Tinnitus for One Year — MRI Scan Next Week. Anxious!

Hello all,

I had a nasty virus in August '18 (1 year ago) and soon afterwards developed a clicking and popping sound in my right ear (mostly when I swallow) alongside tinnitus which, for me, is a high pitched buzzing but only in my right ear along with the clicking and popping. I requested a doc appointment about my clicking in my ear and a feeling that my hearing in that ear was a bit muffled. I was referred to a nurse to have my ear checked for wax. At my appointment with the nurse she found that my ears were completely clear with almost no wax at all - she referred me to the doctor.

The doctor referred me to the ENT department and I had my appointment in January this year. They found that I had mild hearing loss in my right ear and referred me to a consultant who I saw in June. The ENT consultant stuck a camera up my nose (surprisingly not as unpleasant as expected!) and said my Eustachian Tube looked ok. My hearing test showed hearing loss in my right ear again but surprisingly not as bad as in January's test. He said he suspected Eustachian tube Dysfunction but referred me for an MRI to rule out Acoustic Neuroma. I think he said at the time that AN was an unlikely outcome made less likely by my symptoms which still point to ETD. He prescribed a steroid nasal spray which doesn't seem to have done anything.

So after being relaxed and calm I am now getting panicky at the thought of my MRI scan next week. I hate injections and don't want the contrast dye (do they always do that?) and have convinced myself I have AN.

Currently I still have tinnitus in my right ear (and possibly slightly in my left too although that's recent I think and possibly might be imagined) along with clicking and popping in my right ear. My hearing in my right ear still doesn't seem 100% but I don't feel like I can't hear and no one has noticed me saying "eh?" or turning the TV up really loud.

For the record, the tinnitus in my right ear is constant and fairly loud but doesn't really bother me.

Sorry for my long post. Anyone been through the same?

 

@Taucher,

Try not to worry about your scan.

Wear foam plugs under the ear muffs and ask if it can be set on the pediatric setting.

You have a button so you can press it if you need it to stop but they are in constant communication with you so relax in the scanner, the time goes quick and it's a big relief when it's done...

Have a nice treat waiting for you because you're worth it.

love glynis

 

@Taucher

Welcome to the world of tinnitus and hearing loss. Unfortunately, there is no way out with today’s technology.

You are going to the usual rounds of tests to discard obvious bad conditions, and they are negative in the vast majority of the cases. We get damage in the cochlea and the neuronal shit show starts and never ends. After one year your tinnitus should be starting to get entrenched. I have it one ear also, I have some mild hearing loss above 8 kHz, and I am set for life with this condition. I had two MRIs to discard acoustic neuroma, the first one 5 years ago did not go well with the gadolinium dye, but the one last year they used a more refined version of the dye and that was no problem at all. The test is very loud, but it did not spike my tinnitus (they give you double foam plugs).

You are lucky that the loud tinnitus does not bother you much, and it suggests you will get happy habituation.

 

Your story is exactly the same as mine, only I'm 5 months into the journey. Because I had Bupa I've already had the MRI, but haven't got the the results yet.

Bring foam earplugs, they might only give you headphones like they did for me.

My ENT consultant has said prior to the MRI that he sees nothing wrong with my ET or ears and, like you, this was probably some virus that has damaged the inner ear. Very mild loss around 4 kHz for me.

I'm trying Neuromod's Lenire, which for me is starting to give me some relief from the tinnitus, but that's another conversation and Tinnitus Talk thread.

 

Thanks everyone.

Nice to hear from people who have lived this, although I wish you didn't have to, if you see what I mean.

Had the MRI yesterday. I am an NHS patient but was weirdly referred for my scan at a private hospital. My MRI was without contrast. When I asked why I wasn't having contrast dye I was told that my ENT doctor had not requested it but that it was the most modern type of MRI scanner available and dye not necessary.

The scan itself was fine (quite interesting really) and I sort of enjoyed a nice lie down. When I got out of the scanner I tried to read the faces of the people who had been looking inside my head but they gave nothing away and told me my results would be in about two weeks.

Another thing is I had been expecting a scan of my brain but they said they scanned my middle ear and took one scan of my brain. Not sure what that means.

Now I just wait and convince myself I am fine.

Thanks again!

 

Be careful and protect your ears as well as possible. MRIs are really loud.

 

I just had one. I checked two different places and both said the only thing you can have is ear plugs. Ear muffs would not fit in the scanner and would interfere with the scan is what I was told.

I think my tinnitus is now louder because of the scan.

 

Damn that sucks. Hopefully it is just a spike and will subside.

 

Thank you American and British Tinnitus Association for all the hard work you are doing warning people with hearing damage about the potential dangers regarding MRI machines.

 

I can hardly believe it. In my opinion, MRI-compatible hearing protection capsules are standard and should be supplemented with earplugs for additional safety.