Question: I was to see my doctor on Friday but I'm gonna try to go in Wednesday because I'm feeling so lousy due to my suspected thyroid problem (I'm not diagnosed yet.) Another problem I'm having, which coincided with the increase in my thyroid symptoms, is tinnitus - ringing in the ears. It hits me nights and mornings. Anyone know if there a correlation between this and thyroid dysfunction or is it just one more thing that's going wrong with me? I'm expecting my new doctor to say I'm making all this up, including the thyroid problems. It's very difficult to be your own advocate when you feel so miserable.

Answer: Yes, there is a link between tinnitus and thyroid disease. But there is also many other causes of tinnitus.

I've had tinnitus for over ten years - but only diagnosed with thyroid disease in the last few years (but most likely I've had thyroid problems since my tinnitus started).

I've found zinc helps my thyroid problem and tinnitus. Although I'll never be rid of either - it does reduce symptoms. Here's an article about it:

http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/health/Newswire/Back_issues/newswire...

Also, melatonin is often recommended for tinnitus. If you do a search under "melatonin and tinnitus" you'll likely get some links. I think the initial study was done in New Zealand.

If you have tinnitus, there's no magical cure, although they say thyroid medication may help. However, I have also heard from people who believe their tinnitus was caused from taking synthetic thyroid medication.

Some people find masking helps - especially at night. Masking is simply playing soft music or hissing/static sounds (ie: a radio that's not tuned). This seems to divert the ear's attention away from the tinnitus ringing. There's also "white noise" hearing aids that some people find useful (it's also a masking technique). And there is Tinnitus Retraining Therapy - controversial and expensive, but some people say it's helpful.