The past two months have been the most stressful in recent memory and I wanted to share my story in case it helps someone else. I started reading these forums when I began experiencing my symptoms and while some of the stories were scary and some were hopeful; it was a weirdly comforting experience.
I don't get headaches too often. Perhaps more during the covid times than before but my headaches have usually occurred in the day time; rarely in the evenings and almost never when I go to bed.
One night at the very beginning of September I noticed I was going to bed with an unusual headache. Then boom, the next morning at the very moment I woke up I could hear a ringing in my left ear. That's the first time in my life I ever experienced tinnitus. It hasn't gone away since. Just the one ear.
The tinnitus didn't start off too badly but after a few weeks I noticed it was getting worse at times. At first I thought I was being paranoid and that it wasn't really getting worse, rather I was just focusing on it more. But no, I'll give myself the benefit of the doubt and say it was definitely getting worse.
After about a month of non stop ringing I noticed that when I was walking on the street, I just didn't feel confident in my stride and steps. Not super wobbly just not confident. Then I began to experience more momentary dizziness. Even when that started happening I wondered if I was somehow manifesting or imagining my own symptoms. You almost start not trusting yourself and your own experience. Then I went to a going away gathering for a work colleague at our company office and while I was talking with a coworker, I suddenly felt very wobbly and had the sensation that if I weren't able to sit down immediately, I would certainly fall over. Ok, so definitely not imagining that either.
During this time I went to see my family doctor and he sent me for a hearing test. The hearing test confirmed that I had slightly worse hearing loss in my left ear at higher frequencies. Not a huge difference between right and left, but still a difference.
And to top it all off, I was also having occasional facial numbness and twitching on the left side of my face, mainly around my check, mouth, and eye.
At this point I was getting very stressed out. All along I'm reading forums and searching around the web. I'm basically experiencing the textbook symptoms for an acoustic neuroma.
I live in Canada and while my doctor was willing to refer me for an MRI, the wait times in the system for something 'non emergency' like this are ridiculously long (there are some really good things about Canadian healthcare, but also some really really dumb and bad things about it too). Fortunately I was able to pay for private diagnostics and was able to get in immediately.
My MRI came back clear. I just found out today. So of course I am extremely relieved and grateful. I'm mainly telling my story because as this was all happening to me, I scoured these forums for as many other stories about unilateral tinnitus as I could possibly find... for better or for worse.
So, if you are experiencing anything like what I am. Take it seriously and get checked out but don't panic. It's so easy to jump to the worst case conclusion, especially if all you do is Google your symptoms and read a few forum posts.
I still have the tinnitus and moments of dizziness. I'll deal with it. I will be seeing an ENT and in time I think I'll be fine. Even if I have to live with the tinnitus. All the best to everyone. This forum is an important resource, so thank you to all.
I don't get headaches too often. Perhaps more during the covid times than before but my headaches have usually occurred in the day time; rarely in the evenings and almost never when I go to bed.
One night at the very beginning of September I noticed I was going to bed with an unusual headache. Then boom, the next morning at the very moment I woke up I could hear a ringing in my left ear. That's the first time in my life I ever experienced tinnitus. It hasn't gone away since. Just the one ear.
The tinnitus didn't start off too badly but after a few weeks I noticed it was getting worse at times. At first I thought I was being paranoid and that it wasn't really getting worse, rather I was just focusing on it more. But no, I'll give myself the benefit of the doubt and say it was definitely getting worse.
After about a month of non stop ringing I noticed that when I was walking on the street, I just didn't feel confident in my stride and steps. Not super wobbly just not confident. Then I began to experience more momentary dizziness. Even when that started happening I wondered if I was somehow manifesting or imagining my own symptoms. You almost start not trusting yourself and your own experience. Then I went to a going away gathering for a work colleague at our company office and while I was talking with a coworker, I suddenly felt very wobbly and had the sensation that if I weren't able to sit down immediately, I would certainly fall over. Ok, so definitely not imagining that either.
During this time I went to see my family doctor and he sent me for a hearing test. The hearing test confirmed that I had slightly worse hearing loss in my left ear at higher frequencies. Not a huge difference between right and left, but still a difference.
And to top it all off, I was also having occasional facial numbness and twitching on the left side of my face, mainly around my check, mouth, and eye.
At this point I was getting very stressed out. All along I'm reading forums and searching around the web. I'm basically experiencing the textbook symptoms for an acoustic neuroma.
- Unilateral tinnitus - check
- Unilateral hearing loss - check
- Dizziness - check
- Unilateral facial numbness - check
I live in Canada and while my doctor was willing to refer me for an MRI, the wait times in the system for something 'non emergency' like this are ridiculously long (there are some really good things about Canadian healthcare, but also some really really dumb and bad things about it too). Fortunately I was able to pay for private diagnostics and was able to get in immediately.
My MRI came back clear. I just found out today. So of course I am extremely relieved and grateful. I'm mainly telling my story because as this was all happening to me, I scoured these forums for as many other stories about unilateral tinnitus as I could possibly find... for better or for worse.
So, if you are experiencing anything like what I am. Take it seriously and get checked out but don't panic. It's so easy to jump to the worst case conclusion, especially if all you do is Google your symptoms and read a few forum posts.
I still have the tinnitus and moments of dizziness. I'll deal with it. I will be seeing an ENT and in time I think I'll be fine. Even if I have to live with the tinnitus. All the best to everyone. This forum is an important resource, so thank you to all.
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