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Original poster

Panicking about pulsatile tinnitus

46 replies

Greenelefant · 10/06/2021 07:11

I've been having pulsatile tinnitus in my left ear for about 2 months, on and off. Its starting to give me a lot of anxiety that I'm about to have a heart attack/stroke or something but I have health anxiety and know I'm probably worrying over nothing.

I've had some other health issues recently, including tachycardia for which I've seen a cardiologist, had a 24hr ecg and echocardiogram and he couldn't find anything wrong, just sinus tachycardia and I'm now on beta blockers which help a lot. I've also been having some dizzy spells and seen an ENT who thinks I have vestibular decompensation after a bout of labrynthitis last year. I'm going to have a head MRI soon just to rule out anything else.

I've had a really stressful time recently and been feeling anxious but read mixed things about whether pulsatile tinnitus can be caused by anxiety. My GP isn't interested, particularly having been given the all clear by the cardiologist.

Essentially, my question is whether I should go back to the GP again or whether this is just another physical symptom of anxiety?

OP posts:

UpHillandDownAle · 12/06/2021 22:39

I have this and, like another pp said for them, it gets worse when I bend forward. GP wasn’t concerned and I have a lot of sinusitis/rhinitis issues so I suspect mine is related to congestion inside my ear. This has only happened in the last couple of years but I have always had general tinnitus.
I never know if something is serious or not. I agonise over contacting the doctor every bl**dy time. It’s hard to live with health anxiety but you acknowledge that is part of what’s going on for you and noticing that is key. I’m sure you can email your GP via the NHS app so what about sending an email saying that you’re not sure this condition has been ruled out with the tests that have been done and can they explain how they assessed that it is not this condition?

Original poster

Greenelefant · 13/06/2021 08:03

Yes I'm the same. I find it so hard to know if something is worth speaking to the GP about and it doesn't help that my GP always says it's unlikely to be anything serious but without doing any tests. I don't think I should be diagnosed based on statistics! I've had a few different rare conditions so even if there's only small chance of something being serious if I have the symptoms that match that I think its reasonable to rule it out rather than just saying its unlikely.

I ended up emailing the ENT's secretary and checking what scan I'm having and she was really reassuring that it would pick up anything like an aneurysm etc.

Interesting about sinuses as I've had sinus pressure with no congestion for about 6 months. The GP said it must be an allergy but the ENT said it could be a blocked sinus. I also have a turbinate that's very close to my septum and he said this could also be causing the pressure feeling.

OP posts:

sunflower8693 · 26/08/2021 20:55

Hey im new here! i have had high pitched ringing in my left ear since feb 2021..i had a hearing test but now have to go for an MRI and im so nervous :( the audiologist said its to rule out AN. Trying to not google is very hard!! i have no symptoms just annoying ringing!! how common are acoustic neuromas?

candle18 · 27/08/2021 06:23

Sunflower, I think AN’s are quite rarer and often associated with other symptoms, They probably just want to rule it out. What did your hearing test show?

Savannahnanana · 27/08/2021 06:31

I’ve had pulsatile tinnitus on and off over the last 18 months. It’s always seemed to be linked with stress to me. My last bout lasted about 6-8 weeks and was particularly bad at night but I managed to pay it very little attention and one day, it just disappeared. I’ve had a couple of two minute bursts of it since but that’s been it for a while. I did find that just being accepting if it seemed to help me to blank it out but it isn’t nice and I hope you get sorted soon.

sunflower8693 · 29/08/2021 22:15

Candle18..he said my hearing was actually better in the ear with tinnitus!! lol i was so confused..he did say its protocol to send for an MRI with one ear ringing.. you end up in a rabbit hole googling i have read they are rare...i feel it gets loudet as im stressing about it..if i knew its not an AN i can happily cope with sound therapy and white noise etc... Thanks for the reply 😊

Pickaneedlenoodle · 12/12/2021 05:52

Hey OP what was the cause for you?

Littlemissmax · 21/03/2022 14:59

@Greenelefant

Essentially, my question is whether I should go back to the GP again or whether this is just another physical symptom of anxiety?

Did you get it figured out? X

Lambchop78 · 05/11/2022 00:41

Hiya did you resolve this issue im suffering with this at the moment i had a clear mri any advice will be welcome hope you feeling better thank you

Zeusee1 · 20/11/2022 07:32

I get this too. Really annoying and only in one ear. To any other suffers , do you hear it constantly or only when quiet? Thanks

Tryfull · 25/11/2022 11:07

I have had this and am pretty sure it is linked to stress/anxiety for me. I have had all sorts of cardiology tests (for another reason) and have low blood pressure. It really does improve after a while if you ignore it. I have sort of trained myself to ignore it and now it only comes back if I drink too much alcohol or get up really quickly.

The problem is that it's very hard to ignore a pounding sound in your ear!!

DavidHissesBadly · 01/12/2022 22:38

What works for me is blasting loud music (Has to be louder than the hiss but don't deafen yourself and make it worse) through the full fluid filled middle ear and it tells the brain (Via auditory nerve) to slop protecting itself with so much cerebral spinal fluid. The hiss is so loud I can only hear through one ear so it spins me out as brain cannot place the noise. You are tricking the brain into thinking your ear is not as damaged as it is. It then will blow out your nose after a couple of hours and fullness/pressure gone! I have it so bad it pushes all my nerves, veins and arteries against my skull and cutting of blood and nerves. Takes out my carotid, jugular and superficial temporals and funnily enough don't feel too well!

Hope it works for you! Thank me later :)

Nottosure22 · 19/08/2023 20:15

Not sure if this is resolved but as someone who use to massively struggle with health anxiety i wanted to drop a message. I have had all the symptoms you mention, 24/7 headache, dizziness, pressure in head and pulse tinnitus plus a range of lots of other symptoms and now i know its from anxiety. Acupuncture really helped me to start to balance my nervous system and my anxiety started to ease after one session. I no longer have a constant headache or dizziness and in general feel a lot better. It is a long road with anxiety, meditation helps so does drinking lots and generally taking care of yourself where you can. One thing that helped me recognise anxiety over actual illness was how many different symptoms i had, if I had lots of different random symptoms around the same time then i knew it was anxiety. Hope this helps x

Starrrz · 06/12/2023 08:25

@Greenelefant how are you now ?

Original poster

Greenelefant · 06/12/2023 09:12

Hi. I'm still getting the pulsatile tinnitus but either it's a bit better or I've got better at ignoring it. I still don't have a cause but think the tacchycardia is due to POTS (my heart goes from 60 to 120 on standing but the cardiologist has diagnosed orthostatic intolerance rather than POTS as my blood pressure doesn't do what its meant to for a POTS diagnosis but I have every symptom of POTS). Anxiety definitely makes both the tacchycardia and tinnitus worse. I had a clear MRI 2 years ago and also had another recently as had some weird eye symptoms and its all normal. So just trying to ignore it and keep my anxiety under control.

OP posts:

Starrrz · 06/12/2023 10:04

@Greenelefant thats weird ive been diagnosed with pots also!!! Hr going from 78 -182! Could this be down to that though? Xxx

Starrrz · 06/12/2023 10:15

@Greenelefant thats the worst the heart monitor was picking up. I do wonder if its due to that ? X

Original poster

Greenelefant · 06/12/2023 10:33

Yes I think it could be. There isn't much research into POTS and my cardiologist was very dismissive about it. Wonder if that's because it predominantly affects women?!

I also find my heart races after I eat, and that can sometimes bring it on as well.

I'm trying hard to deal with anxiety but when your heartrate is 120 just doing nothing and you can feel it pounding in your ear its hard to feel relaxed! I keep telling myself that it's just uncomfortable and not dangerous but it feels as though my body is constantly on high alert so my brain thinks something bad is about to happen.

Have they given you beta blockers? I find they really help but try to take them as infrequently as possible.

OP posts:

Starrrz · 06/12/2023 10:51

@Greenelefant im so sorry they was dismissive with you :(
mine was also like it will just go chnage your life style! I tried bisoprolol which worked well but i had an allergic reaction to it:m. It calmed down abit now its back sunce ive been very stressed and had the flu!
which ones do you take ? X

Original poster

Greenelefant · 06/12/2023 11:43

I was on 2.5mg bisoprolol at first and now that it's settled down I have 10mg propranolol to take as and when I need it.

OP posts:

LittleG77 · 06/01/2024 13:37

This sounds like my tinnitus did you ever resolve this? Tia

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