Advice please. Have Graves. Recurring pain in left ear and now bladder problems.

[nezzykins]

Hi forum. Iv'e been having problems on and off now for some time with my ear and bladder. I have flare ups of both these problems and they usually come at the same time. I feel as ifi am coming down with a UTI but I have rested my urine and nothing abnormal. My left ear itches and produces a watery discharge, followed by a sort of numb feeling around the bone behind the ear and then i whooshing noise starts. I also have a feeling of numbness over the bones behind my left ear and a feeling of numbness on left side of my head but then when i touch it, i can feel it! My left eye feeling as if its being stabbed with needles! Its always worse in the mornings.also now getting giddiness. I reduced my levo about 5 days ago as my TSH was out of range ( low) and t4 was top of range. T3 was 2/3rds up normal range, so bloods didnt actually look that bad, but were too high for me. Some of my signs of being too high are aching shins, overheating over the least little movement, pulse goes up, anxiety+++, plantar fasceitis( ouch). Feet either burning up or freezing cold and bright red hands all 8f which i have. I recently had an MRI head scan due to flare up of GED and was put on steroids, which I have now been weaned off. I was told by the obnoxious ophthamology conultant that all my eye tests were normal and he wondered what I was doing there! I did write a post about this several weeks ago. On Saturday morning, I received a letter from my surgery asking me to make an appt with GP to discuss these results, which I had already been told , and that all was well and nothing wrong with my eyes ( this from the consultant!). Iv'e been a nervous wreck all this weekend worrying about this letter! Especially because of this ear problem. I think that its a cruel thing to do, to let a patient with anxiety, worry for 2 days, as there are no GPs on weekends! This has caused me so much more anxiety to keep me waiting 2 days before I can speak to a GP! Feel like reporting this practice manager! Anyway, with my rant over with ( sorry), does anyone or has anyone had similar symptoms regarding the ear problem and bladder problem starting up at the same time, and could it be related to anything connected to Graves or being slighlty hyper and my tendancy to swings from highs to low so quickly? My overactive brain was thinking 'pituitary problem or even hypothalamus involvment that would have shown up on MRI. Anyone have any ideas please? Sorry this message is a mixed bag of all sorts. Lynne x

[Fruitandnutcase]

I know exactly what you mean about the timing of receiving such a letter. Many years ago I went on a course run be our wonderful local educational psychologist and she gave us a piece of advice that I have never forgotten 'never give a parent bad news of any sort about their child on a Friday as they will spend the whole weekend, unable to speak to you about it and being either being worried sick or getting more and more irate' . It is dreadful to have to spend a whole weekend feeling anxious.

I have Graves and know just how you feeling anxious. I also had a lot of trouble with my ears and sinuses before going on B&R, when I was on it I had no ear, sinus, teeth problems at all.

I stopped my B&R in November and gradually the ear / teeth / sinus problems have crept back again although I am 'mid range' in all my tests - at one point I though I had become hyper again but after being tested it turned out my TSH has crept up to 1.4 (can't remember the T4 - I should have asked for a print out but forgot) I don't think I'm becoming hyper again so maybe those things come when your thyroid levels just aren't at the right place for you.

I also had what I thought was cystitis, after much discomfort and broken sleep, I'd get back to bed, lie down and need to 'go' again, it was just a round of constant trips to the loo. I took a sample down to our surgery - seems I was fine. In the end I just kept at the cranberry juice until eventually things sorted themselves out.

My eyes were the same - the endo and assistant endo's I have seen all look at me and say 'and your eyes are fine' and I keep saying 'no, they might look ok from the outside but inside they feel really terrible'. They are so dry and sore, they water, they ache, my vision is blurred and I get an after image like I am seeing - not double but one and a half times what I am looking at yet that's ok. I don't think anyone cares about them unless they are popping out of your head.

Graves ( or maybe it is just your thyroid in general ) is such a weird condition, I mean how can something like that affect your eyes, ears, sinuses, teeth and bladder to name but a few body parts.

I hope your visit with your doctor today is OK for you. Remember you might be 'within the range' but it just might not be the optimal place in the range for you to feel good. Ask for print yours of all your test results with the lab ranges because you will be able to work out from that where you need to be to feel good. In the meantime get yourself done good additive free drops fir dry eyes and put them in as often as you can - don't be like me who tends to stop when my eyes feel good again - keep using them. You might find your eyes feel good if you soak a face cloth in hot water, squeeze it out and hold that to your eyes. I've got a cheap facial sauna and find if my face / eyes are feeling terrible it really helps to steam my face. Sorry, I realise I have rather rambled on but hopefully something in here will help you.

Good luck anyway

[nezzykins]

Thanks for reply fruit and nut. Will post if something has been found on the MRI. hope u r keeping well. Lynne x

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to nezzykins]

Thanks for asking, I'm fine - have felt worse but I'm pretty sure I could feel even better, I hope things get a good result with your MRI.

[nezzykins in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Hi fruit and nut. Rang GP. No problem. Just a follow up from consultants report! !, All that stressing over weekend for ***** all! Grrrr.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to nezzykins]

Great news - like my ed psych said - never contact anyone on. Friday if they won't be able to get in touch and are likely to worry all weekend

[jaxnbreeze]

I am hypo. and suffer from bladder problems and I have found D-Mannose to work brilliantly.

[nezzykins in reply to jaxnbreeze]

Hi jaxnbreeze. Thanks for your reply. Ive never heard of D-mannose before. Can you tell me more about it? Ie herbal or prescribed? Im not having inco probs but more of a pinching feeling after passing urine. It may be thrush, but I am not certain as no other signs such as white discharge, but I did buy canesten vaginal prep yesterday to try just in case it was. Ive changed many of my eating habits lately such as cutting down sugar and gluten and supplementing on vit D3, selenium, zinc and magnesium. Lynne x

[nezzykins]

Hi again jaxnbreeze. Just googled D- Mannose. Do you take the powder or the capsules? It says that there is silica in the capsules. So maybe the powder is less risky. Can you let me know which one you take? Thanks. Lyyne x

[jaxnbreeze]

Hi Lynne - I take the powder when I am at home and always have some tablets with me when I go out. I do hope they work for you, they seem to zap cystititis if I take them as soon as symptoms appear. I have had a lot of courses of anit-biotics in the past but I think the main reason I have problems is acidic urine. Best wishes, Jax

[nezzykins in reply to jaxnbreeze]

Hi jaxnbreeze. D- mannose powder arrived today via Amazon. Thanks for your suggestion. Alls well at the moment but it's there ready and waiting! Lynne x

[jaxnbreeze]

Good Luck Lynne - I take it as soon as I have even a hint of pain because I am sure acid from food makes my bladder sensitive and bugs then take hold. x

[ribbon]

I had all of above symptoms, but was fine once T3 got to the upper quarter of the range (on Erfa, natural dessicated thyroid). I thought I was hyper, but was actually hypo (from being on Eltroxin and similar synthetics, which my body was unable to convert to T3). For me , the 'hyper' feeling was from struggling adrenals, but they're fine now too once T3 was addressed (and iron level needed upping).

D Mannose saved me from antibiotics many a time. Hypothyroidism gave me dreadful cystitis, but D Mannose worked really well.