My B5+B6 Log

@Bennyhill:

I finished the 10-day prednisone course on March 6th. I did not notice any significant improvement at the time, in fact went on for 2 more weeks not hearing very well at all. Then I woke up March 23rd, (11 days into the b5/b6), being able to hear all tones clearly again, especially bass.

@JOH:

I am on the full JOH regimen now, have been on and off since I first heard of it. I will taper off to a maintenance dose after the 4 weeks b5/b6 trial, if all goes as well as it has thus far. I am very grateful indeed for the work you put into this and shared with us all, and I continue to be amazed that the medical community does not generally want to hear about it.

@all:

In the meantime, I have found at least two other references that appear to corroborate what we have been discussing here lately - B6 especially and the B-complex vitamins in higher dosages appear to be effective in reducing and eliminating Meniere's symptoms.

Reference 1, from my new favorite book the Nutrition Almanac:
"A person testified that the therapy of Dr. Mills Atkinson, which consisted of heavy intakes of the B-complex vitamins four times daily, reversed his case of Meniere's syndrome, which had lasted almost 4 months." (bold italics added by me)

Reference 2, from www.menieres-disease.ca: - suggest reading the section titled "If you have Meniere's disease, why would nutritional supplements help? They go into some detail about vitamins, multivitamins, etc. and how they are helpful in many ways. (There appears to be a great deal of supporting information available on this site. I am planning to dig deeper into it.)

Today is day 19 since I added the b5/b6 - taken shortly after breakfast and with 16 oz water. I continue to feel measurably better.

My right ear is still ringing, but no where near as badly as it was - and my left ear has now stopped ringing all together... within 10 minutes of taking the b5/b6, I notice a difference. It seems to last well past lunchtime, then my right ear takes it up a notch or so.. not unbearable, but still ...

I have had no significant dizziness or any indication of dizziness since early March, in fact, we went skiing in Utah last weekend...

So I am really happy about all of this - and I hope to find the lasting relief that both BennyHill and JOH have reported...

Will post final results when they are in...

Cheers to all !!!
JMC

 

day 23:

No tinnitus in my left ear for over a week - except for short periods of time late in the evening where a barely noticeable high pitch tinnitus comes up, then goes away again after maybe 30 minutes. This is the ear that went completely off the rails last July and then again early this year. Hearing is back to mostly normal in this ear.

Right ear tinnitus is holding steady at 3 on my 10-point scale. It will be marginally louder in the morning, then tapers off within 10-15 minutes of taking the B5/B6 combo after breakfast. This is my original MM ear - hearing is about 40% overall in this one, with losses in all frequencies. BUT - I can hear bass tones (or feel them?) again through this ear since the 23rd.

Bass tones is a huge deal for me - I cannot distinguish pitch or tone on my instruments without it.

No dizziness to speak of for 3 weeks. Only a minor wobbly every now and again - which tells me to drink some more water... I am drinking 16-20 oz. of water 5-6 times a day, every day. And visiting the bathroom every 90 minutes or so... which I guess I might expect considering the triamterene?

Next week will be 30 days on the B5/B6. So far it is all good news for me.

 

amazon.com - search for Source Naturals, pantothenic acid
comes in 250 MG, easy to cut in half

 

Well... I was really hoping to post a 100% positive affirmation of the B5/B6 routine this week - but...

Up until Saturday at 6:00 PM, it was looking very good. Then I started to notice a high pitch tinnitus creeping up in my left ear, which had gone quiet for almost 2 weeks. I took a 2nd dose at dinner time, that seemed to settle it down.

But then Sunday afternoon it came back, and settled at 1-2 on my 10-point scale. Always there, but not very loud.

Monday was ok, but then yesterday and today both days around 11:00 am, the high pitch tinnitus got overwhelmed by a very loud machine noise sounding tinnitus for maybe 90 minutes... both times, I took a 2nd dose and the machine noise gradually subsided, back to just the high pitch tinnitus in both ears, right ear louder still than left.

I did not change my routine during the last month, but one possible contributing factor is not having gotten proper rest since about last Wednesday. Working double shifts, and I played an outdoor gig Saturday night - got home later than usual, then got up early Sunday again.

So... I am not writing it off. I am doubling down on keeping the B vitamins in the routine. Also planning to add the multi vitamin JOH had indicated above.

 

UPDATE to the update:

Everything seems to have settled back down today... I can hear again, my tinnitus is back to where it was last week - barely perceptible in my left ear, and not at all excessive in the right.

So... trying to nail down the specific sequence of events, weather, behavior, diet, external influences, sleep, exercise, etc. etc. and whatnot that sets the whole thing off -

Maybe I'll just go fishing instead...

 

@Rgv:

I've no idea really about the capsule form - I don't imagine it could hurt though. Amazon.com has the pill form in 250MG, easy to cut in half.

I take a double dose in the afternoon if the tinnitus starts to rail again - this has happened maybe 4 times in the last month.

I am on the full JOH - all supplements - plus 1 daily triamterene water pill... For me, the JOH has been most effective when taken in full dosages, and strictly following the protocol outlined in the document - i.e. vitamins with food, l-lysine without food, etc.

Most importantly for both is a low-sodium diet. Can't stress this highly enough. If I go over 2K MG of sodium in a 24 hour period, I will feel it almost immediately...!

Hope that helps - and good luck! We are all different, so … results may vary.

For me, I am declaring the B5/B6 a success - after 36 days, I have no tinnitus in my left ear to speak of, and the right ear is now down to 2 on my 10-point scale... This is indeed a dramatic improvement.

JMC