I'm also pretty certain if I don't take my high blood pressure medication my t will increase. We have a Chinese restaurant here in town with a big sign saying that they don't use MSG in anything.

Yup. I always know when I've accidentally eaten MSG.

BobsDream, is there any other substance you feel the same about, I just figured out msg and wouldn't mind head's up about any other neurotoxin like that in our food.

thanks

Neilster, I have been warning people about processed sugar, chocolate, and MSG for years on here. :) You must have missed my posts. :) All three are very common T-spikers for many T people. WARNING: MSG is often disguised as "natural flavor" in packaged food, so be careful of that, too. Check the list at the end of this article--it lists the "other names" MSG goes by in packaging: http://www.tinnitusformula.com/library/neurotoxins-and-tinnitus-aspartame-msg-solutions/

For me MSG is hands down the worst offender. Salt would be a close second but it takes a lot more salt than MSG to get my T up. Sugar used to affect me all the time but now its hit or miss. Some days it doesnt do anything and some days it sets me off.

McMurdo made a good point. MSG can be hidden in ingredient lists and be labeled as something that looks innocent.

Great article McMurdo and thanks for posting for all too see.

May I ask, has your t improved at all over the last couple of years, knowing what you know now. Have bad spikes lessen because of avoiding certain foods, using supplements from vitamins or medications, as well as adjusting to various situations, such as spending more time in an amicable room.

They don't call it monoSODIUMglutamate for nothing. I find salty things to be an instant t increaser.

Salt is one of the worst for me as well. And you, especially in restaurants, you just never know how much was used or what was put in the food for preserving it.

Taco Johns Tater tots. Love em covered in salsa but it's a salt bomb that gets me screamin.

McMurdo, I probably didn't miss your posts, I was just in denial :) Sorry about that, it must frustrate the heck out of you as it does me when people don't listen to advice on T.

I thought MSG was only in chinese food so i only went to no-msg places... well... now I learned it's almost everywhere, but processed meats are the worst for me. As for chocolate, I owe you another apology because yeah wow it's not as long-lasting as the msg (days) but it does spike me for a few hours.

So now i feel i have control over this finally (!!!) I am avoiding all MSG... i am avoiding all sugar except minute amounts... salt i never eat much, don't like salty foods, but i'll stay away.

For the past few weeks I've been on this massively changed diet (i was a junk food/msg junkie i now see) my T has been super-low, what I call a "1/10"... the only spike i cannot seem to control now is sound and stress, but i think even when i'm spiking in a loud echo room the spike is not as bad.

Please tell me this is it, and the whole bloody chemistry is not gonna change on me one day... this i can deal with much better.. the sugar gave me a 1-tone EEE.. but wow.. the MSG gives me a whole orchestra.... that i will not miss if this is the solution i can only thank God and everybody here.. i'll live longer too, i was really a major sugar and chocolate addict i now realize, and for nothing - i don't miss it at all hardly.

Nielster--I do not have sudden spikes anymore now that I avoid certain foods(for the last 18 months), so I think you may be good to go now that you have figured your trigger/s. It's the glutamate (an amino acid) in MSG that sets you off--there are a number of clinical trials that show glutamate in the brain spikes T (and in some people/animals, seizures) so researchers have tried meds that reduce glutamate for both T and epilepsy. The seizure med I'm on now (Mysoline) reduces glutamate--if you can keep the glutamate in your brain low, I think your T will remain lower. Studies have also shown an increase in GABA in your brain helps T (which Mysoline also does) so that is why GABA or other GABA-increasers help some people reduce their T.

Salt has never affected my T. I eat potato chips and other salty food, no problems. Salt doesn't cause people to have seizures, but glutamate sure can, and ditto for it spiking T, so review that list of things glutamate is hidden in on the link I posted and avoid them like the plague!!!

Sugar also spikes my T except if I have T at about level 6 or higher, eating sugar doesn't seem to make it much worse. But if I have low T, sugar will def spike it for a few hours or until I go to bed--I never know which. :(

ATTester--Yes, avoiding MSG and sugar has def kept my T lower or at least helped me avoid spikes like I used to have, unless I mess up and accidentally eat something that has MSG or sugar in it that I missed in the label. I have tried every herbal on the planet and the only one that really seems to help is L-tryptophan. The prescription meds that lower my T are klonopin (it increases GABA in your brain) and the one I'm on now, Mysoline, a seizure med. Trileptal, a seizure med, helped when taken with klonopin, but not as well as the Mysoline. Mysoline can cause headaches, and I've had 10 days of almost no T on it, but I started a new generic of it, and that one causes me a headache for a couple of days. It's one of those meds in which all generics are not all the same, so I switched to the old generic (made by Qualitest) and the headache seems better, but not gone. I hope the generic that triggered the headache hasn't triggered my brain/body to have this as a side effect from here on out., even on the good stuff...that would be bad, because the Myso really (so far) seems to keep my T very low.

A study in the last issue of ATA magazine showed that klono reduces T volume for most people, but I've never read anything about Myso for T people. It's just something I tried on my own with my doc's consent because I read that it increases GABA and reduces glutamate in the brain. You can't take klono with it like you can with Trileptal, though. And I haven't tried the non-generic version of Mysoline. It might work if the generic continues to give me a headache.

Oh, and Neilster,--I avoid certain rooms that spike my T like the plague, too. IDK if it's the shape or the acoustics or what, but my audiologist agreed--some rooms or stores can really make your T spike. Hate that!! My kitchen, on the other hand, lowers my T--instantly goes down when I walk in. I had that happen in a hotel room I stayed in once--as soon as I walked from the hallway into the room, the T went down, every time. So weird!

Yes McMurdo you are correct, different acoustics will change my t also. ?????

Processed foods as a whole are not healthy. One should shop the produce, meat and seafood, dairy only. No salicylates, no msg, watch the caffeine, chocolate, sugar. Dont shop the processed food aisle. Eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains. A label at all on something should not have more than 5 ingredients. If a label has more than 5 ingredients it's too processed. And just pay attn to what spikes your own tinnitus individually and avoid it.

Anyone want some air soup, its safe and delicious. Its seems about the only thing we can eat