Tinnitus due to Vestibular Migraine / Stress

[Lianne]

Hello, my name is Lianne, I'm 29 years old and currently unemployed. I am from switzerland so please forgive me if I make spelling mistakes from time to time.

I've been living with Tinnitus since the end of 2015, when I suffered from an episode of vestibular migraine. Doctors, including a vestibular migraine specialist, believe that this episode in combination with the stress I was experiencing at the time caused my Tinnitus. If I had to describe the noise I am hearing I would describe it as a high pitched beeping sound that's audible on one ear, though the ear it's audible on switches from time to time. It is currently in my left ear and louder than usual. I used to be a person who very much appreciated silence.

I used to love walking in the streets at night, hearing nothing but my own footsteps. I used to love sitting in an empty park in winter or reading a good book with no other noises around so I could fully immerse myself in the experience. Unfortunately my doctors believe that I will not be able to experience silence again, untill there is a treatment for tinnitus it's permanent.

I've not been coping well. I suffered from depression and anxiety before but the tinnitus made it a lot worse. I used to love the silence, now I can't stand a single minute without some sort of background noise to mask the beeping. I can't sleep without having something in the background. I'm not coping well with the thought of never being able to experience silence again. It makes me panick.

I'm not coping well with the whole situation in general, to be honest. Sometimes the noise drives me so insane and I feel so helpless that I feel like just giving up. I'm hoping that by talking to people who go through the same I'll learn to adapt to it a little better because despite a year going by, so far I haven't adapted to it at all.

Well, I think that's all I want to tell for now. You'll probably see me in the forum from time to time so I wanted to at least properly introduce myself.

~ Lianne

 

[light rain]

Welcome. Its funny how many of us treasured silence or quiet and have gotten tinnitus outside of noise exposure.

I also have migraines and vestibular issues but no diagnosis yet on the vestibular problem. I have nerve damage but not sure what is the cause. Might I ask if you have had an MRI or how they determined the VM.

Thanks

Lynn

 

[Lianne]

Hi,

I've had an MRI done, yes, but I think the way they diagnosed me was mostly by looking at the symptoms and eliminating other possibilities. I've had migraines for years before that and while the vertigo attacks didn't come with headaches they also weren't the normal kind of dizziness people experience from time to time. It felt like the world around me was swaying, it was very extreme and very scary. I spent about a day in the most advanced hospital in the country and then another half day at a vestibular specialist. A lot of tests were done including hearing tests, balance tests and visual tests. My ears were cleaned at least three times by three different people. So I was diagnosed based on the results of those tests. Fortunately for me however the vertigo attacks vanished a few months afterwards (early 2016) as silent as they came, only the tinnitus remains. I still had migraine attacks afterwards but they were the common kind of migraine with headache, dizziness and light / sound sensitivity. For a few months now I've been completely migraine free.

So I'd have reasons to celebrate and be happy, if it wasn't for the beeping in my ears.
It's better now than yesterday, it seems to fluctuate both in loudness and pitch. Still drives me crazy though.

~ Lianne

 

[light rain]

Im

Hi,

I've had an MRI done, yes, but I think the way they diagnosed me was mostly by looking at the symptoms and eliminating other possibilities. I've had migraines for years before that and while the vertigo attacks didn't come with headaches they also weren't the normal kind of dizziness people experience from time to time. It felt like the world around me was swaying, it was very extreme and very scary. I spent about a day in the most advanced hospital in the country and then another half day at a vestibular specialist. A lot of tests were done including hearing tests, balance tests and visual tests. My ears were cleaned at least three times by three different people. So I was diagnosed based on the results of those tests. Fortunately for me however the vertigo attacks vanished a few months afterwards (early 2016) as silent as they came, only the tinnitus remains. I still had migraine attacks afterwards but they were the common kind of migraine with headache, dizziness and light / sound sensitivity. For a few months now I've been completely migraine free.

So I'd have reasons to celebrate and be happy, if it wasn't for the beeping in my ears.
It's better now than yesterday, it seems to fluctuate both in loudness and pitch. Still drives me crazy though.

~ Lianne

Dr is waiting on MRI for me - I've alreading had balance testing. Mri has been cancelled (not by me) multiple times (again just today!). So I was just wondering what the process was. I have a balance nerve not functioning properly on testing so not sure if that rules out VM or not. I get dizzy and feel like tilting to one side. I had some bad days but it has gotten better. The one sided ringing has not. Thanks!

Lynn

 

[Lianne]

Well I can't really help with your diagnosis but I can tell you how vestibular migraine felt for me. Whenever I had a vertigo attack I would feel as if the world around me, not me myself, was swaying back and forth and tilting to the left and right. I had no orientation anymore because of the movement and when I had it for the first time I ran (in my mind, in reality I probably wobbled weirdly) outside to ask other people what was going on because it didn't feel like I moved unnaturally, it felt like the world around me moved unnaturally, tilted and swayed in a very fast, confusing motion. It was very intense but it subsided after 2 - 10 minutes. I'm pretty sure there can be less extreme forms of it as well though. Personally I think it's more likely that your vertigo is caused by the balance nerve issue but that's really something your doctor will be able to tell you better than me, a random person on the internet. I'm also not sure if my tinnitus was caused by vestibular migraine or my vestibular migraine and the tinnitus were caused by something different and are both just symptoms.

I think the MRI is mostly there to rule out problems in the brain that can cause vestibular issues, I don't think it's used to diagnose VM as I don't believe VM is visible on an MRI.

Sorry I can't really help more.
~ Lianne

 

[light rain]

Thanks Lianne. I appreciate your response. I'm seeing an ENT and have no diagnosis yet - just know that a balance nerve isn't functioning and have unilateral T and hearing loss. The MRI was to rule out an AN or something happening to the nerve. I've had 3 appts cancelled on me so I'm trying to glean info about the different possibilities. Your balance issues don't remotely resemble mine. I feel dizzy and off kilter to one side. Had one bad fall that I ended up in the ER. So thanks again.

 

[Lianne]

I really hope your next appointment will work out and you can obtain some more information and maybe even a diagnosis because of it. Maybe it's something that can be cured or fixed with an operation. I understand that it's hard to have patience when the doctors keep cancelling appointments, I find that very rude of them. Wish you the best.

~ Lianne