Hello everybody, my first post here. I have had CH for at least 14 years that I can recall and this is the first year I have seen a doc about it, I have medicated in the past with HEAVY amounts of alcohol (Beer, Wine, Whiskey etc.) and yes I know alcohol is a trigger but didn't even know what I had until I was diagnosed this year.

Is it normal to have ringing in both ears constantly, my teeth on the side of the CH's hurt a lot, lymph nodes feel swollen several times per day with a lot of pressure. I just feel like there is something else at play here and the Neuro just act's like it's not a big deal and keeps talking about treatment of the CH only. I am starting to think that the heavy drinking was a lot easier. I am an audio mix engineer and this ringing is really worrying me. Anybody have a clue if all this is normal for CH's ?

Thanks for reading this and best wishes to all of you dealing with this craziness.

.Hello Dellee and welcome.

Firstly, alcohol is not a friend of the Clusterhead, especially when in cycle.

I had ringing in my ears (tinnitus) all my adult life and it increases, or I certainly become more aware of it during an attack.

I also get severe pain in the teeth and jaw during a bad one, but I can't say I've experienced swelling of the glands, but come to think of it, I never actually checked when under attack.

Are you using any preventative? What abortive do you use?

If you give a bit more information about your treatment you will get lots of good advise and support here.

Keep posting, keep reading, keep well.

Peter.

It will help us to direct you to good sources of assistance if you will tell us where you live (city & state, if U.S. or country). At the Home page: Help button-->Edit & Profile --> Location. (This will add your location, just below your name, every time you post a message.
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Tinnitus is not peculiar to, or a distinctive sign, of Cluster.
Very common with age, caused by many medications, a result of working for long periods in high noise situations or being exposed to even single extremely lound noises (an explosion, for example). Seeing high rates from folks in their 30s who have lived "in" rock concerts, and such.

If you suspect some hearing loss now, a good heating exam is useful. Not only to Dx the problem but to explore the  source of hearing loss. Early intervention helps a lot to preserve your quality of life.

Hi and welcome

Hearing issues are not a common issue with CH, so I'd get them checked out, especially with your day job being strongly related to them functioning correctly.

Thanks for the responses. I am not having any hearing loss, I am not around anything loud but rather a normal studio setting where the audio is at normal level. This ringing just started with this cycle and does not just come when I have an attack, it as well as a tight headache are persistent, the constant headache is new to my cycles, it never leaves but just goes up and down in pain level, and the constant headache is all over and feels like a belt being wrapped around my head and pulled tight, my blood pressure has been up since this cycle started. I am currently on Imitrex and Depakote, still waiting on Oxygen as it was just prescribed yesterday and I have to wait until Monday to even attempt to get that, I strongly felt an MRI was in order but my Neuro didn't seem to think so, he is trying to relate the persistent headaches with tension headaches and stress which I don't really feel I have, he says my neck feels like a rock but for me that is normal unless I rub my neck and stretch for a while and of course I can see why I would have a stiff neck going through pain etc. But of all the cycles I drank myself through in the past 14 years the CH's just came and then went, never had a solid headache that does not go away or a ringing in my ears like this, these things just all started when my clusters started this time. Imitrex seems to make my teeth hurt on my CH side but I have not taken it for two days and I still have teeth pain and this ringing. Other than this ringing my hearing is rather superb, always has been. It just freaks me out having these additional things going on this time around, I skipped the past two years with no cycles which is nice but new symptoms and the constant headache is causing me to want to just pop Imitrex which I don't really want to do because it makes me paranoid and brings my blood pressure up even higher than it is now. I guess I just don't understand the higher than normal BP this cycle and I take Metoprolol succ er 25mg and I have taken double doses and my BP stays the same, it does not go over 100 and does not drop below 95 for the bottom number, I would think that particular BP med should be doing something especially in double doses. Two years ago so Psycho attacked me and hit me in this same CH side of the head with a baseball bat and the hospital didn't feel the need to do anything other than stitch me up and send me home, I have not had any problems with that healing or anything though and my Neuro does not feel it has done any damage. Just seems to me that an MRI would at least rule out some things. But if this is normal as he seems to think it is then I don't know what to do. I don't find a constant headache normal or high BP just due to a cluster cycle but as I said I self medicated with tons of booze in the past, I realize alcohol is a trigger but oddly enough I heard triggering the clusters over and over while masking a lot of the pain with booze makes the nerves that put out the pain neurotransmitter called substance P send out so much that it runs out and take a week or two to create more, so once it runs low or out and you continue to drink and trigger clusters you are not feeling them which is probably why I was getting through the cycles faster, because the drinking would continue for a while after I felt the cycle ended then weaning down and stopping so I don't know, this is just something I was told as there are people who self medicate with alcohol. I always thought it was just allergies. I am a 43 year old male in really great health other than this, weight, habits etc. I don't drink or smoke, no drugs etc. The ringing is as loud as the TV and right now the only thing I am taking is the Depakote, I have almost taken an Imitrex a few times for this headache but have been able to fight it, sleep is about impossible but I manage to get some each night, if my Girl Friend isn't moving around waking me up then my head is waking me up, I sleep about 30 minutes to an hour at a time, wake up and fall back to sleep, I never thought I'd be able to sleep with a headache like this but I guess some sleep is better than none. Now a CH will obviously wake me up and send me through the headboard. Thanks again for the responses.

Hey Del,

Welcome to CH.com, you've come to the right place.  You've already received some good info on tinnitus so I won't go into that other than to say push fluids a bit more.  Even a slight case of dehydration will exacerbate tinnitus.

I also suspect you are vitamin D3 deficient.  In over four years having CH'ers report their 25(OH)D lab test results, better than 90% were below 30 ng/mL, (75 nmol/L) which is vitamin D3 deficient and the rest were below 45 ng/mL.

25(OH)D is the serum level metabolite of vitamin D3 that's used to measure its status.  The "normal" reference range for 25(OH)D is 30 to 100 ng/mL, (75 to 250 nmol/L).  As CH'ers, we need to maintain our serum 25(OH)D concentration around 80 ng/mL, (200 nmol/L) in order to remain pain free. 

This is accomplished by taking 10,000 IU/day vitamin D3 or more along with Omega-3 Fish Oil and the vitamin D3 metabolites: magnesium, zinc, boron, vitamin A, and a 3-month course of vitamin B 50.  I call this clutch of vitamins and minerals the anti-inflammatory regimen.

83% of CH'ers who start this regimen experience a significant reduction in the frequency, severity and duration of their CH from 3 hits a day/night to 3 hits/week.  60% experience a lasting pain free response.

You can read about the anti-inflammatory regimen, the supplements and suggested doses at the following link.  Start at page 1...

START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

We've also found that the majority of CH'ers who do not respond to this regimen are also suffering from one or more comorbid condition that impair the capacity of vitamin D3 to prevent CH. 

Examples of common comorebid conditions include viral infections like cold and flu, bacterial infections like periodontal (gum) disease, (gingivitis), allergic reactions, to pollen, mold spores and other pollutants, trauma and surgery.  All these conditions result in an immune system response with inflammation. 

In some cases as in allergic reactions to pollen, a flood of histamines can result that overloads the capacity of vitamin D3 to prevent cluster headache... 

Taking a first generation antihistamine like benedryl can staunch the histamine flow and bring CH back under control with vitamin D3...  Benedryl can also improve oxygen therapy abort times.

Take care and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch

When the lymph nodes swell it is a sign that they are working hard to fight an infection. This is not neuro territory, so see your GP. Painful teeth is one of the symptoms of CH pain, but coupled with the onset of ear problems and swollen nymph nodes it's possible in this instance it's something unrelated. Ear infections can make your teeth hurt, and tooth problems can make your ears hurt. Get your GP to check you out.
Maz.

Because there are so many varied, unrelated, sources of tinnitus you are not going to get a clear, one target, answer to your question.

Unless you experience more distress than your find bearable, simply living with it is not a threat to you.

If you're willling to spend a few dollars, I'd suggest you get, as a minimum, a physical exam for any disease or physical problems within the ear which might explain the tinnitus.

And, if that exam is negative, then get a hearing test to see if you are starting to develop hearing loss which, commonly, is associated with tinnitus.