Is caffeine ok or not?

[drittz78]

Does caffeine affect Tinnitus. Seems to be mixed messages on whether to avoid caffeine or not.

Reason I'm asking is I have liver issues and coffee is great for Liver Fibrosis.

[bridgeit]

Hi Drittz,according to the American Tinnitus Association's list of ototoxic drugs, yes, caffeine can aggravate T.

Here's the web reference to the (exceedingly long) list, which I've found disappears from time to time; very strange.

ata.org/sites/default/files...

It seems to me, speaking as someone who has T and no medical training, that each person's T seems to react differently to different things according to what I've read.

So, assuming you have T, caffeine might make it spike, on the other hand it might not. The chances are though that if you try one delicious mug of real coffee (I recommend Hundred House Columbian single origin) per day and your T gets worse (mine does not), it can be calmed again if you stop drinking the coffee. I think that there's unlikely to be a permanent increase in noise aggravated by caffeine when the caffeine intake is stopped.

In your shoes, I'd weigh the balance; liver health vs. T spiking. You might opt to take the daily (or 2/3 times weekly) coffee and up the T habituation practise, or just grin and bear it.

PS. Beetroot is excellent for the liver too, and definitely is not ototoxic!

[TinnitusUKPat Partner in reply to bridgeit]

I believe the list was devised in collaboration with Neil Bauman, PhD, so if it does disappear from the ATA's site, Dr. Baumann's blog is a likely place to find it - hearinglosshelp.com/about-us/

[drittz78 in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

Thank you for the link.

[drittz78 in reply to bridgeit]

My T is usually mild and spiked in the last few weeks to levels that I don't want to think about. I think it's been caused by fluid behind my left ear so have nose spray to clear it up. I think I'll drop the caffeine and stick to decaf until it clears up. Thank you for the link and yes I have started to eat beetroot as well for my liver.

[Philip6]

Hello, for me caffeine makes no difference whatsoever. I have decaffeinated tea, and sometimes decaffeinated coffee. Nothing I eat or drink affects my tinnitus. I would imagine you would have to drink a lot of cups of very strong coffee, but everyone is different. For me it makes no difference.

[attack13]

Hi drittz78,Caffeine does affect my tinnitus slightly as it increases my heart rate and therefore seems to heighten the noise. However I limit my intake to 2 big mugs a day, all before lunchtime and then allow myself to relax and quieten down as the day goes on. I find this helps with my ears and also allows me to sleep and chill at night. I look upon it as making a deal with my tinnitus if that makes sense.

Hope this helps.

[surreycccfan]

Hi, I initially stopped drinking caffeine when I first got T and I have now been slowly introducing it back to my diet and I have found it makes no difference. A little bit more info on the subject on the BTA website at tinnitus.org.uk/food-drink-...

Hope this helps in some small way. Stay safe

[PABLR]

Hello, I suspect that like most things tinnitus related it's completely individual. It seems from my reading and talking to my specialist that it has the potential to be a problem and so when my tinnitus first got worse at the same time as I lost a lot of hearing in my second ear, I switched to decaf and avoided caffeine as much as I could. Didn't make any difference so I started drinking caffeinated coffee again and still no difference. I think you just have to experiment and see what it does for you. I did discover that decaffeinated coffee isn't actually too bad! I used the same brand and variety in both and couldn't tell much of a difference especially if I wasn't doing a taste comparison!

[Hidden]

Hi D.

I was advised cutting caffeine would be useful with tinnitus and it is said cutting caffeine can calm it down. However I'm also aware of benefits of coffee in moderation. E.g my Dad had Parkinsons and coffee was said to help with the symptoms.

I drink tea and sometimes coffee if I'm out - then I usually switch to decaff from late afternoon onwards. I drink a glass of water if I have coffee, after seeing this abroad I decided to keep it going. I drink a lot of water in general but love my tea!

...moderation is key. 👍