Not Sure What Causes It, Hope It's Not Serious

[Magik]

Hi everybody. I'm already a pulsatile tinnitus sufferer, but I want to share my story here.

First of all about me - 24 year old male, trying to live a healthy lifestyle. Sports have always been part of my life, been a semi-pro football player in my teenage years, now I'm into gym workouts. Nothing big, just for fun.
I'm also a big music lover, had a lot of parties in my youth years, nowadays I'm always clubbing with ear protection, no measurable hearing loss. In fact, I did that Online audiogram on my mdr-7506 headphones and could hear the almost silent (0 / -5db ) tones (in 100% audio volume)

So, about my tinnitus(es) and what worries me. They were probably part of me for the last few years, but started to bother me since the past summer. It was the pulsatile tinnitus in my right ear that sent me to several ENT's and neurologists. They ran some blood tests, visual observation, doppler of my arteries - nothing found. The neurologist did the standard balance tests for stability, nystagmus, vertigo & etc - nothing found.
Although the dentists found some evidence of nocturnal bruxism, problematic wisdom teeth (they grow straight, but they're not fully erupted - growing with a very slow pace) and jaw misaligment. Sometimes I hear the clicking sounds, especially when I chew food.
Pulsatile tinnitus keeps bother me mostly at night and when lying down. It actually responded well with Eleuthero supplement, a famous adaptogenic herb (don't know it its ok to share the brand, so I won't - maybe on PM).
And what is strange - I never get it through my weightlift workouts.
My left year gets some strange hissing sounds at about 16-17 khz, very high pitched, not that annoying, but sometimes my hypochondria kicks in and I start to think of scary things like acoustic neuroma, tumors & etc.

So let's summarize:
Doppler of my arteries - OK
Blood tests - Fine
Some evidence of nocturnal bruxism, possible connection to wisdom teeth and TMJ
The neurologists did the basic battery of tests - smiling, blowing, all the sensory tests with my feet, belly, all the vertigo and nystagmus tests. Nothing significant and troublesome found.
Low blood pressure - 110/70 or even 100/70 (if that matters)

They never did any kind of imaging - no CT, no MRI, as they didn't seemed to be concerned. So what are the chances that my hissing or PT be caused, by lets say, acoustic neuroma? Wouldn't that mess with my workouts, as I've never experienced any balance issues during/after hard day at the gym or at the stadium (even doing some exercises that actually require good balance skills). And not to mention my regular 10-12km daily walking/climbing trips or intensive cardio workouts. Pretty sure that would affect them if it was there..

So this is my hypochondria speaking. Should I go further testing, or shall I accept the things as they are..

 

[billie48]

Welcome to the forum. Your introductory post is quite detail with many questions. For your question on PT, perhaps a notable member here @Karen who may offer you good advise as she has lived with such condition and has gotten better. Feel free to read the success stories. There members share how they get better. Much can be learned from them. One of the things I learn that work for most people is acceptance. You can never go too wrong with that approach. While we are doing our best to try to treat T with this or that, we should always keep the option that if nothing works, then acceptance of the new normal living with T is something you are willing to do. This will take the anxiety and stress away or reduce them so T can become less intrusive. Take good care. God bless.

 

[Magik]

Thanks for the encouraging welcome. Hope to hear more opinions from the T community

 

[Karen]

Hi, @Magik, and welcome!

I'm sorry you're experiencing both types of tinnitus. I know first-hand what it's like, because I have both PT and regular tinnitus, too. Mine are both in my right ear, and I have a high-pitched hissing sound, plus the steady pulsating beat that I hear all the time. However, after many tests and nothing being found, I decided to try to live with it -- at least for now. Like you, mine bothers me most when I'm trying to sleep at night.

Should you go for further testing? That's a hard question to answer, but I'd say that if it bothers you, and you are worried, it might be a good idea to at least get a Doppler of the carotid arteries to see if there is any problem. You might want to try going to a different type of doctor for the tests, such as a neurologist, who might be more inclined to listen to you.

I wish you the best, and hope you'll update us if you do decide to go for further testing.

Best wishes,
Karen

 

[Magik]

Thank you, Karen!
I have already done Doppler ultrasound - no issues, my blood vessels are OK.

So the mystery continues.