View Single Post
Old 06-02-2012, 05:33 PM   #6
rhondalea
Senior Member
 
rhondalea's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Somerset, NJ
Posts: 487
Re: White noise static...

Well, I've had "musical ear syndrome" for years, and I can promise you that "white noise" is an upgrade.

I used to experience a lot of white noise when I was self-medicating hypoglycemia with pure sugar (hard candies, to be precise). By the end of the day, I felt almost as if my brain were buzzing/vibrating.

One of the known side effects of Herceptin is hypoglycemia, so that's a very real possibility (depending on what and how often you eat).

Another possibility is neuropathy, yet another potential side effect of Herceptin. (I should have known this before, but I discovered it only moments ago, and I'm still a'boggle.)

If I were in your shoes, I'd start with the oncologist and work my way through as many doctors as it takes to get an answer. The good news is that this is not something even an ignorant doctor will insist you have evaluated by a psychiatrist (which is a hoop I had to jump through because when you tell people you're hearing symphonies, hymns and Christmas carols, they undoubtedly think you're crazy), but if it is tinnitus, you probably won't get much help from western medicine.

I've been taking pine bark extract, a/k/a pycnogenol, for other reasons, but apparently one of the side effects is that it eases tinnitus (and it certainly has turned down the volume on the music in my ears). There are a few other herbs and supplements that also might be useful, but as I said, the smart money is on getting the serious stuff ruled out first.

You must be miserable right about now, so I wish you the very best in resolving the noise. Hang in there.
__________________

2/6/09 Core needle biopsy: negative; Mammos through 2010: no change
3/30/11 Pea-sized lump in left breast at site of prior biopsy; mammo negative, sonogram not so much
4/14/11 Core needle biopsy: negative for cancer
5/18/11 Excisional biopsy 1.2 cm tumor, LVI, positive margin; ER+60%,PR+20%,HER2/CEP17 5
6/15/11 BMX: Left DCIS & LH; Right ADH; SNB: 2/3 nodes: 1.4 cm and 1 mm; ALND L1&2: 0/10; Stage IIa, Grade 3
7/14/11 CT/Bone scans NED; MUGA 66%
7/19/11 Biweekly dd AC w/Neulasta; done 8/30/11
9/13/11 Transfusion (Hemoglobin 8.6); MUGA 64%
9/20/11 Start Taxol + Herceptin; Taxol done 12/6/2011; continue Herceptin until 9/4/2012
12/27/11 Radiation - 6 weeks; 2/27/2012 - DONE! Yayyyy!
2/29/12 Start Tamoxifen 20 mg/day; continue until 2/28/17
5/16/12 Start five-years Metformin trial
6/19/12 MUGA 61%
8/21/12 Brain MRI NED (head still hurts, brain still fogged)
9/4/12 Herceptin done!
9/6/12 Port out!
7/11/13 Aricept 5mg for cognitive impairment; increased to 10mg as of 8/23/13; back to 5mg 12/2013
5/2014 Add Namenda 7mg
9/2014 Stop Aricept and Namenda; Neuropsychological evaluation
10/24/14 Start cognitive rehabilitation therapy
rhondalea is offline   Reply With Quote