hi sally,i suffer from tenitus and blame it on the meds but i have had a hearing test and mri scan about a year ago,am pleased to say all is very well for me but i have been poorly recently and my hearing went totaly for 3 days and now i am in a dull world,i am going to gp this week so hoping its this cold virus thats causing it all, sorry cant help maybe one of the others can help,good luck,dorothy

Hi Sally - so sorry that your hearing is not so good. I'm 55 and have noticed that I need the TV turned up a bit louder - I suppose it's me getting older. But 47 is rather young to be having that problem. My hubbie regularly loses his hearing because he gets a build up of wax - I think it must be the shape of his ears, because he claims to clean them properly!! But everything few months he goes deaf in one ear and has to make an appointment to have them syringed by the nurse (euch!). He's Mr Grumpy when he goes in and comes out as Mr Happy!! But I don't suppose that's your problem because the exam would've shown that up - hope that you find something to help.

I love your cat - is it a British Blue?

Cheers - Sylvia xx

I too found I was struggling to hear conversation in a room with b/g noise (eg the staffroom at school etc) I went for tests and subsequently started to wear two hearing aids about 2 years ago. I am on MTX and Humira, diclofenac and cocodamol. Don't know if it is caused by RA/drugs or with working in a noisy environment (think 150 schoolchuildren screaming in an enclosed space at lunchtimes!)


Jane you need to approach your GP who will see if you need them syringing and if not he can refer you to a specialist.

hi again, jane start at the gp and tell him exactly what you hear,what time of day/night,how bad and how often ie diary time,i have learned to lip read a bit to keep upto conversation,due to the fact that i get a feeling of being in a swimming pool full of kids and it just garbles in my head,i do tend not to get into loads of people places now as i just loose the plot and its not very nice,i have been shouted at for not paying attention but i dont feel like saying sorry gone a bit jeff there,i also don't use the phone after about 8pm as it starts my ear off big time,good luck,dorothy

Thanks all - no I don't have any wax - my ears look fine! I had my 2nd dose of my 5th lot of rituximab yesterday and saw my lovely Rheumy consultant so gave him a copy. He had even less of an idea than me but said unlikely to be autoimune sensorineural hearing loss as as far as he knows, that is sudden and something you should go straight to your doctor about if it happens as steroids can help if given quickly enough. Mine is gradual though. He said you can get RA in your ossicles ( the little bones in your inner ear) but wondered if that would cause the sort of problem I have

Anyway he has suggested the best ENT Consultant for me to see as the one he recommended wold actually think about RA not just my ears! So off to get my equally lovely GP to sort that out for me.

I used Specsavers to get a quick private ( free!) test just to see if i was still having only minor problems & to save the embarrassment of going again & looking neurotic if it was still the same - hopefully it will also get me seen a bit quicker that if I'm referred as ' this patient whose hearing was fine 3 years ago now thinks her hearing is worse can you see her again?'
They also suggested turning up the treble & turning the bass down on the Tv and any radio where you can do this - which has helped although the family don't like it! Plus listening to Radion 4 speech programmes esp those without background music to practice 'tuning in' to help dela with the problem. Worth a try anyway

Will update you when I am seen
Sally xx

PS Sylvia - Oddie (aka Big Fat Oddie Cat!) is a blue Burmese - his brother Cosmo is brown, like our first pair of cats Homer & Razzy who were an engagement pressie form my mum - the best engagement present ever!
(Oddie is really Odyssey, named in remembrance of Homer, & Razzy was Erasmus! Cosmo was chosen by our daughter Josie 9 years ago)
We never anticipated having any colour other than brown, but ther was only one brown in the litter born locally - we are now hooked on Burmese as being so much moer fun, & dog-like chid 7 bomb-proof without needing walking. My cousin had a little brown grl burmese who lived to 23! who was the reason we got hooked)

zena,thanks for the info sounds like it could be the same,i will make a note and ask at my next appt,it is so nice in a funny way that someone can understand what i am trying to say,cheers,dorothy

Obviously a lot of us out there with problems! I now have an ENT appt for the end of Feb so will update you then. In the meantime the chap at Specsavers suggested turning up the treble (or 4KHZ if ther is a graphic equlizer) & turning down the bass. This is actually very helpful (though the rest of the family complain that the TV sounds 'tinny!') - I don't need the actual volume up so high ( if very loud it seems to almost hurt my ears making it counter-productive)