Tinnitus and HRT

[Coxy0]

Hi
I have been on HRT (Estradot) for 18 months now and it's been amazing but over the last couple of weeks my tinnitus has become unbearable. I have had underlying tinnitus since I was young but I noticed that since starting HRT my tinnitus has gotten progressively worse, it was so bad last week I couldn't hear the TV properly. Anyway my GP has recommended that I stop HRT for a while to see if it all settles down. I have read that HRT can aggravate tinnitus in some people but make it better in others and I have read people on this site and menopause matters that it has made their tinnitus worse, has anyone experienced this?

@Coxy0 Is your tinnitus better now since stopping? X

Hello!

YES thank the stars! I have been off HRT now for 6 months and I'm 95% back to my normal...I saw an audio therapist also as a completely silent room at night is still a bit unbearable but that is improving with sound therapy. Interestingly none of my awful symptoms have returned (as yet) so I'm managing things with diet, exercise and vitamins. I will never ever go back on HRT and had a known it would make my non bothersome tinnitus bothersome I would have never started it. I also saw an HRT specialist who wasn't surprised my tinnitus got worse as there are estrogen receptors in our ears! More people need to be made aware that although HRT can be amazing it can also have side affects and they just do not know enough about the overall effects of it.

Hi @Coxy0 Thanks for sharing this. I have tinnutes and thinking of going on hrt. Can you advise what symtoms you went on hrt to for ? How long did it take your tinnutes to settle down after coming off?

Hello
I literally had every symptom going...bar hot flushes during the day! So fatigue, brain fog, burning vagina, very poor sleep, anxiety, crazy palpitations, bad skin, night sweats, irregular periods and very heavy periods. I noticed my tinnitus increasing after a month but didn't connect the two at the time, it took 6 months for the HRT related tinnitus to calm down and I'm just about there with my normal tinnitus levels - it's still a bit bothersome at night but I listen to jungle sounds throughout the night and that helps massively. Had I known what it would do to my existing tinnitus I wouldn't have gone on HRT I would have sought out something else. It may not affect you but the thing is with HRT is it helps in some areas but can knock out other areas, they just don't know enough about the effects of it really and we are all individual. I have been reading things recently though about how HRT can actually age your hearing so I think there has to be a connection somewhere!