Ear troubles anyone......

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Boomer13
Boomer13 Member Posts: 1,931
edited 14. Feb 2014, 18:12 in Living with Arthritis archive
Hello everyone,

I've been having a nasty joint flare, along with quite a few others on here it seems! :roll: Sending out some empathic, virtual hugs.

I'm developing a problem with the inner ear on one side. My hearing has become muffled with distorted sounds and a loss of low-range sounds and one-sided headache. I have something the doctor has called "pulsatile tinnitus" which I had never heard of before (and NOT googling it either...). This is extremely unpleasant and is making sleep a distant memory. I have been trying to ignore it but lately it has been severe enough that I thought I must have an infection. My GP has referred me urgently to a specialist. GP really has no idea if it is meds related or autoimmune. I've had bouts of labyrinthitis before with dizziness and nausea, but nothing like this. Have any of you had ear troubles like this?

....Wanting predictable but keep getting something else......but then we all seem to be in a similar situation, don't we?

(...Big sigh...)

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  • barbara12
    barbara12 Member Posts: 21,281
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Oh boomer this must be awful, we do have a friend with tinnitus..the only things that helps at the min is a tape of white sound.apparently it overrides the noise from the tinnitus..sorry I dont know anything about the pulsatile thingy ...I hope the specialist can help..xx
    Love
    Barbara
  • Catie
    Catie Member Posts: 362
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    I really sympathise with you Boomer as I suffered in the same way a few years ago. My GP told me to take Sudafed as he thought it was due to congestion. I was eventually referred to an ENT Consultant and underwent an ear test + tests to check balance etc. In my case it was due to an inverted ear drum. Apparently my eustacian tubes are narrower than average, which means that when I have a cold etc, my ear drum is affected in a peculiar way - hence the tinnitus. My problem has resolved....but I dread getting a cold because of the tinnitus....it is awful. I really hope your consultant can help you. Meanwhile, I found that coffee made my problem 'a lot' worse. I don't know whether you know, but caffeine really can irritate it.
    Please let us know how you get on.

    Catie x
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    I have tinnitus thanks to the sulph and muffled hearing thanks to ear wax but obviously this is not on the same range of trouble that you may be facing. Googling is OK as long as one sticks with reputable sites. - when my tinnitus irks I seek refuge in my headphones but this may not be a solution for you. I hope you get to see someone about this soon and something can be sorted to help. You're right - we like predictable but our version of that is different to what our arthritis etc. deems necessary. :roll: Keep us posted, yes? DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • Boomer13
    Boomer13 Member Posts: 1,931
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Hi barbara; thanks for your reply and info about your friend. At least there seem to be some things out there that help, like for your friend. My mum has bad inner ear trouble so I guess I'm thinking that like her, there won't be an easy fix. Maybe I'll be wrong.xxAnna

    Thanks Catie; that's good to know about caffeine, I didn't realise that. I know I have something abnormal with my inner ear structure; I had lots of problems when I was a kid and was told then. Hopefully, mine will go away too.

    Thanks DD, I have been dutifully ignoring my tinnitus because that's exactly what I thought it was: Sulfasalazine side-effect, however Dr. says no, mainly because of the pulsatile thing. So annoying. So now I wait for another specialist appt. Wasn't I just there? I thought so...Husband is beside himself worrying; never mind that he regularly ignores his own health issues :roll:

    Annaxx
  • sailrib
    sailrib Member Posts: 327
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    I've got low frequency hearing loss and tinnitus from Meniere's. My loss can vary but is always in the profound range. Hope you get answers pretty soon :)
  • DebbieT
    DebbieT Member Posts: 1,033
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    I can't help Anna but wondered if these would be of any use --->

    (((((Hugs)))))

    Xxx xxX
    Healing Hugs
    Debbie.x
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Hello Boomer, how's things? I've been thinking about you. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • Boomer13
    Boomer13 Member Posts: 1,931
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Thanks sailrib, I've noticed some hearing loss in the low range for a long time now. I thought it was just age! My mum has Meniere's so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised if I have it too.

    Thanks Debbie! Those are always helpful ((())).

    I still am having lots of difficulty and I'm wondering if I shouldn't have tried plain old antibiotics. No matter, I have my ENT appointment on Tuesday so I'll find out more then (hopefully). Autoimmunity: the gift that keeps on giving.... :roll:

    Thanks for checking on me DD.
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,719
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    I hope they can get to the bottom of it, Anna. I'll be thinking of you and wafting positivity over he Atlantic :)
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Good luck for today - I hope they can help. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,719
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Me too. I do hope all goes well.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • Numptydumpty
    Numptydumpty Member Posts: 6,417
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Hi Anna, I hope all goes well today, and you get some answers.
    Take care,
    Numpty
  • Boomer13
    Boomer13 Member Posts: 1,931
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Thank you everyone for your caring and support :D .

    I had my ENT appointment and I do have an inflammatory condition in my ear which is better than some of the diagnoses I had heard about, and was not unexpected.

    It seems my treatment is going back on my nemesis drug: prednisone :shock: , which I am a little unhappy about because of the various side-effects, plus it has never done that much for my PsA (except make the psoriasis part worse). If that doesn't work by my next appointment in a month, then I need to consider minor surgical procedure to restore function (hopefully). Not super positive today, as the joint pain, etc has been very bad lately and I'm not sleeping much. I know I should be grateful that it's not a worse problem......

    Whatever I do, I can't escape prednisone!!! :roll:

    All of your positivity support arrived in time and was very much appreciated, thanks!!
    xxAnna
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Pred has a part to play for the short-term and is maybe a kinder alternative to surgery? It's not easy being us, is it? :roll: The disease gives us precious little with one hand and takes so much with the other. ((( ))) DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • Boomer13
    Boomer13 Member Posts: 1,931
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    It'll suck DD, if I take all the pred and then still have to have the surgery. Here's me, a pillar of positivity, again :roll: Pred is so vile to me just now, I think I would just have the surgery. But, I will do as I'm told, again...

    Sorry, it's bleak right now because I'm taking so many drugs and nothing's helping. The solutions always involve a new drug; I'm up to twelve now, with no subtractions, only new additions. Surely that's too much!! I'm having a crisis of faith in my medical "team" at the moment......Ho hum, Eyeore lives!
  • Catie
    Catie Member Posts: 362
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Hello Anna, so glad you have your diagnosis now and it wasn't anything sinister. Gosh,12 different meds :shock: I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if they were really helping you :( Hope you see an improvement with your ear very soon :)

    Catie x
  • Mat48
    Mat48 Member Posts: 1,075
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Sorry Anna I've been off in some planet Mat and haven't looked in for ages. Poor you - 12 different meds is a helluva lot really. I take four and that seems ample to me. One drug just seems to take us to another somehow - then my conspiracy theories start kicking in about the pharmacutical companies and then I make myself stop because it's a bottomless pit really. My sisters, as you know, are both profoundly deaf. One of my brother's in law has a Cochlea implant and it has given him a degree of tinnitus and I really feel so sorry for him because he only got the implant in the hope that it would help him find employment. He's now going to see a rheumy for probable RA and I am starting to wonder if these things are all connected - not the deafness of course but one thing leading to another in quick succession?

    Anyway fat lot of use all this is to you - sorry I only really meant to offer you my sympathy. And to add that I am exactly the same way about Pred as you. Last resort only - but I think a horrible ear problem might be just that..? Mat x
    If you get lemons, make lemonade
  • Boomer13
    Boomer13 Member Posts: 1,931
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Thank you Catie and Mat.

    Apparently 12 different meds is not too bad.......According to my GP today. She talked me out of my anxiety with all of this and, talked me into a dose increase of one and almost added a NSAID to the mix :o. I declined that. but I guess I'm resigned to taking the pred; at least it's only for a short-time. Looking forward to chunking them all out when I start an anti-TNF in May. So far, I don't have a good record with meds but I'm still hopeful something will work.....eventually.

    Thanks to everyone.
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