Tinnitus vs high blood pressure

[loudnlousy]

The worst damage I ever did to my ears was riding my motobike after having washed my hair. There was a tiny little drop of water in my ears and the strong wind did a lot of harm to my ears. So I was nearly deaf for one week. I was very lucky that my hearing returned.

 

[stevo]

My doc has been complaining about my blood pressure for few years but I did not want to go on any meds. Posting this because of this:

Couple weeks ago my ears suddenly went crazy. The tinnitus (that I always thought was because of loud gigs) got stronger. But that was not the worst. My left ear especially was distortion everything. To the level if I'd have my phone playing music (i.e. quiet) the left ear would hear it completely distorted. The only comparison I can make is as if you had a completely busted speaker in an amp.

And then I remembered reading something about blood pressure. I took out the home pressure measure thing and yep, it was high. To the doc and now I'm on meds. It started to get better so quick that I'm not sure if it was the meds or just natural return to more normal. However playing anything was impossible and that's a problem. I do like dirt but JMC is small potatoes compared to what my ears were hearing.

The good thing is that this is not that serious and treatable. But I just found it amazing that I can hear my blood pressure. Apparently 40% of people with high blood pressure have tinnitus. So not so rare at all.

So if your tinnitus gets worse, check your blood pressure.

My best friend is a heart doc and apparently they call high blood pressure the silent killer because it is silent and you don't know you have it unless you test it. He sees tons of patients with blood vessel bursting levels and they have no clue whatsoever. No headaches, no fainting feelings, no tinnitus. (In this case, it's very genetic given the demographic of patients he sees.)

I'm not discounting a connection, but I can say that most doctors are now concluding that headaches and tinnitus are probably not a symptom of high blood pressure. That being said, if you have migraines, most high blood pressure medicine will help with those as a side benefit.

You are right to lower your blood pressure. It's huge contributing factor when it comes to strokes. By not taking meds for it, you're essentially guaranteeing a stroke at some point. By taking it, you're lowering your stroke risk massively.

I've had tinnitus since I was very young. It comes from several sources - one of them being blood pressure meds and another being allergies. My tinnitus turns really bad (like hearing impairment/meniere's disease) from eating chocolate. Allergies are a major contributor to tinnitus as well as meniere's disease. Foods like alcohol and caffeine are also big factors. Regular exposure to loud sounds is also a factor and in that case, the tinnitus can be an indication of hearing loss.

But whatever the case - good you're better!

 

[Mr Swisher]

Well I'd been feeling off colour for a couple of years. Drs kept refusing to see me. Finally two months ago I got an appointment for an ECG and BP check. I'd been having intermittent chest pains for a while and to be honest the anxiety it was causing me, and my pleading, got me an appointment at the health centre. I had tinitus and some dizziness too.

ECG was fine but the BP was 172/102. Advice was go home and relax and take the BP every day for two weeks. No advice of anything else. Two weeks later the Dr called to discuss the ECG and BP and said i needed meds, and to go for a blood test so they could check baseline kidney function (apparently the meds can impair it and it would be monitored whilst I took the drugs).

Another two weeks passed and the Dr called again to say the blood test results meant I could go on the drugs. They asked for my last 5 days BP readings. Unknown to the Dr, who had offered no advice, from day 1 of my first visit, I'd cutout all added salt, all processed foods and alcohol. I'd sought my own advice and made a big change. Result ..BP averaging around 118/77 -weight down 21lbs and feeling better.

I've been staggered by my Drs lack of care, and an acceptance from day 1 that they were just putting me on drugs. They never once gave me anything I could do for myself. The Dr said three times "you must be taking the drugs already" only for me to repeatedly tell them I'd not been given any yet.

They've told me to check it in 3 months and call them if it's high, although they didn't tell me what high was until I asked. I'm checking it myself now and don't plan on returning to my previous unhealthy diet.

 

[Bertotti]

Well I'd been feeling off colour for a couple of years. Drs kept refusing to see me. Finally two months ago I got an appointment for an ECG and BP check. I'd been having intermittent chest pains for a while and to be honest the anxiety it was causing me, and my pleading, got me an appointment at the health centre. I had tinitus and some dizziness too.

ECG was fine but the BP was 172/102. Advice was go home and relax and take the BP every day for two weeks. No advice of anything else. Two weeks later the Dr called to discuss the ECG and BP and said i needed meds, and to go for a blood test so they could check baseline kidney function (apparently the meds can impair it and it would be monitored whilst I took the drugs).

Another two weeks passed and the Dr called again to say the blood test results meant I could go on the drugs. They asked for my last 5 days BP readings. Unknown to the Dr, who had offered no advice, from day 1 of my first visit, I'd cutout all added salt, all processed foods and alcohol. I'd sought my own advice and made a big change. Result ..BP averaging around 118/77 -weight down 21lbs and feeling better.

I've been staggered by my Drs lack of care, and an acceptance from day 1 that they were just putting me on drugs. They never once gave me anything I could do for myself. The Dr said three times "you must be taking the drugs already" only for me to repeatedly tell them I'd not been given any yet.

They've told me to check it in 3 months and call them if it's high, although they didn't tell me what high was until I asked. I'm checking it myself now and don't plan on returning to my previous unhealthy diet.

Where are you at? It can take awile to get my doctor but I can go as a walk in anytime I want!

 

[Mr Swisher]

Where are you at? It can take awile to get my doctor but I can go as a walk in anytime I want!

In the UK. Since the thing that happened but isn't mentioned here, they effectively stopped seeing patients. The Dr will call you for a chat on the phone, but they do not want you going to see them unless it's an emergency.

 

[Bertotti]

In the UK. Since the thing that happened but isn't mentioned here, they effectively stopped seeing patients. The Dr will call you for a chat on the phone, but they do not want you going to see them unless it's an emergency.

I certainly don't think it is a good thing but at least a resolution was made.

 

[Runamok]

Some blood pressure meds, antibiotics & even aspirin (NSAIDs) can increase the whine of tinnitus.

Most folk remedies do not bear out in studies (ginko biloba, fer instance). Pine bark extract & melatonin have shown promise in a couple of studies, but the results are not conclusive.

If you think you are losing hearing, aside from tinnitus—silly as this sounds, get your ears cleaned & detailed. A friend experienced this odd turn of events. I thought it was funny until it happened to me & did not learn from his-story.

 

[Bertotti]

Some blood pressure meds, antibiotics & even aspirin (NSAIDs) can increase the whine of tinnitus.

Most folk remedies do not bear out in studies (ginko biloba, fer instance). Pine bark extract & melatonin have shown promise in a couple of studies, but the results are not conclusive.

If you think you are losing hearing, aside from tinnitus—silly as this sounds, get your ears cleaned & detailed. A friend experienced this odd turn of events. I thought it was funny until it happened to me & did not learn from his-story.

It is funny the vast majority of people I know don’t completely believe the studies on alternative remedies good or bad because they do not trust the established med system.
Clean ears can help a lot! I see family members who will grab a atop an pull loads of gunk out and I’m why do you wait so long to give any attempt to clean them quips not being a great way!

 

[Runamok]

It is funny the vast majority of people I know don’t completely believe the studies on alternative remedies good or bad because they do not trust the established med system.
Clean ears can help a lot! I see family members who will grab a atop an pull loads of gunk out and I’m why do you wait so long to give any attempt to clean them quips not being a great way!

That is odd. Folk magic vs proper studies.
Melatonin theoretically boosts the efficacy of Dogmatil vs use on its own.

To clean ‘em properly requires a warm peroxide solution injected gently, not Q-tips.

You can have your doc do it on annual 10,000 mile check-up, but that is over & above the limit of what HMOs allow & usually becomes a couple hundred charge for going off script.

It doesn’t fix tinnitus, but the ratio of good sound-to-noise is improved.

 

[juks]

Some blood pressure meds, antibiotics & even aspirin (NSAIDs) can increase the whine of tinnitus.

Most folk remedies do not bear out in studies (ginko biloba, fer instance). Pine bark extract & melatonin have shown promise in a couple of studies, but the results are not conclusive.

If you think you are losing hearing, aside from tinnitus—silly as this sounds, get your ears cleaned & detailed. A friend experienced this odd turn of events. I thought it was funny until it happened to me & did not learn from his-story.

Thats the first thing the doc checked. My ears were squeaky clean. For that last 2 days my BP has been only 10-15 points above normal and the tinnitus is back to low level. The meds seem to do their job. I just not thrilled having to take them but it is what it is. I was concerned about the hearing but all seems OK now. Appreciate the concern you guys had.

 

[juks]

Well I'd been feeling off colour for a couple of years. Drs kept refusing to see me. Finally two months ago I got an appointment for an ECG and BP check. I'd been having intermittent chest pains for a while and to be honest the anxiety it was causing me, and my pleading, got me an appointment at the health centre. I had tinitus and some dizziness too.

ECG was fine but the BP was 172/102. Advice was go home and relax and take the BP every day for two weeks. No advice of anything else. Two weeks later the Dr called to discuss the ECG and BP and said i needed meds, and to go for a blood test so they could check baseline kidney function (apparently the meds can impair it and it would be monitored whilst I took the drugs).

Another two weeks passed and the Dr called again to say the blood test results meant I could go on the drugs. They asked for my last 5 days BP readings. Unknown to the Dr, who had offered no advice, from day 1 of my first visit, I'd cutout all added salt, all processed foods and alcohol. I'd sought my own advice and made a big change. Result ..BP averaging around 118/77 -weight down 21lbs and feeling better.

I've been staggered by my Drs lack of care, and an acceptance from day 1 that they were just putting me on drugs. They never once gave me anything I could do for myself. The Dr said three times "you must be taking the drugs already" only for me to repeatedly tell them I'd not been given any yet.

They've told me to check it in 3 months and call them if it's high, although they didn't tell me what high was until I asked. I'm checking it myself now and don't plan on returning to my previous unhealthy diet.

That's really impressive, congrats. I dud try to change things too but my doc told me that my BP was too high for that a year ago. He said give it a go but he predicted meds will be needed. Well, he was right.

 

[Bertotti]

I’ve been tracking mine for a couple months I was as high as 157/94. That was while on steroids. Last night 117/71 with a pulse of 74. the pulse was in the high side for me. My resting is generally 54. But at the high side my ringing was certainly louder.

 

[Mr Swisher]

That's really impressive, congrats. I dud try to change things too but my doc told me that my BP was too high for that a year ago. He said give it a go but he predicted meds will be needed. Well, he was right.

Thanks, I'm under no illusion that it's a work in progress, things can change and I could still end up on the meds. But I'm going to try my hardest to do what I can.