Fibromyalgia & Hearing Loss?

[JessFM]

Hello Everybody! I hope all you fibro warriors are doing the best you can given our daily chronic pain struggles.

I was wondering if there is any link between Fibromyalgia and hearing loss. I am 27 years old and last week I seen an audiologist who told me I have hearing loss and need hearing aids. They told me that it is not age related either so I will probably be referred to the hospital too.

I am waiting for an Autism assesment which I know can affect hearing and is all to do with different parts of the brain and not hearing certain sounds ect...

Has anybody experienced this? 🌹

[Patdoyle]

I lost hearing in my right ear 20 years ago and it was put down to a virus and then I started getting vertigo about 10 years later which was diagnosed as Ménière’s disease.

[JessFM in reply to Patdoyle]

I had to research Mènièrè disease as I have never heard of it. Thanks for that Patdoyle

[Patdoyle in reply to JessFM]

yes Jess it’s another weird illness nobody seems to have heard of. I had never heard of it when I was diagnosed

[JessFM in reply to Patdoyle]

Hopefully more people will bear about it soon

[Dinkie]

I have hearing aids for both ears. Not sure about hearing loss being fibro related but I also have tinnitus too which I was told can be fibro related. The hearing aids certainly help with the tinnitus. I’m on my second pair of hearing aids. The first from a well known optician were useless. Then went to another well known chemist and the difference in the tests, assessment and advice was incredible. The follow up appointments and after care service was brilliant.

[JessFM in reply to Dinkie]

What particular chemist was it that you went to if you don't mind me asking

[Dinkie in reply to JessFM]

To avoid advertising - let me just give you a clue😁 The chemist has a name related to footwear😂and is 5 letters long. I found their attention to detail refreshing, no question too silly and they are at the end of the phone or email if I needed. Follow up first class. My audiologist is now on maternity leave but before she went she introduced me to her replacement and the new audiologist sat in on the appointment so that they knew where to start from at the next appointment.

[JessFM in reply to Dinkie]

I have suspected Autism and can't work out what chemist that is so never mind. Thankyou anyway 😊

[Dinkie in reply to JessFM]

Have sent you a private message.

[Hazel_Angelstar Administrator FMA UK Staff]

Not aware of any direct links to hearing loss - although sensitivity to sounds is very common

[Delightedbyhares]

Hello jessFM. I have Fibromyalgia and have struggled with hearing/ understanding what I hear for some time now. (I’m quite a bit older than you though!!🥺) I have had hearing tests and the audiologist has said that I have an “auditory processing issue” due to the fibro pain/brain fog /exhaustion. She said I hear what is said but can’t process it/ understand what’s been said. After I’ve said “pardon?” once or twice, I give up- not necessarily deliberately, but I just don’t have the energy to keep asking. It’s very embarrassing and frustrating and apparently can be a fairly common symptom of Fibromyalgia. (I do think I have some hearing loss too though) Good luck with the ASC testing- we are all on the spectrum somewhere! and there are some really good, almost invisible hearing aids out there 🤞🏻🤞🏻👍

[Dinkie in reply to Delightedbyhares]

Yep - auditory processing issue. That's exactly what my audiologist said. I could eventually, with some guess work understand what somebody has said but the conversation has already moved on so I get lost! Now I have my hearing aids fully adjusted (started out with just half of what I needed, so that it wasn't too much of a shock) it's amazing what I can hear and how quickly I can follow conversations, even with background noise. I thought the indicators on my car didn't make a sound anymore when in use. How wrong I was. I had to take my hearing aids out when driving the car at first as they were so loud😂🤣

[Delightedbyhares in reply to Dinkie]

I think I might be heading down the hearing aid route too- glasses, hearing aids, I rattle from all the tablets, What’s next Fibro?!?

[Dinkie in reply to Delightedbyhares]

Ahh well - failing eyesight the reason - we don't want to be able to see all those wrinkles in the mirror. Failing hearing - we don't want to hear others moan about how long it takes us to do things😂🤣 There's a reason for most things!

[Delightedbyhares in reply to Dinkie]

that’s such a good way to look at it, although I won’t remember it for too long!😂😂

[JessFM in reply to Delightedbyhares]

Thankyou very much for your reply DelightedByHares. It is ever so frustrating at times having hearing loss. I think my partner forgets sometimes and it frustrates him having to repeat himself. I am just waiting for the doctors to get back in touch with me now so I can get hearing aids and a possible hospital referral

[Delightedbyhares in reply to JessFM]

wishing you good luck with it all. Take care of yourself x

[JessFM in reply to Delightedbyhares]

Thank you sweetheart you too x

[Aoibheann]

My son is an Audiologist and he says the NHS hearing aids are equally as good, if not better than the private ones. I wear two NHS hearing aids. My other son is deaf and has autism and he also wears NHS hearing aids. Take care ❤ X

[JessFM in reply to Aoibheann]

Aw thankyou for sharing Sweet you take good care too 🌹🌹

[dinahdabble]

Well yes I have hearing loss (directional hearing and delays in processing sounds) as well as fibro, but with me it is related to my dyslexia and dyspraxia, which are also to do with short term memory and sequencing information too. It is all down to my corpus collosum not working properly when sending messages back and forth from the two right and left brain hemispheres as I understand it - "dodgy wiring" as I have come to call it. I don't know if there is any direct link with this and fibro, but with all the variations in the way our brains are set up I wouldn't be surprised, one thing causes another adjustment, causes another. Let us know if you find a link with the A Spectrum. These things are confusingly linked to both genetic factors and viruses it seems.