Hi again everyone,

It's been a little while, but thought I'd drop back again :)

Anyways, are there any other CHers out there also with tinnitus? Does having a headache make the tinnitus worse? I've noticed that my ears seem to ring louder than normal in the midst of a headache.

:), hello Argonaut,

yes, i have tinittus.

It's a pain but when in cycle the noise is deafening, starts long before CH becomes unbearable and lasts a long while after its passed.

There seems to be nothing to touch it. not sure it's not worse than CH it's self. andrew.

Hey Argonaut

Howz Jason?  And welcome to the ranks of the doubly blessed...  cluster headaches and tinnitus.  What a deal...  And neither has a cure...  As a Navy pilot, I've been around jet engines for most of my adult life and I'm sure the noise has taken it's toll and done damage to my inner ear even though I wore ear plugs inside my flight helmet or wore mickey mouse sound suppressors when up on the flight deck for over two years as the Gun Boss on USS Kitty Hawk.

I've been to see the best neurologists the Navy and NIH has to offer who specialize in both our disorders and all I get is the Chinese salute when it comes to a cure for either and with respect to specifically tinnitus, effective treatment.  They were unanimous in their thinking there's no causal relationship between the two conditions.

Having said that, I do go through periods where the tinnitus is less pronounced and they appear to coincide with staying well hydrated and electrolytes balanced...  The more dehydrated I get...  the louder the ringing...  Drink water and eat bananas.  

None of this appears to have any relationship to my cluster headache attacks, but as we're all wired differently, who really knows...

There are a lot of snake oil sites ready to sell you shit to stop the ringing, but following link to the Mayo Clinic kind of says it all WRT tinnitus...

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Think of it this way...  you're getting older, tinnitus is part of the deal, and the alternative is not acceptable...  But then again, none of us are getting out of this thing called life alive...

I have found that an iPod on low volume with some soft music will mask the ringing...

Take care,

V/R, Batch

Hi Argonaut,

Wow Batch, that was a great post...

I too have tinnitus, nothing makes it worse OR better, but it is progressing (and yes, I wear protection when appropriate now).
Have never felt there was any connection with ch...

Best,

Jon

I developed tinnitus when I was on Verapamil and Lithium as preventatives.  Been off of both now for over 3 yrs, but it hasn't gone away.  What is really irritating is that I hear it in three frequencies, and sometimes they don't harmonize. ::)

Jerry

I developed tinnitus when I was on Verapamil and Lithium as preventatives.  Been off of both now for over 3 yrs, but it hasn't gone away.  What is really irritating is that I hear it in three frequencies, and sometimes they don't harmonize. ::)

Jerry

I have it mildly at times, but in years before it was attributed to damage done to my ears by another neurological condition.

However, in the year before my cycle started, I noticed all of the sudden I had a lot more tinnitus than before. I'm not sure why. I had the same number of ear infections as usual. Only difference was the sinus problems kept getting worse....

Now that I'm in cycle, I haven't experienced it much at all. Maybe 3-4 times since May 28th.

ETA: I also remember it being mostly in the left side when it would strike, for that matter, which is my cluster side.

Callico wrote on Oct 14^th, 2008 at 11:59pm:

I developed tinnitus when I was on Verapamil and Lithium as preventatives.  Been off of both now for over 3 yrs, but it hasn't gone away.  What is really irritating is that I hear it in three frequencies, and sometimes they don't harmonize. ::) Jerry

I never had the ringing in my ears until I took Tegretol (carbamazepine).  That was back in Jan/Feb 2005 and the ringing still hasn't gone away.  Most of the time it is just a low grade annoying ring, but sometimes it can be maddening.

Thanks for the responses, I guess it's comforting to know that it's not just me with this experience...although, by no means a consolation :P

@andrewjb: I find that my tinnitus gets unbearably loud during a headache as well, which is odd.

@Batch: I was basically told to learn to live with the tinnitus, which I had largely done before seeing an audiologist  ;D It is a shame that there isn't much else to be done about it, though.

@jon019: Tinnitus can apparently be exacerbated when stressed, so perhaps the stress of experiencing an icepick repeated stabbed into your eye a cluster headache can trigger a similar response with the ringing? That's probably the most logical connection I can come up with at the moment.

;), Aye, its odd.
Iv'e no answers either,  :P. andrew.