycle and can be used by the body.

Why did I decide to try taking this? -- Well, because of allergies, I don't eat a lot of fortified foods. I suspected I was deficient in thiamine. I figured this out years ago, and have been taking a thiamine supplement for many years---- Thiamine HCl, though. I did not notice much of a difference one way or the other, but was just taking it as a preventive measure.

Well, I ran out of that kind. I came across the idea of "activated" B vitamins somewhere in my research, and the logic behind them seemed to make sense to me. Because of genetics, some people can't process Folic Acid into active Folate, for example (those with the MTHFR gene mutation.) I thought "hey, maybe there's similar issue with Thiamine." Anyway, I decided to give it a try.

So, here's what I did. I ordered that supplement mentioned above. Each pill has 25 mg of thiamine, which is like 20 times the USRDA. I decided to start out super slowly, since I didn't know how I would react to it. I crushed the pill up into powder, put the powder into a dropper bottle, and added 200 drops of water. I started out taking 1 drop a day, which was like 0.08 mg of TPP (about 1/15 the USRDA.) Then over the course of a few weeks, I upped it to the USRDA.

Within about two days of starting this protocol, my tinnitus totally disappeared! After 31 years! -- The tinnitus remained gone a long as I was on this protocol, for about a month. Then, I stopped taking the TPP because I got a cold and thought that that might have had something to do with it.

Within two days the tinnitus came back. -- Three days ago, I started back on it, but the tinnitus has not disappeared yet. I'm still on a super low dose, and will slowly increase over the next week. I have hope that I will have a similar result the second time around.​

 

[RobR]

No hope for me then because my Tinnitus was brought on by what I thought was a head cold 10 years ago that turned into Chronic Sinusitis then CFS.
I've had 2 operations to remove polyps from my nasal passages but it appears the infection went up toward my brain and buried itself in my upper sinuses. For me it seems this is the main issue of my illness.
Now if I could rid myself of this problem I'm sure I'd recover. I'd gladly hand over a limb for any suggestions on how I can battle this Demon.

 

[Wayne]

any suggestions on how I can battle this Demon.

Hi @RobR,

Have you done, or are you familiar with a technique called nasal specific? It involves inflating a balloon in the sinuses, and expands them. It's worked miracles for some people with chronic sinus issues of all kinds. Perhaps it would help you. -- Also, I recently purchased an electronic nasal irrigator, and I love it for keeping my sinsues clear. That might help as well--if you haven't already tried it. Works way better than a neti pot. -- Best!

 

[RobR]

Hi Wayne,

I've never heard of that before thanks. I gave up with both Steroid spray and nasal wash as they caused me tremendous pain.
After both operations I could flush my Sinuses, but as my nasal passages became blocked and my Sinus infection worsened I found the pain unbearable so had to stop.
Will certainly give nasal specific a try.

One last thing I should mention.
The pain in my Sinuses went after a trip across the pond to Western Australia. I had a cold for a few days while there and the pain and the leaf green gunge from my nose subsided.
My Doctor suggested pollution as a cause of the Chronic side of it. This might well be true because I found the air quality in Australia a lot cleaner than here in the U.K hence the partial cure.
The gunk now coming from my nose is a grayish color but the pain has stayed away.

Thanks again!
Rob

 

[Wayne]

Will certainly give nasal specific a try.

The trick is finding a practitioner that can do it. Chiropractors and ND's are the ones who probably do most of them, but they generally don't advertise this expertise.

From your description, it appears you still have an ongoing infection going on. Most traditional doctors prescribe a class of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones to treat sinus infections. These drugs can have absolutely devastating consequences. I've heard accounts online of people developing CFS as a result. So be extraordinarily vigilant if this is ever recommended to you.

It's also possible you have some biofilms in your sinuses (built up by bacterial infections). Certain enzymes have been shown to be very beneficial in breaking up those biofilms. When I suggested to my brother to try serrapeptase for his chronic sinus congestion, he found it to be quite helpful. -- Now that I think about it, I think some people have misted apple cider vinegar into their sinuses and got relief. You may want to google search that.

Best!​

 

[RobR]

The trick is finding a practitioner that can do it. Chiropractors and ND's are the ones who probably do most of them, but they generally don't advertise this expertise.

From your description, it appears you still have an ongoing infection going on. Most traditional doctors prescribe a class of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones to treat sinus infections. These drugs can have absolutely devastating consequences. I've heard accounts online of people developing CFS as a result. So be extraordinarily vigilant if this is ever recommended to you.

It's also possible you have some biofilms in your sinuses (built up by bacterial infections). Certain enzymes have been shown to be very beneficial in breaking up those biofilms. When I suggested to my brother to try serrapeptase for his chronic sinus congestion, he found it to be quite helpful. -- Now that I think about it, I think some people have misted apple cider vinegar into their sinuses and got relief. You may want to google search that.

Best!​

From my search I seems no one in the UK carries out this procedure, will keep looking though.

My Doctor did prescribe a Steroid nasal spray but it wasn't the one you've mentioned. I've tried many from Beconase, Colloidal Silver and all natural products. All of them have done nothing but made me feel unwell, some really unwell.
The Steroid spray was like pouring petrol on a fire. The pain made me vomit it was that bad.

Regarding the infection:
The procedure was to take a sample from my nose and have it analyzed.
This wasn't carried out and it would seem I've been left in a worse state had I been treated correctly.
I'm sure this would have pointed Doctors in the right direction of what treatment I needed.
Let down by the system is an understatement.

Anyway,
Thanks again Wayne for the useful information!

 

[kangaSue]

Well, I ran out of that kind. I came across the idea of "activated" B vitamins somewhere in my research

Bit of a minefield as usual with these things, can you tell us what is the actual product that you are taking?

My husband developed a bad case of Tinnutis 20 years ago from doing a course of antibiotics (not fluoroquinolones though) for an infected knee and has never improved from it.

 

[Wayne]

I just ran across the following testimonial I thought it would fit with this thread... (at THIS SITE). I wouldn't be surprised if some other essential oil would work just as well as the Citronella. It probably won't cure everybody's tinnitus, but seems like it would probably be good for just about any kind of sinus infection.

"I folded a handkerchief into a 1 and a half inches width and poured a few drops of Citronella Essential Oil on it. I laid down on my bed and placed the handkerchief over my nose in contact with the oil. I breathed in and out through the handkerchief for half an hour. I felt the sting of the Citronella fumes in my sinuses, so I controlled my inhaling to prevent too much pain. But other than that there was no harm experienced by me by inhaling this oil.

Anyway, after half hour of such inhalation, I experienced a discharge of watery mucus from my nostrils like having a cold. I sensed something good about it. I cleared my nose. After that my tinnitus of 2 years was gone for good! Imagine after despairing for so long and searching here and there on the Internet for a cure, I bumped into one myself. And this happened like 10 months ago and the tinnitus has never returned. I am completely cured.​

 

[Strawberry]

BTW, I've discovered there seems to be a fair amount of overlap between CFS and tinnitus. As I learn more, I hope to start a more comprehensive discussion on the topic. For now, I will say I strongly suspect people with CFS are more susceptible to tinnitus than the average person.

I'm curious on this point. I'm 52, I've had CFS for nearly 25 years, but I can't remember a time that my ears never rang. Even as a small child my ears screamed. I thought it was normal. My mom has tinnitus and it started the day I was born. Could there be something genetic there? Or was there an ototoxic drug commonly used in child birth in 66? I'm also hypermobile if that gives any other twists or theories. As is my mom.

 

[Wayne]

My mom has tinnitus and it started the day I was born. Could there be something genetic there? Or was there an ototoxic drug commonly used in child birth in 66?

Hi @Strawberry -- Wow, quite a story. I have my doubts it's genetic, and seems more likely it was an ototoxic drug that probably caused it (just too much of a coinicidence). -- A fairly well-known man in the tinnitus community (Julian Cowan Hill) discovered he was able to mostly overcome many years of debilitating tinnitus by calming down his brain and his fight or flight response (sound familiar). He felt the most beneficial therapy for him was cranial/sacral (and he's since become a therapist), but believes other calming and energetic balancing techniques can work as well.

Here's a LINK to one of his many Youtube videos in case you'd want to check it out. -- I only got tinnitus last February (from a single dose of an ototoxic drug). I've since done a lot of research on tinnitus, and have noticed a lot of overlap between it and CFS. Tinnitus seems to be a dysfunction between the ears and the brain, whereas CFS seems to be more of a dysfunction between the brain and the immune system, and/or endocrine system, and/or (name any other of systems). Which makes me think that solutions for this dysfunction might end up being in the realm of learning how to reset these systems/dysfunctions.

 

[Strawberry]

Thanks! I'll check it out!

 

[Wayne]

These days, I'm constantly looking for anything that might possibly bring some tinnitus relief. Interestingly, I made an inadvertent discovery a couple days ago. I ate a big bunch of grass-fed beef liver on Sunday (my intuition literally catapultted me out the door that morning to buy some). My tinnitus has been noticeably better since then, and my ability to tolerate the tinnitus even better yet.

Can't say this is a "for sure", but this decrease in tinnitus is also corresponding to a remarkable sense of being "grounded". I just perused some reviews of various grass-fed organic organ supplements, and was struck by the variety of results people have gotten from taking them. Including vastly improved energy levels (though not had CFS as far as I could tell). But my energy has been somewhat better the past couple days as well.

 

[Wishful]

Can't say this is a "for sure", but this decrease in tinnitus is also corresponding to a remarkable sense of being "grounded".

When I find something that seems to affect my ME, I repeat the test at least three times, over a suitable period of time, while being extra careful of avoiding other new factors. Even better as a test is forgetting to take something, and then when feeling better or worse than usual, checking your records to see if you did forget to take whatever it was. Expected results are untrustworthy due to human nature. I think tinnitus is something that we can fairly easily convince ourselves is better or worse if we strongly believe that something will affect it.

If it is a real effect, maybe you can isolate the specific factor: omega-3/omega-6 ratio or whatever.

 

[Violeta]

View attachment 26480

Thank you for the chart, @Chelby. I also like that it lists essential oils that would be helpful.

@Wayne, where on this chart do you insert the acupuncture needles?

 

[Violeta]

Very interesting - my tinnitus is just roaring away - it's particularly bad after drinking something with caffeine in it - which is unfortunate as caffeine is one of my very few energy boosters that works at times.

I have so much upper body stuff going on that I'm not surprised doing something up there could help.

Your mention of caffeine making your tinnitus worse made me wonder if tinnitus has anything to do with potassium channels, as I had found several years ago that a symptom that my husband was having was being caused by coffee and the coffee was affecting potassium metabolism. I looked it up and found this study, which has to do with one cause of tinnitus, but I saw the same thing mentioned with respect to another cause.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4387930/

I see homeopathic potassium carbonate is good for ringing in the ears. I've been taking that for post herpetic neuralgia, I'll have to see if it helps even temporarily with tinnitus. It certainly hasn't cured it.

See, too, how coffee antidotes potassium carbonate?,

 

[Gondwanaland]

Results of a google search on tinnitus + adrenals
Poor mineral metabolism = poor adrenal function