Tinnitus, Blurry Vision, Visual Snow, Double Vision, Starbursts, and Other Symptoms — I'm Scared

Hello.

I have had tinnitus since June 27, 2019.

15 months later it is still there and I am still having a hard time. I never knew this was even humanely possible. I literally came home one day and my left ear got full. I went to my primary care and was diagnosed w/ ear infection. That didn’t help. I went to an ENT. He said it was from acoustic trauma.

I never followed up and now I’m having a lot of other scary symptoms. Blurry vision, visual snow, double vision, starbursts. Also having bad jaw problems, balance issues, facial numbness, facial weakness, and left side of body feels weak.

I am terrified of having an acoustic neuroma.

It’s been 15 months and I haven’t seen a doctor because I don’t want to lose my hearing as I’m only 24.

Any advice? At this point I’m hopeless and really worried that my hearing will be gone or I have some kind of neuro issue going on.

Sorry for the long post. Any advice appreciated.

 

I’d go to your ENT and explain all your symptoms. Especially if they keep getting worse. You won’t really know if there is a serious problem until you get tests done. Know that acoustic neuromas are very rare. Try not to worry.

 

Thank you for the reply Kendra. I know at the end of the day that’s my only option.

The only thing I’ve done up until this point is hope that my symptoms get better overtime which they haven’t :/ this is all insane.

 

Hi gopher. I have all the same symptoms. All started at the same time. It's been over a year now. Had MRI scans opthalmology, neurology, blood tests, ECG, X rays, you name it. Only possible diagnosis I've been given is anxiety or some strange variant of migraine. The blurred vision is the worst for me, it's constant along with the tinnitus.

 

Hey guys, I’m having a really tough time. Can anyone can help?

I had my first acoustic trauma which came with sound sensitivity, hearing loss, and tinnitus on June 27, 2019. I will never forget that day, last day I was normal, and then completely fucked my life up.

I started to adapt, being the proactive person that I am, and try to move on with life (still hard).

Fast forward 3 months. I get visual snow, as if things couldn’t get any worse and it did. Visual snow is devastating to me. I love cars and love driving so it’s hard to drive at night. I used to love looking at the sky, especially at night. Now it’s all fucking static. Whatever, I somehow adapted to that (still hard).

Fast forward to now, approximately 20 months later, and this is the worst symptom yet, it seems as though my tinnitus reacts to sounds and has gotten louder.

Even scarier, which I’ve never had until now, certain noises like pencils dropping, pages turning, feet rubbing the floor, and just sudden noises in general send a SHOCK thru my brain and heart/chest area. Is this hyperacusis?

I’m scared af, please help me.

 

Sounds like hyperacusis.

Why did you get this symptom? Have you been exposed to loud noises? Taken any new drugs?

 

I don’t have much advice but I just wanted to say I feel this so much. I also had an acoustic trauma in 2019, and got hit with visual snow syndrome just as you, about 3 months later. During the day it’s manageable but at night it’s horrible. Can’t see anything if it’s dark and street lights are too intense/halo several feet out from the source.

Hang in there. We know that it’s not eye damage and all probably due to hyperactivity of some sort in the brain, so hopefully hearing regeneration meds help take the edge off of this as well. I’ve read some people’s visual snow going away with those neuromodulation devices.

 

@ajc, I'm not going to lie, in the past 20 months I have exposed my ears to loud noises, unfortunately. I also have serious jaw issues. Unsure if TMJ can contribute to this, no meds.

 

What kind of loud noises?

 

A few club nights, car speaker, sometimes driving with the windows down and anything else that was out of my hands.

 

Thank you a lot. I am sorry you are going thru this as well but I guess I find some comfort in knowing I'm not alone.

Can you describe your hyperacusis symptoms if you have any?

 

My hyperacusis symptoms... well, it was a slow progression, over like a year (note that I had a second acoustic trauma).

First few symptoms:
- one ear felt weirdly exposed and almost hollow, but full and stuffed up at the same time. Hard to put into words.
- moderately loud sounds like loud beeps in stores, walking by traffic, heavy doors closing, people with loud voices, dishes just felt overwhelmingly loud. You know when you have a bad migraine and everything just sounds overwhelming, it was sort of like that.
- then I started having some cold burning on my face, and TTTS (ear spasms).

(I'd say for like 5-6 months it plateaued and then I had a second trauma).

- tolerance dropped down by a lot. Normal voices became too loud, the sound of rolling over on my pillow caused severe discomfort, couldn't have volume on TV. Couldn't eat crunchy stuff. Ears just felt way more fragile.
- more pain. Stabbing (hadn't had this before) increased burning, the acid type of burning, TTTS switched ears.

Keep in mind that each experience is very very different and hyperacusis definitely has levels to it. I think it's relatively normal to be sound sensitive with tinnitus.

 

Cranial microvascular nerve conditions is common - cranial nerve sensitivity can develop with anxiety and/or brief moments of high blood pressure. New medications? Cranial microvascular nerve conditions (facial, vision or ear pain) should disappear. May be difficult to control anxiety with tinnitus and hyperacusis, but any hypertension (getting extremely excited) - causing brief moments of raising blood pressure needs control. I would consider seeing an eye doctor.

 

Thanks Greg. I will look into that. I need to follow up with a physician and probably get an MRI done but I fear the worst i.e. acoustic neuroma or MS .

 

Damn, it sounds very similar to me at the moment.

Hopefully I can improve because literally, like I told you, my life just keeps going from bad to worse despite me trying. Tinnitus which I got used to developed into visual snow which I got used to and now this bullshit hyperacusis. Honestly what's next lol.

And all this progression not even 2 years in. Most people who develop tinnitus get a baseline level, habituate, and move on with their lives.

We got fucked and dealt a hand right out of fuckin hell no doubt in my mind? It's sad man, all because I used headphones and drove with the windows down? Can't be. I'm only 24. This is insane. I'm taking biochemistry right now and it's the last class I need to goddamn graduate but this shit is really hindering my performance.

Thank you Orion. Hopefully we can get better.

 

Hey guys. I do not know what’s going on anymore with my body. I am sensitive to sounds, I have body tremors, extreme anxiety, muffled hearing, trouble breathing, trouble walking, facial numbness, stomach problems, tingling, fatigue. I think I am screwed and I am only 24 and this has been going on for approximately 2 years now.

I’ve been to the hospital probably 20 times since early July and bloodwork, EKG, CT w/o contrast of head/brain, general vitals are always normal.

Feeling like I need to go to the hospital tonight but I am going to get the same run around with a fat bill. This shit is hopeless man. Hyperacusis, tinnitus, and visual snow.

Wondering if anxiety is causing a lot of these issues. Any thoughts? I have to study for a biochem exam but can’t. Smh.

 

That's a lot of symptoms. I can't believe anxiety could cause all of these.

You need to have an MRI to see if you've got a brain thing going on.

 

Anxiety can cause all of this and vision problems. Cranial nerves, especially the facial nerve which travels with the hearing nerve (the eighth cranial nerve) in and around the structures of the middle ear.

You can place what I quoted - your mentions above into internet search and lots of articles will appear. The whole line beginning with - sensitive to sounds... You can then research vision with hypertension and anxiety.

Consider 200mg of chelated magnesium three times during a 24 hour period for a week to see if you notice any improvements. Once before going to sleep each night. Leave a 2 hour window between magnesium and other meds.

Did head CT have any notes?

If you feel that you need medical care - ER or doctor, eye doctor - then by all means get it. I would make an appointment to see an Ophthalmologist. ERs have one on call.

 

I think anxiety - and by that I mean extreme anxiety not just the type normal people have - can cause a lot of this.

It’s not unheard of for an acoustic trauma to cause the following: tinnitus, sensitivity to sound, muffled hearing, facial numbness.

Severe long term stress and anxiety can cause: fatigue, tingling, stomach problems, tremors, sometimes even trouble breathing.

How is your diet? Lifestyle? Are you getting a bit of exercise in? I only ask because my depression/ severe stress has led to lots of horrible issues and most of them are tied into muscle tension, poor diet and sedentary lifestyle (excluding the visual snow syndrome and tinnitus of course). I was 25 when this started for me so I can definitely relate.

When you say you have trouble walking, what exactly do you mean?

 

Thanks a lot Greg. I will be heading to my primary care first thing Monday and if I do have to head to the ER, I will make sure to do so.

 

Thank you a lot Orion. My lifestyle has been shit since this started. Definitely poor posture, I either sleep too much or too little, irregular sleeping pattern (stay up till 8 AM, sleep, wake back up at 8 PM), not getting adequate vitamins, can't remember the last time I ate a balanced meal, basically eating shit food but it tastea good and gives me some sort of happiness, lots of blue screen (laptop/phone), smoke cigarettes & hookah and drink alcohol.

Unfortunately by walking weird, since all this started with the visual snow, it seems like the left side of my body developed numbness. My left leg feels weak and my left foot is often numb and burning. Also my left hand finger tips are numb and tight. Maybe neuropathy which would also suck because just another shit ailment that has no cure. Honestly, I think this is it, I've been too scared to go to the doctor for approximately 2 years because I'm worried it could be MS or acoustic neuroma but fuck it, this is too much and literally searching the internet every second of day is no point because everyone's case is different.

 

Hi there... I got visual snow too along with tinnitus. Has yours improved?

 

Jesus! These are exact the same symptoms I’ve been experiencing the last couple of days (and you could add floaters). Developed all of these symptoms during only a couple of days after some insane panic attacks and tinnitus reaching new heights.

Wonder how things went for you @TheGopher?

 

Has your visual snow improved?