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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Arthritis / March 2006Ear problems, dizziness and hearing loss
I'm hoping someone can help me out. I have RA and I've been having ear problems lately....dizziness, tinnitus, ear pain. I saw an audiologist....she said I have a moderate to severe hearing loss in my right ear in the higher frequencies, a mild to moderate loss in the lower and mid frequencies. It's a sensorineural hearing loss, which she said due to a problem with the chochlea or auditory nerve. I had a MRI last week because she thought that my symptoms and the results of the tests indicated an acoustic neuroma. The MRI was negative for the neuroma. My GP made an appointment for me at the Cleveland Clinic. They have a vestibular/balance clinic. My appointment isn't til April 7th. Also, my GP put me on 60 mg of prednisone for 5 days and all symptoms, except the tinnitus, did improve. Well, the pred dose ended over the weekend and today I'm miserable....extreme dizziness, ear pain, feeling of fullness in the ear. My vision is even blurred...I'm sure from the dizziness, at least I think that's why. I asked the audiologist if this could be Menier's, but she didn't think so....she said Menier's causes hearing loss in the lower frequencies....my loss is in the higher frequencies. BTW, this all started in November when I suddenly had a clogged ear, which I assumed was due to wax buildup. After about a week, I went to my GP and he said I had an ear infection....he could see fluid. He put me on antibiotics, which didn't even phase the problem. Have any of you had anything like this? I'm thinking this may be autoimmune related. Do any of you know if anything could cause the hearing loss and symptoms besides Menier's? I'd appreciate any information or advice. Thank you! Carol Hi Del, its probably got more to do with your RA as there is a joint in there that can be affected by the RA. Go see your RD because if the prednisone helped it is more then likely RA related. Or as you said autoimmune related. My mum has RA (30 years) and so do I(2 years) but she gets awful problems in here ear and its due to the RA. Susan > I'm hoping someone can help me out. I have RA and I've been having ear > problems lately....dizziness, tinnitus, ear pain. I saw an [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > Thank you! > Carol Thank you, Susan. I called my RD today to tell him what's been going on. He didn't say anything about the RA and ear problems. Of course, if I call on the phone, no matter what the problem is, I always have to relay all the info thru his nurse. Can you be more specific about the problems you've been having with your ears...and your mom's? thanks so much! Carol > Hi Del, > its probably got more to do with your RA as there is a joint in there that [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] >> Thank you! >> Carol Hi Carol Mum gets ringing in her ears and pain, sometimes she cant hear and gets bouts of vertigo and I think its a middle ear thing, but then she takes a couple of extra prednisone and some other tablets and it sorts it self out but she did see her RD about it and I will have to ring her to find out more. Will let you know. Hope it gets better for you. Susan > Thank you, Susan. I called my RD today to tell him what's been going on. > He didn't say anything about the RA and ear problems. Of course, if I [quoted text clipped - 46 lines] >>> Thank you! >>> Carol Thanks, Susan! There is information out there about a connection between RA and ear problems....not just middle ear, but also inner ear/nerve problems and hearing loss. http://www.creakyjoints.com/go/article0076.shtml This is a link to one of the articles I found. I'm interested in what your mum has to say about her ear problems. Thank you! Carol > Hi Carol > Mum gets ringing in her ears and pain, sometimes she cant hear and gets [quoted text clipped - 56 lines] >>>> Thank you! >>>> Carol ah, Carol, that sounds miserable! I have nothing specific, but have you seen an ENT? I'd think an ENT consult would be worth pursuing if you haven't, heck it could even be something sinus related affecting the ears. oh, and you haven't had any major blows to the head lately have you? Just asking because of this weird CSF leak my mom had - her ENT said it's usually just found in folks who've had blows to the head. If Walt doesn't chime in soon, you might email him directly about this. I'm sure he'd be happy to ask Wendy for you, she's been a fount of info on ears in the past.  SignatureNann remove the Gator cheer to email me Simply the thing I am shall make me live --- William Shakespeare Thanks Nann! My GP wants me to see a neurologist rather than an ENT because the audiologist thinks it's a nerve problem. The Cleveland Clinic's specialists are both neurologists and ENTs. I haven't had any blows to the head, thankfully!! Donna G. told me to post here in hopes the Walt would see it and respond. I was terrible on Tuesday, but had acupuncture yesterday. I've been doing acupuncture for my RA and she's now starting to treat the ear. I'm feeling sooo much better today. The dizziness is minimal since my treatment. It's amazing. I go again next week and she's going to keep treating the ear. I've had great success with acupuncture...been going since last August. My RA has been better than it's been in years. Thanks so much! Carol > ah, Carol, that sounds miserable! I have nothing specific, but have you > seen [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > ears > in the past. It could be that you have several problems which act both independently and together to cause these problems. Unfortunately, when you have several problems, each of which might be intermittent, proper diagnosis is difficult. It often helps to have your GP send you to whichever specialists he/she thinks MIGHT be able to help and to have all of the doctors discuss the results with each other. As Susan pointed out, it could be RA affecting the bones in the middle ear. You could also have possible nerve damage from earlier events, as well as a sinus infection, etc. I was exposed to very loud noises in the service, and have a hearing loss (different frequencies and amounts in each ear) and have intermittent bouts of tinitus. I also have allergies, which sometimes cause sinus congestion and a feeling of "hearing things through cotton". A few times, I have had a side effect from a medicine which has caused dizziness and hearing anomalies (hollowness, high pitched whine, etc.). The problem with diagnosing intermittent problems is they don't always act up when you are being tested, so the doctors don't see them. It might help to keep a "diary of problems" listing each problem, when it happened in relation to other events, how long it lasted, etc. I sincerely hope that your doctors can figure it out and give you some (or complete) relief. Good wished for you Norman Thank you Norman! I think you may be right....it's more than one thing. I do have allergies, which have been worse in the last year. My GP wants me to see a neurologist/ENT, which is why I'm going to the Cleveland Clinic. I've been treating my RA with acupuncture and just had my first "ear" treatment yesterday. It did help relieve the symptoms...although my hearing hasn't changed any. I guess I'm hoping that I might have a chance of getting some of it back....the audiologist said it wouldn't come back, but I'm not ready to give up. Thank you for the information! Carol > It could be that you have several problems which act both independently > and [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > Good wished for you > Norman Unfortunately, most hearing loss is not reversible (unless it is caused by wax build-up, etc.). You still have to see what you can do to keep it from getting worse. You might want to try to figure out if any of your regular activities expose you to risk factors such as loud noise, etc. I play ethnic percussion in various pick-up bands for folk and ethnic dancing. On the advice of an ENT, I had some "musician's ear plugs" made. They are a little pricey ($150/pair) since they are custom molded to fit you ears and have a flat frequency response (everything sounds the same, only a bit quieter) but they are definitely worth it. I sometimes use them while riding public transit, which is often quite loud. Make sure that you have doctors you who listen to what you say and who make sure that you understand what they are telling you. I refuse to go to doctors who "rule by fiat" instead of explaining themselves. Good luck. > I'm hoping someone can help me out. I have RA and I've been having ear > problems lately....dizziness, tinnitus, ear pain. I saw an [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > Thank you! > Carol
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