High Blood Pressure = Eustachian Tube Dysfunction = Tinnitus Made Worse?

[Art Vandalay]

I've had tinnitus my entire life, and it's been pretty consistent in volume and tone up until now. For the last 3 weeks, I've had regular bouts of the ringing in my right ear being a lot worse. More specifically, the tone has been going up and down a lot, and it's been driving me crazy. It's kind of like an "eeeee ooooowwwwww, eeeeee owwwww" sound, as if the ringing is trying to settle on a specific frequency, but can't. This effect has been coming and going. I also had some extra pressure/fullness in my right ear for a few days, but this isn't hasn't been as frequent.

I went to the ENT last week, and the tymp test showed that although there was no infection or fluid in my right ear, I currently have ETD in it. A 6 day course of oral steroids didn't help. The ENT suspected it was the result of allergies, but I've been skeptical.

I've been poking around the Internet, and I saw someone on another forum who was in a very similar situation as me, and he discovered that his ETD was caused by high blood pressure. I bought a blood pressure monitor, and lo and behold, I have high blood pressure. Also, I've been tracking my blood pressure and my ringing the last few days, and there definitely appears to be a correlation between when my blood pressure is high and when the "eeeee owwwwww" sound in my right ear is happening. I'm going to my general doctor next week to see what I can do about my blood pressure, and I plan on going back to my ENT with my new findings to see what he thinks.

I wanted to post this here in the hopes that it may help others as well. If you have ETD and/or tinnitus, don't discount high blood pressure as a possible cause.

 

[Penelope33]

I've had tinnitus my entire life, and it's been pretty consistent in volume and tone up until now. For the last 3 weeks, I've had regular bouts of the ringing in my right ear being a lot worse. More specifically, the tone has been going up and down a lot, and it's been driving me crazy. It's kind of like an "eeeee ooooowwwwww, eeeeee owwwww" sound, as if the ringing is trying to settle on a specific frequency, but can't. This effect has been coming and going. I also had some extra pressure/fullness in my right ear for a few days, but this isn't hasn't been as frequent.

I went to the ENT last week, and the tymp test showed that although there was no infection or fluid in my right ear, I currently have ETD in it. A 6 day course of oral steroids didn't help. The ENT suspected it was the result of allergies, but I've been skeptical.

I've been poking around the Internet, and I saw someone on another forum who was in a very similar situation as me, and he discovered that his ETD was caused by high blood pressure. I bought a blood pressure monitor, and lo and behold, I have high blood pressure. Also, I've been tracking my blood pressure and my ringing the last few days, and there definitely appears to be a correlation between when my blood pressure is high and when the "eeeee owwwwww" sound in my right ear is happening. I'm going to my general doctor next week to see what I can do about my blood pressure, and I plan on going back to my ENT with my new findings to see what he thinks.

I wanted to post this here in the hopes that it may help others as well. If you have ETD and/or tinnitus, don't discount high blood pressure as a possible cause.

Hi , how do they diagnose etd if tymp is clear? Is it by you breathing in and out whilst they look in your ears? My tymp was clear but my ears have been popping loud ever since my first major panic attack,

 

[Nancy Lee]

What is ETD? As for high blood pressure I take calcium, magnesium, Coenzyme Q10 and Taurin supplements, But I am still on blood pressure med for now but I hope to be off those soon.

 

[nogood]

If you want to stop taking ur blood pressure medication try apple carrot and beetroot juice daily. .. it works well . Fresh Beetroot juice is the key.... . Plus fish oil helps too..

 

[Karen]

Hi, Art,

I had mild tinnitus for many years, but my tinnitus got a whole lot worse 4 years ago, when my doctor put me on blood pressure medication. I'm still not sure if it was the medication, or the blood pressure itself, that caused my tinnitus to get worse, but I now have pulsatile tinnitus along with it. I really believe there is a connection between blood pressure and tinnitus.

I've gotten myself off the blood pressure meds, and now take only natural supplements, including some of the ones mentioned above. However, my tinnitus is still there. It has calmed down somewhat since my blood pressure has gotten under control.

I'll be interested to hear what your doctor says.

 

[Art Vandalay]

Hi , how do they diagnose etd if tymp is clear? Is it by you breathing in and out whilst they look in your ears? My tymp was clear but my ears have been popping loud ever since my first major panic attack,

My mistake. My original post wasn't clear. Looking in my ear showed no fluid, but the tymp test did show ETD (so my tymp test was not "clear"). Sorry for the confusion.

What is ETD? As for high blood pressure I take calcium, magnesium, Coenzyme Q10 and Taurin supplements, But I am still on blood pressure med for now but I hope to be off those soon.

ETD is short for eustachian tube dysfunction

Hi, Art,

I had mild tinnitus for many years, but my tinnitus got a whole lot worse 4 years ago, when my doctor put me on blood pressure medication. I'm still not sure if it was the medication, or the blood pressure itself, that caused my tinnitus to get worse, but I now have pulsatile tinnitus along with it. I really believe there is a connection between blood pressure and tinnitus.

I've gotten myself off the blood pressure meds, and now take only natural supplements, including some of the ones mentioned above. However, my tinnitus is still there. It has calmed down somewhat since my blood pressure has gotten under control.

I'll be interested to hear what your doctor says.

I'm sorry to hear that, @Karen. I have an appointment with my general doctor on Wednesday, and will be calling for another ENT appointment this morning. I will definitely post back here as I get more information.

 

[Art Vandalay]

Further research is now telling me that both steroid nasal sprays, which I was using daily for about 2 1/2 months until this week for a sinus issue, and oral steroids, which I had just finished a 6 day course for my ETD, can cause high blood pressure. So it's possible that the things I was doing to try and help my condition were actually making it worse. Just another FYI.

 

[Karen]

It's great that you discovered that, about the steroids. Hopefully, once you're off them for awhile, your blood pressure will go back down to a normal level, and maybe you will find that the tinnitus settles down, too. Good luck, and I'll hope for a quieter future for you!!

 

[Nancy Lee]

I am glad that this discussion is going on. As for me, I have had high blood pressure since 1994 and I have been on blood pressure meds since then but I never had any tinnitus until I moved to a region in the US that is called "allergy capital", and I started having frequent sinus infection and ear infection. All these years I have taken plenty of antibiotics for sinus infection but recently since a year ago I started having allergy shots once a week at my ENT. These shots helps with allergy but since January when I had a sinus infection I started having pulsatile tinnitus. I also noticed that when I have the tinnitus my blood pressure gets higher and when it stops it goes down. Don't know what to make of it.