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[seesea]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and very glad to have become a member of this forum. I'm 63, have no ovaries but I still have my uterus and I've been on HRT consisting of 100 mg progesterone and an estrogen patch for 3 years. When I started HRT, I had a moderate hearing loss and since then, my hearing has become a lot worse. I happened on a study that linked progesterone or progestin use with hearing loss a couple of days ago that worried me. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a lot of follow up with this study. Anyway, when I read it I was alarmed. I was wondering if any of you who are taking a combination of progesterone and estrogen have noticed any changes in your hearing. Here is a link to the study in case you want to see it and thank you for your responses in advance.

http://www.pnas.org/content/103/38/14246.full'sid=e0300f84-2a55-4200-8f8b-36b686b9bac3

[seesea]

Thanks for responding ladies. Yes, I get my ears checked. I have worn hearing aids for about 12 years. My hearing loss was very stable until a couple of years ago so that's why I'm trying to figure out if the additional loss and progesterone is a coincidence or a factor in the loss. My loss does have a hereditary component because I do have some deaf relatives. My hearing was normal until my late 40's. I have a theory that if you have hearing loss, it may mean that your hearing is just not as robust as normal hearing people and you are more susceptible to loud noise, medication and other things that may effect hearing because you are already compromised. Of course, I don't know if that's true. I hope there is no correlation at all. HRT is so complicated. 

[Megamind]

Interesting as I just googled 'does HRT cause hearing loss' and there are a LOT of articles about it saying yes it does.

[CLKD]

Could it be the drop in oestrogen levels affecting the inner ear in the same way as it causes laxity in muslces?

[seesea]

If no one has noticed this happening to them personally though, besides me, I would have to wonder if the study is flawed or too small for the results to be conclusive.

[CLKD]

Who funded the Study?  That might give you a clue as to how realistic the information might be!

[seesea]

Who funded the Study?  That might give you a clue as to how realistic the information might be!

Here is what I found out.

Acknowledgments
This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grants P01 AG09524 from the National Institute on Aging and P30 DC05409 from the National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders and by the International Center for Hearing and Speech Research (Rochester, NY) (to R.D.F. and D.R.F.).

Sounds pretty impressive to me. But I don't know how to tell good funders from bad.