RA affecting Inner Ear? | Arthritis Information
Has anyone had this happen to them?
I saw my PCP today. My ears have been popping a lot and daily... (like when you are in a plane and need to pop your ears) I also have one ear that is constantly plugged, off and on all day, it's very annoying... like when you have water in your ear and you can hear yourself breathing and talking 100 times louder, echoing in your head if that makes sence. I thought I just had a cold that would eventually clear up but have had this since October.
My dr said he's seen someone that had RA affecting their inner ears, said it's rare but has happened. He set up a hearing test for me. He said this is just one more reason to go on Enbrel. (which I will be starting soon)
Just curious if anyones had this happen to them?
Thanks,
I had a bad ear infection that woke me in the middle of the night with some major pain. I went to the dr and had a whole in my ear. I was put on antibiotics and given some drops for my ear which helped the pain alot. I do have popping in my jaw and ear but never brought it up to rd. I see her on the 21st so I probably will ask her then.
good luck
take care
yes... I have had issues as you describe. I also have tiniitus...... there is an Autoimmune inner ear disease.
I've not pursued that ...but I have seen audiologists and have hearing aides..... I do not use them all the time.. I use to have such a bad time understanding what people were saying... my hearing issue is high tone... and affects certain sounds causing confusions.....
Tee can sound like: bee dee gee etc. ..... very hard to hear the differentiation in the sounds.
Anyway.... I had aides but have not worn them in recent months... My issues are minimalized in recent times.... Is that because of enbrel? I do not know but my kids say they can tell when I'm off enbrel due to infection.. I don't hear as well....
I dont' know if that was helpful or not....... but it's my situation......
good luck.
Thanks Cindee and Babs. Yes, that was helpful. It is so strange how many things can be affected by RA, not just joints. Kelly, I have just what you described and it is RA. My jaw was swollen which caused my back teeth to ache and I did go to the dentist and after xrays, he told me it must be RA because my teeth were okay.
My ears pops and wakes me up at night. When I sleep on my side, that ear will pop. I've been to dr. for this and noise in my ears. My hearing is about the same as Babs, have aides but I don't use. I have trouble understanding what people say and telephone. I have never asked the RA dr. about this, but going to Fri.
I have felt good and turned my head around and start non-stop throwing up, They blame it on the inner ear problem. I don't have the echoing very offen, but had it about 3 times in the pass.
If anyone finds a cure for it, please let me know.
sorry, my spelling has gotten so bad, just don't think right any more....not that I was ever a good speller
rusty2009-12-17 09:48:10Ohhhh Rusty I have done that too. I mean turning my head and upchucking. I do take allergy medication which helps a little and I also pop a dramamine at bedtime and one half before going out anywhere. My Doc is guessing that it's an allergy and I also read that some people with allergies lose their hearing. What next???
I have so much to go wrong, I'm to the point that I take it as a way of life and once I tell a doctor, I just live with it. I never put RA and my ear problems together. I did think that maybe years of prednisone might have something to do with it. If I went to the doctor for everything, I would live there, we already go 2 or 3 times a week, sometime 2 or 3 in a day. I'm sick of Doctors.
The last time I threw up was at a church singing, with a hundred or so people watching. It happens so sudden that you can't move and the room is spining, someoone took me home with my head in a trash bag, I threw up for hours before going to sleep, when I got up next morning I was feeling fine. RA is a loosing battle with a lot of ups and downs.
Rusty and GG: That doesn not sound like fun...I've heard about the spinning and throwing up with inner ear problems. I'm so sick of dr appts too Rusty... you want to stay ahead of your RA and complications, but get so sick of all the appts...then just to find out there's nothing they can do or they dont know what's wrong..or you take MORE meds with more side affects.... and as someone once told me, you're dam..ed if you do and dam..ed if you dont! [QUOTE=rusty]My ears pops and wakes me up at night. When I sleep on my side, that ear will pop. I've been to dr. for this and noise in my ears. My hearing is about the same as Babs, have aides but I don't use. I have trouble understanding what people say and telephone. I have never asked the RA dr. about this, but going to Fri.
I have felt good and turned my head around and start non-stop throwing up, They blame it on the inner ear problem. I don't have the echoing very offen, but had it about 3 times in the pass.
If anyone finds a cure for it, please let me know.
sorry, my spelling has gotten so bad, just don't think right any more....not that I was ever a good speller
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THAT sounds like Meniere's disease. A disease of the inner ear. (Maybe spelled incorrectly)
It can be helped w/ medication.......
I had a sinus infection this summer that settled in my inner ear and it still isn't back to normal. I couldn't ehar for 2 months after the infection was gone. I saw a specialist who said it was definitely related to my RA.I've not had the popping problems you described, but I have noticed something interesting since I started taking a single tramadol for pain in late afternoon. That evening and for a brief period in the early morning, my ears are very sensitive to sound. I wince at slightly too loud voices and sounds, and my own voice gets softer and softer as it sounds way too strident to me! My husband says he can barely hear me. I am connecting this to the medication as it only occurs during these time periods.
Have any of you had a check to see if you've got a lot of ear wax? My son's ear used to get plugged and the ENT would take a tablespoon of wax out of the affected ear. An easy fix, worth a try perhaps, and wouldn't it be grand if all our problems were that simple?I have a mild degree of nerve deafness in both ears. I was told that it was because my mother didn't get enough oxygen during childbirth. Now I'm wondering if it's not autoimmune. It sounds like Babs' problem....great difficulty understanding certain consonants, but not vowels.
Re Meniere's: the drug is Antivert. However, this condition is not to be confused wtih Benign Positional Vertigo, which I have had on several occasions. Totally debilitating. Total vertigo. Now there is a new treatment that involves positioning the body in such a way to move the "ear rocks" [chrystals] inside the ear. BPV doe not affect hearing.
I googled "arthritis ear" and came up with a few items that point to OA in the jaw, causing the popping sensation.
Those with tinnitus will be interested in this:
Is there no end to all the problems?
My ears were constantly popping, partly it was from showering and water got inside. I had a brief run-in with a chiropractor and had some neck adjustments, while the rest of me remained a wreck, my ears stopped popping.
GREAT Links, Sam! Thanks.
I have Sjogrens as well.... good links on that too
I've been having too many hearing and ear problems in the last year and finally made an appt. with an ear specialist. I have BPV and can't believe how horribly dizzy I become and nauseated along with it. We were in a museum last year and I tilted my head back to look up at a painting and fell to the floor in the museum due to dizziness. It literally knocke me off my feet. I want to learn the positioning so that Stan can help me when I get an attack. Like Sam says it's debilitating. Also, have snap, crackle and pop and hearing loss. I have no idea if any of it is RA but I hope to find out. Will post after my appt. LindyLindy,
I can clearly recall my first BPV attack when I was 9 years old. I was in bed for a week, gawd-awful dizzy, didn't know which end was up, and vomiting as a result. It happened when I was doing cartwheels with my playmates. Of course, back then they didn't know about BPV and it was chalked up as some sort of virus.
From then on I wouldn't do somersaults or move my head in any strange direction. Believe me, it's so bad that I was like a mummy.
Until the next attack when I was about 23. Don't recall what I did to knock those "ear rocks" around, but once again, in bed for a week, my head ramrod straight up and not moving. It was like I was unable to move [intentional, though].
From that time on I held my head erect. If I had surgery I would threaten the surgical team with bodily harm prior to surgery if they so much as tilted my head to the left. I promised them I would puke my brains out. Guess they paid attention.
About twenty years later it happened again. I was slated to leave the following morning for a conference. There is simply no way to travel when this happens. The vertigo is disabling. The vomiting due to the vertigo is draining. And no, the med Vertigo doesn't help all that much. But I had to get to that conference and went to a walk-in UrgentCare.
New doctor was there who gave this problem a name and told me how it is treated and did I want him to do it. I was petrified to give it a shot, but he was convincing and well, it couldn't get any worse than it already was, right?
So I had him do it. It involves a specific way of rotating the body [no tools needed] and I'll be hot-damned. It worked. Took a few hours for the results to come about, but it worked. I was on a plane the next day.
That was about 10 years ago. To this day I do not sleep on my left side or do cartwheels. I'll never break that habit, I suppose. But at least I know that if it happens again, where to go to get it resolved. Now most practitioners know about it.
Now here's a question for you: do you have a problem called CPPD or with calcium oxalate or other crystals? Mark my words.......I believe there's a link with BPV. [I have CPPD, incidentally.]
Thank goodness for the internet and forums such as these.
Sam12342009-12-21 14:50:35I went to RA doc. Fri and forgot to ask about my ears and RA. My husband went first and I have to talk for him, by the time he got to me, the doc. was worried about my rash and getting me to right doctor and get it cleared up. He don't know why it's still there and worst. oh well the ears won't kill me. Ra and cancer sure has been a pain and docs. are a bigger pain....lol
Kelly are your ears getting any better?
Hi Sam, no CPPD or calcium oxalate issues that I'm aware of and I'm sure I would be. I think this is just part of the aging process. I didn't have my first attack until last year and I'm 63. I know several women my age who are plagued with BPV. I did read recently that they seem to think it might be a precursor to OA.
I can't imagine having it as a child. At least I know what and what not to do but if you're a child it would scare you. Thanks for the info.
Sam and Lindy, that sounds awful...I am so glad Sam you found that specific dr. to help you with rotating your body a certain way to help! Lindy, let us know what you find out after your dr appt!
Rusty: Yep, ears still doing the same thing. PCP has me scheduled for a hearing test and said could be related to ra but that's as far as i've gotten. I must have missed some posts from you, are you dealing with cancer and Ra? what was the rash from?
Hope you find a answer soon about the ears, they are no fun. I got oral cancer in july 2008. last test showed cancer free, but I have a new place thats come up that's has me worried. I've had a rash thats in my hair and on my feet and everywhere in between. since Nov. 2008 it started during ratation and chemo, I'm losing my hair from rash. I have aged 20 years in last 2 years. But my husband made it home from hospital today, so I plan on a great Christmas and a lot better year in 2010. Never know how many more we'll have together.
Have a very Merry Christmas and try not to eat too much...lol
From what I remember AI ear is simalar to Meniers except bylateral. You could have antibodies atacking the ear itself or even floaters from a near by place such as the jaw. It may be less severe if it is from floaters.
I get so many ear infections from the Sjorgrens it would be hard for me to tell the difference. I used to get alot of dizzy spells. Well vertigo even. have not had that problem for sometime. Not sure why but none the less thankful about that. I do still get the ear infections.
Aww Rusty, I'm so sorry you're going through rough times. I hope they can figure out how to get that rash to clear up for you and this new spot that's worrying you will turn up to be nothing. I wish you, your husband and your family a wonderful Christmas together. It does make you cherish those special times when you're going through such hard times, doesn't it? I hope 2010 will bring you and your husband a more peaceful and smooth sailing year. Lots of hugs!
Kelly
I have very active severe RA, which has caused inner ear auto-immune disease-is rare--you sart to lose hearing in the ear.The ear specialist have me steriod injections to the inner ear which recovered some of the loss of hearing for awhile but loosing the hear to left ear again.All I have at this point is pain,and tinitis in that ear,very loud hissing.Hope this helps
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I also have bouts of vertigo and tinnitus and hearing loss. The barometric changes from day to day seems to have some effect on this condition, however I just read a letter from a person with severe vertigo who started taking garlic pills and using garlic ear drops and she claims that she is 98% better if not cured. She was treated by a Naturopathic Doctor. She did not mention the dosage of garlic or ear drops. Nor did she mention anything about the odor if there was any.
As expected, she spent a small fortune on prescriptions.
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