Tinnitus from Meniere's; got Lipoflavonoid?

In My Humble Opinion
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Usual disclaimer; not soliciting medical advice. I follow instructions of my own ENT, I have no vested interest in the product, etc.

For about 12 or so years now I’ve been suffering from tinnitus, a high-pitched ringing in the ear. When it continued past several months I consulted an ENT specialist, went through the battery of test and learned that, like my father, I have Meniere’s. Meniere’s is an inner ear problem that can cause dizziness, vertigo, nausea and it’s frequently accompanied by tinnitus. While meclizine (Dramamine) can help with the nausea, there’s really no treatment I’m aware of short of surgery to cure Meniere’s yet.

You deal with the symptoms in several ways. First, if you’re lucky your brain kinda gets used to the ringing after awhile and you’re not as cognizant of it, you concentrate on other things. Whenever you do think of it though it’s definitely there. For me it’s a combination of a high-pitched whine and the sound of crickets or cicadas. Masking it with white noise helps some, a fan or the like. In the absence of a fan I almost can’t sleep because the ringing is just too loud. Conversations with others in a crowded restaurant or party are near impossible. You simply can’t differentiate between all the competing sounds.

So when a commercial started running a month back advertising tinnitus relief, I listened. It’s an OTC med called Lipoflavonoid and a bit of on-line research suggests takers of it have experienced varied degrees of relief, but usually only when their tinnitus is caused by Meniere’s as opposed to something like head injury or prolonged exposure to loud noise, etc. Since I’m diagnosed with that I started taking it as prescribed, two pills three times a day. For three weeks, nothing. At best maybe I could differentiate just a bit more between the sound pitches, the ringing vs. the crickets. Then two days ago I noticed that the ringing I’d suffered from for a dozen years had suddenly decreased by about 75%, down to one quarter of its usual volume! Holy cow but was that amazing, finally being able to hear other softer background sounds that had been saturated out all these years. This new, vastly improved level lasted all day and, finally convinced it was the Lipoflavonoid that was responsible, I called my dad to suggest he try it too. Now like a dummy I forgot to grab any on the way to work yesterday and the sound level has ramped up again to near where it was before but I’ve again been taking the pills as recommended and hope it’ll drop back down like it did.

Because I’ve seen such an improvement, the one and only change in all of a dozen years I have to ask if anyone else has used this and, if so, did it help your symptoms too? Again, it’s probably ONLY going to help tinnitus due to Meniere’s, not that from other factors. Any experiences or anecdotes would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

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My husband and I both have tinnitus; I’ll be interested in seeing if others have gotten the same good results as lieu.

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I’ve never been diagnosed, but I do have tinnitus, and vertigo sometimes with dizziness, bad enough that I keep a bottle of meclizine around always.

I’d love to get rid of the tinnitus (and the vertigo, for that matter).

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Current medical consensus: Ginkgo biloba and other bioflavonoids have been advertised to be successful in reducing tinnitus. However, double-blind clinical trials and a systematic review have shown ginkgo to be no better than placebo in reducing tinnitus symptoms.

Ginkgo biloba does not benefit patients with tinnitus: a randomized placebo-controlled double-blind trial and meta-analysis of randomized trials.
Rejali D, Sivakumar A, Balaji N
Clin Otolaryngol Allied Sci. 2004;29(3):226.
Effectiveness of Ginkgo biloba in treating tinnitus: double blind, placebo controlled trial.
Drew S, Davies E
BMJ. 2001;322(7278):73.
CONCLUSIONS: 50 mg Ginkgo biloba extract LI 1370 given 3 times daily for 12 weeks is no more effective than placebo in treating tinnitus

Ginkgo biloba for tinnitus.
Hilton M, Stuart E
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;
REVIEWERS’ CONCLUSIONS: The limited evidence did not demonstrate that Ginkgo biloba was effective for tinnitus which is a primary complaint. There was no reliable evidence to address the question of Ginkgo biloba for tinnitus associated with cerebral insufficiency.

YMMV

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Qadgop, thanks for responding. You mention 3 studies involving Ginkgo biloba. However, am I misunderstanding this (admittedly Wiki) cite that lists the ingredients found in Lipoflavonoid: “Lipoflavonoid is sold as a dietary supplement. It is composed of eriodictyol glycoside (a bioflavonoid found naturally in the peel of lemons) and the following vitamins: vitamin B6 and B12 (B complex), vitamin C, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, choline, inositol, and pantothenic acid.” Where does it mention Ginkgo? Many of the people reporting Lipoflavonoid helped them said that they had tried Ginkgo too and it had not helped at all.

Also, as I mentioned previously the effects as I understand it are only to occur (possibly) with Meniere’s associated tinnitus, which represents a very small subset of tinnitus sufferers. It probably DOES NOT work for the vast majority who have rining due to a different malady.

Help me understand one last thing. I have constant, unchanging tinnitus for twelve years. During that entire span there’s no cessation of the ringing. Changes in volume, if they ever did occur, were so slight as to really be unnoticable. Three weeks after taking this suddenly I have a reduction of the symptom by approximately 75%. That’s a coincidence?

The reason I started this thread was in the hope of finding someone that had experience an enduring benefit. While hopeful I’m still not convinced of its efficacy simply because I just started and that’s too short a sample. But with the very positive benefit I’ve observed so far there’s no reason in the world I personally am not going to continue taking it and, if my benefits last, to report back.

Or did I miss something?

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Ginkgo contains lots of bioflavonoids and terpenoids.

I’m just passing on the accepted medical literature as it stands at this point. There’s not a lot of credible studies on the use of lipoflavinoid (which is a proprietary nutritional product which actually contains eriodictyol glycoside,vitamin B6 and B12, vitamin C, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, choline, inositol, and pantothenic acid.) Many claims are made, very few have yet proved out. Some decent medical studies have been done on tinnitus and ginkgo-derived bioflavinoids, but your lipoflavinoid doesn’t appear to have this sort of work done on it.

As I said, YMMV. Just know that lipoflavinoid has not been proven to be safe or effective for what you’re using it for. Maybe you’ll be part of proving it safe and effective for tinnitus related to Meniere’s.

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Thank you, sir, appreciate the feedback!

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Just a note of my own experience: I have menieres and bilateral tinnitis. I found a diuretic and lipoflavonoid a help. After several years of this treatment, I had a different medical condition that made swallowing difficult and ended up stopping the lipoflavonoid because the pills were extremely difficult for me to swallow. The tinnitis has gotten louder and louder over time. Treatment has been helpful recently for the swallowing, and I am back to the lipoflavonoid supplement. I will let you know if the tinnitus volume backs off.

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I’ve found that my level of hydration (or usually dehydration) and salt intake have the most impact on my cicada-sounding tinnitus.

Humorous note: I had some work done on the gas lines in my basement in which they replaced the meter and capped off the old piping. That night I heard a high-pitched whine and when I went downstairs to check it out there was a faint smell of gas. I went outside and called the gas company and explained to the very nice customer service rep that I wasn’t absolutely SURE I was hearing something because of my tinnitus. She assured me they would send a service person out to be absolutely sure. While I was waiting I went around the side of the house to check out the new gas meter and THERE WAS A CICADA ON IT, eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeing his little heart out. I called her back and we got a big laugh out of it.

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Lipoflavonoid supplements and their Sonorest sleep machine changed my life! I’m no longer sleepy and miserable all day or unable to sleep at night. I wholeheartedly endorse these products. Be patient with the supplements. I can take a couple of months to work. But they have a money-back guarantee. nothing to lose!

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Oh boy! A testimonial!!

I’m happy for you; I hope we can gather some evidence of its effectiveness.