Tinnitus, blurred vision..other weird symptoms

I just went through this. I was on a conference call and half way thru my hearing changed. Then the ringing started. I waited 2 weeks then went to ENT. Basically I got some virus that attacked the nerves in my ear. They did steriod shots in my ear ( 5 days in a row) and did oral steroids. My hearing is better but still have ringing but I only notice it at night/bed time. I'm very happy it improved. I have a head MRI on Tuesday just to check. Thought I'd add my experience.

I hear I’m going in head first, but unlike my friend up north who had a brain MRI, up to my waist, she only went up to her shoulders. Really? Valium in hand. Of the three others I know that had head MRIs, only one had a mask and that was decades ago. Are you in a smaller town that doesn’t have the latest equipment maybe? My head will be cradled they said. And I finally got the definition of an “open MRI” when still a tube—just a bigger tube and the tube is shorter than the standard MRI. Six foot long versus 4.5 foot long. Holds up to 300 lb person versus holding 500 lb person.

The other type, one disc on top of the other, open between. “They’d have to put the disc right on top of your face and you couldn’t turn your head at all.” Now wouldn't that be fun?!!!!!!

Jensen—did your hearing get better from the steroids? Is it just in one ear? (That seems to be key and the sudden part.)

Georgia..nothing, NOTHING could be worse than the breast MRI I got. Looking down was good -I agree, but it was a very last minute event for me in a department containing, probably, all the leftover MRI machines from Portland that modern facilities no longer wanted, in an old wing of OHSU. They had some makeshift prop my chest was on that directed every PSI on to one square inch of my breast bone. I was literally in pain throughout. I came out with a beat red face and I could barely breath from my sternum being pushed in. As bad as claustrophobia is, and I have it, that experience will never leave my brain.

Well.....no answer..... it's quiet......20 years of noise.. it's quiet...............Should be joyious. Waiting for the ..........noise. Trying to figuire out why the noise isn't there

Will see what the morning bringings

Someone asked about my "dying cat." Good news. She is no longer dying. What could have been cancer or IBD (based on ultrasound) was I switched her food in early April and she appears to have had an allergic reaction in her gut. I figured that one out on my own after $1000 in tests and Vet visits. The Vet, nor I, asked "did I change her food recently?"

Oh well, let's all hope all of our dx for tinnitus is this easy.

Sas - it's quiet????? Seriously??? OMG - maybe talking about tinnitus is the cure LOL. Hoping it stays gone!!!!

Two miracles down..many more to go.

Meow - I should consider for my two 4 year-olds. I'm sure the older they get, the more expensive the premium. I always worry "what will they pay." IBD - Inflammatory bowel disease. Her small intestine mucosa is swollen. She had a bit of a setback today. Still not sure she doesn't have cancer.

Ok - for all of us hating those MRIs, I found this post on an Acoustic Neuroma Facebook group:

7.5 hours MRI !!!! Under general anesthesia!!! I can't even.....

Quinn, they will not cover pre existing conditions. So when Mom and I got the kittens we put them on, after 1st year the premium went down. I think I start at $850 now it's $700 for my 2 cats a year. The female hardly used hers but I did use the $200 wellness care each year. Basically covers her annual and all shots. They paid for them to be spayed and neutered. My male cat ran up a huge bill, close to $3000 for his eye surgery, they paid 80%. All his special prescription dental chews they pay 80%. I have a $5000 maximum/year each cat. My Mom's cat had irritable bowel disease and came close to the$5000 maximum per year. It was all the tests to weed out other causes for his symptoms. As long as you keep the coverage going I believe they will continue to cover my cat's eye issues and Mom's cat IBD.

Also the teeth cleaning was $600 for my female, it came out of her wellness. So AI did have to pay that bill.

They have different plans. The really have been worth it for us. Embrace pet insurance.

Quinncat - I am sorry the experience was so chaotic, but happy for you that it's over. I too asked for something to relieve my anxiety. They gave me 2 Xanax to be taken 30 minutes before. I took one when I got to the front desk, and another right before the MRI just in case the first one wore off during the MRI. I also had adult diapers on in case I had to go pee. I never did, but it gave me a little peace of mind.

Hi there QuinnCat, and thanks for checking in on me. I got the MRI results on Thursday, and there was no tumor or other mechanical problem in either ear, which is great. However, there's no real cure for the tinnitus as you know. My doctor is ok with me taking taurine and magnesium (which do seem to have helped) but all the doctors agree I should stay on Tamoxifen despite the likelihood it is making the tinnitus worse. So that's my deal. On the upside I also got my breast MRI results and no evidence of disease!

One of the ENTs did suggest sound masking, which I think is what Sas-Schatzi was telling us about. He says every day we should listen to music without lyrics (so classical or jazz), for 30 minutes, with headphones, at a volume that is low enough that we can still hear the ringing. After a month, he says, our brains will have learned to tune out the noise. I'm going on vacation on Wednesday but plan to try that when I get back.

All best wishes to you all.

Georgia-what a relief! Congratulations!!!!!!

I finally posted on an Acoustic Neuroma FB group asking questions. Had a great telephone conversation with a woman on a National AN board. No dx of AN (have no idea what MRI showed yet), but wanted to talk to others to see if my symptoms fit. There is no one set of symptoms, nor order of symptoms, nor many predictable outcomes, though most, if not all, lose their hearing because of the surgery. I could go on with scary other details, but since I’m not there yet, if at all......the cure is worse than the disease, but the disease could kill you if it grows large enough. Older is better!!! How about that?

Non- diapers? I just say I gotta go pee!!! Lol

Sad-I’m getting use to the noise I guess. As long as it doesn’t get louder. It sounds loud now, but nighttime is like that.

Supposing that this could be a template of questions.. My vertigo started with head trauma. Knocking heads in the middle of the night. It, also, improved over time.It wasn't funny that it had to be in the medical record that way. But Oh well.

Probably, other questions that could be added to the template. They were off the top of my head., Cut & paste to a box. easier reference

Quinn let's drop back.

Start date?

Around XMAS day - came with annual allergies to the conifer Incense Cedar. One of the worst 2 years in 35 years here. Cedar allergies are gone by mid-February so I logically thought this would go away too. Never did...have had 24/7 It was like a one for one allergy and tinnitus.

Onset of symptoms after which drug or event?

I usually never take anything for this allergy (my only allergy) but took benedryl, allegra? and zyrtec every day when this started. It was a bad year and my eyes itchiness was driving me crazy. I've read about Zyrtec and people complaining about Tinnitus. Perhaps it could be drug related. But I've stopped the drugs a long time ago....this year later....around Feb 20 (I know because my hiking partner was in Hawaii when I noticed the cedar not affecting me anymore).

I changed my diet on XMAS day too. I consistently make a small pizza from scratch almost everyday. i'm not a big bread eater, so all of a sudden I am having more white flour - i.e. gluten than normal. I've even wondered if this was a reaction to gluten. My trigger fingers are also back since my diet change. One day I ate bread, not pizza, great bread - best bread outside of SF, so had more than usual and I my whole right hand was a trigger mess. That really got me thinking about gluten. But why just one ear?

The effect of a gluten-free diet on a patient complaining of severe tinnitus.

I also found this:

"Is gluten a neurotoxin?Gluten Causes Nerve Damage. Another study links nerve damage to glutensensitivity. Gluten has been identified as a potential neurotoxin, and many with gluten sensitivity do not manifest symptoms of classic celiac disease, but instead develop nerve damage."

Describe loudness with an adjective?

Noticeable when sitting down and watching TV, or lying in bed. Use to sound like sitting on a commercial airplane flight, now has a little whistle with it.

0-10 scale?

I have no idea how to judge that. It got louder after the audiologist poked around in there and never went back to the lower volume. .It's doable if the alternative is AN or cancer or immune disease. I'm not thinking about suicide because of it (I hear it drives some people to suicide). It is just 24/7. Once it started, never stopped. I had intermittent tinnitus before that....in both ears, but more so in this ear and I remember more of that intermittent stuff before the full-time stuff. Sadly, I cannot remember if that was pre-allergy or not.

Variations of noise?

As described above.

Anything make it better?

Other than distraction, no.

Anything make it worse?

Audiologist poking around trying to get a seal.

History of aspirin use?

I rarely get headaches. Since seeing the ENT I've had very slight headaches every day so I take low dose aspirin. Not everyday..maybe once or twice a week. 3-4 aspirin (low dose). But I take aspirin and never tylenol.

History of NSAIDS use?

I take Celebrex on occasion, but it's been a few months now.

Hearing loss hx?

Lost some hearing in tinnitus ear in 2005 standing next to a bass during an INXS concert without earplugs. Had an ocean in my ear that night and fullness. Have used the other ear for telephone since. I expressed a 30% difference in my hearing between ears to ENT. My hearing test only showed a slight difference and I had better word recognition with the bad ear - go figure. The ENT took that as "sudden sensicneurol hearing loss," with emphasis on "sudden" saying what I perceived counted more than what the hearing test measured. Problem is, I'm not sure what I have is sudden or what I've had since 2005. Sudden with tinnitus >>> Acoustic Neuroma and Immune-mediated disease. I also have had some balance issues, but I think that started with chemo. (I have permanent neuropathy in my feet, but at one point, my whole body, in retrospect.) The headaches came after I saw the ENT.

I think what might have happened vis a vis noticing the hearing differential more so lately was that my bursitis in right hip has made it difficult to sleep on right side (when my good ear would be exposed), so recently I've noticed I can't hear my XM radio at night and constantly changing the volume when I turn over from bad hip to ok hip. I can only stay on the bad hip for a few minutes and its the side I prefer to sleep on. I usually don't lie on my left side (with bad ear exposed), so I'm just noticing this hearing loss more, though I've had this hip thing since early 2017, so not sure if the dramatic difference was only recently observed (really bad memory) or has been this way since early 2017? Or perhaps, the tinnitus made my hearing out of right ear worse. Or my hip became worse at the end of 2017 (it's the worst today from too many days in a row hiking). Too many variables there.

From XMAS to after Incense Cedar allergies should have been gone (usually early Feb), I assumed it was allergies and then after that fluid stuck in my ear. ENT saw no fluid. I'm not sure how conclusive that is - can he see every speck of fluid in my inner ear?

Chronic sinus?

Never

Head trauma?

Never

Barotrauma (pressure)

Never

Quinn, One thing that hit me in the face was your description that your tinnitus was worse after the ENT or audiologist was trying to get a seal. If he was trying to get a seal. Think about pressure changes. Think about the popping of a jar seal. In the readings, it discusses the rapid change of pressure that can cause the eardrum to curve in or curve out. That rapid change in curvature causes a change within the ear. Already forgot the names. BUT not the concept. Please read the selections. See what applies. Your thought that exam did something applies.

Your exposure at the concert. Which ear? Makes a difference. If it's the side you have tinnitus, that is real connector.

What my review now shows. is my chronic sinusitus is a real culprit in my hearing and tinnitus problems. No one ever brought that up before. It was treated as an "Oh well, you have sinusitus".

Plus, I have a very severe Eustachian tube problem. Also, ignored. Many articles describe plane or diving as the problem for Eustcahian tube dysfunction. ME, changes in sea level barometric pressure, changes in building pressure, pain medication(I go almost deaf with). On a plane will go completely deaf without taking pseudofed beforehand.

Anywhooses, there's way to much to know and we just want relief. I mentioned a few posts ago that I started Flonase out of desperation for the chronic sinus lava flow. It's helped a lot. Not sure if it was before that or coincident to the first week, the noise on the left is lighter. I'm using the drug more left than right nostril. I may start to use it both side for awhile, and see what happens.

But not to confuse you my Tinnitus is 20 years old. Started intermittently with a cold. Then became constant at a roar. The roar last for a year but became one sided for enough time that concern for a neuroma, a MRI was done. Then returned to bilateral. The roar softened. Over the next 19 years it's never the same in intensity, quality, or character. But I will take what it is this past few years over any previous years. Definitely current time over any other time. The change now is related to the flonase.based on today's readings

Sas - you might be on to something with the audiologist thing. There are many things that happened, coincidentally, also, to this tinnitus even starting, almost to the day:

Diet change - way more gluten. Way more and all at once. Two years I discovered I was (newly) egg intolerant. Maybe chemo changed me?

Allergy medications - started taking zyrtec, allegra and benedryl daily. Never have done anything close to this. Zyrtec has been anecdotally connected to tinnitus in some. Sadly, I stopped all of those meds mid-February and the tinnitus still there.

Allergy itself - worst year for Incense cedar in my 25 years of getting this allergy. Sneezing and itchy eyes - no runny nose or sinus issues. I never ever get sinus issues. I've never bothered taking any allergy medications that consistently for this allergy until this year.

Exemestane - almost 6 years.

Yes, hearing insult in same ear as tinnitus, but hearing insult was in 2005.

I have stopped gluten totally as of 6 days. Interestingly, the headaches I was having daily for last month or so ARE GONE on second day of no gluten. The tinnitus has been quieter, though only slightly, so I could attribute to wishful thinking too. Jury out on that. We have a new bakery in town. Tempted to test the gluten-free idea today

Still no word on MRI - Geez, I know I should be calling them at this point, but fear is a powerful thing.

See the orthopedist on hip this Wednesday. I know I have bursitis from MRI and an evulsion (from memory on MRI report) involving gluteus medius.

Quinn, while it may not fit your scenario yet, please, consider, putting the new Paleo thread in your favorites. Egads thread.

Egads has much reading material.

In a later post, I connected to what I call the Weight thread. (I will link it) I had this Hypothesis on weight gain an cancer--BC. In the mean time I studied the microbiome. HUGE. Page 3 has my discussion regarding the microbiome and insulin resistance.. I say my discussion b/c others offered their thoughts with out reading the study. It was an amazing study.

If you are a science junckie reading from the beginning is way fun. If you read the study about the Vensuzeulan(sic) aboriginal group, you will understand humans determent over millennia of living with their environment

My fun as a nurse of since 1974, living with a man who never could afford healthcare, never understood healthcare, and couldn't be bothered with health care. He b/c of his HVAC work------ rips skin, slices skin, rips nails---he wraps wounds with Bounty and duct tape, or just gray tape, or black tape. I've seen bone on him, I've seen slices that I thought would take at least 10 or more stitches. Duct tape. No scar. NO INFECTION. He works in dirt constantly. Really bad dirt..

But he even recognizes bad stuff, If he gets into molds he's careful. Not likely CDC careful. but he knows whats bad. He strips in the garage and clothes goes into the washer with bleach When he walks through the garage door naked , I don't have to ask how his day was.

Quinn ditto thought to Georgia's