His and Her Health

hey all,

I am 43 and had a complete hystrectomy 2 years ago. I am going to get on natural hormones after reading Suzanne Somers 'the sexy years" but couldn't get an apt till 8/16. What I was wondering if I am going crazy or if my symptoms are something other women are going through.

One of the things that bother me most is my mind sings me music all the time. Anything that I hear on the radio and then turn off, will go through my mind until I think I will scream.(even a commercial) It will wake me up in the middle of the night and I cannot get whatever tune out of my head unless I turn on the radio which causes a problem of itself (it usually wakes my husband up and if I am listening-when it goes off I will sing THAT song).

I have ordered a pillow radio and relaxation CD so I am hoping that will help, but is this a symptom of menopause or am I just going crazy?

Thanks for reading
karelab

Hi Karelab!

You know you sound like you may have a syndrome called "Ear Worms." If I remember correctly this syndrome has to do with the brains' ability to store and repeat certain sounds and audible patterns. It appears that there are some people more prone to this syndrome than others, like nail biters, finger tappers. The syndrome has nothing to so with "being crazy" If you search the net on a site like Web MD or just do a Goggle Search for "Ear Worms", you should find out information about the syndrome and can judge if it describes your symptoms. You also may want to speak to your doc when you see him/her next.

Good Luck!

Barbara Lorenzo, LCSW

<small>[ August 17, 2005, 09:21: Message edited by: NEWSHE Moderator ]</small>

Barb,
thanks so much for turning me on to that. I had never heard of 'earworms' before. But found that lots of people have this very thing. The sad part is there is nothing to fix it.

I did tell my doc about this and he asked if I had adult ADD. Which is interesting because I think maybe I do. Noone had ever thought to ask me this question before, so we are going to explore it a little bit.
Thanks again karelab

Karelab,

Our mind will tend to fixate on certain things, in your case, songs. I have done this before. The best antidote I know of is to substitute something else to focus on. Rather than another song, what is your Passion in life? What do you naturally want to contribute to others? Try going there. If not that, what do you have the most energy for?

If you try this, I would like to hear how it works for you

In touch,
Farra