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[linz57]

I have had tinnitus for over six years now and most of the time I can ignore it. Today is my fourth day into my new Estrogel/ Utrogestan regime and the tinnitus has ramped up several notches and is awful. I'm also getting a feeling of pressure in my head.
I'm wondering if anyone else had experienced this or any other ear symptoms on this combination? I've also noticed my hearing  has greatly reduced in this ear ( so maybe the tinnitus is the same level but my perception of it has changed due to the hearing loss)
Maybe I'm absorbing the estradiol from the gel better than from the patch and that's what's causing it. ( too much estradiol). The only way I'll find out I suppose is to try reducing the gel and if that doesn't help then it may be the Utrogestan that's doing it.
What a malarkey after being settled for so long.

[CLKD]

HORMONES   

Maybe put tinnitus into the search box and see if anyone else mentions it in relation to HRT?

[Ladybt28]

Linz57 - you could have read my mind I was going to ask about hearing and oestrogen.  I have had problems in my right ear for years but no one can find the problem . Started on HRT age 57 so that's 10 years.  I get earache occasionally in it its painful but nothing seems to trigger it, its random but the main problem is it feels like you are underwater or have water in your ear - that kind of sensation (sloshing) and my hearing in that ear is muffled.  My voice sounds funny to me when I talk (other half says I shouldn't talk )

I read somewhere that oestrogen can cause hearing problems but it is only in one ear - its very weird and really annoying!  Tinnitus is a buzzing isn't it?  I am on gel but the problem has been no different regardless of the HRT I am on.  Have had hearing test and scans all under the Ear/nose/throat people but they cant find anything wrong but my hearing is definitely not right on the right!!

[SueLW]

You have just made a change.  Let it settle down before you change anything.  The tinnitus could well settle down at the same time.

I have hissing in my ears.  It started years ago after a concert.  I left the building with the hissing we tend to get after loud music.  But at the same time my legs felt like lead for the first time and I felt very stroppy and angry.  I struggled to get back to the car that night.  And the hissing never left and the legs came and went with the leaden feeling for a while, gradually getting worse and worse and with my walking gait changing into jerky and barely lifting my feet.  Over time I realised all these things were hormone driven. 

Now on HRT, the hissing sometimes gets quieter for a while and then comes back stronger again.  Just the other day, when I was physically worn out from an illness and a heavy work day, it was very loud.  It's back to normal now.  I think I need to increase my gel to 4 pumps a day for other reasons and perhaps that will help the hissing.  It's been there throughout different HRT methods. 

I'd just stick with it and see if it settles down.

[linz57]

Ladybt, it sounds like you could have problem with a Eustachian tube, I too experienced that underwater sensation for four months after having my ears syringed. My tinnitus in the left ear was caused by a loud, high pitched noise being played close to that ear. The audiologist said that somehow the sound must have been just the right volume and frequency to affect me. My one sided tinnitus was not caused by hormones,  but maybe changes in them now are causing this effect.
I would normally stick with something awhile to see if things settle down, but in this instance I'm unsure as I'm getting a pressure feeling in my head. I don't want to cause any more problems or risk the tinnitus staying this loud.
Sue, I'd not had this problem in all the time I was on FemSeven Conti so there's something in this new regime that's causing it.
I've looked online and read that both estrogen and progesterone can affect the ears so I'm no closer to finding out which is causing mine at the moment.
CLKD, will do that this evening👍

[linz57]

I've found this report, it makes interesting reading.
https://vestibular.org/sites/default/files/page_files/Hormones%20and%20Vestibular%20Disorders_0.pdf

[Ladybt28]

Wow, that does make interesting reading - seems like someone actually put together an article that sounds sensible rather than dismissing this stuff out of hand.

[sheila99]

What an interesting article, I hadn't considered ear problems could be related to hormones. I've had tinnitus for about 30 years following a bug and severe ear ache. It comes and goes and I hadn't noticed it being related to my cycle. But I started utro last night and today I have tinnitus. Perhaps coincidence, perhaps not, I should keep track of it. I'm also on estrogel but am peri so I have utro or 12 days a month. If it was possible for you to change to a sequi regime you would know if utro was the problem. Hearing loss has been gradual but has become noticeable in the last couple of years when I've been in peri.

[linz57]

I'm thinking of doing just that Sheila, I can't say I'll welcome bleeds after almost 8 years without one,  but if it helps me sort out which of the two products is the culprit it will be worth it.
My tinnitus is still raging today ( last night was horrendous, it was like trying to sleep under 100 electricity pylon wires) but thankfully the head and ear pressure has almost gone. I took a Utro last night but haven't used any gel for over 30 hours now. Will see how it goes leavig off the gel for a few days first. Who knows, maybe both items are affecting me argh!!

[linz57]

Also, several other drugs can cause hearing loss, antibiotics are pretty bad for that. Just google ototoxic medications and have a read.

[sheila99]

Thank for the suggestion linz, I've had a look. ENT dr thinks hearing loss could be arthritis caused by whatever damage the bug did but I think he's guessing. Just read an article that associates it with meno & it usually starts in the left ear - just like mine. Whatever the cause it seems unlikely to improve so I have an appointment for a hearing aid. Or I could just turn the telly up so loud I can't hear OH complaining about the volume!

[linz57]

Haha, that sounds like a good plan regardless Sheila.
I know not everything can be put down to menopause, but doctors seem reluctant to attribute anything to it. Mine was treating me for irritable bladder and water infections for some time before another gp took one look down below and said I had VA.
As an update, I left off the Utro last night and today my tinnitus is back down to usual levels. So, I think now my only options are FemSeven Sequi or the Mirena and separate estrogen patch, I think pills are definitely out of the picture.

[sheila99]

It's good you've found the cause. Do you take utro orally or vaginally? Just wondered as you mentioned pills. If you take it orally it might be worth trying vaginally before you give up on it.

[Cassie]

Not sure what strength Utrogestan you are using, I could not tolerate the 200mg due to the tinnitus being so bad, I had to go onto the 100mg, it was the first thing I noticed when using the 200mg, was the loud buzzing in my ears!

[linz57]

Its horrendous isn't it Cassie? It made me want to run with my head in a wall.
I was using 100mg Utrogestan orally. I did contemplate trying vaginally but I have urogenital atrophy and was concerned it might irritate everything down there
I do wonder whether it's just the Utro my body doesn't like or whether any progestogen/progesterone would cause the same effect on me if taken by mouth. I'm so used to transdermal and thank god that's worked ok.
I also wonder why there is no separate progesterone available in a patch, if it can be put in a combined patch, why not on its own?