Hello there again from Cushie land!
Okay, do you hear a ringing in your head all the time? Is it something that just won't go away and just keeps on nagging you day and night no matter what you do? If you do have it you may well be a victim of
Tinnitus.
Tinnitus is a constant ringing in the ears which just goes on and on and on, sometimes to the point of driving people crazy. People are often driven to all kinds of doctors and take medications for it that only work in the short term if at all. They try alternative medications, treatments, such as acupuncture, all to no avail. That's because when it's that bad there is really nothing we can do shy of firing a bullet through our gray matter.
That's because unless one has worked in an environment which was extremely loud without adequate hearing protection the problem isn't in the ear at all. And to add insult to injury the medical community has known this since the 1950s, but hasn't adequately trained the doctors in the trenches who have to deal with the patients who have it. The problem is deep in the brain where communication throughout the brain takes place and is a sign of damage to that system of some sort. And the kicker is the cause of the damage.
Cortisol and other anabolic steroids are chief culprits. I found this out when I listened to one of those ads out there promising a cure for tinnitus. You know, those nice little ads from somebody who went on this big journey looking for a cure to his own problem and discovered a miraculous cure he is willing to peddle to you and me...for a hefty price. In this case, the man offered up proof of what he was saying, genuine studies which I checked out. And boy did they check out!
The problem goes back to the old statement of too much of a good thing. Those of us with Cushing's do know that the cortisols have several uses in the body. They help regulate our blood sugars. They repair damaged tissues. When women get pregnant they do several things to protect both the mother and the baby throughout the pregnancy. But the problems take place when there is either too little or constantly too much of them in our system, hence both Cushing's and Addison's Diseases.
Where they come in where today's topic is concerned is that when there is too much in the body they can get into the brain and damage the communication system within the brain itself. Those with Cushing's often become forgetful, especially of short-term items. They can also experience mental disorders of the sort which involve the communication within the brain if predisposed towards them genetically to start off with. But the early symptom if such damage which often gets missed is the ringing in the ears of tinnitus.
What the fellow was pushing was an herbal concoction designed to suppress cortisol production on the assumption that was the problem. And perhaps it might work if caught and treated early on. I guess a doctor might have better information on that if any studies have been done.
I went on to one of the Cushing's support groups I'm on and asked them if they had tinnitus. The answer was an overwhelming yes! So it would appear that it might be another symptom to add. I also asked those who'd had surgery successfully to cure their Cushing's if the tinnitus was resolved as well. Sadly it wasn't for most. So the best thing to do is to get treatment as early as one can if they notice the ringing and if one is on steroids or know they have Cushing's they need to mention that while they're at it so the doctor can factor that into one's treatment.
That's it for now!
