Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: Nemesis on June 22, 2015, 10:18:23 AM
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I have been reading this wonderful forum for many years for support during my meno but now want to ask a question. In the past few months I have developed permanent tinnitus of the White noise variety. Doctors say you just have to get used to it as it is a brain noise and not from the ear.
Has anyone on here got this debilitating condition, and if so how do they cope ?
I haven't had an easy menopause and have been on a patch for 5 years, but this has been the worst yet. I don't expect it will go as it is continuous, and not of the coming and going variety.
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Hi and welcome to MM Nemesis
Though there have been some posts on MM regarding tinnitus I don't think it is directly related to the menopause but many of us find we develop all sorts of strange things at this time in our lives. My son suffers badly with tinnitus. There must be a site that offers advice and supper for tinnitus?
I hope the patch is sorting your meno symptoms.
Hopefully someone will be along with some help. DG x
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I have it mildly, but it came before the menopause. Not sure of the cause though. I have it 24/7. Never bothered mentioning it to GP though.
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There is a UK Tinnitus Society. I suddenly get tuned into my ear/s and wonder how long it/they have been ringing for ::). I also get itching deep down ……. we call that 'spaniel ear' ::) as I need a thinner finger to get in to scratch! But fingers are designed not to fit our lug-holes ::)
I also get throbbing when laying on the ear - not painful - but I am aware of it in the background. My R ear also gets bunged up/sticky and a wriggle with a finger seems to release it, I notice it more in the night when I'm laying on that side.
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I have very short and narrow ear canals just like my mother and they need syringing once or twice a year. A ringing sound always heralds the need for this but I believe real tinnitus is a terrible affliction that can drive sufferers to the edge.
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Yes it can. Many people have been affected by attending 'rock' concerts ::) or being in a noisy situation.
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Thank you for the replies. I've tried reading a few tinnitus forums but they seem scary places with people talking about suicide etc so thought I should stay away.
I'm 59 so I guess it might be age related. Men and Young people get it as well which makes me think it may not be meno related.
Cubagirl does your's affect your sleep ? Do you use noise to mask it I'm really struggling at the moment. I guess it depends on how invasive an individual's noise is. It is a pretty miserable thing to have.
I also get a blocked ear feeling with it.
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Mine started after recurrent ear infections. It's mostly there all the time. I notice it more if I'm stressed.
Your GP is right though, your brain does become accustomed to it and you will not be as aware of it in time.
As for sleeping, I have a wave app that I use to concentrate on which is helpful.
Also any added pressure in your ear can make it worse. If you feel bunged up then an antihistamine can help as can olbas oil in hot water and inhale. That clears the tubes.
Like you I have stayed well away from forums because they are very bleak places at times.
Honeybun
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Oh and :welcomemm:
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Thank you for the welcome. I think mine might be the result of recurrent infections as well.
I agree I don't think there is much to be done once you have the 24/7 kind. GP has been supportive and I've had a few tests and all show negative.
I have been trying relaxation music from youtube at night, but as soon as it stops I am awake. Then I get poor sleep and that makes it worse, vicious circle.
Sorry that you have this as well.
I think there is a supplement you can take called ginkgo biloba but I am a bit dubious as if it worked I would imagine it would be a prescribable medicine available on the NHS for those who unfortunately have the chronic version of this condition.
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Try more of a sounds app and play it on a loop. The sound of any kind of water is good.
Hopefully you will start to get used to it soon and it won't be quite as annoying. Distraction is wonderful. I like to read, it just takes my mind off it for a while if it's bad.
I have heard that the ginkgo biloba is helpful, thanks for the reminder. It's always worth a try, nothing to loose really and I have great faith in alternatives.
Honeybun
X
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I will try more sound apps.
I like to read too but unfortunately at the moment when I try to read all I hear is the horrible noise.
I also read talking books can be good for going to sleep with. Apparently you do habituate to it, which I have not done yet, let's hope I can and don't become one of the folks that turns potty with it.
I might try some of the alternative remedies as even turning the sound down a bit would be helpful.
It's a matter of taking what life throws at you I suppose.
Thanks again.
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Sometimes affects sleep, most of the time it is just background noise. Had a neighbour with it. She had to play music, TV really loudly to deaden the ringing in her ears. She found it a complete nightmare.
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cubagirl does your neighbour no longer have the tinnitus or do you no longer have the neighbour?
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Thanks for the reply cubagirl, I am still at the finding it at the nightmare stage, as it seems pretty loud.Hopefully it will become more of a background noise like yours has but who knows, also I guess none of us knows what the other actually hears. I'm very glad that yours isn't intrusive.
I'm having to listen to things to try and block it at night although I have always been a bad sleeper. It's also giving me bad anxiety so I may have to go back to the GP on that. He kindly gave me a few Valium but I really would like something different and I know he won't prescribe again I think he did so because he could see what a state of shock I was in.
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I've developed it and it's making it difficult to hear people talk if they are quietly spoken
I get a few different types (white machine I guess is a good description/high pitch noise and then whooshing like a sonicaid noise when pregnant) and they 'switch' from one to the other, or machine like noise quite loud then I can't hardly hear at all
I've also developed 6th nerve palsy (double vision) and blurred vision, no wonder I always feel lightheaded
Annie xx
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Sorry that you are suffering as well Annie, I'm having a particularly bad day today. Mine is like the noise made from an old cassette tape or CVT TV, white noise.
6th nerve palsy sounds awful as well. It's amazing what human beings seem able to survive.
I do feel sad that I will never hear silence again, but then when I went ion the scary tinnitus forums and read lots of young people had this from noise trauma, that made me even sadder. Also it makes me want to pull ear phones out of young people's ears incase they get it. Perhaps younger people's clears up, I think in older people it can be associated with losing certain hearing frequencies and the brain tries to compensate, so we are stuck with it.
I'm going to have to get some needs for the anxiety it is causing, poor man must be sick if the sight if me.
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I'm another of those people plagued with tinnitus. I've had it 3 years. They say mine is from hearing loss. I have lost just one frequency and my tinnitus plays the note I have lost.
I belong to a few facebook tinnitus groups. It's good to share with people who get it.
Mine us reactive so I can no longer go to loud places without a spike, I also have hyperacusis.
I was about habituated but a lot of stress illness this year changed all that. Right now I think hormone fluctuations making it worse and poor sleep effects it too.
PM me is you want to chat more.
I have to say not all the groups are depressing all the time and I follow what new treatments are coming. One company is on phase 3 of testing a drug, here in the UK, which looks promising.
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No longer have neighbour babyjane.
Mine is actually kinda noisy tonight, especially right ear. General buzzing sound but just noticed high pitch whine on top of it. Not sure why.
Annie I've had that sonicaid sound sometimes. Great description of it in fact!
I remember reading some time ago that many get it after being subjected to overly loud music in clubs & such. As teenagers & older I expect many of us have frequented clubs & pubs, some still do. Possibly how I've ended up with it, though I never went frequently to clubs etc.
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Many musicians suffer and your description Annie is good. I get that too ::)
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I was referred to ent and he said I have hearing loss in my left ear (most of my tinnitus is right ear) unless I'm not hearing it unless it's loud in the left lol
Anyway, he said my hearing loss is usually caused by a head injury, and unless my mum dropped me as a baby I can't think what else caused it, brain scan was ok
But this 6th nerve palsy I'd also troublesome , I'm losing my balance senses and that worries me, I have another eye clinic on Monday and I will ask for tests to rule out possibilities, I heard lesions can cause it, I'm sure it's not a tumour but I can't understand what would make it suddenly develop (daily now for @7months)
Annie xx
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I'm another of those people plagued with tinnitus. I've had it 3 years. They say mine is from hearing loss. I have lost just one frequency and my tinnitus plays the note I have lost.
I belong to a few facebook tinnitus groups. It's good to share with people who get it.
Mine us reactive so I can no longer go to loud places without a spike, I also have hyperacusis.
I was about habituated but a lot of stress illness this year changed all that. Right now I think hormone fluctuations making it worse and poor sleep effects it too.
PM me is you want to chat more.
I have to say not all the groups are depressing all the time and I follow what new treatments are coming. One company is on phase 3 of testing a drug, here in the UK, which looks promising.
Hi Sarai, I might try and join a few facebook forums trouble is facebook is so public unless they are closed groups. Although a few friends know about it I'm nit sure I want everyone to or they may end up asking me about it all the time. I know that would be from kindness but sometimes it could be good to be distracted from it - when I find out how.
If you habituated once I am sure you will again, I'm still waiting. Found myself a 12 hour white noise app to listen to tonight, but am afraid it will make it worse as it sounds like my noise. May stick with my relaxation tape - brain seems to like familiarity.
An ENT had me do a hearing test that was show as normal which seems odd, but I have since read that their standard kit is not all that sophisticated and may miss very low or high frequenciy loses. In older people seems likely associated with hearing loss, infections etc more than young when it appears to be from Acoustic Trauma.
It would be wonderful if they could find a cure but as the causes seem so diverse it may be hard and the human brain is complex. Fingers crossed though.
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No longer have neighbour babyjane.
Mine is actually kinda noisy tonight, especially right ear. General buzzing sound but just noticed high pitch whine on top of it. Not sure why.
Annie I've had that sonicaid sound sometimes. Great description of it in fact!
I remember reading some time ago that many get it after being subjected to overly loud music in clubs & such. As teenagers & older I expect many of us have frequented clubs & pubs, some still do. Possibly how I've ended up with it, though I never went frequently to clubs etc.
i hope it is not my fault yours is louder for bringing it the forefront of your mind. Apologies if it is.
I don't really understand what sonicaid sound is.
I kind of though if we got it from clubbing years ago, well discos they were called in my day, we would have got it then maybe, not 25 or 30 years later. It certainly seems complicated.
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I was referred to ent and he said I have hearing loss in my left ear (most of my tinnitus is right ear) unless I'm not hearing it unless it's loud in the left lol
Anyway, he said my hearing loss is usually caused by a head injury, and unless my mum dropped me as a baby I can't think what else caused it, brain scan was ok
But this 6th nerve palsy I'd also troublesome , I'm losing my balance senses and that worries me, I have another eye clinic on Monday and I will ask for tests to rule out possibilities, I heard lesions can cause it, I'm sure it's not a tumour but I can't understand what would make it suddenly develop (daily now for @7months)
Annie xx
I think a lot of the time they don't know what causes it. I had a huge amount of stress the last 18 months, and I had a nasty fall back in January, but fell in a way where I protected my head.
Good luck with your clinic appointment I hope you get some answers.
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No longer have neighbour babyjane.
Mine is actually kinda noisy tonight, especially right ear. General buzzing sound but just noticed high pitch whine on top of it. Not sure why.
Annie I've had that sonicaid sound sometimes. Great description of it in fact!
I remember reading some time ago that many get it after being subjected to overly loud music in clubs & such. As teenagers & older I expect many of us have frequented clubs & pubs, some still do. Possibly how I've ended up with it, though I never went frequently to clubs etc.
i hope it is not my fault yours is louder for bringing it the forefront of your mind. Apologies if it is.
I don't really understand what sonicaid sound is.
I kind of though if we got it from clubbing years ago, well discos they were called in my day, we would have got it then maybe, not 25 or 30 years later. It certainly seems complicated.
Sonicaid is when your pregnant they put the probe on your tummy to listen to baby's heartbeat
Go figure, laying in bed in silence and I had drumming and high pitch, can't work out which is coming from which ear though !
Annie xx
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Thank you for the explanation. I think that might be called pulsative tinnitus, kind of like your heartbeat. I used to get it as a younger woman when I put my head on the pillow at night, maybe I was predisposed to get this :-(
Sorry you were hearing all that to disturb your peace. This really is a most debilitating condition when present 24/7.
Hope you have a more peaceful day. I used a white noise app last night so at least I've had some sleep, which makes things a little more manageable. Then I read scary things on the Internet that it could make the T worse. I did play it quietly though. I desperately needed the sleep.
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I have not had a hearing test but I know I'm slightly deaf in the affected ear.
Does anyone else find it gets worse when they are anxious.
Mine definitely cranks up when I am uptight.
Honeybun
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Yes I do.
I think I need to get something from the GP for Anxiety, just to make me feel I have a little bit more control over it, even though that feeling of control might be psychosomatic.
I did mention it at my last appointment but GP mentioned AD's whereas I feel I need something for anxiety. He said AD's were used for both, that confused me as I thought Anxiety and Depression were different. I said I would thin about it, but was confused. He gave me a few Valium but I know I can't have a proper prescription for them. I was wondering about Betablockers but I don't really know what they are.
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Hi Nemesis, I think Citalopram is used for depression and anxiety. I cannot use SSRIs and I use St John's Wort and it does help at a base level. I have a box of 10 Valium but I am too scared to take them in case they work too well and then I have to do without them. I have been on a low dose Propranolol (that's a beta blocker) since January and it certainly takes the edge of the surges but occasionally my heart rate beats too low and it makes me feel all funny and light headed. Beta blockers reduce the air flow to the lungs and the blood flow to the heart so lowering the blood pressure but you can't have them if you suffer with asthma. There is no perfect solution so you just need to do what works for you and it can be trial and error to find it. Hope that helps. Good luck.
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Thank you babyjane. I think I will have to talk with the poor man again. I do need something as the Tinnitus is making me have anxiety surges, but lots of meds are contraindicated with it. I'm worried about Propronal as a young woman I had low blood pressure, which is not considered an issue in the UK, but as I've got older it has come into normal range. I guess I would have to talk all this through with him. I need some help to cope.
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Nemesis if you want to send me a message I can tell you the groups I am on. They are closed groups so friends won't see what you write. On the groups we do tend to discuss our own T problem.
I think listening to white noise is ok all night as long as it's not directly into the ear. Better a sound pillow or play the app by your bed.
I use a rain sound on really bad nights which I set with a timer and it distracts me enough to sleep.
I have had to learn how to carefully and consciously relax in bed which is annoying as I can no longer just fall into bed any more.
Mixing Tinnitus with meno is the cruelest torture I can think of.
The new treatments coming through hopefully by 2020 are based on epilepsy meds. They now know tinnitus affects about 5 areas of the brain not just the hearing centre. This is why it is so distressing.
If your doc prescribes any meds for you ask if they are ototoxic as some meds actually cause tinnitus.
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No Nemesis, not your fault. Probably more to do with me using nasal spray for post nasal drip. Heck if it's not one thing it's another at this stage of our lives.
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Nemesis if you want to send me a message I can tell you the groups I am on. They are closed groups so friends won't see what you write. On the groups we do tend to discuss our own T problem.
I think listening to white noise is ok all night as long as it's not directly into the ear. Better a sound pillow or play the app by your bed.
I use a rain sound on really bad nights which I set with a timer and it distracts me enough to sleep.
I have had to learn how to carefully and consciously relax in bed which is annoying as I can no longer just fall into bed any more.
Mixing Tinnitus with meno is the cruelest torture I can think of.
The new treatments coming through hopefully by 2020 are based on epilepsy meds. They now know tinnitus affects about 5 areas of the brain not just the hearing centre. This is why it is so distressing.
If your doc prescribes any meds for you ask if they are ototoxic as some meds actually cause tinnitus.
Hi Sarai
Thank you I have sent a pm and got your helpful reply, I've sent if a request to join one of the groups, the one with the lady's name you mentioned in the pm.
But all that happened before I saw this post and didn't want it to go unacknowledged.
I think I may have been on ototoxic meds in the past a lot of AD's are so that's what is making me cautious. I know what you mean about the combination of various things being torture.
I've only been using things on my tablet, not putting headphones direct into my ears, but I needed to get some sleep. I agree you stop being able to just fall into bed. It's amazing what we take for granted till its gone.
Thanks again for your support.
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No Nemesis, not your fault. Probably more to do with me using nasal spray for post nasal drip. Heck if it's not one thing it's another at this stage of our lives.
Your last sentence is so very true cubagirl.