Pensioner suffering from rare medical condition endures three years of sleepless nights because she hears How Much is that Doggie in the Window? on a loop in her head Suffers from musical hallucination where a song constantly plays Susan Root, 63, says 'it's like having a radio you can't turn off' Susan Root suffers from a rare form of tinnitus called musical hallucination Everyone has experienced that irritating moment when they can't get a song out of their head. But one woman has been plagued for three years by a a rare illness which means she hears novelty 50s hit 'How Much is that Doggie in the Window?' Susan Root suffers from a form of tinnitus where music and songs play constantly in her head on a loop - meaning she has had to endure three years of sleepless nights. Other tunes which have intermittently tormented the 63-year-old school cleaner during that time also include God Save the Queen, Happy Birthday and Auld Lang Syne. Mrs Root explained: 'It's like having a radio that you just can't turn off. I began hearing tunes in my ears three years ago and it just has not stopped since. 'It's especially bad at night time and I have terrible trouble getting to sleep - it drives me to breaking point at times. It comes and goes but I can always hear music, especially How Much is that Doggie in the Window, faintly in the background. The rare condition, known as musical hallucination, has left doctors baffled with hospital consultants saying there is nothing more they can do to treat her bizarre problem. Susan, of Coggeshall, Essex, continued: 'They have given me a hearing aid which they had hoped would fix my hearing problems and therefore stop the music but it just hasn't worked. 'I had special therapy too but they've now told me there is nothing more they can do. 'I've come to accept that I'm probably going to be stuck with this hellish condition for the rest of my life.' Susan Root used to love 'How Much Is That Doggy In The Window', a version made famous by Patti Page (right) Susan has worked as a cleaner at the Honywood Community Science School for the past 27 years and has learnt to live with the condition by using calming noises, such as bird song and whale music, to block out the phantom tunes. But the annoying music is often so loud it drowns out the sound of her retired lorry driver husband Graham when he is speaking. She added: 'There are times when my husband will be trying to talk to me and I can't hear what he is saying over the music. It can be very frustrating and it drives us both mad at times. Susan has had problems with her hearing since a very young age around the same time that she first heard the tune that most commonly features in her musical hallucinations. She said: 'My mum told me that when I was young I used to love the song How Much is that Doggie in the Window. 'I used to sing it around the house all the time but now I can't stand it.' Patti Page sings 'How Much is that Doggie in the Window?' A spokesman for the British Tinnitus Association said: 'Musical hallucination is the sensation of hearing music when none is being played. Musical hallucinations have a compelling sense of reality and are often mistaken for real music until it becomes clear that none is being played. This is especially true when they are experienced for the first time. They are typically heard as short fragments of simple melodies - often from music heard regularly and familiar from youth, and especially from hymns and carols. Individuals with hearing loss sometimes notice that the music in these hallucinations sounds as it did when it was first heard and not how it would with their current level of hearing. The most common and easily treatable cause of musical hallucination is hearing loss, so your doctor is likely to request that you undergo some tests of your hearing and, based on the results of this, may prescribe a hearing aid which many people find makes their musical hallucination less intrusive. According to the British Tinnitus Association, around 10 per cent of the adult UK population suffer from a mild form of tinnitus with one per cent saying it affects their quality of life. Last month former Oasis guitarist and songwriter Noel Gallagher revealed he was suffering from the condition, adding his name to a long list of high profile tinnitus sufferers including The Who's Pete Townsend and Coldplay's Chris Martin.