Does Anyone Else Experience Oscillopsia — "Eyes with Tinnitus"?

[jennie mae]

Hi,

My name is Jen and I first experienced tinnitus about 20 years ago. It has always only been in my left ear. I was very lucky as it vanished for the last few years - but it came back 2 weeks ago and it is worse than ever!

It is now accompanied with shaking eyes which as far as I can tell is called oscillopsia.

I went to my ear doctor and he just said it was probably Meniere's and was no help at all (surprise!). My symptoms are different than Meniere's - the eye movement is exactly in coordination with the tinnitus noise (which for me is cricket sound). This makes me dizzy because I cannot focus and driving has become a challenge. It is occuring about every 5 minutes and lasts an average of 30 seconds.

I just keep hoping it will go away again or at least calm down because it is really affecting my ability to
get through the day.

I appreciate anyone's input.

 

[Karen]

Hi, Jen,

I'm wondering if your condition could be nystagmus (involuntary eye movement).

Have you been to an ophthalmologist about this condition? They might be able to suggest something that might help.

Also, I had some nystagmus myself about a year ago, as a result of my tinnitus and its effects. I went to a chiropractic neurologist, and he helped me by giving me eye exercises to do. I may still have it a little bit, but I'm not really aware of it anymore. If you don't have a good eye doctor who can help you, maybe you could try going to a neurologist --- or you could try finding a chiropractic neurologist near you.

I'll never really know what caused mine. It wasn't too bad, but sometimes my eyes twitched, and I got dizzy easily if I moved my eyes too rapidly.

Does anyone else have additional input for Jen?

 

[Mad maggot]

I can't believe I just found your message. I've been searching the internet for seven years. I've had this exact thing you're describing for that long. I've had three MRI scans of the brain and one of the ear.

I thought I must have come across a post that I'd written myself and forgotten!

I have clicking, cicada like noise in my left ear and it makes my vision jump around. When the noise stops, my vision stops jumping. It can make me dizzy and hard to concentrate. The doctor sent me to a psychiatrist and said he's never heard of this before. The psych team said they couldn't help me and that this is obviously not a mental health problem, but a physical disorder. I am not depressed but it sure gets me down at times!

 

[imzack]

Going to comment as well, as I have this.

I have had pressure in my eye area (trochlear area) for quiet some time. But after taking Neomycin, my tinnitus started, and my vision issues seemed to accelerate.

Dealing w/ this oscillopsia, mainly edges jump around, which will cause me to feel disoriented I believe.

One thing I have noticed, is if I cover one eye up, this behavior goes away... so it appears to be an issue with binocular vision.

Interested in if anyone has ever recovered from these vision issues. I'm trying to keep hopes up, but with a cascade of symptoms, it does make things challenging/distressing at times.

 

[leledany]

From your description, it could be related to a nerve problem. Didn't you have an MRI yet?