Can Stress Really Trigger Pulsatile Tinnitus?

[Smartone202]

Just one more question for anyone who knows about pulsatile tinnitus (which sadly doesn't seem to be many on these forums)

In reality, is it at all possible for pulsatile tinnitus to be legitimately caused or triggered by anxiety/stress?

It's just interesting that this past weekend I really tried calming down for the first time, doing relaxation exercises, etc, and my pulsatile tinnitus has calmed down with it. Hopefully in time it will just fade away.

 

[melbournejeremy]

I have noticed that the feedback cycle of stress are related to PT. So you end up hearing your PT, it makes you stressed, you end up with elevated cortisol it reduces the diameter of the blood vessels with vasoconstriction as part of the fight/flight response and you with higher blood pressure and more likely to hear the PT pushing through the various blood vessels around the inner ear.

The whole feedback process continues until you calm down and the PT subsides. I also think that some people who have developed PT from medications like blood pressure medications have ended up with some of their blood vessels either permanently dilated or restricted accounting for the increased awareness of their PT.

 

[Smartone202]

The whole feedback process continues until you calm down and the PT subsides.

I am becoming calmer and calmer in my mind and while my PT seems to be a LITTLE lower, it still shows no signs of subsiding completely. The second I put the TV volume up a little higher or think about a stressful thought it's as if it just rises instantly.

 

[Duncan L]

No question stress cranks it up - mine certainly went up another couple of notches after a particularly stressful year. With PT you have a hard-wired feedback loop that is perfectly designed to raise anxiety levels like raging wildfire. What is this pulsating phantom that has picked on our brains to torment?!