Aspirin or apples may be the cause of the ringing in your ears!

Tinnitus, Aspirin and Salicylates

• Tinnitus is better known as “ringing in the ears.” About 20 million Americans are believed to suffer from tinnitus. While there can be many causes, one well known trigger is aspirin, a salicylate. An article in the Journal of Neuroscience (2003) notes “It is well known for at least a century that a large dose of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) produces hearing loss and tinnitus that recover after stopping treatment.” In fact, researchers use aspirin to induce tinnitus in animals that are used to study this condition. It is thought that salicylate in aspirin weakens the tiny hair cells in the inner ear that transmit sounds to the brain. The good news is that when the aspirin is discontinued the hearing loss is reversed and the ringing stops.  Can natural salicylates cause tinnitus?

Since there are other triggers for tinnitus, including tobacco and caffeine, this is hard to say. … [Feingold] would welcome feedback from any members who have tried out a salicylate-free diet for Tinnitus.

Salicylates are confusing!

Healthy foods and common medicines can be a big problem for some people. The first salicylate-containing plant to be recognized was the willow bark, once used to ease pain, and later served as the basis for aspirin. “Natural salicylate” refers to a chemical that occurs in many plants; it is created by the plant, most likely to discourage insects from eating it. It can also offer protection from plant diseases.

While salicylates such as aspirin can offer many benefits, and plants that contain salicylates can be very nourishing, they are not well tolerated by everyone. It can be tricky to figure out which plants or foods from those plants can bother a particular individual.

Many people believe that by measuring the salicylate content of various foods we can assume that those with the highest levels are the ones that will cause problems. But while such a test might help indentify possible offender, it is just not that simple.

Here’s why:

• There are various kinds of salicylates; we don’t know which ones are likely to cause adverse reactions.

• The amount of salicylate can vary from one variety of fruit to another, and even the levels in a particular plant can change.

• Different parts of a plant might have different levels of salicylate. For example, the amounts can vary between the pulp, seeds, and peel of a food.

• Sensitivity can vary depending on whether it is raw or cooked.

• Foods grown in one region might not be the same as foods grown in another

• We don’t even know that it is the salicylate in a food that is to blame; there could be other naturally-occurring chemicals that play a part.

• Typically, a salicylate-sensitive person has problems with only some, not all of the salicylates.

• Salicylate sensitivity can change, particularly for a child who avoids them for a year or so and can later tolerate moderate amounts of them.

But despite all these confusing issues, and all that we do not know about salicylates, we do have a useful method for finding it if they are a problem and identifying which ones are the likely culprits. Dr. Feingold searched for help to identify which salicylates were likely to bother the patients in his allergy clinic at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Francisco. The only list of foods with suspected salicylates was decades old, but he decided to use this list as a starting point, with plans to refine it as he gained more experience with patients. Actually the list of salicylate-containing foods turned out to be useful and he did not have to make many changes.

Over the years, the Feingold Association has gathered information from [their] members and made small modifications to the original list. However, we find that his techniques still work well. We (Feingold) ask the new member to remove all of the “natural salicylates” that appear to be most likely to trigger problems. Once they are seeing a successful response they may begin to gradually add back the salicylates, one at a time, and test them out. While most people are able to add back those foods, there is an advantage to continuing on the stage one (salicylate free) part of the [Feingold] program for a longer time. If salicylates are avoided for a longer period they will more likely to be tolerated later.

Like any elimination diet, the Stage one period of the Feingold Program works best if all the potential offenders are removed at the beginning, if a diet diary is kept, and if salicylates are reintroduced cautiously.

Reactions to salicylates can vary drastically. Here are some reactions that have been reported to the Feingold Association.

• Seizures from apples.

• Regression in speech therapy from eating an orange.

• Behavior and learning problems from raisins and grapes.

• Night terrors.

• Bloating excessively while eating.

Aspirin overdose can lead to many symptoms, including: tinnitus, vertigo, hearing loss, difficulty concentrating, swelling, tremor, seizures, blurred vision, hyperactivity, irritability, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, gastrointestinal bleeding, heartburn, purpurea (similar to bruising), hemorrhage, anemia, hives, swelling, asthma, itching, anaphylaxis, mental confusion, hallucinations, drowsiness, sweating, thirst, rapid breathing, rapid heartbeat, hypoglycemia, convulsions, coma, respiratory failure, hyperthermia, multiple organ failure.

The American Association of Poison Control centers receive thousands of calls each year reporting excessive consumption of aspirin, with some resulting in death. It is not known how many episodes are the results of using medicines that include aspirin in their formulation.

Salicylic acid is used in some topical products, not just in aspirin tablets and medicines containing aspirin. Last year, Aerial Newman, a 17-year-old track star, died as a result of using excessive amounts of an over-the-counter topical sports cream that contains methyl salicylate.

People with fibromyalgia who are being treated with the medicine guaifenesin must avoid using salicylate-containing products on their skin. Because it’s difficult to find salicylate-free personal care products, a fibromyalgia patient, Andrea Rose, developed a line called Personal Basics by Andrea Rose . In addition to being free of salicylates, the products are also free of the additives eliminated on the Feingold Plan. Many of them are included in the stage one section of the mail order guide.

Reprinted from Pure Facts, the newsletter of the Feingold Association of the United States, FEINGOLD

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