My tinnitus manifests as part of an allergic reaction. I get an intense burning in my sinuses along with pressure. There is also a feeling of fullness or swelling behind my right ear and down the right side of my neck. This is accompanied by a high-pitched ringing similar to the old television test pattern noise back in the days when stations went off the air at night. The volume of the ringing varies as does the feeling of fullness, which only presents itself on really bad days. A really good day is total silence all day and night – I had one of those a few days ago. A good day is mild burning and low-volume ringing that is easy to ignore. An average day (most days are good to average) is mild burning, with mild to moderately loud ringing. A bad day is burning, fullness and ringing that is so loud it’s impossible to ignore. Thankfully, I don’t have these days very often anymore, although I recently ate a small piece of apple pie, which quickly turned a good day into a bad day. Those are the days that send me to the Benadryl for relief.
I am blessed because usually the ringing stops when I lie down to go to sleep and stays quiet all night and well into the morning. It usually takes about 20 minutes and requires that I lie quietly on my left side, as the ringing is almost always in my right ear. But if it’s been a really bad day and I think I might have trouble sleeping, I will take a Benadryl after dinner and it will calm the ringing and help me to sleep.
Allergies and bad days
A few of the things that will set off a bad day are: rainstorm (low pressure, perhaps); blackberries and raspberries; ginger; being enclosed in my car (I need to change the air filter); Southern California air quality with year-round pollen and pollution; water quality (ringing is always present for a short time immediately after I shower, even when I use hypoallergenic soap). There are probably many more irritants that I am not yet aware of.
During the months of August, September, October and most of November last year, the ringing just went away. I thought maybe it had resolved itself, but it returned with a vengeance right before Thanksgiving. By vengeance, I mean constant loud ringing, pressure and interrupted sleep.
What I’m doing now
I take 500mg of quercitin daily. Quercitin is a powerful bioflavanoid antioxidant found in onions, the skin of apples, the pith of citrus fruits and cranberries. It is an anti-inflammatory and lowers histamine levels in the body. A Japan study showed that it reduced histamine levels by 60%. Antihistamine drugs block histamine’s effects but do not stop its production.
Histamine is often produced as a reaction to dehydration, so I try to drink 8 glasses of filtered water or herbal tea each day. When I first started the quercitin with water I experienced 5 solid days of quiet!
When my sinuses are really congested or a headache is present, I take olive leaf supplement. It’s a natural antibiotic and opens my sinuses after a day or two. However, sometimes (especially if I have eaten something that will set off the ringing) I will take a Benadryl. It is the only antihistamine that will quiet the ringing. I currently take the dye-free generic version from CVS.
Finally, I eat a healthy diet with lots of fruits and veggies and very little processed food. I take a probiotic a couple times a week to calm the allergic reaction to food, take a multiple vitamin when I remember, and get plenty of omega 3’s (about 2g) from fish oil and flax. I follow the recommendations of Dr. Richard Becker of the Your Health television program. He has a specific plan for tinnitus sufferers and I will share the details of that plan, along with other things I have tried, in the next installment.
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