Quietus (for tinnitus)

I see this ad in Parade for Quietus which is supposed to cure tinnitus (which I have).

I wonder how good/not good it is. I'm not holding my breath...

I see it's for sale at Amazon for $99.95. 1-1/2 stars with 8 customer reviews.

One five-star review.

Benn using this for 3 weeks and have noticed the ringing slowly going away. great product and nice staff.

The other seven reviews were all one-star. For example,

I suffer from Tinnitus. Everyone from the American Medical Association to my Doctor to the Audio Engineering Society all say the same thing. "Tinnitus is permanent nerve damage. there is no cure"..but like a fool I tried it. Doesn't work.

***

I purchase three months worth of Quietus and can state with conviction that this product is very expensive and doesn't work. Subsequently, you may want to start looking at the root causes of your ailment, which means altering your diet and adjusting your attitudes towards your daily environment.

Many things have to be present in your body chemistry for Tinnitus to occur. Most prevalent is a stressful environment and high counts of salicylic acid in the bloodstream. Work on reducing stress the same way you would if you had a bad heart or high blood pressure. Consult your physician and if you do not have a heart condition immediately stop taking aspirin, which is the purest form of acetylsalicylic acid. Cutting out related ibuprofen pain killers is just as helpful.

Still more difficult is cutting down on or altogether avoiding foods with high levels of salicylic acid. Foods that most people love, including olives, tomato, mushrooms, raisins, dates, almonds, peanuts, curry, mustard, and pistachios. I have noticed that drinking even small quantities of red wine increases ringing in my years, so you may want to check that out as well. None of this is easy, but life's all about choices. Avoiding stressful situations will no doubt have the greatest impact.

Good luck and forget about Quietus.

***

A look around Amazon and other places online will quickly show you that unlike headaches and other bothersome ailments that make our lives miserable, as far as tinnitus is concerned there are very few solutions or miracle cures even being offered. Tinnitus sufferers don't even have the "luxury" of trying dozens of different concoctions in hope of some relief, for there are only a mere handful of so called remedies being offered at all. Quietus was the latest, and third in a line of promised relief that I have tried. Unfortunately, it moves to the head of the class as far as being not only totally ineffective, but the premier example of true highway robbery with its price. I am ashamed to admit that this is one product that I actually decided to spring for simply because I believed that no company would charge this much money for something that didn't work. Or at least work well enough to ease up the suffering just a little bit. I will never be so stupid and naive again.

***

What surprised me was the ad had a table listing ginkgo biloba and minerals: zinc/mag as other choice (obviously not as good as quietus) for tinnitus. That's news to me.

Here's a review of Quietus that mentioned that Gingko Biloba sometimes helps lull the ringing.

Here's reference that states that the regular medication with ginkgo biloba is effective in the treatment of tinnitus.

Here's another report that mentions gingko biloba as well as zinc and magnesium (as well as a lot of other information).

Here's another study that found no effect.

But here's one that found results.

But heck, what do I have to lose? I have some gingko biloba in a bottle that nobody is using anyway.

***

Getting better reviews on Amazon is Clear Tinnitus 60 Capsules for only $9.68. 3-1/2 stars, 11 reviews.

CLEAR TINNITUS, contains a unique proprietary blend of thirteen herbs, scientifically formulated to work in combination with active homeopathic ingredients to provide temporary relief of tinnitus.

Out of the eleven reviews, five were five-star and three were one-star.

I have had tinnitus for some time and have been using Clear Tinnitus for about 2 years off and on. My symptoms improve noticeably when taking two caps per day. When I stop, symptoms return within about a week. I've tried this a few times with the same results each time. I just tried to reduce to one cap in the morning and symptoms started returning. So I'm back to 2 caps in the morning. I was very skeptical after trying a bunch of other vitamins etc but this did help me. I don't think anything is going to be a panacea for everyone, but this does indeed help some people and is worth a try. The whistling is unbearable and while this doesn't stop it altogether, it helps significantly where I barely notice it most of the time... Just be aware that it doesn't work immediately. It starts to work after a few weeks or so.

On the other hand,

I took this product for 7 days before experiencing severe dizziness with vomiting. The room was not "spinning", but it did feel like the room was revolving around me. I didn't take the product again until the next day. Within a few hours of taking it, I again experienced the vertigo and vomiting. Once again, I did not take the product until one day later at which time I suffered the same symptoms for the third time. I quit taking the product and have not experienced the symptoms again. I think the product label should be changed from reading "no side effects" to say that there may be side effects of dizziness, vomiting and vertigo.

[but did the ringing stop? 8]

***

Here's another one, advertised in the 5/10/10 Star Bulletin, called Ring No More.

How good does it work? Well here's one comment.

This product is a scam! I ordered it, it took 3 weeks to deliver almost as the 30 day guarantee trial was up (3 weeks to ship), i had to fight with a supervisor to get a refund 1 day after the 30 day trial period was up, and then they say it will take up to 60 days to provide a refund. I think they make money on floating refunds after people figure out this little white tablet doesn't do a thing to help.

I hope others research before they order. Ringing ears are terrible and this company is preying on people's health issues. DO NOT ORDER THIS product.

And here's a report.

However here are some products that might be worth investigating.

*** [8/15/14]

IF YOUR EARS are ringing, hissing, buzzing, roaring, whistling, chirping or clicking, you may have tinnitus; the term is derived from the Latin word tinnire, which means “to ring.” An estimated 42 million to 50 million adult Americans have tinnitus, which is the perception of a sound in one or both ears when no external sound is present.

Tinnitus can be caused by loud noises, medications such as aspirin that can damage the nerves in the ear, impacted earwax, middle-ear problems (such as infections or vascular tumors), Ménière’s disease (a disorder of the balance mechanism in the inner ear), aging or clenching one’s jaw or grinding one’s teeth.

“Many things can trigger tinnitus, but the most common thing by far is hearing loss,” says Dr. David J. Eisenman, associate professor of otorhinolaryngology (head and neck surgery) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “Treatment of a hearing loss will often improve tinnitus.”

Costco Connection article, February 2014

[hearing loss?  what?  I think I should clean my ear wax first.]