I've never noticed anything that has made a difference in mine. I have gone days with no caffeine, days with loads, some days I'll have a bunch of salt, weeks with almost none...I have never noticed a change. I wonder if it is because mine was caused by my epilepsy and not age or noise exposure or any of the other regular reasons.

Sara

I found a new trigger recently & its ice cream & it sets my T off within 1/2 hr

I didn't think I had a chocolate trigger but tonight I ate a ton of chocolate fondue and my T went way up withing 15 minutes. It's possible it's the sugar more than the chocolate. My T also went off today after I had a sugary drink. I don't usually drink sugar drinks so maybe it's the sugar.

Attester--Wow, I wonder if there is some chemical in Gala apples that can quiet T? Curious!! Maybe you are onto something researchers should be studying...!

BobsDream--I'm with you about the Twinkies! : )

Hi McMurdo,
Gala apples gave me a bunch of quiet days, but it may have been the distraction from the fun had in apple picking at the orchard on a lovely autumn day.

MSG is hidden in almost ALL processed foods and many (especially american) cheeses are loaded with free form Glutamate. Sometimes I just NEED to eat and I eat something I know has at least a small amount of msg related chemicals. In these cases it takes about half a hour to an hour for a T spike. But sugary/acidic drinks can cause a spike within mere minutes! I hate not being able to drink OJ but I've have the effect happen too many times.. I am not sure if its from a spike of the nutrient in my bloodstream or if its affecting the fillings/possibly exposed nerves in my mouth.

To the main that mentioned caffeine T and Ibuprofen.

I have given up caffeine but frankly I don't know if that helped.. I got the T ATER I quit the caffeine and not that long after. when I was in the army I had to do VErY late night radio shifts and I used to drink cup after cup to stay awake.. AFter a while there is a REBOUND effect where a cup would actually PUT ME OUT. for years I was a heavy coffee drinker yet I could fall asleep within seconds.. I believe there is a rebound effect that actually causes caffeine to quiet your nervous system, and if your system adapts to all that stimulation and then its LACKING all of a sudden, the lack of caffeine might actually cause nervous system stimulation. Science is replete with this kinds of paradoxical effects..
The brain is very complex. Sometimes I wonder if going back to all my old bad habits would actually reverse the T but I don't want to continue poisoning my system, I want it to heal.

As for Ibuprofen, it is an NSAID, a non steroidal anti inflammatory drug, NSAIDS are NOTORIOUS for being oto-toxic drugs. some people can gulp them by the handful and not suffer effects but because of what I am taking now for my condition and knowing the possible side effects. I hate tylenol, so I basically take NO pain killers of any kinds. Just Klonopin for anxiety :-)

I noticed Eliette mention that epilepsy went along with your T. As I have mentioned before, recent brain scans have shown that the brains of T sufferers often resemble those of epileptics. We need to keep; in mind that T is NOT just a condition of the ears, its only part of the equation, otherwise , everyone with hearing loss would have T. and many don't. Many people have fine hearing and severe T.. Its a disorder of the brains and nerves.. That is why TRT can be effective, its REWIRING the brain. Anything that causes you neurons to fire MORE often causes the T to spike. Anything like Salt that increases pressure within your ear can cause it to spike. MSG is BAD because its a neurotoxin/excitotoxin.

Klonopin and Xanax (especially) help because they QUIET the brain. most of the people on here having reactions to food have it because of the following reasons, in my layman's opinion

1) Excitiotoxins, MSG or its related poisons like Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Caffeine ( for some), Recreational Drugs, and many pharmaceuticals

2) Blood Pressure Modifiers, excess salt for instance, stress, bad choloesterol, meds that raise blood pressure

3) Excess water consumption, which will also increase blood pressure if your kidneys are not adept at getting rid of it.

4) Sugary and acidic foods which cause your brain to get into a heightened state of activity or inflame your nerves. Studies have shown over and over, a VAST major of T sufferers have some kind of diabetes, a pre-diabetic condition or a metabolic disorder.

I hope this helps! the only way to really eat safe food nowadays is to buy unprocessed food and cook it yourself, carefully. That means changing your diet severely often time and eating veggies, which people like me has a hard time doing.

p.s. for kicks I bought roast beef, I asked the guy behind the counter to give me a roast beef with NO msg brother. he said Boar's Head.. guess what, its loaded with it! At least the site I read online this morning said so. I'm about to go eat a bunch of it, Im HUNGRY, will let you know if this sends me T off roaring. for me, the T is always MUCH less in the morning after sleeping all night and not eating anything.. by night time when its quiet is when its often the worse.

My t changes in Volume, AND Pitch AND the quaility/number of tones several times a day

Im starting to think salt maybe a trigger for me. Its not really something ive been monitoring but the other day i had a bag of salted peanuts and my T went through the roof .lol

If chocolate cured T I'd be fine!
suera

I walked by a Godiva store and it was giving away free Pumpkin Truffles. Who can resist that? I couldn't. 30 minutes later T spike!