I am 42 and think I may be in perimenopause due to a variety of symptoms - anxiety, waking in the night and not getting back to sleep, cycles getting shorter, getting hot very quickly, occasional night sweats, brain fog, hormonal headaches. However, I have read that problems with ears is also a symptom and I have had endless issues since April - blocked ears, tinnitus, pressure, occasional pain - I have had a few viruses/illnesses in this time, and have had antibiotics and steroids as I had other sinus symptoms and pressure in the face, and throat. Those symptoms have now gone but still having problems with ears feeling blocked and full!
Has anyone else experienced this and did HRT provide any relief? Thank you!
I am 55 and about 2 years postmenopausal. I did have tinnitus (still occasionally do) and some issues with feeling like my ears and sinuses are congested, mostly at night when lying down. I am on lower dose HRT (100 mg progesterone and 0.0375 mg estradiol patch) and the symptoms are a bit better, but I can’t correlate the improvement specifically with the HRT, since my constellation of symptoms seems to change and fluctuate over time as I continue on this journey. At one point, I tried Alpha Lipoic Acid on a sort of intuitive notion that the tinnitus might have something to do with glitchy in my nervous system caused by decreasing estrogen. It actually seemed to help, but then started irritating my bladder, making me feel like I had to pee all the time–ugh!
As far as the feeling of pressure and congestion in ears, sinuses, head, I feel you! Those feelings are awful and make me feel like I’m having blood pressure and/or inflammatory symptoms or God-knows-what. I’m thankful it doesn’t happen very frequently for me but comes with a sort of cycle of symptoms that includes headaches, body aches, feeling, weaker fatigued–just plain OLD! Along with other things like slow transit constipation, weight and fat gain and puffy fingers.
I wish I could be of more help, but at the very least, you have my empathy. Please know you are not alone and resist feeling gaslit by anyone who looks at you doubtfully when you correlate ANY symptom with this stage of life!
Laurie