My tinnitus could be a brain tumor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. I’m sorry you are going through this. I have some hearing loss and tinnitus that I’ve had for several years but it’s only become a serious problem in the last 2-3 years. I had an MRI and all the tests but they all came back negative. MRIs are costly and time consuming so I suspect drs are reluctant to order them but it did give me peace of mind.

Have you considered hearing aids? I am looking at them right now, mainly because of the tinnitus. The audiologist told me she had patients who had it so bad that they were suicidal but the hearing aid helped a lot.

I might consider a hearing aid. My hearing loss is on one side, which is why they wanted to test me for the neuroma. I want to find the reason first so I can prevent losing more hearing.

As I think back, I’ve had problems with the right side of my neck and my right ear for decades. Doctors have told me it’s nothing. But my dysautonomia causes low brain blood flow and maybe that destroyed my auditory nerve.

To answer the person above: I am a woman.

In my 30s, one doctor told me I was too young to have problems. The problem I saw her about is related to what’s happening now.

So, my gender and the medical world not listening contributed to my deafness.

I have tinnitus but I have found focusing on it 100% makes my brain bored and then I “forget” the tinnitus. This works for me.

Others have found relief by sticking out their tongue or clenching their jaw to reduce or eliminate tinnitus, because of how those actions may affect fusiform cells. I read this in an article about Susan Shore, who is researching a cure for tinnitus at Michigan. This does not help me but maybe it will help someone else here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. I’m sorry you are going through this. I have some hearing loss and tinnitus that I’ve had for several years but it’s only become a serious problem in the last 2-3 years. I had an MRI and all the tests but they all came back negative. MRIs are costly and time consuming so I suspect drs are reluctant to order them but it did give me peace of mind.

Have you considered hearing aids? I am looking at them right now, mainly because of the tinnitus. The audiologist told me she had patients who had it so bad that they were suicidal but the hearing aid helped a lot.

I’m sorry you have hearing loss.

OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are awfully far down the path of thinking you have a tumor when there is no specific evidence of that.

I see you have an opinion on my actions and did not answer my question. You can just move along unless you have any sort of useful answer to my question about how others can be helped in the future with better diagnostics.

Unless you think it works best to only help patients once they are partly deaf?

OP

OP you’re not right. Tinnitus in one earn is *extremely* common. The most common cause is high frequency hearing loss that happens with age—and this is just from exposure to loud sounds over time. So, even though you now have some hearing loss, it’s still unlikely to be a tumor. You are getting waaaayyy ahead of yourself here, and your “gotcha”/victim/paranoid mentality isn’t helping you. But it’s par for the course for someone who starts out shopping around to a “functional medicine” doctor and then crying about missed diagnoses (which it’s not even clear this is).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to an ENT about very sporadic ringing in one ear and had perfect hearing test results. Should I go back and insist on an MRI? They mentioned nothing about an acoustic neuroma possibility, only that it might be some fluid imbalance.

You could ask but my DH was sent for an MRI to check for a neuroma because he had a slight hearing loss in one ear.

These benign tumors are more common in middle aged men that’s why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what did your MRI find?

I do not have a neuroma or infarction or hydrocephalus.

What I likely do have is a dysautonomia. I think my issue is due to low blood flow to the brain / auditory nerve. My other symptoms are in line with POTS or orthostatic hypotension, and my relevant symptoms go back to my teen years before they had a name for POTS.

PS: Tinnitus may be caused by the brain creating phantom sound due to loss of hearing. Google dorsal cochlea nucleus or see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3402636/

Glad to hear no tumor but I know it can be frustrating not having an official diagnosis. Woman PP with sporadic tinnitus too, I had never looked up POTS but I have very similar symptoms too. Did your doctor have any suggestions for what to do next?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what did your MRI find?

I do not have a neuroma or infarction or hydrocephalus.

What I likely do have is a dysautonomia. I think my issue is due to low blood flow to the brain / auditory nerve. My other symptoms are in line with POTS or orthostatic hypotension, and my relevant symptoms go back to my teen years before they had a name for POTS.

PS: Tinnitus may be caused by the brain creating phantom sound due to loss of hearing. Google dorsal cochlea nucleus or see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3402636/

You think. Maybe quit blaming others for your own crackpot logic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are awfully far down the path of thinking you have a tumor when there is no specific evidence of that.

I see you have an opinion on my actions and did not answer my question. You can just move along unless you have any sort of useful answer to my question about how others can be helped in the future with better diagnostics.

Unless you think it works best to only help patients once they are partly deaf?

OP

OP you’re not right. Tinnitus in one earn is *extremely* common. The most common cause is high frequency hearing loss that happens with age—and this is just from exposure to loud sounds over time. So, even though you now have some hearing loss, it’s still unlikely to be a tumor. You are getting waaaayyy ahead of yourself here, and your “gotcha”/victim/paranoid mentality isn’t helping you. But it’s par for the course for someone who starts out shopping around to a “functional medicine” doctor and then crying about missed diagnoses (which it’s not even clear this is).

Completely agree with the above. OP posted an alarmist message that had misinformation and yes this victim mentality. An acoustic neuroma is NOT the most likely scenario, and this was the case for the OP who just posted that he or she does not have a neuroma. And frankly OP you've been unpleasant in some of your follow up messages

[Anonymous]

This sounds like a basically healthy person in search of a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP. I’m sorry you are going through this. I have some hearing loss and tinnitus that I’ve had for several years but it’s only become a serious problem in the last 2-3 years. I had an MRI and all the tests but they all came back negative. MRIs are costly and time consuming so I suspect drs are reluctant to order them but it did give me peace of mind.

Have you considered hearing aids? I am looking at them right now, mainly because of the tinnitus. The audiologist told me she had patients who had it so bad that they were suicidal but the hearing aid helped a lot.

I might consider a hearing aid. My hearing loss is on one side, which is why they wanted to test me for the neuroma. I want to find the reason first so I can prevent losing more hearing.

As I think back, I’ve had problems with the right side of my neck and my right ear for decades. Doctors have told me it’s nothing. But my dysautonomia causes low brain blood flow and maybe that destroyed my auditory nerve.

To answer the person above: I am a woman.

In my 30s, one doctor told me I was too young to have problems. The problem I saw her about is related to what’s happening now.

So, my gender and the medical world not listening contributed to my deafness.

I have tinnitus but I have found focusing on it 100% makes my brain bored and then I “forget” the tinnitus. This works for me.

Others have found relief by sticking out their tongue or clenching their jaw to reduce or eliminate tinnitus, because of how those actions may affect fusiform cells. I read this in an article about Susan Shore, who is researching a cure for tinnitus at Michigan. This does not help me but maybe it will help someone else here.

Thanks for this post. I have one sided tinnitus, and for me ignoring it makes my brain lose interest, but I never thought of doing the opposite and focusing on it to lose interest. Thanks for this idea. The brain really does get used to it over time but occasionally I will find it really annoying. Will try this technique next time!

[Anonymous]

I have tinnitus and if I listen to it really hard it makes it go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've posted here before to try and find a solution to the tinnitus I would sometimes have.

Facts:

--Five years ago, I visited several doctors regarding the tinnitus. The GP said allergies. A functional doctor said a tight SCM muscle. The ENT said I had excellent hearing and not to worry about it.
--I rarely attended concerts due to sensitive ears. When I did, I wore ear protection.
--The tinnitus came and went repeatedly. I still thought it was related to concerts, excessive ear wax, or allergies (all things doctors had told me before)...

Recently: After a stressful time, eating salty processed foods (more than usual), and not drinking enough water, I experienced hearing loss to a great scale.

The doctor followed the typical medical protocol. Meanwhile, my hearing test showed nerve damage.

This could be due to a tumor or Meniere's Disease, and I won't get my lost hearing back.

I want to find a way to encourage doctors not to dismiss ear problems as merely "allergies." If this had been caught before--and if it is a tumor--the tumor could have been removed and prevented hearing loss. If it's Meniere's, then they say nothing can be done.

In the current way of doing things, the medical world waits until you lose hearing and then decides to help.

Question:

As a potential tumor patient, what would be ways to encourage a different way of diagnosing patients? I would like this not to happen to other people.

Suggestion:

If you have tinnitus, I'd recommend requesting a MRI -- especially if the tinnitus is in ONE ear and not two.

I'm extra sensitive because my friend had her issue called "allergies." At one of the best US hospitals, they took a scan and found a tumor, so I admit I have my opinions about this diagnostic process or lack thereof.

I'm sorry. I agree that doctors are very quick to dismiss patients' concerns. It is so incredibly frustrating. I had been having breast pain for a couple of years and it was dismissed as "breast cancer doesn't hurt." Guess what i was ultimately diagnosed with?

Similarly, was having some cardio issues and it was dismissed as "anxiety." Turns out I have some minor BP and murmur issues, not serious but it took FOREVER to get the doc to give me some tests.

GL OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to an ENT about very sporadic ringing in one ear and had perfect hearing test results. Should I go back and insist on an MRI? They mentioned nothing about an acoustic neuroma possibility, only that it might be some fluid imbalance.

You could ask but my DH was sent for an MRI to check for a neuroma because he had a slight hearing loss in one ear.

These benign tumors are more common in middle aged men that’s why.

Used to be. Now everyone is getting them

[Anonymous]

I’m “that person” who demands MRIs and CT scans. I’ve had one such brushed off medical condition for my kid and finally found a doe not afraid to order scans and turns out he has a rare genetic disease that we caught and treated successfully early.

No idea why drs are stingy with MRIs. The are not harmful and if my insurance won’t cover that’s my choice to pay or not.

I’m not above doctor shopping.

[Anonymous]

See an audiologist.

[Anonymous]

It is quite common for people to feel angry in the face of this kind of illness and with the frustration of things not being found and explained early. It's a normal response. Please don't beat the OP up for that. She is also in her 30s when honestly none of us expect to be dealing with this kind of thing.