haidut

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Most of the people on this forum know about the connection between gut irritation and tinnitus. Ray said a few times that endotoxin can directly cause tinnitus but I don't think he has talked about the role of serotonin as a causative agent, even tough endotoxin will increase serotonin synthesis in the gut.
This new study shows that SSRI drugs (and thus serotonin) worsens the symptoms of tinnitus. While the study does not say that serotonin is the actual cause of tinnitus, the fact that dopamine agonists have been used to treat tinnitus in the past suggests that serotonin does have a causative role. If the evidence against SSRI was not already bad enough, now we can add inner ear damage to the list of side effects. The incidence of tinnitus has been skyrocketing over the last 20 years and nobody has been able to explain why. Well, considering the dramatic increase in SSRI prescriptions over the same period I think the culprit now is quite obvious. What is even worse is that, as the study mentions, tinnitus is a major cause of anxiety disorders and SSRI drugs are commonly prescribed for anxiety as well. So, these drugs are probably causing the very disorder they are prescribed to fix. The medical profession is either hopelessly imbecilic or completely corrupt...
The morale of the story - eat more salt (to taste) as it increases the uptake of serotonin through the SERT enzyme, thus terminating serotonin's effects. Anti-serotonin drugs (or pro-dopamine) like cyproheptadine may also help.

http://www.jneurosci.org/content/35/11/4540.short
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170822123836.htm
Tinnitus could be worsened by antidepressant use

"...According to the American Tinnitus Association, more than 45 million people in the United States are affected by tinnitus. For around 2 million of these individuals, the condition is severe, and it can sometimes interfere with day-to-day activities."

"...Some of these individuals may be treated with selective-serotonin repute inhibitors (SSRIs), which work by increasing brain levels of the mood hormone serotonin. The new study, however, suggests that such treatment may be a double-edged sword; while working to ease symptoms of depression, SSRIs may actually be making the tinnitus worse."

"...The team found that when the mice were exposed to serotonin, fusiform cells in the DCN of the mice became hyperactive and hypersensitive to sound. "We saw that the activity of those neurons went through the roof," says Dr. Trussell. Lead study author Zheng-Quan Tang, Ph.D., also of the School of Medicine at OHSU, notes that previous research has reported that many patients experience a worsening of tinnitus shortly after initiating SSRI use."

"...Based on their results and those of previous studies, the researchers speculate that the rise in serotonin that occurs with the use of SSRIs could exacerbate tinnitus. "If you're a physician treating a patient for depression who also has hearing loss or tinnitus, you may want to be careful about prescribing a drug that compounds their feelings of anxiety. The SSRI may be enhancing the thing you're trying to fix."
 
Last edited:

DuggaDugga

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Thanks, haidut. My pops has tinnitus, so this is especially interesting to me.

http://www.tinnitusjournal.com/arti...innitus-and-other-vestibular-disturbances.pdf
The role of serotonin as a mediator and stress hormone and its function in vessel tonus regulation is proved. The aim of the work is to study the concentration of serotonin in blood in patients with vestibular disturbances before and after vestibular provocation and in patients with tinnitus. The study was performed on 134 persons distributed among three groups: group I, 35 patients with vestibular disturbances; group II, 75 healthy persons; group III, 24 patients with tinnitus. Serotonin was examined twice in patients with vestibular disturbances (group I) and in healthy persons (group II), before and 15 minutes after vestibular provocation realized by a cold caloric test, and once in patients with tinnitus (group III). Vestibular loading provokes changes in blood serotonin: In vestibularly stable persons, serotonin decreases and comparatively weaker vestibular vegetative reactions develop. The role of serotonin in the compensatory mechanisms of the organism related to vestibular crisis is discussed. We recommend its inclusion with routine neurootological examinations for selecting candidates for work in conditions that overload the vestibular analyzer. Patients with tinnitus have serotonin blood values that significantly exceed the referent ones.
VP provokes changes in blood serotonin values. In persons with more marked vestibular resistance, serotonin concentration is decreased after vestibular loading, and the individuals develop significantly lighter VVR. Probably the decreases in blood serotonin in these patients are a genuine form of engaging the compensatory mechanisms of the organism to overcome the vestibular crisis. In persons with severe VVR, increased blood serotonin is related to disturbances of the compensatory mechanisms, owing to which vasoconstriction cannot be overcome.
. . . . . . .
The study shows that serotonin plays a significant role in the adaptation of an organism to various extreme conditions [2,8,9]. Its concentration in blood undergoes significant changes, which creates an impact on the specific nervous structures and blood flow and reflects on the activity of the cardiovascular, neurovegetative, endocrine, and excretion systems and on psychic activity. Consequently, the decreased YYR of the organism could be associated with increased blood serotonin values after YP.

Interestingly, healthy individuals (defined by vestibular stability) can mount a compensatory reaction to lower serotonin in the face of vestibular loading, whereas the unhealthy individual experience exacerbated levels. Vestibular stability, I would assume, to be a good proxy for energetic state. Seems likes the implications are limitless: how some individuals thrive in the face of adversity while others fold, depending on energetic state and individual perspective. Some people live sky-diving, driving fast, surviving in the outdoors, and others strongly avoid them.

How could serotonin possibly be the "happiness" hormone when it's tied to so many adverse reactions in the body? The living organism is perfectly integrated. I don't think the Western medical approach will ever be able to be truly successful in the management of chronic conditions until it embraces this.
 

Regina

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Most of the people on this forum know about the connection between gut irritation and tinnitus. Ray said a few times that endotoxin can directly cause tinnitus but I don't think he has talked about the role of serotonin as a causative agent, even tough endotoxin will increase serotonin synthesis in the gut.
This new study shows that SSRI drugs (and thus serotonin) worsens the symptoms of tinnitus. While the study does not say that serotonin is the actual cause of tinnitus, the fact that dopamine agonists have been used to treat tinnitus in the past suggests that serotonin does have a causative role. If the evidence against SSRI was not already bad enough, now we can add inner ear damage to the list of side effects. The incidence of tinnitus has been skyrocketing over the last 20 years and nobody has been able to explain why. Well, considering the dramatic increase in SSRI prescriptions over the same period I think the culprit now is quite obvious. What is even worse is that, as the study mentions, tinnitus is a major cause of anxiety disorders and SSRI drugs are commonly prescribed for anxiety as well. So, these drugs are probably causing the very disorder they are prescribed to fix. The medical profession is either hopelessly imbecilic or completely corrupt...
The morale of the story - eat more salt (to taste) as it increases the uptake of serotonin through the SERT enzyme, thus terminating serotonin's effects. Anti-serotonin drugs (or pro-dopamine) like cyproheptadine may also help.

http://www.jneurosci.org/content/35/11/4540.short
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170822123836.htm
Tinnitus could be worsened by antidepressant use

"...According to the American Tinnitus Association, more than 45 million people in the United States are affected by tinnitus. For around 2 million of these individuals, the condition is severe, and it can sometimes interfere with day-to-day activities."

"...Some of these individuals may be treated with selective-serotonin repute inhibitors (SSRIs), which work by increasing brain levels of the mood hormone serotonin. The new study, however, suggests that such treatment may be a double-edged sword; while working to ease symptoms of depression, SSRIs may actually be making the tinnitus worse."

"...The team found that when the mice were exposed to serotonin, fusiform cells in the DCN of the mice became hyperactive and hypersensitive to sound. "We saw that the activity of those neurons went through the roof," says Dr. Trussell. Lead study author Zheng-Quan Tang, Ph.D., also of the School of Medicine at OHSU, notes that previous research has reported that many patients experience a worsening of tinnitus shortly after initiating SSRI use."

"...Based on their results and those of previous studies, the researchers speculate that the rise in serotonin that occurs with the use of SSRIs could exacerbate tinnitus. "If you're a physician treating a patient for depression who also has hearing loss or tinnitus, you may want to be careful about prescribing a drug that compounds their feelings of anxiety. The SSRI may be enhancing the thing you're trying to fix."
Anecdotally, I just had a contractor rip me completely off in a stunningly irrational act of betrayal and self-sabotage. While around him, he repeatedly complained of tinnitus.
 
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haidut

haidut

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Vestibular stability, I would assume, to be a good proxy for energetic state

I could not agree more. Most of the people I know experience balance issues when under stress or eating irritating foods - both of which are known to lower metabolism and to increase serotonin in the blood.
As far as Western medicine - I think it will likely implode. The inconsistencies are so many that at some point it will become abundantly clear that most approaches for treating chronic disease are fraudulent or incompetent. Let's see if Pfizer will manage to market its drug terguride for serotonin-induced organ failure without answering questions of the sort "But...but you also sell SSRI drugs. Are you saying your drugs gave me heart/lung/liver failure?!?".
 

DuggaDugga

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As far as Western medicine - I think it will likely implode. The inconsistencies are so many that at some point it will become abundantly clear that most approaches for treating chronic disease are fraudulent or incompetent. Let's see if Pfizer will manage to market its drug terguride for serotonin-induced organ failure without answering questions of the sort "But...but you also sell SSRI drugs. Are you saying your drugs gave me heart/lung/liver failure?!?".

The Western medical system is already starting to crack. Most of my close friends and family members are surprisingly willing to pursue other avenues since Western medicine just simply doesn't work unless your ailment is some sort of blunt trauma or infection. My dad, a pretty conservative guy, printed the studies I gave him on statin's deleterious effects and presented them to his doctor. As an aging man, his interest health-wise has revolved around testosterone and when I explained cholesterol's role in its synthesis, that was it for him. The beautiful thing about his generation is that they remember how they ate as kids, how their parents ate, how their grandparents ate: a diet rich in grassfed, hormone-free animal products. When armed with those memories and some studies on the biochemistry of food, ditching the pharmaceuticals, seed oils, etc. is not a hard sell.
 

GAF

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I read somewhere recently a highly salted meal makes tinnitus worse, but the aldosterone boost that follows makes it better
 

aguilaroja

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....
This new study shows that SSRI drugs (and thus serotonin) worsens the symptoms of tinnitus. While the study does not say that serotonin is the actual cause of tinnitus, the fact that dopamine agonists have been used to treat tinnitus in the past suggests that serotonin does have a causative role. If the evidence against SSRI was not already bad enough, now we can add inner ear damage to the list of side effects.
....What is even worse is that, as the study mentions, tinnitus is a major cause of anxiety disorders and SSRI drugs are commonly prescribed for anxiety as well.....
http://www.jneurosci.org/content/35/11/4540.short
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170822123836.htm
Tinnitus could be worsened by antidepressant use
There have been case reports about tinnitus with SSRI use for over 30 years. Medication “side effects” are hugely under-reported. It is possible the number of tinnitus sufferers is large from this effect, since tinnitus is also regarded as associated with depression. An additional problem is reported tinnitus cases starting with SSRI discontinuation.

Antidepressant therapy in tinnitus. - PubMed - NCBI
“There are numerous case reports about the onset of tinnitus coinciding with treatment with antidepressants. Tinnitus is listed in the drug company package inserts as a known side effect for all tricyclic antidepressants, as well as, the newer generation of antidepressants including fluoxetine, trazadone, sertraline, paroxetine, bupropion and venlafaxine. Of the cases reviewed below phenelzine is the only antidepressant medication that does not include tinnitus as a side effect in the package insert; however, tinnitus is listed as a side effect for tranylcypromine, the other mono-amine oxidase inhibitor available in the United States. Additionally, tinnitus has been associated with withdrawal syndromes from discontinuation of antidepressants.”

“The first reported case of tinnitus occurring in a patient treated with the current generation of antidepressants was published in 1985. One patient in a major depressive disorder trial using fluoxetine had tinnitus (Feighner, 1985).”
“…tinnitus is listed as occurring at 1.4% in the sertraline group compared to 1.1% in a placebo group per the package insert….”
“Two of 61 patients on paroxetine discontinued because they felt their tinnitus worsened (Robinson et al., 2005)”

Development of Tinnitus at a Low Dose of Sertraline: Clinical Course and Proposed Mechanisms
“A 50-year-old woman developed bilateral tinnitus after several weeks of being treated with sertraline 50 mg….Shortly after discontinuation of the medication, her tinnitus subsided completely.”

Tinnitus treatment with mirtazapine. - PubMed - NCBI
“A 48 year old… man presented with history of major depression…treated successfully with sertraline 150 mg/day along with alprazolam 0.5 mg/day. After maintaining this regime successfully for 8 weeks alprazolam was tapered and stopped. At week 16 of sertraline therapy (150 mg/day) the patient started reporting a sensation of ringing in both the ears….The ringing sound would last 7-8 hours per day.”
“The dose of sertraline was tapered and stopped over a period of
4 weeks without any improvement in the symptoms of tinnitus. A four week trial of buspiron 20 mg/day and clonazepam 2mg/day was given at different times without any positive results….Subsequently mirtazapine 15 mg/day was started and at the end of three weeks of mirtazapine therapy his tinnitus dramatically improved. Withdrawal of mirtazapine again resulted in reappearance of his tinnitus. This further improved when mirtazapine 7.5 mg was restarted. The patient has been maintained on this dose of mirtazapine for the last 6 months without re-emergence of tinnitus.”

A Case Report of Onset of Tinnitus Following Discontinuation of Antidepressant and a Review of the Literature
“…a 46-year-old woman with long-standing episodic severe depression (ICD-10 code F33) who discontinued venlafaxine over a 4-week taper after taking the antidepressant for 8 years. Severe discontinuation syndrome was experienced…. the development of tinnitus took place concurrently to the discontinuation.”
“The experience of the tinnitus as a side effect of discontinuation is different from cases reported in the literature in which the tinnitus was experienced when the antidepressant was started and ceased when the antidepressant was stopped. Here, the patient experienced the tinnitus as a discontinuation symptom….”

In “fairness”, there is also a trial of an SSRI, sertraline, being used to treat tinnitus.

The effects of sertraline on severe tinnitus suffering--a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. - PubMed - NCBI
“The intention-to-treat analysis showed sertraline to be more effective than placebo (P = 0.024) in decreasing reported tinnitus severity according to the Tinnitus Severity Questionnaire at 16 weeks' follow-up….Sertraline was well tolerated after a somewhat high (17%) dropout rate within the first 2 weeks.”

However, the Cochrane reviewers did not find compelling evidence for SSRI’s or any antidepressant for tinnitus relief.

Antidepressants for patients with tinnitus. - PubMed - NCBI
“Only the trial using the SSRI drug reached the highest quality standard. None of the other included trials met the highest quality standard, due to use of inadequate outcome measures, large drop-out rates or failure to separate the effects on tinnitus from the effects on symptoms of anxiety and depression. All the trials assessing tricyclic antidepressants suggested that there was a slight improvement in tinnitus but these effects may have been attributable to methodological bias. The trial that investigated the SSRI drug found no overall improvement in any of the validated outcome measures that were used in the study although there was possible benefit for a subgroup that received higher doses of the drug.
AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS:
There is as yet insufficient evidence to say that antidepressant drug therapy improves tinnitus.”

Tinnitus Patients Suffering from Anxiety and Depression: A Review. - PubMed - NCBI
 

Wagner83

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Vestibular stability, I would assume, to be a good proxy for energetic state.

I could not agree more. Most of the people I know experience balance issues when under stress or eating irritating foods - both of which are known to lower metabolism and to increase serotonin in the blood.
.

This is very interesting to me, I have noticed light balance issues after certain meals the last couple of weeks with more dairy and pineapples. Similarly diet seems to affect coordination of movement in an important way (think about feet and legs when playing soccer, fingers when playing an instrument). I also had this weird thing upon waking up in the middle of the night or in the morning: without opening my eyes I would not know anymore my position in the bed or even in the room (e.g. which side of the bed does the right arm rest on, is my head on the head of the mattress or on the other end etc..), this lasted only a few seconds.
Along with the differences in coordination of movement I notice more or less "typing dyslexia".
 

oceantree

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Thank you for this my adult son developed tinnitus after going through a phase of taking illegal highs thankfully he does not do this anymore but has been left with visual snow and tinnitus. Some highs do they have an effect on serotonin or am I making a long jump assumption here.
 
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haidut

haidut

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Thank you for this my adult son developed tinnitus after going through a phase of taking illegal highs thankfully he does not do this anymore but has been left with visual snow and tinnitus. Some highs do they have an effect on serotonin or am I making a long jump assumption here.

Quite a few of them are serotonergic. MDMA, cocaine, and some amphetamines are in that list.
 

oceantree

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Quite a few of them are serotonergic. MDMA, cocaine, and some amphetamines are in that list.
Those were what he took haidut thanks for the info, he is eating healthy these days taking multivitamins and bicycling for exercise generally looking after himself I hope that it reverses in time
 

Capt Nirvana

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Most of the people on this forum know about the connection between gut irritation and tinnitus. Ray said a few times that endotoxin can directly cause tinnitus but I don't think he has talked about the role of serotonin as a causative agent, even tough endotoxin will increase serotonin synthesis in the gut.
This new study shows that SSRI drugs (and thus serotonin) worsens the symptoms of tinnitus. While the study does not say that serotonin is the actual cause of tinnitus, the fact that dopamine agonists have been used to treat tinnitus in the past suggests that serotonin does have a causative role. If the evidence against SSRI was not already bad enough, now we can add inner ear damage to the list of side effects. The incidence of tinnitus has been skyrocketing over the last 20 years and nobody has been able to explain why. Well, considering the dramatic increase in SSRI prescriptions over the same period I think the culprit now is quite obvious. What is even worse is that, as the study mentions, tinnitus is a major cause of anxiety disorders and SSRI drugs are commonly prescribed for anxiety as well. So, these drugs are probably causing the very disorder they are prescribed to fix. The medical profession is either hopelessly imbecilic or completely corrupt...
The morale of the story - eat more salt (to taste) as it increases the uptake of serotonin through the SERT enzyme, thus terminating serotonin's effects. Anti-serotonin drugs (or pro-dopamine) like cyproheptadine may also help.

http://www.jneurosci.org/content/35/11/4540.short
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170822123836.htm
Tinnitus could be worsened by antidepressant use

"...According to the American Tinnitus Association, more than 45 million people in the United States are affected by tinnitus. For around 2 million of these individuals, the condition is severe, and it can sometimes interfere with day-to-day activities."

"...Some of these individuals may be treated with selective-serotonin repute inhibitors (SSRIs), which work by increasing brain levels of the mood hormone serotonin. The new study, however, suggests that such treatment may be a double-edged sword; while working to ease symptoms of depression, SSRIs may actually be making the tinnitus worse."

"...The team found that when the mice were exposed to serotonin, fusiform cells in the DCN of the mice became hyperactive and hypersensitive to sound. "We saw that the activity of those neurons went through the roof," says Dr. Trussell. Lead study author Zheng-Quan Tang, Ph.D., also of the School of Medicine at OHSU, notes that previous research has reported that many patients experience a worsening of tinnitus shortly after initiating SSRI use."

"...Based on their results and those of previous studies, the researchers speculate that the rise in serotonin that occurs with the use of SSRIs could exacerbate tinnitus. "If you're a physician treating a patient for depression who also has hearing loss or tinnitus, you may want to be careful about prescribing a drug that compounds their feelings of anxiety. The SSRI may be enhancing the thing you're trying to fix."
In India, some folks meditate for years to facilitate tinnitus in the right ear, then in the middle of the upper forehead. If they can push the "flat spot" on the back of the skull and increase the tinnitus, it's the sound they're cultivating. I only met one person who heard the ringing in the middle of his forehead, a retired chiropractor who complained about it. Migraines (both silent and otherwise) accompany the syndrome. ("One man's disease is another man's sanctity.") In the Orient, ears, kidney, and fetus share anatomical reiteration, philosophically known as the Doctrine of Signatures in the Occident.
 

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