Benzos and Pulsatile Tinnitus Reduction

[melbournejeremy]

Hi Guys,

So I am still chasing up my pulsatile tinnitus issues, it has been 10 months of insanity for me. Scanned MRI/MRA/TMJ non contrast with nothing reported. I know there are some absolute experts out there who have read every possible publication and no doubt have more expertise than most ENT and Neuro 'experts'. So my question is about this so called somatic pulsatile tinnitus. My PT is high pitched pulse synchronous as well as sometimes continuous sounding T, especially in the morning, It varies between both ears, bilateral. Responds to head/neck/jaw movements.

1. When I take benzos, like a couple of 5mg valium or similar I get about 90 minutes of hugely reduced tinnitus. Almost back to I was pre-tinnitus.

My question is if it were 'true' pulsatile tinnitus with vascular origin, surely a benzo would have no effect on the sound intensity since the vascular noise is a real noise generated by blood flow - right?? Thoughts

2. Is there such a thing as a hyperactive trigeminal nerve that has it's gain turned up too high and the benzos temporarily reduce this?

I am keen to hear from others with this odd type of PT that follows a daily pattern and responds to movements of head/neck/jaw.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Duncan L]

Glad I read your post this morning! It was the first time ever that I have heard someone describing PT/T symptoms & patterns that match my experience closely.
I take another benzo : Lorazepam .5mg or 1mg if I am really suffering and without exception it lowers the level of the T and reduces the anxiety/depression. It also helps me sleep which has saved my life.
I am about 99.8% certain that my PT was caused by me trying to perform a yoga position going from a neckstand to bringing legs over to touch toes on the floor. Something really weird happened in my neck like a painless rupture if you will. A couple of days later I noticed this high pitched pulsating hiss which I immediately wanted gone!
I am also convinced that in when the PT reduces as it usually does in the evenings then the constant T rises to fill the void and it can rise to highly disturbing levels.
Like you I suspect there is a nerve being triggered, probably by damage sustained in my failed yoga attempt.
And yes when I yawn the T goes ballistic, same when I am chewing. Jaw is often very sore as well.

 

[JohnAdams]

Hi Guys,

So I am still chasing up my pulsatile tinnitus issues, it has been 10 months of insanity for me. Scanned MRI/MRA/TMJ non contrast with nothing reported. I know there are some absolute experts out there who have read every possible publication and no doubt have more expertise than most ENT and Neuro 'experts'. So my question is about this so called somatic pulsatile tinnitus. My PT is high pitched pulse synchronous as well as sometimes continuous sounding T, especially in the morning, It varies between both ears, bilateral. Responds to head/neck/jaw movements.

1. When I take benzos, like a couple of 5mg valium or similar I get about 90 minutes of hugely reduced tinnitus. Almost back to I was pre-tinnitus.

My question is if it were 'true' pulsatile tinnitus with vascular origin, surely a benzo would have no effect on the sound intensity since the vascular noise is a real noise generated by blood flow - right?? Thoughts

2. Is there such a thing as a hyperactive trigeminal nerve that has it's gain turned up too high and the benzos temporarily reduce this?

I am keen to hear from others with this odd type of PT that follows a daily pattern and responds to movements of head/neck/jaw.

Thanks for reading!

The question is what is the origin of the pulsile signal. In arteries around the auditory nerve? In the hippocampus? My tinnitus can be controlled by lights and movement from what I'm looking at. The hippocampus is the filter of sensory formation and maybe when theres a loss of sensory input from the ear, that other things make auditory sensations, like vision, blood flow in the brain etc. Just my opinion.

 

[Halsy]

Well it's a GABA agonist so it helps you relax which relaxes your muscles and lowers your blood pressure as well. So that easing may reduce whatever it is that's creating the pulsatile tinnitus to begin with. My ENT firmly believes that any pulsatile tinnitus is related to something that can be physically traced - bone deterioration, blood clot, collapsed vein, etc. The trick is finding it, That's the finding a specific needle in a stack of needles problem, When I take benzos it helps with the tinnitus but doesn't do bupkiss for the pulsatile tinnitus - but my pulsatile tinnitus is pretty specific.

Same with booze. In fact I find booze way more effective at lowering my tinnitus, but again doesn't do anything for the pulsatile tinnitus.