Alcohol

[Furbabiesforever]

Does anyone fi d that the only answer is to just get so drunk you collapse.I feel its my only release.

I just cant deal with it.

[Lee_Scoresby]

Sounds like a wind-up ….

[Furbabiesforever in reply to Lee_Scoresby]

No wind up. Just cant deal with it

[Deena6 in reply to Furbabiesforever]

Me neither

[Philip6]

A little alcohol can help you to relax. It helps me in the evening, but too much is never a good idea. Getting drunk doesn’t solve anything and it’s not a path you want to go down.

[Fruitandnutcase]

Nope, I wouldn’t do that - I suspect at the very least you would end up with a nasty hangover and the tinnitus would probably be even worse.

[Jimbob7]

Alcohol can be used as a weapon against Tinnitus - yes. You can bludgeon yourself into unconsciousness with it easily enough.

But I've learned that to fight Tinnitus (with "weapons") is to start a fight you are going to lose. Everytime.

Methods, Practices, and Tools - these are the things to employ in the management of our condition.

Not weapons like alcohol.

Speak to your doctor about managing Spikes - I use Diazepam from time to time, not very often at all these days, - I treat it as an ejector seat that removes me from the T.

A couple of days on it give me respite from the storm that is a Spike.

You could say it's the same thing as using alcohol but I would disagree. The Diazepam modifies Gaba Receptors and just takes the edge off everything whilst allowing me to feel relaxed and calm and reflective of my condition. To formulate new approaches and methods to cope.

Alcohol is a just poison that obliterates and little more. All the trouble is still going to be there when you return from your absence only more so.

[Deena6 in reply to Jimbob7]

How many mg do you take to help with your spike?

[Jimbob7 in reply to Deena6]

Hi Deena, so the Diazepam comes to the rescue maybe once every couple of months - during a particularly loud unpleasant Spike. Last time was about 6 weeks ago. When I spike everything else tends to go wrong as well so I'm tense and stressed and unhappy - in despair actually. I'll take 2mg as we go into late afternoon and then if I need to take another 2mg in order to help sleep I will. This is not a big dose. As I said; it's just enough to take the sharpest edges off the spike. I'm not seeking oblivion - just a little distance between me and T. I might do that for 2 or three days but for as short a time as I can.

The thing to bear in mind about Diazepam is it only works in small doses if taken occassionally. Repetition leads to a diminishment in efficacy.

As my GP and I disucssed - it's there for when I want to hit the STOP button for a day or two, otherwise it's too much of a hazzard.

Hope that helps,

[Deena6 in reply to Jimbob7]

You're right, it is a small amount. Thanks for this. It helps to read how people deal with their spikes.

[Hi-Just-Me in reply to Jimbob7]

Hi so this must be the reason my T stopped for 3 days after I had anesthesia. I long for silence again as diazepam just doesn’t cut it

[Jimbob7 in reply to Hi-Just-Me]

Indeed it might be. Yep, the Diazepam doesn't silence the T but what it does do is move you a few inches away from it. It helps you to neglect to notice it and cushions you somewhat from the violence of the T. It buys you some space to relax and chill and contain yourself. To draw yourself together to carry on with the struggle.

[Hi-Just-Me in reply to Jimbob7]

imagine asking a Doctor for anesthesia to calm this awful sound. The only way I can describe it is a washing machine on full spin 🫣😮thank you for your reply

[TinnitusUKPat Partner in reply to Hi-Just-Me]

Diazepam is frequently prescribed to help people manage generalized anxiety disorders, as well as issues like insomnia and conditions like epilepsy.

If we view this medication as having an effect primarily on the anxious response to tinnitus, I'm not going to suggest that everybody should ask to be prescribed Diazepam or other benzodiazepenes as a miraculous salve for tinnitus distress.

What I want to ask is knowing what Diazepam is prescribed for in the context of tinnitus, does it make sense that anxiety is a big element of tinnitus' impact and that by finding ways to manage our anxiety about it, we might have some of that elusive control or understanding of the condition.

If we can recognize when we're having an anxious response to tinnitus and understand that things which help us to reduce our anxiety might be helpful to lower the volume level or intensity of the condition, I think that's a discussion worth having. The drug in this case is a means to an end - and if medications are not right for someone, there are other ways to manage anxiety and perhaps turn down the volume on tinnitus a little bit.

[Hi-Just-Me in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

Thank you for your reply I have all the gadgets white noise machine ect ect never sit in silence or too much noise. I guess not one size fits all as we have been given this condition from various ways & I always remember someone said to me ‘you have to do what gets you through’ but I never thought of anxiety causing T. Our bodies are just so amazing yet so complex.

[Happyrosie]

as has been said - the problem won’t go away with alcohol. tinnitus loves alcohol- when your hangover strikes,,the tinnitus has a ball!

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

The main problem here is not alcohol per se, but alcohol misuse. Alcohol isn't strongly indicated on the basis of current research to be that much of a trigger for tinnitus provided that people drink in moderation and follow the current health guidelines:

tinnitus.org.uk/understandi...

That's 14 units of alcohol per week.

This works out to:

6 175ml glasses of 13% wine per week or

6 pints of 4% beer or lager per week or

5 pints of 4.5% cider per week or

14 25ml measures of 40% spirits per week

The guidelines are the same for men and women.

When someone is drinking enough to pass out, that's an indicator of a problem, be it emotional, psychological or something which spans a number of issues. Alcohol and depression are not happy compatriots and I would encourgage anybody struggling with either of these distressing problems to feel courageous enough to get help - there are other resources on Health Unlocked which may well have signposting which can help.

[Ray200 in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

6 pints of beer per week! A full grown man? Who are they trying to fool, Pat. This country has a puritanical streak in it. We saw it in religion 500 years ago, and its still with us today with alcohol. Do you think the people in the wine producing areas of Europe drink tea at night? If they are a crowd of alcohol wrecks be assured the 'health champions' here would have picked up on that and would be bombarding us weekly with grief. But they aren't. The reason being...

[TinnitusUKPat Partner in reply to Ray200]

No, Ray, I don't think that French, German or Dutch society eschew alcohol - but those countries don't seem to have nearly the same problems with problem drinking that we do, so I don't personally have a problem with moderation being suggested (Hungary, apparently, has the highest per person rate of alcohol misuse in Europe).

It's a suggestion - people don't have to and frequently won't abide by it.

But drinking until you're unconscious? I don't see any scenario where this constitutes a good idea. And that's arguably not going to be a notion which our platform holder is supportive of either - I think we have to consider the space in which we're discussing these issues.

[Ray200 in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

Well, I thought I'd give an alternative view of it all, Pat. Another is my own personal that the majority of the misuse in the UK is binge by people of Anglo Saxon descent (he said outrageously, but said it anyway as these opinions need to be aired, and head in the sand doesn't help anybody).

On the subject of the puritanical, don't be surprised if someone comes on and berates you with "there is NO safe alcohol limit" and that even thinking about having a drink is harmful, people being what they are.

[bantams]

Hi, I like to have a few drinks at the weekend and I find that whilst I am out having a drink I never notice my T and it does help to fall asleep, but on the downside if I have had a few too many drinks it will ramp my T up a notch the next day.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to bantams]

I don’t have any feelings about alcohol either way other than it isn’t a cure for anything but I would think the reason you don’t notice the T at the weekend is more like.y to be because you are out in company and having a good time rather than because of the drink, the tinnitus will still be there but you just notice it less and I agree, I bet too many drinks will ramp up the T.