Update: Tinnitus + Meniere’s regimen ->

Following, is my initial post on the old forum board ...
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I had tinnitus (only) for 15 years before my 1st Meniere's attack. Then the onslaught started, culminating in cluster attacks over a 3-day period. However, I am cautiously pleased to say that not only have I been M-attack free for 4 weeks now but an unexpected bonus is that my Tinnitus noise level has dropped to (almost) nothing and my hearing in the affected ear (right only) is now at 80-85% of what is, for me, normal.

My treatment was as follows:

1] Betahistine 16mg tabs - 4 tablets 3-times a day and 2 tablets at bedtime. (224 mg/day). My GP started me at 16mg 3-times a day which did nothing. France, Germany and other European countries have been prescribing 288mg - 480mg a day with great results and little to no side effects.

2] Apo-Triazide 50/25mg. (I don't know what 50/25 means but that's what's on the label). A diuretic which removes fluid & salt from your body (i.e.: the fluid in your inner ear).

3] Xanax 0.25mg. I had Xanax on hand as I had panic attacks since I was 16. My regular med's have that under control but I could still get anxious over meetings, in crowds, dinner out and so on. I started taking Xanax once my Meniere's attack had subsided as it helped to calm me down. Now I believe that the Xanax "may" have played a role in the Tinnitus noise reduction process.

Finally, all this good news (for me) has only been in effect for a week or so. I understand that the Meniere's, Tinnitus and hearing loss may return at any time, however, I feel prepared knowing that the combination of med's worked once and (I hope) could, or should, work again.

Sincerely.
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Now to the update.

I was feeling more confident about my regimen, however, I read that SERC (Betahistine) may not work as well after prolonged usage. I don’t know if this is true or, if so, what the likelihood of this happening is.

So, I started to reduce my daily dosage of Betahistine from “4 tabs - 3 times daily + 2 tabs at bedtime” (total: 224mg /day) to “3 tabs - 3 times daily + 1 tab at bedtime” (total: 160mg/day) then to “2 tabs - 3 times daily + 1 tab at bedtime” (total: 112mg/day).

About a week ago, in the evening, I became aware of Tinnitus noise again and when I awoke the next day, the noise level had reached about 24-40% of what had been my norm for the past fifteen years. This was unacceptable to me.

I ran all the options, and changes I had made, through my head and decided the first (and the easiest) thing to try would be to get back to my original Betahistine regimen. Within 24 hours, the Tinnitus noise level had gone back to “barely audible” and has stayed this way. Amen! (and my hearing improves daily).

I’d like to hear if anyone has heard of Betahistine being used, solely, to treat Tinnitus.

Sincerely.

 

Right you are, Donamo. My hope is that even one other person may benefit from the regimen, or some part of it.

I still don’t understand why our American brothers & sisters can’t just go to a pharmacy and have their Betahistine prescription filled. It’s one of the least expensive med’s I take. Hmm. Perhaps I just answered my own question. Is it so relatively inexpensive that Big Pharma’ just can’t be bothered with a small profit?

‘Just my two cents.

 

Linda Lou: Don’t expect your doctor to be aware of high-dosage Betahistine treatment, if you live in North America. I found myself in a position where I did Internet research on the subject and presented the results (in a few sentences) to my GP. The pharmacist questioned the prescribed dosage so I mentioned the same results to her as I had to my GP.

Here’s a link to a PDF document describing the Betahistine treatment/testing procedure and results, in some detail .....

http://www.mediafire.com/view/lpb0v991ew69v66/High-dosage_betahistine.pdf

Good luck, Linda Lou.

 

‘Humidity’. Does your quality of life revolve around a barometer? Would your life be better if you lived in a place like Arizona. It seems a lot of elderly folks head south, for the winter months, as the hot, dry air provides some form of relief for arthritic, and other, disorders.

A ‘cold’ (head or body) was a trigger for me. I use ‘was’ as I am presently getting over a cold now and it was a strong one. As this cold seems to be almost over, I will be watchful for any volume change in noise level in the affected ear.

Good luck with the ‘neuro’, njspingirl.

 

I’m sorry to hear that weather affects Meniere’s & Tinnitus activity. I wasn’t aware that was happening. That’s one small mercy I can be thankful for (I don’t think climate and/or weather has any effect on my MD or T).
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My head/body cold is almost gone. I mentioned that a cold or flu was a trigger for my Tinnitus to explode. For a while, two days ago, I could hear a pulsating sound in my T-ear and, although I could be wrong, that may have been Tinnitus activity trying to assume it’s “normal, post-cold, role”.

Once again, I believe Betahistine saved the day. For me, and I stress, not necessarily for anyone else, Betahistine is my wonder drug. For how long? ... who knows.

One day at a time.

 

Sorry. I should have qualified “Betahistine/my wonder drug” as “high-dosage” Betahistine (224mg a day).

 

Update: May 21 ->
After I got over a cold, which always makes my Tinnitus worse, sure enough, I started to notice the noise again. ‘Unacceptable, so I increased my SERC (Betahistine) dosage from 4 (16mg) tabs/3x a day to 8 (16mg) tabs/3x a day (while maintaining 2 tabs at bedtime). I’m very glad to report that the Tinnitus went back to ‘barely audible’ within 12 hours and my hearing continues to improve daily.

Large-dosage Betahistine to the rescue again.

Also, no sign of Meniere’s so, hopefully it’s in remission (forever). Wishful thinking? Perhaps. ‘Just taking it one day at a time.

 

On July 10, I finally got to see the otologist/neurotologist here in Victoria, B.C. He had the usual(?) hearing tests done, looked in my ears, put a scope into my sinuses and checked out my throat. No surprises here. Comparing my present hearing with tests done in 2007 and 2008, I was just about where I thought I would be; around 85% of my optimal range.

We then got onto the subjects of Meniere’s and Tinnitus; my Tinnitus had started around the 2007/08 period (not 15 years ago as I had mistakenly stated).

Not surprisingly, when I stated my high-dosage SERC regimen (224mg/day), his response was something like, “Oh, that’s a lot”. My response was, “Not really” as I presented a printed copy the 12-month test results done in Germany (referenced in ‘Reply #5’ in this thread).

I then mentioned that my last Meniere’s attack was a cluster of very small ones on March 15, 16 & 17. The doc’ didn’t know if this was a natural Meniere’s remission or if it was a result of the SERC treatment. Nor do I. However, since my Tinnitus noise level has fallen to a level so low it’s barely there and as my hearing has returned to 85% of normal, I must attribute this change to the SERC treatment.

Finally, I mentioned my concern that I had read that Meniere’s in one ear means we have a 50% chance of getting it in the other ear. He said I was mistaken and a 25-35% chance is the case.

All for now. peace/out
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“deadeye”. I am curious to know if you upped your SERC dosage and, if so, what is your current status.
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Thanks for replying, deadeye. Have you considered upping the dosage? I’ve gone to 6 tablets/3 times a day (plus 2 at bedtime) when my Tinnitus tried to make a comeback. I’d go to 10 tabs/3 times a day if I had to.

If 480mg/day (10 tabs/3x daily) did nothing for me, then I guess it would be time to try intratympanic steroid injections. However, the otologist/neurotologist I just saw has had less than a 50% success rate with this treatment.

And so it goes. Good luck in battle.
peace/out

 

Apparently, most North American doctors are still unaware of the clinical trial results conducted with high-dosage SERC. Here's the link again ...
http://www.mediafire.com/view/lpb0v991ew69v66/High-dosage_betahistine.pdf

I never get flu shots as I don't believe in their (true) value. On the positive side, I can't remember the last time I had a cold but I do remember there was no re-occurrence of Tinnitus as the cold diminished. I'm giving SERC the credit for that.

peace/out