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Well, I got tinnitus a month ago at a random time during the day.
I'm still not sure what the cause was, but yesturday I went to get my ears syringed, and the doctor said he didn't need to do the left ear, because it didn't look like it had much wax in it, but in my right, there was so much he could barely see my ear drum. So now, a day later, it hasn't completely stopped in my right ear, but it is a lot quieter. The left ear is still ringing quite loud. So I will probably go get my left ear syringed now, cause I don't think this is just a coincidence here. If it's not earwax that caused it and it doesn't go away, other causes are most-likely loud noise (although i dont listen to my music loudly that oftenly), or it was a side effect of me taking accutane for a few months, as it turns out this is a side effect of it sometimes.
Anyways, I was wondering what foods I should stay away from to prevent it from getting worse. Like..first I read sugar and caffiene make it worse, so I was like, okay, guess I will stay away from coke. But then like a few days later I read that aspartame can also trigger it, so I was like "well now I cant drink diet either". What foods/drinks do you guys suggest I stay away from? Also, any other ways to get rid of this?
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Hi Chain Gang Soldier,
Welcome to the forum.
Foremost you should avoid caffeine and alcohol and reduce your salt intake. Also avoid the flavour enhancer Monosodium Glutamate (which can be found in many snacks, instant sauces etc; it is usually declared on the food label either as such or as E621).
For me personally, the occasional painkiller (Paracetamol or Aspirin) has helped a lot, and later I found also that alcohol-free beer calms the tinnitus down.
It can be quite different from person to person though, so it is best to experiment around a bit.
By the way, in case you are using in-ear headphones (earbuds) to listen to music, you should also be careful and probably better replace these with proper headphones that do not block the ear-canal and thus the pressure equalization (this has caused my tinnitus in the first place).
As a replacement, I personally can recommend the Sennheiser PX100 headphones, which have excellent quality (better than earbuds anyway) and are lightweight and foldable (they cost around £20/$36 at Amazon).
Thomas
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Okay, what about aspartame? I heard that can make tinnitus worse aswell.
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I haven't personally come across somebody yet who would have mentioned that Aspartame would have caused him problems with regard to the tinnitus (although I found this mentioned on a couple of web pages). But in any case, if you suspect that something worsens your tinnitus, then you should try to avoid it for 4 weeks or so and see whether it makes any difference. Personal experimentation is really the only way to be sure here.
I personally would avoid Aspartame anyway, as there are other potential issues with it. A moderate of amount of sugar shouldn't be any problem with regard to the tinnitus (I never had any problems at all with sugar).
Thomas
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See my forum on Low Frequency Sound Therapy...IT WORKS! On the weekend I listened to loud music and my tinnitus acted up...so I went back to my good habits of listening to the "tones" and I am much better after 2 days.
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