by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
A lady wrote,
I was recently chatting with a man about his tinnitus. He has suffered with severe ringing in his ears for over 15 years. About three months ago, he was in the hospital for surgery. They noticed his potassium and magnesium levels were very low and started him on both liquid forms of each. He mentioned after about four days, all the ringing in his ears has stopped and has not returned. Interesting after 15 years of having it. Any thoughts?
Too much Potassium can cause tinnitus as I pointed out in my article “Potassium Gluconate and Hearing Loss”, (1) but maybe too little can also do the same.
On the other hand, many/most Americans are low on magnesium according to what I have read in various places. We need magnesium. It helps protect our ears from noise damage and other ear problems.
As Barry Keate (2) explains, “Magnesium also protects the nerves in the inner ear and is a powerful glutamate inhibitor. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter, produced by the action of sound waves on the hair cells of the inner ear. The unregulated production of glutamate at sound frequencies for which there is no external stimulation is the cause of tinnitus.”
“The protective effect of magnesium in preventing noise-induced hearing loss has been studied since it was found that magnesium in inner ear fluid decreases significantly after intense noise exposure. The results of one placebo controlled study showed that subjects who took oral magnesium supplements displayed a significantly lower incidence of noise-induced hearing loss compared to the control group. In 1998 a highly motivated patient elected to undergo a catheter-delivered infusion of magnesium sulfate to the round window (of the inner ear). Within 60 seconds of the infusion she experienced complete resolution of her tinnitus. This effect lasted until the flow of medication was discontinued 48 hours later.” (2)
Thus I can readily see that if he was low on magnesium, it could have certainly been linked to his tinnitus.
It’s a good idea to make sure you have adequate magnesium intake. But don’t overdose on it. And remember to keep this mineral in proper balance. For example, if you take extra magnesium, you also should be taking calcium at the same rate (the correct ratio is 1:1 calcium to magnesium). Note that almost all supplement formulations have a 2:1 ratio of calcium to magnesium (this is not good for your health). At the same time, you also need to take Vitamin D3 so your body will properly utilize the calcium and magnesium. Furthermore, if you take higher doses of Vitamin D3, you should take Vitamin K2 so you don’t end up with harmful side effects from taking high doses of Vitamin D3.
Dr. Mercola recently wrote, “Magnesium is also important, both for the proper function of calcium, and for the activity of vitamin D, as it converts vitamin D into its active form. Magnesium also activates enzyme activity that helps your body use the vitamin D. In fact, all enzymes that metabolize vitamin D require magnesium to work. As with vitamin D and K2, magnesium deficiency is very common, and if you’re lacking in magnesium and take supplemental calcium, you may exacerbate the situation. Dietary sources of magnesium include sea vegetables, such as kelp, dulse, and nori. Vegetables can also be a good source. As for supplements, magnesium citrate and magnesium threonate are among the best.” (3) So is magnesium glycinate.
As you can see, the trick is to take all vitamins and minerals in the proper ratio so you keep your body’s chemistry in balance, thus giving you optimal health.
If you want to learn more about tinnitus, the many things that can trigger tinnitus, or more about a number of things you can do to help bring your tinnitus under control, check out my book, When Your Ears Ring—Cope with Your Tinnitus—Here’s How.
________
(1) Bauman, Neil. 2009. Potassium Gluconate and Hearing Loss.
(2) Keate, Barry. 2013? Magnesium, Your Health and Tinnitus.
(3) Mercola, Dr. Joseph. 2015. Foods and Other Lifestyle Factors That Will Shorten Your Lifespan.
Food with vitamins can also be use to treat tinnitus naturally. But one can also try to consume supplement which I think will help fixing the problem faster.
Hi Neil,
This is Nancy Lynne. We spoke the other day. Thank you fir your time.
Can you please go over your vitamin ratio suggested dosage again for the following vitamins..
D3, Manesium, k2
Hi Nancy:
You want to take sufficient D3 supplements such that your blood levels of vitamin D3 are right around 70 ng/ml. Unfortunately, doctors think that anything over 20 to 30 ng/ml is adequate, but you don’t just want to be barely adequate, you want the optimum levels and that is 60 to 80 ng/ml.
You want your magnesium intake to be about the same as your calcium intake. Most Cal/Mag tablets give you twice as much (or more) calcium than magnesium, but you want to get it close to 1:1. You may want to take between 600 and 900 mg per day of magnesium for optimal health.
If you take high doses of Vitamin D3, then you need to supplement with Vitamin K2 or else the calcium can get stuck in your arteries rather than deposited in your bones. Natural K2 is called menaquinone-7 or MK-7. That is what you want to take. Dr. Mercola suggests taking around 150 mcg daily. Remember to take it with fats as it is a fat soluble vitamin and won’t be absorbed well if no fat is present.
I just found out that if you are taking Magnesium, you should also take Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) to best utilize magnesium.
These are rough guidelines. There are no precise data on exactly what you need–and no doubt it varies from person to person, but the above should get you started.
Cordially,
Neil
It’s the high ◾️◾️extracellular potassium — probably due to thiamine deficiency and insulin resistance — which causes tinnitus.
Copper dumping and taking supps with citric acid can trigger this too. Copper dumping triggers potassium losses and calcifications ( Rick Malter )
Iron deficiency , B12 deficiency, folate deficiency can also cause pulsatile as can physical issues such as AVM/ AVF. .
High dose ascorbic acid triggered copper dumping for me. And exposure to high levels of salicylate and Oxalate.
I can’t believe I’m having so many problems at once. I’ve been prescribed magnesium citrate for suspected constipation from antibiotics last year. I’m reading on forums this causes a spike in many people. Is there a good one time laxative alternative? Thank you Neil!
Hi Tina:
Typically, the cure for constipation is two-fold–drink lots of water and eat lots of “roughage”. A natural treatment is taking taking Psyllium seeds/husks. Or you can get it as Metamucil or Fiberall. In any case, you want to drink plenty of water with any form of psyllium.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Neil,
I’m taking a Mag Threonate product in which the serving size of 3 capsules equals 2000mg of Magnesium l-threonate which contains 144mg of elemental Magnesium. To get close to a 1:1 calcium to magnesium, which magnesium amount am I using as to figure out how how much calcium to take? The
2000mg l-threonate or the 144mg elemental magnesium? That’s a big difference!
Also, is there a rough estimate of how many mcg’s of D3 you’d want to take daily to get your blood levels around 60-80 ng/ml?
Thanks!
Hi Michael:
Don’t forget about the magnesium and calcium you get daily from the foods you eat. You need to also factor that into the equation. I dare say that most people are low on magnesium much moreso than on calcium, so just supplementing with magnesium is a good step in the right direction in getting closer to the 1:1 ratio.
In any case, you need to compare apples with apples, so compare elemental magnesium with elemental calcium.
As for Vitamin D3, it depends on each person. You need to have a blood test to be sure where your D3 levels are, and that depends on how much sunshine you get on your skin–so summer and winter levels will be different. However, taking 10,000 IU a day should put you above 40 ng/ml (the minimum level for good health) and may put you right in the sweet spot for optimal health at between 70 and 80.
Personally, I take 10,000 IU per day and have been doing so for a good number of years.
Cordially,
Neil