Tinnitus diet and help

[HDaws]

Hello I've had tinnitus for 1 year and am waiting for tests. Online advice has suggested that changes can be made to our diet to reduce the noise, I've been told to avoid dairy, salt, alcohol and caffeine. Does anyone have any advice on this, or has had any success stories? Any advice would be unbelievably appreciated, thank you.

[Happyrosie]

there is a lot of information, and misinformation, about tinnitus floating around on the web, so great care must be taken. I once looked at a Facebook site -it was all gloom and doom and unhelpful. Also, people are trying to sell you cures. Snake oil comes to mind.

People here on this site, however, have always been helpful and caring. Some have said in the past that some of the things you mention have proved helpful, and others have commented that such restrictions have not helped. Personally, I find that no changes to my diet have made the slightest difference.

But thats’s tinnitus for you! What helps me doesn’t help the next person, and so on.

You might care to scroll down and look at some posts and replies over the last week, where people have shown what helped them.

I believe that people have been helped by this site - but they don’t return here necessarily to tell us about it as they don’t think about tinnitus any more - it doesn’t impinge on their life, so they no longer use this site.

Can I suggest you look at the website of Tinnitus UK, the specialist charity.

[Graham-E in reply to Happyrosie]

Totally agree with this. Well said.

[perlcoder]

Hello,

I just want to echo what Happyrosie said. T is so completely bound up with the individual psychology of the sufferer that it is very difficult to know whether changing elements of one's diet makes any difference beyond the psychological - and from my reading over the years such changes, if they occur, often do not last.

Exceptions may be caffeine and alcohol and other stimulants / depressants. I am a tea drinker, occasionally coffee, and they don't make any difference to my T, but others may report different responses. Alcohol may be more bothersome, but I have always enjoyed a glass of wine / can of beer (seldom more than one these days), and if they make my T a percentage point or so worse sometimes, I think that a price well worth paying for living normally and refusing to let the condition determine what I am and am not allowed to enjoy.

Best wishes.

[Tal-r789T]

Hi, I got the same advise from one consultant, tried all of it and no difference. I suspected it was just something that was said in case it was stress related and this may help alleviate stress. My T is hearing loss related so I've never found a difference. The only differences I find are seasonal (pollen) and when I get a cold or similar. I am unsure if stress affects my T at all.

[Yoga62]

Hi, I have had Tinnitus for more than 30 years and find spicy food and very sweet food makes my T worse, I also have Decaf Tea and Coffee which has helped a little and hardly any alcohol as that makes it worse too , it’s worth a try just to see if it would help.

Best wishes to you.

[EarHealth2024]

I’ve had it for 10 months now. I’ve spent lots on different so-called remedies. Changed diet. Cut-out stuff

The only thing that helps me is focusing my thoughts elsewhere, wearing hearing aids and keeping calm.

Good luck my friend ⭐️

[D-w-L2023]

Over 30 years with T and the only thing I've found helps is distraction. I try to walk every day. I find simply being outside and moving seems to help. My diet doesn't seem to affect it all. I still drink coffee and enjoy my wine and beer.

As others have said, a lot of dealing with T is in your own head. Some find meditation and CBT helps as do those who use masking sounds.

If you find that adopting a certain diet helps then stay with it.

We all have to find our own way through this and it can take a while to find the best way for you.

There is a lot of info on the Tinnitus UK site.

Just one thing though, there is no cure we know of yet and anyone claiming to have one (which normally involves an exchange of money) should be treated with caution.

Good luck with your journey.

[Philip6]

for me diet makes no difference, I’m vegetarian and don’t have dairy products, I’ve tried decaffeinated tea and coffee and cutting out alcohol, it made no difference.

[Graham-E]

Hi and sorry you are going through this.

Sometimes, alcohol makes my T a little worse and other times not so much. However, I’m a very light drinker. I mean splitting a 330ml can of cider with a meal! I’ve only been really drunk once while having my T and that was literally because of T getting me down and the next day my T seemed ‘much’ louder.

For me it’s stress and tiredness are the big things. I’m already stressing about the forthcoming holiday!

As others have said it seems that there is no ‘one size fits all’. Coffee and dairy are again for me not a big thing so it’s hard to comment. This is one of those frustrating things about this condition. I’m sorry I wish I could help more. I prefer distraction from silence and honesty very little makes it worse apart from number 1 stress and number 2 tiredness.

I wish you well and sorry I couldn’t be more useful. Best to you with this.

G

PS Nighttime sound machine with a pillow that has the tiny speakers was very helpful to me at the start of this condition.

[Melodyray]

I've feel like I went to hell and back in the first months of tinnitus.. Had it a year now..Have explored ENT.. They say it's not my ears.. I have slight hearing loss in one ear.. But tinnitus is both sides and different sounds... Neurology(as I have MS).. Brain scan didn't show anything..

I have some TMJ and bulging disc in my neck and this could possibly be a cause... Waiting on a new mri scan app..

But I think knowing that it's nothing serious that is going on in the body helps.

Habituation really is possible.. I also got some really decent hearing aids. And I don't wear them everyday.

When my tinnitus spikes.. I put them in then as hearing things a bit louder gives my brain something to focus on..

Now when I'm walking. At the gym.. Or at work and on the move there is 50% of the time the tinnitus is not even noticeable..

Then times I'm aware it's there but it doesn't distress me..

Then prob 20% I feel distressed and use music.. Fan.. Hearing aids... Even sleeping tablet on occasion to calm me.

Lack of sleep... Illness(like now eeeeck)

Not enough water.. Too much coffee.. And eating badly would make it feel louder to me..

So I try to just be as well as I can...

Thought my life was over a year ago.. But I have found quality of life again...

Good luck to you and anyone needing help with this xx

[Ray200]

Rosie is on the money. Said it all. Tinnitus came to me in retirement so have had plenty of time to go on line about it. Give up this and cut down on that is what you get. But what you won't find is detail on why for the items involved. Just a woolly "you'll feel better". It's the same as 'go vegan and get all the health benefits'. What benefits? And why no mention of the lack of energy and the almost certain problem of malnutrition.

The diet advocates are best ignored. We've enough to put up with from tinnitus. We don't need straw clutching on top...

[Sunday_66]

I was advised by my audiologist that everyone is different and it is often trial and error as to what may be triggering spikes. Unless it is serious and your diet generally needs improving for other reasons i.e. too much salt, sugar or alcohol, you should just consider one item at a time and omit/reduce (or add it if a supplement) from your diet for at least 10 days. If there's no change then go back to enjoying whatever you are trying to test.

I have tried to generally reduce things that affect sleep so keeping a strict cut off point in the evening for any food/drink and limit caffeine to before 2pm.

I have found meditation and occupying myself more outside gardening/walking to be far more help in accepting and quietening the condition. Trying to normalise it as part of me rather than fear or fight it is my priority rather than looking for any quick cures in diet etc

I wish you well on your journey, there's quite a lot of us travelling along the same route