So one could say, "what other possible symptom could there be" and there it is! Tinnitus. Please, is there anyone else out there that has suffered from this. I looked it up on line and it is a definite symptom of menopause. It has been off and on daily for like 2 weeks but today it is horrible. My anxiety has been down since starting estrogel but I feel like I could get a panic attack over this. Anyone out there???? Is there anything that can be done for it?"

sorry that you are dealing with this. i developed it a few years ago or more & mine is constant, but the intensity/severity varies & seems to coincide with other peri/hormonal symptoms. there is another thread around here that discusses ways to deal with this - you can do a search to find it. some women have found that their tinnitus went away after meno.

i can usually ignore mine, but sometimes it is very disturbing & can affect the quality of my life (these instances are infrequent). it is harder at night when background sounds don't mask it as easily. i have bought a sound machine & i use that to mask the ringing at those times when it is most bothersome.

it has helped me to know that this may have a hormonal basis that may diminish with time. & it helps that mine doesn't stay at one loud level, but does bounce around like the rest of this stuff. some woman have noticed that their tinnitus gets louder with fatigue or exhaustion.

good luck & pm me if you want to talk more. unfortunately this is one of those symptoms that gets much worse the more we focus on it. but as you know, it can be hard to get away from.

hugs,
ellen

If you look at the heading "Other Menopause Symptoms" , I think there is some discussion on tinnitus.
I've had my tinnitus since 2005 and I find that it is worst when I am stress and anxious like I have been this past few days as I am awaiting a breast biopsy report from my doctor.

Plumeria

Best of luck with your biopsy. No one needs that stress right now.
I just wish I knew what the cause is. Low estrogen, to high, no progesterone........I am starting with the irregular periods and in fact, I should have gotton one 3 days ago. I now have cramps, depressed and fatigue that goes with the "right before your period" but no bleeding. My biggy problems have been anxiety, gerd, chest pain, fatigue and joint pain and then all of a sudden, the tinnitis started a week ago. I take the lowest dose of estrogel which has helped the anxiety so I am wondering if I need more......need less......need progesterone........YIKES!!!

I suffer from this too. Mine is constant. Most of the time it's just a low buzzing. During the day at work I can't even hear it. Then there's days that certain noises sound distorted. Water running even bothers me. I even hear a hissing sound when i hear my own voice.

Most times at night it will get lower or even go away. This mostly happens when I lay on my back. Then as soon as i turn over it comes back.

When this first started I got really upset. Now I'm getting used to it, it's not so bad. Just have to make sure there's always some sort of background noise and DON'T FOCUS/DWELL on it. The more you do, the more you'll start to feel the PANIC!

Hey Ladies,

Do you know that ringing in the ears or Tinnitus is also a symtom of thyroid? If you haven't had checked, I sure would. All the hormones all work together one way or another. It's the balance that we have to find and is very difficult unless you have a doc that thinks outside the box. It one symtom I haven't gotten yet and hopefully won't.

fitnesslady

I just had mine checked and it was fine. I have been on thyroid meds for 20 years. I just want to know if its lack of estrogen

OMG! I know what you're going through.

The high pitched ringing with an occasional "pinging" noise, like a tiny little cymbal...That's my left ear.

Now the right ear is starting with a whooshing sound.

Yikes! Give me strength.

I listen to soft music through headphones at night and at work I always have music playing. Sometimes it camoflages the noise, sometimes I'm still conscious of it.

I haven't explored acupuncture for this yet, but I may just do that.

Hello,ladies. Not sure how to post this on here, but after hearing you guys discuss things, I wanted to introduce myself. I am 51 yrs. old. Am going thru major stuff. I have the most severe hot flashes doctors have ever seen. I am a realist, try not to let it get me down, but....I cannot rest, have horrible insomnia.But, my Gyn. said this cannot be just hormonal, so I will go get the thyroid checked again.(it never is that, tho)..iIdon't know. A little background. In '96 had a nervous breakdown, developed seizures, got paralyzed from the waist down for 1 month. The psych. had me on several drugs, but thru the process of elimination, I narrowed it down to something called"theothixine". the reason I think this, is because once it cleared my system, the symptoms went away. Ladies, I recall reading about your suffering thru tinnitis.Well, have you ever heard of "Meniere's Disease?".It also causes awful tinitis,I had to go to an ENG lab, had it diagnosed, also. I would love to get to know you all, as I don't have that many friends, esp. ones that are my age. My kids' friends adore me, but I still need camaraderie with us post menopausal deities...lol. real name is...Carol. nice to meet 'cha...

Welcome to the board, Carol! I'm sure you'll find all the friendship and support you need right here. These ladies are terrific!

I have tinnitus too. Woke up with all this stuff one day and it never went away. I got sound machines from Radio Shack for $9.00 and put them around the house and in the bedroom. It really helped me the first few weeks..I didn't focus on the crickets in my ears. Now I have a high pitched sound that comes and goes. Try the sound machine..you can listen to rain, flowing water, etc.

Hugs,
Karen

So then I woke up this morning and it is gone. OMG. There is no rhythm or reason to any of this.

I'm jealous. Wish I would wake up and it would be gone!

Me too!! It started about a month ago and it's giving me panic attacks. If I don't focus on it, I'm o.k. I do have hypothyroidism and just had to lower my meds because I was getting the heart palpitations and other pains. I hate all that we have to go through. I have been in menopause for 2 years now, you'd think all these crazy symptoms would stop.

Yea, so guess what. Its back. Just like every other symptom, it comes and goes. How silly am I to think that I had 2 half normal days that I might actually start feeling better. Today, crashing fatigue, heat flashes, tinnitius. BLAH!

Oh.......and as I am sitting here, I did notice something. I just started having a dreadful heat flash and I noticed some cramping on my left lower side and the tinnitus got terrible. So hormone related..........I think so

In my case, I don't believe hormones has anything to do with my tinnitus. I've had it for at least a decade. The ENT doctor told me it's due to hearing loss (high frequency) which is probably a result of attending loud rock concerts and dance bars back in the 70's. For me it is much worse after being exposed to loud noises. I always wear hearing protection while using my lawn tractor. My high pitched buzzing or chirping crickets sound is always there, but I've learned to tune it out. When I first experienced tinnitus, I thought I would go insane! However, my brain adjusted to the sound after several weeks.

JHawley, since your tinnitus is not constant, I wouldn't think that it's a permanent condition. Try to relax about it, if you can. Maybe try having a fan on in your room at night.

jem

I used to work as an audiologist for many years so I am very familiar with tinnitus. Tinnitus can be caused by hundreds of different things ranging from too much caffeine, to reactions to medicines (e.g., aspirin), to medical conditions, to stress and anxiety.

If you develop sudden loud tinnitus, especially if it is only on one side, I would suggest seeing a doctor just to rule out a medical problem. Don't panic, it could be something as simple as congestion, but it's good to rule out more serious problems.

Regardless of the cause, tinnitus will get worse if you are anxious and especially if you think about it Try reducing coffee or soda intake and then try general relaxation techniques such as deep, slow breathing. What I especially used to recommend to my patients is to also find a soothing or distracting sound to use if the tinnitus really bothers you. This can be a fan, music, or (my favorite that I used to do when I went through a phase of annoying tinnitus due to stress) is set up a little fishtank with a bubbling/humming filter to try to cover up the noise.

Good luck to you...

P.S. As I'm typing this I'm trying to take my own advice in terms of distracting me from my primary symptom, which may or may not have anything to do with menopause. I have been wrestling with some medical problems, including severe anemia and recently diagnosed hypothyroid. Apparently from all the stress I developed a sense of "depersonalization", which (as crazy as it sounds) makes me feel like I am not even "real", that is except for the anxiety, fear and depression. Talk about losing your mind, sigh...

Have you had your B12 checked? A B12 deficiency is known to cause tinnitus. And the MMA urine test is THE most definitive test for B12 deficiency, unlike the tests commonly done, so you need to specifically request it.

Also, low iron. You should also get your ferritin levels checked.

Also, zinc:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12543156

Department of Otolaryngology, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, 2-16-1, Sugao, Miyamae-ku, 216-8511, Kawasaki, Japan. k2ochi@marianna-u.ac.jp

OBJECTIVE: To determine if there is a correlation between serum zinc levels and audiometric performance in tinnitus patients. METHODS: Seventy-three patients participated in this study. Patient's age was restricted to 20-59 years. All patients were examined at the otolaryngology outpatient clinic of the St. Marianna University Toyoko Hospital. The control group consisted of 38 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. A blood sample was taken to measure serum zinc levels. Hypozincemia was set at a level of the mean minus one S.D. in the control group. An average hearing sensitivity was calculated as the mean value of hearing thresholds at five frequencies: 250, 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. Normal hearing was indicated when the hearing threshold at each of these frequencies was within 20 dB of normal thresholds. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in serum zinc levels between patients with tinnitus and controls. However, patients with tinnitus who had normal hearing had significantly lower serum zinc levels compared to controls. In contrast, no significant difference in serum zinc levels was found between patients with tinnitus who had hearing loss, and controls. A significant correlation between average hearing sensitivity and serum zinc level was observed. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that zinc is involved in the generation of tinnitus, especially in patients whose hearing is relatively normal.

Hi everyone,

I developed tinnitus 7 years ago at the age of 40. My tinnitus started quite loudly, as a result of being given a mega dose of antibiotic while in the hospital. It was terribly distracting in the beginning. And, yes the more I focused on it, the more it bothered me. Over the years I found that the loudness would vary but never really tracked when and why. ENT had already told me that supposedly nothing could be done for it. Anyway, 2 years ago I was slammed into Peri H*** and find that mid cycle and just before my period the tinnitus intensifies. Hmmmmm But when my estradiol levels are up/higher the intensity of the sound is greatly diminished and/or negligible. I have also been diagnosed with both B12 and zinc deficiencies recently. The standardized blood test for b12 did NOT show a difficiency for the type of b12 that most people get shots (once a month via docs office). Instead my internist gave me a script for a compounded b12 injection that I give to myself daily. (b12 type called Methylcob) Needles are very small guage and I barely feel them. Both my internist and allergist say that for some people the b12 shots work "somehow" on a cellular level not measurable on standadized blood testing. So, if I feel better with the added b12 shots to continue what is working for me.

Re: Zinc - There are conflicting studies on if zinc is beneficial for tinnitus. I started using zinc absorbate about a year ago (after having lost my sense of taste and smell for a period of 7 months) Although my sense of taste and smell was already starting to return i found that the added zinc helped me regain a greater range of taste. ie - actually found black pepper really was spicy. haha Always (from around 30 yo) just thought I'd started to prefer the spicy habanero peppers, etc. Anyway, there is a good amount of info coming out about how, as people age, we tend to become deficient in Zinc and Vitamin D. Zinc is also good for the immune system too. Regards, J