Hi everyone!
My pulsatile tinnitus started the first week of January 2021 and I've been having a rough time with it as most of you can imagine. Here is my story. I'm male, 46, exercise daily, could use to lose a few pounds but in generally good health. I don't know if all this is related but here is how I got here. I have fairly bad seasonal allergies and 2020 was a particularly bad year. In July of 2020 I started experiencing balance and dizziness issues followed shortly by vertigo. The vertigo was pretty bad. To the point that if I moved my head to the right or lay on my right side everything would spin. Late July I saw my Family Doctor who looked me over and diagnosed me with Benign Positional Vertigo which made sense since it happens with the movement of my head in a certain direction.
At the same time he suggested I start on blood pressure medication due to being pre-hypertensive for a couple of years. My blood pressure would normally run 125-135/84-94 depending on the time of day or how stressed I was at the time. Since it tends to be on the higher side when at the doctors, he had me start Amlodipine 5mg for a month. At the monthly check up there was no change in blood pressure and I was still dealing with dizziness, balance issues and vertigo that came and went. However, I now developed stuffiness and pain in my right ear. Looking in my ear he saw nothing but added 7mg of Perindopril to my Amlodipine for the blood pressure. Another month goes by and my blood pressure has dropped slightly but I'm still dealing with the balance, dizziness, vertigo and ear stuffiness and pain issues. Doctor looks me over and says Benign Positional Vertigo can take weeks to months to clear up and sends me on my way.
The next few months were tough dealing with the side effects of the blood pressure and my other symptoms. Come December and my right ear is plugged, aching, crackling when I yawn or chew and now I'm feeling pressure in the right side of my head and right side sinuses. Back to the doctor's I go and he checks my ears and says everything is clear and send me on my way suggesting I try some decongestant for a week. It didn't help.
January arrives and this is when everything comes to a head. Dizziness, loss of balance, vertigo (less frequent but there), right ear pain, pressure, muffled sounds, sinuses plugged, pain behind the right eye and the right side of my head is numb (not paralysis but that tingly pins and needles feeling you get before you hand or arm falls asleep), AND I wake up with that famous pulsating whoosh whoosh in my ear. That's when I tossed my blood pressure medications aside (couldn't handle their side effects) and I up my decongestant take. I start Nasonex and Claritin D every morning for a week and it did help with the pain behind my eye and all the side effects of the blood pressure medicine were instantly gone! But the pulsatile tinnitus continued and is now driving me insane. I can't sleep, concentrate and I'm nauseous all the time. If that wasn't bad enough, my entire field of vision also shakes ever so slightly in sync with my heart beat and every whoosh of my pulsatile tinnitus. I deal with this for 4 weeks and in February, back to the doctor's I go.
I describe what has been going on, what I've tried and he looks at me like I have three heads! He takes another look in my ears and sees nothing and suggests getting me in to see and ENT as soon as possible. This was on February 11th. He says I'll be hearing from the ENT's office in the next week or so. Come February 13th, my pulsatile tinnitus, vision, face numbness, dizziness and balance was so bad the wife takes me to the ER. Full blood work done, urinalysis, and a CT scan with contrast on my head and neck was immediately done. Blood work came back perfect, urinalysis perfect, CT scan with contrast perfect! No aneurysms, no dissection, no hydrocephalus and all structures are where they should be. Blood pressure was at 145/95 but the nurse or doctor were not concerned about that considering what I've been dealing with. This all gave me some reassurance but the ER doctor was still concerned with my symptoms that he spoke with a neurologist and they decided to put me on a low dose daily Aspirin once a day until they get me in for an MRI for a better look.
Let me tell you, it's been a rough few months but when the pulsatile tinnitus started my anxiety and depression has been through the roof! I try and take comfort that the CT scan with contrast didn't show anything ominous but the loud pulsatile tinnitus, lack of sleep and concentration issues has impacted my daily life. I have stated using ear plugs when I sleep and although it does lessen the drone of the pulsatile tinnitus, I can still hear the sound of what I can only describe as blood whooshing behind my ear. My vision still shakes (only noticeable when I'm sitting still) and I'm still dealing with the dizziness and balance issues.
Not hearing back from the ENT or Neurologist is weighing on my stress but I will be following up with them by the end of this week. I will provide updates as much as possible. I appreciate everyone on this forum and all who have read through my entire post. I'm happy that I've found others that pulsatile tinnitus has affected who can understand the agony that it is. If anyone has questions please ask or share you experiences, whether the same as mine or not and I hope your pulsatile tinnitus is short lived and resolved!
Regards!
D
My pulsatile tinnitus started the first week of January 2021 and I've been having a rough time with it as most of you can imagine. Here is my story. I'm male, 46, exercise daily, could use to lose a few pounds but in generally good health. I don't know if all this is related but here is how I got here. I have fairly bad seasonal allergies and 2020 was a particularly bad year. In July of 2020 I started experiencing balance and dizziness issues followed shortly by vertigo. The vertigo was pretty bad. To the point that if I moved my head to the right or lay on my right side everything would spin. Late July I saw my Family Doctor who looked me over and diagnosed me with Benign Positional Vertigo which made sense since it happens with the movement of my head in a certain direction.
At the same time he suggested I start on blood pressure medication due to being pre-hypertensive for a couple of years. My blood pressure would normally run 125-135/84-94 depending on the time of day or how stressed I was at the time. Since it tends to be on the higher side when at the doctors, he had me start Amlodipine 5mg for a month. At the monthly check up there was no change in blood pressure and I was still dealing with dizziness, balance issues and vertigo that came and went. However, I now developed stuffiness and pain in my right ear. Looking in my ear he saw nothing but added 7mg of Perindopril to my Amlodipine for the blood pressure. Another month goes by and my blood pressure has dropped slightly but I'm still dealing with the balance, dizziness, vertigo and ear stuffiness and pain issues. Doctor looks me over and says Benign Positional Vertigo can take weeks to months to clear up and sends me on my way.
The next few months were tough dealing with the side effects of the blood pressure and my other symptoms. Come December and my right ear is plugged, aching, crackling when I yawn or chew and now I'm feeling pressure in the right side of my head and right side sinuses. Back to the doctor's I go and he checks my ears and says everything is clear and send me on my way suggesting I try some decongestant for a week. It didn't help.
January arrives and this is when everything comes to a head. Dizziness, loss of balance, vertigo (less frequent but there), right ear pain, pressure, muffled sounds, sinuses plugged, pain behind the right eye and the right side of my head is numb (not paralysis but that tingly pins and needles feeling you get before you hand or arm falls asleep), AND I wake up with that famous pulsating whoosh whoosh in my ear. That's when I tossed my blood pressure medications aside (couldn't handle their side effects) and I up my decongestant take. I start Nasonex and Claritin D every morning for a week and it did help with the pain behind my eye and all the side effects of the blood pressure medicine were instantly gone! But the pulsatile tinnitus continued and is now driving me insane. I can't sleep, concentrate and I'm nauseous all the time. If that wasn't bad enough, my entire field of vision also shakes ever so slightly in sync with my heart beat and every whoosh of my pulsatile tinnitus. I deal with this for 4 weeks and in February, back to the doctor's I go.
I describe what has been going on, what I've tried and he looks at me like I have three heads! He takes another look in my ears and sees nothing and suggests getting me in to see and ENT as soon as possible. This was on February 11th. He says I'll be hearing from the ENT's office in the next week or so. Come February 13th, my pulsatile tinnitus, vision, face numbness, dizziness and balance was so bad the wife takes me to the ER. Full blood work done, urinalysis, and a CT scan with contrast on my head and neck was immediately done. Blood work came back perfect, urinalysis perfect, CT scan with contrast perfect! No aneurysms, no dissection, no hydrocephalus and all structures are where they should be. Blood pressure was at 145/95 but the nurse or doctor were not concerned about that considering what I've been dealing with. This all gave me some reassurance but the ER doctor was still concerned with my symptoms that he spoke with a neurologist and they decided to put me on a low dose daily Aspirin once a day until they get me in for an MRI for a better look.
Let me tell you, it's been a rough few months but when the pulsatile tinnitus started my anxiety and depression has been through the roof! I try and take comfort that the CT scan with contrast didn't show anything ominous but the loud pulsatile tinnitus, lack of sleep and concentration issues has impacted my daily life. I have stated using ear plugs when I sleep and although it does lessen the drone of the pulsatile tinnitus, I can still hear the sound of what I can only describe as blood whooshing behind my ear. My vision still shakes (only noticeable when I'm sitting still) and I'm still dealing with the dizziness and balance issues.
Not hearing back from the ENT or Neurologist is weighing on my stress but I will be following up with them by the end of this week. I will provide updates as much as possible. I appreciate everyone on this forum and all who have read through my entire post. I'm happy that I've found others that pulsatile tinnitus has affected who can understand the agony that it is. If anyone has questions please ask or share you experiences, whether the same as mine or not and I hope your pulsatile tinnitus is short lived and resolved!
Regards!
D
Member