Very Fleeting Pulsatile Tinnitus

Thank you for this forum. I feel I can get some answers here! Thank you thank you.

I have been having very short, fleeting pulsatile tinnitus symptoms in my left ear for about a week or ten days. Not sure exactly.

They last for at most 5-10 seconds. I only experience them once or twice a day. I'm sure I've missed days and not thought about it. It wasn't until a few days ago that I decided to Google it.

I hear a whoosh-whoosh-whoosh. Sometimes it's more noticeable but often the sound is quite subtle. I sometimes feel a sort of weird fullness in my ear area when it happens, but not always. I am fairly certain I have TMJ in that ear (my dentist told me years ago). I sometimes get something out of whack on that side of my jaw (which is painful for a while but that goes away) and my ear often feels stuffy. It feels stuffy now.

Usually, I'm just sitting at my computer when it happens. Exercise doesn't seem to make any difference.

I'm 61-year-old female and am very nervous about my health and often stress over stupid things that go away on their own and never were anything. I have mild anemia and am taking iron pills. I have mild kidney disease and am on a vegan diet which probably hasn't helped the anemia. I always seem be stressed out and worried and wonder if this is making it worse.

I'm going to call my doctor unless you guys think I should wait for a few more days. It really hasn't been that long.

Thanks so much again for being here.

Edit: I also have regular tinnitus (have had it maybe 12 years) which is mild and doesn't bother me. I also had a mild bout of suspected TTTS that faded after I took more Magnesium. (The TTTS was also in the left ear.) I take blood pressure pills and my BP is not too high (just checked).

 

Arguably small random things like this happen to normal people I wouldn’t spend much time thinking about it. May be short lived.

 

And I also don’t mean to dismiss your fears. But I can see you’re thinking in a anxious state and so I think you’d do better focusing on sorting that out first. I’ve been in the same place many times and the unrealistic, ocd, fearful perspective it gives you is far from reality most of the time. Hard to understand when you’re in it, but I can guarantee you people have those small symptoms all the time and don’t think twice. Give it enough time before you freak out.

Truly work on ways to manage and reduce your anxiety. I think you even answered your own questions in your post. It’s extremely unlikely you need to go to the doctor over a few small whoosh sounds for 5 seconds.

It’s like your arm being itchy 5 times a day and you going to the doctor wondering if you’re developing psoriasis.

 

Take between 150 and 200 milligrams of elemental iron per day.

In a few months you shouldn't hear any sound at all.

If you do, then have your hemoglobin tested, and if your hemoglobin is at 8, increase iron a bit.

One way to increase iron just a bit is to steam leafy veggies a couple times a week.

It's not a bad idea to get B12 and Vitamin C levels tested. Take a little Vitamin C to help your iron flow better. For B12 if needed, an injection is best - maybe once a month. You can inject at home. The needle is thin and doesn't hurt.

With anemia causing pulsatile tinnitus, veins near the cochlear become a little hyper.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I really appreciate everyone's input. I know I'm paranoid and often joke about it. OCD, oh yeah, that's me! All I need sometimes is to be reassured. You don't have to apologize for anything! I feel so much better about this.

I've been taking iron pills for a few months when my doctor noticed my blood tests were a bit low. I still have pale gums (which I think means the anemia is still there).

My diet is quite restrictive (I am cautious about taking vitamins and don't take much Vitamin C) which may be contributing to this. I'm starting to take more Vitamin C now. My B12 intake also isn't great (being vegan) but I'll be watchful of that too. Thanks so much again.

The whooshing sounds are much softer now. Still getting them a few times a day, a few seconds each time. Overall, the symptoms seem to be fading. My sister tells me she has occasional "whooshing" too and has for years. (She also has bouts of anemia and is also taking iron pills.)

I have no idea if this theory has any validity, but I suspect that I had those episodes of more noticeable whooshing (still only a few seconds long) because of something inflammatory going on in my left ear area? The stuffed feeling in that ear feels a lot better now.

Thank you so much again. You have been very reassuring.

 

I get the same thing and it was a benign cause (Eustachian tube issues and TMJ). Could very well be the same for you, if that helps your paranoia. When it's that fleeting, I think it's usually benign.

 

Found this explanation out on the net. Makes sense for me.

Your internal carotid artery (the main artery that supplies your brain) passes through your skull within millimeters of your inner ear. When your heart is trying to "catch up" and pump harder and faster to get blood up to your brain, all you can hear is the pulsating blood in your carotid artery.​

 

I wanted to update this several months later. In summary, I'm MUCH better. I won't go so far as to say that "it was/never will be anything" (because I'm not a doctor!) but I have come to the conclusion that the whooshing is probably a combo of stress/paranoia and some sort of nutritional/vitamin deficiency.

Right now I don't even think about it hardly at all. When I do have it, it's a only few seconds and I can barely hear it. It's a non-issue for the most part.

I realized that probably my stress was contributing to it (making it "sound" louder) so, since I am a person of faith, I made it a matter of prayer. I advise anyone with faith to utilize that faith because otherwise—what is the point in having it? Anyway, I felt calmer about it after that.

I also noticed that the whooshing got a little more pronounced after I ran out of my Magnesium supplements but when I started taking them again? The whooshing was suddenly MUCH less. So I think there's a connection.

I can't thank everyone here enough for your comfort and encouraging words. You were a Godsend!