Thanks for having me on board

Sybs

Member
Author
Apr 26, 2013
57
Tinnitus Since
03/2013
Hi all, I am fairly new to this. It started just after the Easter weekend (end of March 2013). I had good and bad days at the start for the first couple of weeks and even had a couple of completely T-free days but when I woke up the following day it was back with a vengeance and gave me a great sense of disappointment and made me feel very low indeed. I am now in my 3rd week and it has remained pretty much constant (high-pitched whistling and hissing mainly in left ear). I have just had some bloodtests for Thyroid hormone levels and the results are due back in about 4 days. If they are inconclusive my GP says she will refer me (not sure where). Anyway, I will be happy to read all your posts and respond if I feel I can be of any help or have any questions. Many thanks, Sybs.
 
How did it start? Do you know any reason for the onset?

Did you have previous problems with thyroid or was it solely due to tinnitus that your GP wanted to have some bloodtests done?

You will find lots of good information here, so spend some time browsing through the site and you'll learn a lot.

Have a good weekend Sybs, and welcome aboard,

Markku
 
Hi, thanks for the welcome. I am not aware of having any previous thyroid problems but when I saw my GP that was the first thing that came to her. She said that with a Thyroid disorder the tinnitus is usually constant - which it is in my case. I was amazed because I had been looking for possible causes on the web and Thyroid had not come up. She was very sympathetic and seemed determined to get to the bottom of it. Alot of posts I have read on various forums suggested that other sufferers had not had such positive experiences from GPs - that they were more or less told there was nothing that could be done and that they just had to live with it. Yet I keep reading that it is not a condition in itself but a symptom of a condition therefore I believe that there must be a root cause to everyone's tinnitus that can surely be dealt with if they get the right treatment. Obviously if it's caused by being in a regular noisy environment then I guess the only thing to do is to steer clear of those environments and hope that it will get better on it's own. There are several supposed "treatments and cures" advertised and I am hoping to find out from people on this site of their experiences of any of them. I not only want help for myself but am hoping that if I find some useful things for myself I can share them with others in the hope that it will help them too. Many thanks for listening and have a good weekend yourself, Sybs.
 
Interesting. The connection between thyroid and tinnitus. It isn't the first time I have heard it though.

I have semi-low thyroid myself and I've taken Thyroxin (Synthroid in the US I think) for many years now.

It didn't have a causal connection with me getting tinnitus, though, but it's still something I liked to mention.

I know that @Karen has low thyroid too...

Well, let us know once you get the results and what they say!

Markku
 
Hi, Sybs, and welcome!

It is very interesting that your doctor zeroed right in on thyroid as a possible cause of your tinnitus. Also, it is great that your GP took the time to help you, and to consider your tinnitus as a symptom of an imbalance in the body.

Like Markku, I am hyperthyroid and have been taking Synthroid for many years. I had read that thyroid patients were more susceptible to tinnitus, so it does make sense to me that your doctor would want to run those tests.

My tinnitus is a high-pitched, steady hissing, with a very slight whistling undertone. In addition, I also have pulsating tinnitus. I had mild tinnitus for many years, after being exposed to loud sound. Then, in 2010, I took blood pressure medicine, which set off my tinnitus at its current level, as well as the pulsating.

I'll be interested to hear what your test results are, and hope you'll let us know when you hear back from your doctor.
 
Very interesting stuff, can someone please elaborate on thyroid. So I understand it's a gland of some sort that controls your hormones, are people saying if it does not function properly one of the side affects can be tinnitus? Is there a medication for a problem like this?
 
Yep, that thyroid is Not something to neglect. If it don't work right, your body does some weird stuff.
They had to nuke mine. I was losing weight, rather fast. I thought, its easy to lose weight, my diet is working.

I can't say or state its connection to Tinnitus. Maybe it's possible. I'm no doctor. On the other hand, T maybe involved with the ears. Good thing to get it checked anyway by blood tests. If its out-of-order, it can be fixed. Perhaps your GP is just being thorough. A referral might be to the ENT doctor.

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My blood test showed my THS level was too low. I cut back on my syn-thyroid per doc instruction, cause I told my doctor it's too low. She didn't think much of it. I think the intensity of the"pulsing" T might of decreased, pulsing only. I'm not sure yet, jury is still out. It takes time for body to adjust. My head is still pulsing with the tinnitus. Got to relax.
 
Hi, James,
Do I understand that you had overactive thyroid, and they gave you the "nuke" treatment to treat it? So, now you are taking Synthroid as thyroid replacement therapy, is that correct?

I'm attaching a link to information about thyroid disfunction and tinnitus:
http://www.tinnitusformula.com/library/thyroid-dysfunction-and-tinnitus/

It's possible that your tinnitus/pulsating will subside after you've been on the Synthroid for awhile and your thyroid gland balances itself out. How much did you cut back on the Synthroid, and how much are you taking now?

I have an underactive thyroid myself, and am taking 100 mcg. I was taking 112 mcg, and the doctor cut mine back, in the hopes that it would help my tinnitus. That was in 2010, and I'm still taking the same dose. I'll be interested to hear how this goes for you.
 
Karen, yes you are right. Thanks for your interest.
My thyroid was overactive. So I took a radioactive pill to kill most of my thyroid, I believe.
So now I take a daily 175mg levothyroxine (syn-thyoid) pill to regulate my body. It was a few years ago.
My blood test is borderline TSH too low. So my Doctor told me I could stop 1 pill (day) per week.
Perhaps due to my aging, my dose needs to be adjusted, imo! So far it doesn't seem to help.
I'll check that link out. I got to read that, thanks big-time.

Karen,
I'm shooting in the dark about all this, hoping for any hope of a reason or cause why?
I really don't know if Thyroid issues or BP makes any difference at all.

My GP also wants me to take lisinopril 10 mg BP pills, considering my BP is high, like normal high+.
Then I told her it might increase my T, and she responded: "well then you don't have to take it".
Later she mentioned for me to take it. She wants me on the BP medicine. I'm not taking it.
I'm starting to hate all these pills. I already quit smoking and drinking, to help the BP.
We have fun in California, and I tend to over do it.

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I went to a noisy restaurant tonight, my ears are buzzing after I got out.
I 'm thank full for all the advice and stories on this forum. TY Markku,
I just bought some ear plugs, got to use them for situations like that.
 
James,
I agree that we don't know what causes this, and that thyroid and BP may not be the culprits.

FYI, it was lisinopril that I took that caused all my problems to begin with, including the pulsating! It might be good that you haven't taken it as yet. You may want to read up on it first. One of the side effects many people mentioned from lisinopril was "ringing in the ears". I'm sorry I didn't read those comments before I took it for the first time!

I think that cutting out various things (alcohol, caffeine, etc.) and watching your diet is a good approach.
 
Hi Karen, I've cut out caffeine altogether for 2 weeks now but it does not seem to have had much of an effect. I also drink red wine in the evening but instead of making the T worse I find it usually makes it better - probably because it relaxes me. I do find that sleep seems to punctuate the T., i.e. I can go to bed with it, and if I get a good night sleep can usually wake up without it, or very faint. Conversely if I don't have it and go to bed but don't sleep well, I usually wake up with it. Also Karen, you described your T exactly the same as mine (hissing with high pitched whistling underneath). The whistling is usually worse in the left ear and often not present in the right ear. When I have it in both ears it's usually ringing and hissing. Yesterday was pretty bad and sounded like loud crickets, but then after a few red wines in the evening I was more relaxed and extremely tired meaning I was able to get to sleep quite quickly. Then I woke up this morning and it was virtually non-existent. However, I do find that some noises make it worse instead of masking it. For example, I work in an open plan office with lots of white noise, aircon, etc and if the printer is in operation that makes the T louder, especially the whistle in the left ear. Also, any audience applause on TV makes it louder. At this moment, the whistling in the left ear feels like it's getting louder due to the aircon.
 
Hi, Sybs,
Everyone is different as to what affects their tinnitus and what doesn't. I cut out caffeine, too, when mine first started, and was trying to stay on a low-salt, low-everything diet. Lately, though, I have found that food and drink doesn't seem to affect my tinnitus very much. Some other people on this forum, however, have to be extremely careful about what they consume, because it really affects their tinnitus a lot. You're one of the lucky ones who may not need to do that so much!

As for me, I'm still watching what I eat and drink, but not as much as in the beginning. I'm still not drinking caffeine or alcohol (except for a maybe a glass of wine on a special occasion!), but I have allowed some things back into my diet, and I can't tell a difference one way or the other. I'm glad you've found that red wine actually relaxes you and helps you sleep. That's great; then you should not remove that from your diet!

Interesting that you have the high-pitched hissing and whistling. That's what I have, too, along with the pulsating undercurrent, like James has. Like you, some sounds do affect my tinnitus, including the TV. You're lucky that yours fluctuates, or gets quieter after sleep. So, at least you have a breather from it on occasion! What a mystery this tinnitus affliction is; let's hope there are some breakthroughs in possible treatments soon!
 

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