White noise

[clubby29]

Hi can anyone tell me why I get white noise in my ears? It's been around 2 years now and if I wake up with a lot of noise I know I'm in for a lousy feeling day so I assume it's linked to some part of all this. Cheers

[Jazzw]

Tinnitus by any other name. Yes - it's an undermedicated hypothyroidism symptom.

[clubby29 in reply to Jazzw]

Ok thanks that's simple enough. Is the fact I feel lousy in the morning and better as the day goes on the same problem?

[Jazzw in reply to clubby29]

I think that's something common to hypo folk, especially those whose T4 to T3 conversion isn't as good as it ought to be.

Looking at the bloods you posted the other day:

TSH 0.3. (0.2-4.2). FT4. 20.5. (12-22). FT3. 4.4. (3.1-6.8)

you're probably on as much Levo as you could be - and yet your conversion to T3 would appear to be rather low. You almost certainly would have a fight on your hands to get it (it's very expensive on the NHS) but a 10-20mcg addition of liothyronine (T3) would probably make all the difference to how you feel.

[clubby29 in reply to Jazzw]

Yes the long wait to see endo only to find out he's a numpty doesn't appeal, because of my poor surgery I might have a glut of 50 mg pills so I'm gonna split them and try an extra 25 in the hope I don't go hyper just to see if I can make a difference . If all else fails a t3 shopping trip. Cheers

[greygoose in reply to clubby29]

You'll only be 'hyper' if your FT3 goes over-range, and there's little chance of that on 25 mcg because you're not converting well. Over-range FT4 does not make you 'hyper'.

You might like to try taking some magnesium, too, because low magnesium can cause tinnitus, and most people have low magnesium.

[Eddie83]

You might want to read the book "Hypothyroidism Type 2" by Mark Starr MD. Starr mentions hearing and hypothyroidism. Tinnitus goes with being hypothyroid, but if the hypothyroidism continues a long time untreated, then it can become permanent. It took a very long time for my illness to get diagnosed and treated correctly; consequently, about 8 years after the appearance of severe symptoms, I noticed low-level tinnitus all the time. I am now well treated, but the tinnitus is still there.

Before I got very ill, I always noticed tinnitus when I got very tired. That may have been a symptom of subclinical hypothyroidism, not just from being tired.

[LAHs]

I agree with the general consensus here. White noise in the head is due to under medication.

Before I got on NDT I had the usual stupid doc who kept reducing my dose because my TSH was too low. She said she wanted me to be at 100mcg Levo (and I have no thyroid due to th/ectomy!). Before she reduced my dose via a prescription I experimented with the 100 mcg. It nearly killed me! I had so much white noise in my head I thought I was about to have a stroke. At this point she told me I was HypER while I was very plainly HypO - and I ran as fast as I could to another doc. As soon as I raised my dose and went on NDT the white noise disappeared. I am still left with very slight tinnitus which gets slightly louder in the afternoon as my T3 approaches it's half life.

Lastly an anecdote, I also made my tinnitus go away completely after eating a very spicy meal the other night with a glass of heavy red wine! I'm going to do the same thing tonight!

[clubby29 in reply to LAHs]

Ha Ha, loving the sound of that for a cure, my 2 favourite things.

Taking some huge mag pills now,about a week in also selenium,iron,vit c, b complex.

Any good ideas for lowering my overnight cortisol appreciated.

Many thanks for all your views.

[LAHs in reply to clubby29]

Strangely enough I just happen to be reading that chapter in "Stop the Thyroid Madness 2". It is the last chapter,13, in the book. It is a bit heavy going but if you study it enough you will eventually get it. That's what I am about to do. That chapter also references:

stopthethyroidmadness.com/a...

I haven't read that yet because I want to finish the book first.

You probably know this but it is while you sleep that you regenerate your cortisol. I do not know too much about the cortisol system, just that I don't have enough (the opposite of your problem). But I think if we both read these two references, we will understand and be able to fix things.

Another little factoid, I know that cortisol works in opposition to the thyroid hormones. When Cortisol is up, thyroid hormones go down, and vice-a-versa. Thats why it is bad to stay in a stressed state for a long time, it keeps your cortisol high and your thyroid low - and then your adrenals get worn out (because they are doing the work that the T3 and T4 would normally be doing)