Got Rid of Pulsatile Tinnitus in 2 Days, Only to Be Followed by Subjective Unilateral Tinnitus

Hey guys!

I am 29 years old. I got tinnitus in my left ear 7 weeks ago. The right ear is fine, no tinnitus there.

On Monday, the 12th September I went alone for a longer trip with my bike, because my boyfriend was out of the country. The trip took 4 hours and I was constantly listening to loud music (did not notice it was that loud because of the traffic and the wind) over the earplugs.

In the evening when I wanted to go to sleep, pulsatile tinnitus (hearing heartbeat in my ear) started in my left ear. I started Googling it, but when my heart beat calmed down, the pulsatile tinnitus also disappeared; it lasted for about an hour. So I could sleep well then the whole night. The next day there was no pulsatile tinnitus until the evening when I went to bed again. That is when the pulsatile tinnitus started again, a little bit stronger than the previous day. It took about 2 hours to calm down, then I could sleep again. But when I woke up, it was there again the whole day (that was Wednesday). When I got home in the afternoon, I talked to my boyfriend who told me to try Valsalva maneuver (to close your nostrils and blow air through closed nostrils as much as you can) and it was like some kind of wall closed and the pulsatile tinnitus was gone immediately. I felt so relieved. It never came back afterwards.

I was so happy that night. But then the next day, around midday at work in the office, I started to hear ringing. I did not know where it was coming from at first, but then realized that it's in my left part of the head/ear. I started to get really anxious and it started to get louder and louder. And then the agony began...

I could not sleep for more than an hour or two for the first 2-3 weeks. I was crying myself to sleep almost every night and was crying throughout the day (I still do on some days). I had such a great life before that, a great job, a wonderful boyfriend and was genuinely happy, we were planning to start a family in a year or two.

After 4 weeks we started to listen to a podcast in the evening. We put it on for an hour and then the computer turned off by itself. That helped. We still do that and that way I can fall asleep. I still wake up during the night though, but most of the time I can fall back asleep. In the past few days I woke up 2 times per night... around midnight and 3 am. But I know that I could have slept better before, I was sleeping really deeply the whole night, but now I think it's not a real deep sleep most of the night (maybe for 2-3 hours it is).

The distress and loudness of the tinnitus varies over the day, sometimes it's 6/10 and sometimes 3/10. At the beginning I think it was 10/10. Sometimes I hear high-pitched ringing and when it disappears I hear crickets or sounds like electricity.

Does any one of you have the same or a similar situation? Starting with pulsatile tinnitus after loud noise exposure and then followed by subjective tinnitus? Will it ever go away? Because I do not know if I can imagine having a family while having tinnitus. Can I?

I did all the tests at the ENT, neurologist, neurosurgeon, MRI scan, hearing test - everything was fine.

I did have middle ear infection in my left ear for about 5 times in my life. And the pressure in my left ear does not always equalize right away on a plane for example, so could that mean that my left ear was already more sensitive and with the loud music I just triggered tinnitus?

Otherwise I did not have any issues with the ears before, especially the right ear was always fine, and I do not have tinnitus in my right ear.

I just wish like all of you that somebody would find the cure for this and we would all live happily ever after.

I would appreciate some supportive comments or success stories with a similar situation as mine.

Hang in there, fighters!
Aurora

 

Hi and sorry that you are here but welcome.

The thing about closing your nostrils and blowing - I have done that - but moderately so - I don't think you are supposed to blow too hard or too much as you are forcing pressure from your airways into your ear and flexing the eardrum. If you could put sufficient pressure - you could rupture your eardrum. If you use a little pressure and gradually increase until you hear or feel a slight pop - I think that is where you stop. Others may have more experience of this.

But since you also have had middle ear infections - your ear has been vulnerable and maybe that is the cause.

You can have a family and have tinnitus - believe me you can. I did not think I could live with this - but with time I gradually decided to live my life despite the ringing. It is early days - I hope it clears - but if not - you can cope with it and still live a full happy life.

 

Hi Stuart,

Yeah, I agree with you, I haven't been doing this often, basically never, but my doctor and my boyfriend told me to try it, and it worked for pulsatile tinnitus. Afterwards the ENT checked my ear and did not see any abnormalities.

But it's hard to know for sure what triggered it. It was probably the combination of sensitive left ear and loud music.

Thank you for your kind words, I hope I can have a family one day, but right now I can barely focus and take care of myself, I cry every now and then, because I had a great life before that and my boyfriend and I had so many plans, well he still does, but I now look at everything with bitterness. I have some good days, especially when I can sleep most of the night. But today I did not sleep well, I was waking up all night. I figured out I fell better and I sleep better when my boyfriend is there, but now he's out of the country for a few days.

Did your tinnitus get better with time? Do you notice it a lot? What do you do to sleep all night? I don't want to start taking any sleep medications though (not just yet at least, except if it gets really worse and bad).

Many thanks!

Aurora

 

If your tinnitus is in one ear, then steroids can help. Please see an ENT and ask for a short course of steroids. They just might work.