im curious, does anybody here have a thyroid problem as well as the inner ear stuff? if so, did you get the inner ear problem (ie. dizzyness lightheaded off balance) before or after u had the thyroid problem?

thanks
scott

Hi Scott,

I have a thyroid problem but it is now under control after two years. It started at the same time as my ear problem. Are you still having trouble with your thyroid?

Jill

Scott,

I have an underactive throid that was caused after the birth of my son over five years ago. I had no head problems from the thyroid problem. Actually I didn't have many symptoms with the underactive thyroid except a fatigue for a couple months and occassional chills. It took six months to get my meds adjusted and use to them and the few minor symptoms to go away. I never was miserable with the thyroid problem and lived a completely normal and happy life. My thyroid remained in the normal range the five years that I had it and treated it with synthroid.

My ear problems started after an ear infection and my thyroid readings have remained in the normal range for the past year during all this inner ear stuff. I never experience any of the same symptoms of the underactive thryoid that I had when first diagnosed.

In my situation, I would say that I absolutely believe that my thyroid has nothing to do with my inner ear stuff. Can't say that for everyone, but that is my experience.

Good luck.....It is good to get not only your T4 checked but your T3 level as well as doctors sometimes over look the T3 level and prescribed sythroid and levothyroxin which contains T4 hormones only. Just a little hint. You need a balance with both hormones.

Gloria

yeah im still having problems with thyroid.. now my dizzyness and thyroid started really close together.. got dizzy, then week or 2 later i started getting other symptoms.. tingly hands feet, muscle weakness, chills, muscle twitching.. really weird..

now they got me on levothyroxine, cant say much of a difference yet, my head almost felt worse.. i've only been on it for about 5 days though. and the doc actually gave me armour, since i said i didnt feel good on levoth, so she said take it a few more days then switch to armour if ur not feeling good.. so i still might if i dont feel better in a couple weeks or so.

i also have high thyroglobulin antibodies.. so probably have hashimotos. do you guys? i was thinking if the antibodies in some way contributed to inner ear problems.. im going for eng today so we'll see.

scott

Scott,

Yes I do have hashimotos. I've been to two thyroid Drs. and both said the antibodies are specific to the thyroid only and could not attack the inner ear. I have tingly feet too. Don't know what causes that?

My thyroid is finally under control now after two years but I still have the dizziness and ear pain and pressure. I thought for sure it was my thyroid causing this and thought once that was under control my ear problem would go away but that didn't happen.

Hopefully one day real soon we will all feel better. Keep us posted on your progress.

Take care,
Jill

Hi Jill and Scott,

Don't have hashimoto's thyroid. Mine started as post-partum thyroiditis after I had my son from the rapid change in hormones. Usually goes back to normal but my gland sustained some damage so I ended up with hypothyroidism. My case is different as my thyroid antibodies didn't attach my gland as in hashimotos.

Hardly had any symptoms but did take about 6 months to adjust to meds and always felt pretty good except tired in the beginning and I remember getting chills alot. That was 5 years before my ear stuff and don't believe it is related in anyway. I know that Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease can act the same way as hashimoto's thyroid disease in that it attacks your inner ear.

Jill just because they got your reading regulated, it still takes about 6 months to settle your system down and get it functioning normally. In other words you probably won't get rid of any symptoms of your thyroid for a few months yet. I still believe they are separate issues for you and just coincidental that they started at the same time; however, I suppose anything could cause our ears to act up too.

Hope you're doing better this week Jill.

You two have a good weekend. Can you believe it is in the mid-60's and sunny here in Pittsburgh today. So unusal for January. I hope to get out to enjoy some sun on my face today. I had horrible headache and pressure yesterday, but much better today.

Take care,
Gloria

Hi Gloria,

My thyroid was enlarged and it seems to be going down in size now so I know your right when you say it takes time to feel better once your levels are normal. I'm still having a really ruff time dealing with this stuff. I started crying here at work today and I feel like such an idiot. I just wish it would go away now and never ever come back.

I don't understand how something can last so long and I don't even know what it is. That really drives me crazy. I know this happened after flying but everyone I talk to says they don't believe it happen from the flight. I don't know what to think anymore.

We had a beautiful day here in Michigan yesterday and today it's raining really hard. Very strange weather. I hope you are feeling better and I want to thank you for being here for me.

Have a great weekend.
Jill

jill, have u seen a neurotologist? if so what'd they find?

scott

Scott,

Yes I have but he really didn't help me much. I am going to the Balance Center next week to have testing done. I hope they find out something. Didn't you have an ENG? Did they tell you anything?

Jill

i had an eng yesterday, and i dont see the neurotologist next next monday. so i have to wait a bit before i find anything out.

in terms of the thyroglobulin antibodies, i heard they can cause chaos throughout the body, causing tissue to swell and such. i also heard and read that the enzymes in the antibodies are simiilar to that of the eye, so that causes or can cause blurry vision and such, which i have. so i'm wondering, well couldn't the antibodies then disrupt the inner ear and cause balance problems. just a thought.

scott

Hi Jill,

My thyroid never completely returned to normal size but I have no problems with it, except that one scare when I tried the zoloft for that week. It was very enlarged in the beginning but just slightly now so don't be alarmed if yours doesn't go all the way back to normal size.

I still can't help but to think the combination of you having the sore throat (virus) and flying did cause some inner ear damage. I honestly think that it is taking much longer for you to recover because coincidently your thyroid went out of wack at the same time and for some reason it took your doctor a long time to get it functioning somewhat normally.

It drove me insane all year trying to figure out why my head felt the way it did and why I had such severe head pain and pressure if it was my ear. Just recently I decided in the new year I wasn't going to try and figure it out anymore as it just drove me in circles and made me feel worse. I've kind of felt more at ease with this attitude.

Try and relax some now that your thyroid is falling in a normal range and let your ears heal. You overcame one obsticle (your thyroid), now you can work on getting the ears well.

It is really good you are going to a balance center as I really don't understand why your neurotogist didn't do any of the balance test. Hopefully, you will have a better doctor and be able to rule some things out with the balance testing.

Don't worry about the crying. I have done it so many times in public that I don't care anymore what anyones else thinks. I remember breaking down in a restaurant. I did it in the summer after trying to go to an Outlet mall and had to put my sunglasses on to hide it. I also remember crying many many many times on my walks all year. Worrying about crying is useless as there are so many other things to worry about with this ear stuff.

Take care and I hope you have a good weekend. Remember to relax and take it moment by moment. - Gloria