Intermittent Pulsatile Tinnitus

[Atticus]

I recently (about four weeks ago) developed sudden Pulsatile Tinnitus in my left ear and since then, I've been suffering from serious health anxiety about it. The pulsatile tinnitus is relatively rare and intermittent, but it happens and can be triggered by burping sometimes.

After the first time it happened, I went to an urgent care clinic. Apparently, I had cerumen impactions in both ears, which they removed. But that did not stop my health anxiety and did not stop the tinnitus though it is a very uncommon occurrence.

Since then, I've noticed that in low light or when my pupils are dilated for other reasons, one of my pupils (the right on, I think) is slightly bigger than the other though both are perfectly responsive to light and and do not remain dilated when they shouldn't. My left side of the face has also been having some eye twitching and I get mild headaches on one of either sides of my head (they last a few hours and appear to respond to ibuprofen) accompanied by pressure behind the eye now and again as well as sudden, short spikes of very mild pain here and there. I fear brain aneurysm though I'm not experiencing most of the symptoms and the urgent care said that given my symptoms, this was highly unlikely and not worth an MRA/MRI. I also think my short term memory is a bit off; trouble remembering words and such, but I've always had that and it might just be more noticeable now because I'm actively looking for things wrong with me.

Has anyone here experienced something similar? I suspect it might just be the onset of sudden anxiety mixed with my former cerumen impaction. Nothing in this experience has been objectively super painful or worrying and yet I'm extremely anxious.

Addition: I'm 21, Male, and it's near the end of my Junior year semester so I did have reason to be anxious but not regarding health until the tinnitus started. The anxiety is also off and on and not always (in fact usually not) triggered by the tinnitus which is rare. I also had some chest pain, brief in both instances; I got an EKG but there were no problems with my heart detected other than signs of high stress/anxiety. My pulse has been fine and my blood pressure has been borderline but not dangerous enough for anyone to prescribe me meds.

 

[Karen]

Hi, Atticus,

Some of your symptoms might indeed have to do with anxiety about your condition. Do you know of any lifestyle changes that could have caused your pulsating to begin? Did you have any tinnitus (regular or pulsatile) before this began?

I've had pulsatile tinnitus for several years now, and my tests all came back negative. Mine started suddenly after taking a blood pressure drug for the first time. I have been to a number of doctors and other practitioners, and none have been able so far to make any changes in my pulsating. However, I do believe it has calmed down somewhat so that I am able to mostly tune it out during the day. It's at night that I have the most problems, but most nights I can get to sleep by waiting until I'm really tired before going to bed, then doing my best to tune it out.

One practitioner, a chiropractic neurologist, found that I had nystagmus (uncoordinated eye movements) and it was more in my right eye than in my left. He worked with me to improve it, and I believe it is much better today. It's possible that the pulsating can affect our eyes, but the connection is not clear.

I wish you luck in learning more about your condition, and hope things begin to improve for you.

 

[Atticus]

I didn't have tinnitus before this. And I can't say I know of any other than the stress of the end of semester and job hunt, though I was taking that well enough, I think. It came on all of the sudden while I was in class.

 

[Karen]

It could be due to stress, so you could consider waiting to see if it starts to improve. If not, you could seek out a doctor who would be willing to test you to see if there is any other cause.