Answer to questions asked of me about my symptoms and herbal treatments

Discussion in 'Your Living Room' started by earshurt, Dec 1, 2010.

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  1. earshurt

    earshurt New Member

    A forum member asked me questions about my symptoms and treatment regimen. I decided to post them in the hopes someone may find value in my response.

    I'm not certain that my situation is the same as some other people with classic menieres because I have never had classic vertigo. I have had sensations of the earth moving and feeling off balance but never the spinning people describe.

    After battling with this since 2005 and noticing patterns I strongly suspect a virus in or around the middle and or inner ear area though. I suspect due to my symptoms the virus may not be centered in the exact same place as people with menieres display and is centered more on cranial nerves in the vicinity of the ear.

    However, if it be a herpes virus the treatment protocol should be similar for all virus sufferers.

    My symptoms began with a dull throbbing just in front of the left ear and tinnitus. This throbbing sensation then turned into an incredibly painful situation deep inside the ear. It then spread to ganglia of several cranial nerves such as the Vestibular, Trigeminal, and Facial nerves.

    I was weak and fatigued very badly and my immune system was stressed.

    I felt a fullness in both ears accompanied by a weird tickling sensation behind both eardrums too. At times the right ear had some strange sensations but the bulk of the problem was centered deep in the left ear.

    I became disoriented. My hearing became very sensitive.

    I could hear frequencies lower than most humans. I could literally hear the 60 hertz hum of electricity running through electrical wires in the house. I tested this with an inductive probe to see what 60 hertz sounded like and it was identical to what I could hear when I got near a light switch, electrical outlet, or any other place where there was a break and connection in electrical wiring. This is not an impossible feat as the human range of hearing can, but not often, go as low as 20 hertz.

    As time passed I developed palsy (drooping) in the left side of my face. This is a common symptom of people with Bell's Palsy or Ramsay Hunt Syndrome which are herpes virus located in the areas I described.

    My body's immune reaction was severe. It attempted to attack this problem with ferocity. There was a war going on deep in the left ear area and it felt like the structures in this area were being torn apart. I suspect the myelin sheath was being damaged on some nerves. The myelin sheath is analogous to a coating on an electrical wire and it carries electrical impulses along the nerve sheath. Certain auditory processes were being heavily affected and my hardware was malfunctioning.

    As this war intensified I began to get infections deep inside that ear so bad that eventually a fistula would form and pus would exit from my head through my ear near the eardrum. A fistula is nature's way of boring a tunnel through the body to let infectious matter out of the body.

    I noticed that my immune system was stressed. Anything I did that might stress the immune system brought a swift action for the worse. Lack of sleep, alcohol, or anything else that may stress an immune system made it worse.

    I also noticed that laying horizontal for long periods of time eased the situation and that staying on my feet with the body in upright vertical position made it worse. This seemed to indicate to me that there may be swelling near the Tympanic or Inner Carotid artery and that perhaps blood flow was being restricted resulting in inflammation.

    This does not sound like classic menieres to me as I understand menieres but as I stated previously my suspicions that it is a virus would indicate that the treatment should be the same.

    I decided to experiment with Turmeric Root which is the root of a plant with many miraculous and well documented healing properties. My intention was to calm down my body's inflammatory response and control any bacteria or other invaders that may be presently hitching a ride on my body's weakened condition. Turmeric is also famous for collecting toxins from blood and transporting it out of the body safely. It also has anti cancer properties and has been shown to be very effective against breast cancer and other forms of cancer.

    After the second dose I noticed a drastic improvement. I was not sure if it was coincidence or not due to the roller coaster nature of the illness. After the third dose there was no question. I felt so much better it was hard to believe. The fatigue was gone. The activity in the left ear was greatly diminished.

    Before I started taking Turmeric I spent most of my time laying around on the couch. After three days of Turmeric I was cutting down trees in the yard and loading them on a trailer.

    I have been taking it for several months and I am still very active and still feel much better.

    After my success with Turmeric I decided to try some other herbs. I now have my own pharmacy. I have also used Basil and notice a calming effect from the Basil. I use Ashwangda too. I use Goldenseal Root too as it is famous for helping with ear problems and I have noticed marked success with Goldenseal Root. I also use Rose Hips and they also have powerful healing properties and strong anti-inflammatory properties.
     
  2. Papajoe

    Papajoe Myco-dental Freak of Nature

    Interesting. My wife just read about turmeric and now takes to help with her aches and pains.

    Turmeric is related to ginger. I know some folks here have tried ginger.
     
  3. earshurt

    earshurt New Member

    One thing I forgot to mention is that I still have the problem. It is just much less severe. Today I have fullness in both ears and tinnitus but I am not miserable and I can carry on with my life. Some days are worse than others but over all I am indeed much improved.
     
  4. earshurt

    earshurt New Member

    Yes Papajoe the list of things Turmeric can do is almost hard to believe but its true. I know people with MRSA that have seen it vanish in two days. It can do soooooo many things.
     
  5. Papajoe

    Papajoe Myco-dental Freak of Nature

    I did a search of turmeric on pubmed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) and there have been a lot of studies on turmeric and it's compounds.

    Interestingly enough for my case, it appears to have anti-fungal properties as well. I think I'll start taking some of my wife's turmeric.
     
  6. rottiesrule

    rottiesrule New Member

    How much and how often do you take it?
     
  7. Papajoe

    Papajoe Myco-dental Freak of Nature

    And my wife wants to know if you're taking the spice or the pill?
     
  8. Jordan

    Jordan New Member

    Earshurt,
    I am glad you are doing better. Just curious, but did you ever try Acyclovir or other antiviral medications? If not, why not?
     
  9. KTabc

    KTabc Cheese Head Dumbass

    Where do you buy it from? I am always open to trying new things.......

    KT
     
  10. June-

    June- New Member

    "I could hear frequencies lower than most humans. I could literally hear the 60 hertz hum of electricity running through electrical wires in the house. I tested this with an inductive probe to see what 60 hertz sounded like and it was identical to what I could hear when I got near a light switch, electrical outlet, or any other place where there was a break and connection in electrical wiring. This is not an impossible feat as the human range of hearing can, but not often, go as low as 20 hertz. "

    Me too! And mine responded to antivirals. I also never had vertigo.

    How and how much, exactly did you take the tumeric? I had an Indian friend that said growing up they used it like neosporin on little cuts and such that kids get.
     
  11. earshurt

    earshurt New Member

    Jordan,
    Yes I tried Acyclovir several times and found no relief from it. That would lead one to believe it may not be a virus perhaps. But since it is not always effective for everybody there is still no way to be 100% either way.
    --------------------------------------------

    Papajoe,
    Yes it has anti-fungal properties as well and that is another reason I took it. I don't know for sure that I have fungus but I considered this property of Turmeric to be potentially helpful just in case I do. I don't take it in pill form because it is too expensive. I buy it in bulk. I bought three pounds last time from frontierherb.com for 13 dollars a pound. One bottle of pills can cost that much. So needless to say the savings are huge from buying in bulk. I put it in a glass, add about three ounces of water, swirl it around good to get it suspended, and then I kill it like a shot.
    ----------------------------------------

    rottiesrule, June

    My amount I take varies. There are days when I less or may take more depending on how I feel. I am a fan of the "less is more" club. By that I mean I feel it more appropriate not to engage in overkill. If 1/2 teaspoon a day is effective I won't take a whole teaspoon. The old "too much of a good" theory.
    Some days I take 1/2 teaspoon twice day. Some days I forget and only take the one 1/2 teaspoon dose. I have taken a little more before too. Lately I have been taking 3/4 teaspoon twice a day and it seems about right.
    --------------------------------------

    Papajoe I know you had some allergy issues. Have you now been diagnosed with a fungus?
     
  12. earshurt

    earshurt New Member

    KT I buy it from frontierherb.com
    ---------------------------------


    And remember folks i'm not sure I have what most people would classify as textbook menieres but I really don't know for sure. I have a lot of the same symptoms but I also seem to have some different symptoms. I'm not sure if that is simply a different response from by body or because my situation is a little different. So your mileage may vary with this treatment.
     
  13. earshurt

    earshurt New Member

    Very interesting June. You are the only other person I have ever talked to that could hear the 60 hertz hum of electricity. I was hesitant to tell doctors that because of the "he is just a nut" syndrome that many doctors are afflicted with ;) I took my probe to their office and said "ya hear this when i get close to that lightswitch, well I can hear it too"... Doing it that way they usually believed me.

    What were your other symptoms June?
     
  14. Papajoe

    Papajoe Myco-dental Freak of Nature

    Turns out I don't really have food allergies. Or rather, the food reactions I had were due to candida.

    It was a long road to diagnosis. My first step was to eliminate wheat, a suggestion I got here.

    When that helped, I did research on "food intolerance" and went on a elimination and rotation diet. But that only helped to a point.

    One of the theories about food intolerance deals with "leaky gut" and one of the main suspects in leaky gut is candida.

    I had a full GI series run to see if my "leaky gut" was caused by physical damage, but those test all came back negative.

    So I asked my ENT/Allergy doctor for anti-fungals. Serendipity plays a part here because my ENT/Allergy doctor had a case of candidasis 20 years ago, and he was self-diagnosed. So he was OK with trying nystatin.

    The nystatin helped, but nystatin only treats candida in the gut, and it didn't cure me. So I asked for systemic anti-fungals and that has made all the difference in the world. As of two weeks ago, I can officially eat every food that was a definite 100% trigger last year at this time.

    Wheat, soy, dairy, beans, etc. I can eat them now without any attacks or symptoms. However, I am eating them in small quantities and not every day.

    There are definite side effects from the systemic anti-fungals, and they're pretty brutal at times. So, I'm taking the systemic drugs one week/month. The side effects are not fun, but they're not as bad as the MM/MAV symptoms I had before, and as time goes by, everything eases. I expect I'll be on the anti-fungals (both nystatin and the systemic drugs) until next summer.

    You should check out kefir. It's a fermented milk drink (similar to yogurt, but with a much larger collection of probiotic organisms). It also has anti-fungal/anti-viral/anti-bacterial properties, and is one of the best ways to help heal the gut. Much better than probiotic capsules and yogurt, though I use both of those as well.

    Oh, the only remnants of my MM symptoms are a slight high-freq tinnitus which comes and goes, with a little fullness every so often.
     
  15. John of Ohio

    John of Ohio New Member

    The Indian spice turmeric is a major reason Indians (in India, eating local, not Western foods) have reduced rates of immune and inflammatory diseases. Do a Google search on the topic and it will become clear the significance that this food product offers.

    But the actual active ingredient in turmeric is the compound curcumin. Since most of us will not be eating anywhere near the turmeric native Indians do, the use of a good curcumin extract will be good. I take the following product:

    http://www.vitacost.com/NSI-Turmeric-Extract-Curcumin-C3-Complex-with-Bioperine#IngredientFacts

    Importantly, this product also contains a few milligrams of bioperine, and extract from black pepers that facilitates intestinal absorption of the curcumin. Absorption is a major issue with both turmeric and curcumin extract. With straight turmeric, a lot passes on through without ever being absorbed.

    --John of Ohio
     
  16. June-

    June- New Member

    I suffered from extreme distortion. In the beginning, women's voices sounded like 3 people speaking at once, a note a part. Men's voices were either impossible for me to understand if they were low and gravelly (Wolfe Blitzer) or in some cases sounded like they all had a cold. People's voices would bounce of window panes, especially mens'. I had a 24/7 tinnitus that sounded like a 50,000 watt fan. I had a 35-50 dcb loss in the 250 and 500 range. I could not hear music as music if there were many bass notes. But the worst thing of all was that I had an autophony all the time. Whenever I spoke it sounded like someone was simultaneously blowing across a live microphone. I hate that more than anything.

    I responded immediately (4 or 5 days) to acyclovir and got what I judged to be about a 65% improvement from that. Allergy season made things worse - mostly a feeling of swelling in the cartilage of my ear where they meet the head. I then went to House and was treated for allergy and given a 3 month course of famvir. Two years later I have little problem and a normal audiogram. The only thing I still have is that if I inhale a lot of cooking vapors or something like that I will have problems til I get away from them. Also my hearing gets dull when I have a sinus infection. Mostly I am 'cured' but always looking for things to take it the rest of the way. I too am a less is more person so I approach it all cautiously.

    About the low pitched sounds, I don't know how low I could hear but going into a big box store like Walmart or Lowes, I could hear every freaking piece of equipment in the place! I too did not tell the dr's as they already pegged me as an unfortunate cross of crazy and pushy. :D My dx is cochlear hydrops AND eustachian tube disorder though they both came on the same time exactly.
     
  17. Jordan

    Jordan New Member

    Arab food uses a lot of turmeric, too. One dish I make has so many goodies in it (turmeric, garlic, onions, hot peppers, cardamom, cinnamon and other beneficial spices) that I sometimes refer to it as "Meniere's" Chicken and Rice). If anyone has friends traveling to the Middle East, you can ask them to bring back some freshly ground spices. They are usually much cheaper here than one might find in groceries in the U.S. One easy way to incorporate turmeric into your diet is to add it to rice. I never thought to drink it like Earshurt does, but perhaps it would dissolve better if the water was heated first.
     
  18. June-

    June- New Member

    I'm going to start cooking with it and work up. Thanks for the rice tip.
     
  19. Jordan

    Jordan New Member

    Earshurt,
    It is interesting that antivirals did not work for you. I have observed that a few people on the forum did not feel better while taking antivirals but started recovering shortly thereafter. I have often wondered if the antivirals were, indeed, effective but that complete healing did not take place until later. It is hard to tell because most people try something else after the antivirals and then attribute the healing to the second thing. I am not saying that's what happened here, but it is just something that I have pondered/considered.
     
  20. earshurt

    earshurt New Member

    John I also take pepper with my Turmeric and I should have indicated that. From what I have read the piperine in the pepper aids in the uptake to the body cells a great deal. I started with Turmeric and have been meaning to try the pure curcumin but for some stupid reason I never have. Intend to. I will probably buy a pound in bulk and start taking it shortly though. If I see another drastic improvement from doing so i'm gonna hire somebody to kick me in the butt for not doing it sooner.
     

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