BevM,
In response to your mention that the tinnitus may or may not have been due to the AN. The way it was explained to me by the ENT is that tinnitus is a symptom of hearing loss. As one looses hearing the brain sends signals (the ringging) to try and replace that which is missing. Kind of like when someone who had to have a limb amputated, they keep feeling pain or an itch on the missing limb. This made sense to me as he explained that this is why many people develope mild and/or intermittant tennitus as they get older. Since gradual hearing loss is a natural part of aging, the gradual onset of I guess a more mild tinnitus occurs. So when one has an AN tunmor that is causing hearing loss, the brain starts sending the signals to try and replace the missing hearing, thus the tinnitus. So in a round about way, Yes, the tinnitus is caused by the AN. Oboviously this is just the explainagtion of my ENT who diagnosed my AN who has specialized in AN surgeries for many years at the House institute in CA and now at the University of Utah Hospital The accuracy is unknown but it sure made sense to me. Hope that helps.
LOL
Patti UT
