Vestibular Dysfunction and Hearing Loss

Vertigo, dizziness, balance problems, nystagmus, tinnitus and hearing loss haven't been discussed a whole lot on the site, but they are some of the more difficult symptoms for me to manage.

A woman in my autoimmune disease support group with RA lost her hearing from the RA. One day she got inflammation in her ear and it's been 2 years and they still can't figure out what happened or why it happened so quickly. I'm sorry you are dealing with ear issues :(

How interesting, Laura. I have Meniere’s Syndrome. Yes, that would be vertigo, dizziness, balance problems, nystagmus, tinnitus and hearing loss. Mine has been relatively inactive for years, although the tinnitus, and hearing loss are with me always. I said interesting, because I’ve never connected the Meniere’s with my PsA. Hmmmmmmm…

Wow, I also have ear issues, nystagmus and vertigo that appeared in the last few years...until this post I didnt make a PsA connection either.

I never knew the vertigo dizziness ear issues were connected either. I also have this and even worse at the moment when the arthritis now appears to be in my jaw. By the way may I ask what nystagmus is? Ive never heard of it.

I have no idea I dont know much about PsA never mind anything else.

I have been wondering if the dizziness was a symptom of the disease or a result of being in intense pain.... as it is a pain indicator for intense pain I have often thought that maybe this only comes on the days when I have had all that I can stand and I am running on pure mean spite alone.

I experience the ringing in my ears when my blood pressure is running on the high side, also a known factor with PsA.

I have had balance and dizziness issues. glaucoma and eye issues, skin issues, intestinal issues, numbness and twitching, migraine clusters accompanied by brain fog,(cognitive functioning issues) memory loss, joint issues and sausage digits, plaques and pustular rashes but never once did I tie in the hearing and dizziness issues to this.

However, the most interesting fact for me is... My father and grandmother who both had PsA where nearly deaf when they died and there was no real explanation for it and they both required hearing aids by the time they where fifty.

If it looks like a fish and smells like a fish it is most likely some sort of a fish! Keep researching...........can't wait to see the results!

Interesting crazylady...I've also had some occasional ringing in my ears and dizzy spells. The dizzy spells are not always when the pain is more intense. My mom has had vertigo...this is an interesting thread! Thanks for sharing :-)

crazylady said:

I have been wondering if the dizziness was a symptom of the disease or a result of being in intense pain.... as it is a pain indicator for intense pain I have often thought that maybe this only comes on the days when I have had all that I can stand and I am running on pure mean spite alone.

I experience the ringing in my ears when my blood pressure is running on the high side, also a known factor with PsA.

I have had balance and dizziness issues. glaucoma and eye issues, skin issues, intestinal issues, numbness and twitching, migraine clusters accompanied by brain fog,(cognitive functioning issues) memory loss, joint issues and sausage digits, plaques and pustular rashes but never once did I tie in the hearing and dizziness issues to this.

However, the most interesting fact for me is... My father and grandmother who both had PsA where nearly deaf when they died and there was no real explanation for it and they both required hearing aids by the time they where fifty.

If it looks like a fish and smells like a fish it is most likely some sort of a fish! Keep researching...........can't wait to see the results!

Laura ED, can you enlighten us about the PsA connection? To be honest, I didn’t know there was one. I’ve always regarded my Meniere’s Syndrome as a completely separate issue. BTW, one of my friends calls it Manure Syndrome. LOL!

Well I know this was supposed to be just a listing of symptoms but I just have to comment (seeing as i set up the category I can break the rules right????) Try this list:

  • Dizziness
  • Feeling lightheaded
  • Problems with balance
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Headaches

Or this list:

  • Fluid retention (recognized by swelling of the mouth, face, lips or tongue, around the ankles, feet, lower legs, hands and possibly around the eyes)
  • Ringing in the ears
  • Severe rash or hives or red, peeling skin
  • Itching
  • Unexplained bruising and bleeding
  • Unusual weight gain
  • Blurred vision
  • Wheezing, trouble breathing, or unusual cough
  • Chest pain, rapid heartbeat, palpitations
  • Acute fatigue, flu-like symptoms
  • Jaundice
  • Photosensitivity

In any event these are the COMMON side effects from long term NSAID use. Know anybody who has been using large doses for years at a time?????


My dizzy spells are not always when I feel the pain as the most intense. I can be going along just fine, knowing I have been hurting in a certain spot all day but relatively happy and ok and then all of a sudden BAM! I get violently dizzy and nauseated and then I'm in bed for the rest of the day. My GP siad this was numbeer nine on the pain scale and I was probably just so used to that level of pain that I do not consciously register it as intense anymore. I agree that this is a most interesting thread . Who else is suffering the same issues?
TaraLynn said:

Interesting crazylady...I've also had some occasional ringing in my ears and dizzy spells. The dizzy spells are not always when the pain is more intense. My mom has had vertigo...this is an interesting thread! Thanks for sharing :-)

crazylady said:

I have been wondering if the dizziness was a symptom of the disease or a result of being in intense pain.... as it is a pain indicator for intense pain I have often thought that maybe this only comes on the days when I have had all that I can stand and I am running on pure mean spite alone.

I experience the ringing in my ears when my blood pressure is running on the high side, also a known factor with PsA.

I have had balance and dizziness issues. glaucoma and eye issues, skin issues, intestinal issues, numbness and twitching, migraine clusters accompanied by brain fog,(cognitive functioning issues) memory loss, joint issues and sausage digits, plaques and pustular rashes but never once did I tie in the hearing and dizziness issues to this.

However, the most interesting fact for me is... My father and grandmother who both had PsA where nearly deaf when they died and there was no real explanation for it and they both required hearing aids by the time they where fifty.

If it looks like a fish and smells like a fish it is most likely some sort of a fish! Keep researching...........can't wait to see the results!


I didnt know blood pressure was a factor either I have high blood pressure ringing in the ears i get a lot of earache. So many things wrong with me i just need putting down like ole yellow. lol


crazylady said:

I have been wondering if the dizziness was a symptom of the disease or a result of being in intense pain.... as it is a pain indicator for intense pain I have often thought that maybe this only comes on the days when I have had all that I can stand and I am running on pure mean spite alone.

I experience the ringing in my ears when my blood pressure is running on the high side, also a known factor with PsA.

I have had balance and dizziness issues. glaucoma and eye issues, skin issues, intestinal issues, numbness and twitching, migraine clusters accompanied by brain fog,(cognitive functioning issues) memory loss, joint issues and sausage digits, plaques and pustular rashes but never once did I tie in the hearing and dizziness issues to this.

However, the most interesting fact for me is... My father and grandmother who both had PsA where nearly deaf when they died and there was no real explanation for it and they both required hearing aids by the time they where fifty.

If it looks like a fish and smells like a fish it is most likely some sort of a fish! Keep researching...........can't wait to see the results!

I've been having issues with dizziness, my tinnitus is insane (I've had it for years and my doctors never did anything about it - checked into it by one doctor when i was a teen, but my hearing test came out ok so doc did nothing more - i don't even know what, if anything can be done) ... I wasn't even aware that everything you listed could be caused by PsA.

How did your nystagmus start? I've been having eye twitches very infrequently ... mostly when I'm very tired or very much in pain, and have no idea what the heck is going on with that, and i keep forgetting to tell the doctor because it happens so infrequently I don't remember until it happens again.

My Ménière’s disease started in my twenties. The other symptoms (in retrospect, PsA) started at about 40.
Toenail "fungus"
Generalized aching
Sore shins
Sore knees
Knees that swelled up and subsided again. X-rays showed nothing
Sausage toe raised its head periodically, but docs only scratched their heads
Fatigue fatigue fatigue
Depression, irritability
High blood pressure
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Sore feet
Fatigue
Joint destruction in knees diagnosed as OA (replaced)
Really sore feet (x-rays showed nothing)
Foot erosions discovered
===Diagnosed as mild PsA ===
Hip destruction (one replaced, one shot but not replaced yet)
=== diagnosed as severe PsA ===
Foot defomity

What a laundry list!

:( this last two weeks I have been having major nerve pain. Ive been having a lot of it in my arm and my hand is actually numb now they said it was nerve damage. Last two weeks i though I had tootheache went to dentist and he said theres nothing wrong with my teeth its nerve pain and its stemming from my jaw where my arthritis is. Igot worse and worse until i had pain stemming from my jaw, earache, headache, pain in my neck, the nerve pain in my arm started again and it traveld to my hip, leg and foot. Surely this isnt part of the arthritis? I dont know and I dont know when I will be seeing my rhuematologist I havent seen her in over a yr. Waiting lists here are long I guess. I get to see her maybe once a yr if im lucky. think I have seen her maybe twice in 4 yrs maybe 3 times. My doctor doesnt seem to be much help. I dont know who to ask feel like im a parcel being passed around, and just when i was finaly getting somewhere. I thought once I got that diagnosis things would get better I would not feeling this hyperchondriac, his parcel that no one knows what to do with. I see things you guys put and I think well Ive had that for years and I dont know to be honest I put a lot down to stress and so did my doctors.

I haven't used Nasids for long term, I've used them short term (3-5 days a few times yearly) over the years. A bottle of Celebrex would last me a year or more. It's very possible it could be a combination of my current meds :-)

tntlamb said:

Well I know this was supposed to be just a listing of symptoms but I just have to comment (seeing as i set up the category I can break the rules right????) Try this list:

  • Dizziness
  • Feeling lightheaded
  • Problems with balance
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Headaches

Or this list:

  • Fluid retention (recognized by swelling of the mouth, face, lips or tongue, around the ankles, feet, lower legs, hands and possibly around the eyes)
  • Ringing in the ears
  • Severe rash or hives or red, peeling skin
  • Itching
  • Unexplained bruising and bleeding
  • Unusual weight gain
  • Blurred vision
  • Wheezing, trouble breathing, or unusual cough
  • Chest pain, rapid heartbeat, palpitations
  • Acute fatigue, flu-like symptoms
  • Jaundice
  • Photosensitivity

In any event these are the COMMON side effects from long term NSAID use. Know anybody who has been using large doses for years at a time?????

I should also include I have had issues with fainting spells in the past. I saw an internist and apparently my body is lacking in salt , along with being low iron. It was recommended I add more salt to my diet and iron rich foods, which I do and have not fainted since. I have my iron checked fairly often and have been borderline anemic for years.

I have a feeling the current dizzy spells and occasional buzzing in the ears is because of side effects to my current meds. :-)

TaraLynn said:

I haven't used Nasids for long term, I've used them short term (3-5 days a few times yearly) over the years. A bottle of Celebrex would last me a year or more. It's very possible it could be a combination of my current meds :-)

tntlamb said:

Well I know this was supposed to be just a listing of symptoms but I just have to comment (seeing as i set up the category I can break the rules right????) Try this list:

  • Dizziness
  • Feeling lightheaded
  • Problems with balance
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Headaches

Or this list:

  • Fluid retention (recognized by swelling of the mouth, face, lips or tongue, around the ankles, feet, lower legs, hands and possibly around the eyes)
  • Ringing in the ears
  • Severe rash or hives or red, peeling skin
  • Itching
  • Unexplained bruising and bleeding
  • Unusual weight gain
  • Blurred vision
  • Wheezing, trouble breathing, or unusual cough
  • Chest pain, rapid heartbeat, palpitations
  • Acute fatigue, flu-like symptoms
  • Jaundice
  • Photosensitivity

In any event these are the COMMON side effects from long term NSAID use. Know anybody who has been using large doses for years at a time?????

"Nystagmus is a term to describe fast, uncontrollable movements of the eyes that may be: Side to side (horizontal nystagmus); Up and down (vertical nystagmus); Rotary (rotary or torsional nystagmus). Depending on the cause, these movements may be in both eyes or in just one eye."

Ellie said:

I never knew the vertigo dizziness ear issues were connected either. I also have this and even worse at the moment when the arthritis now appears to be in my jaw. By the way may I ask what nystagmus is? Ive never heard of it.

Unfortunately, there is no treatment for tinnitus. My husband has this too. Patients can work with a therapist to learn to deal with it better.

nym said:

I've been having issues with dizziness, my tinnitus is insane (I've had it for years and my doctors never did anything about it - checked into it by one doctor when i was a teen, but my hearing test came out ok so doc did nothing more - i don't even know what, if anything can be done) ... I wasn't even aware that everything you listed could be caused by PsA.

How did your nystagmus start? I've been having eye twitches very infrequently ... mostly when I'm very tired or very much in pain, and have no idea what the heck is going on with that, and i keep forgetting to tell the doctor because it happens so infrequently I don't remember until it happens again.

My list of symptoms is in at the top of the thread so I won't cover that again but I do want to say...... I have not used NSAIDS to control my pain level until recently nor have I taken an anti-depressant in well over eight months so I can't be certain. I use a topical such as Salonpas or aspercream and heat for bad days. My stomach has never cared for the NSAIDS. I did take them last month to reduce some.

As for my relatives they did not take NSAIDs that I am aware of, ,just regular aspirin and heat therapy with massage when the symptoms got bad and I was their caregiver until end of life. So I am still not sure of anything...,just passing on what I know to be fact, they both had PsA and they both had dizziness and hearing loss.