Sudden short burst of dizziness

[Ken_Texas]

Hello,

Been a lurker on this forum for about 6 years and first time posting. I've been in watch and wait for 6 years and have been fortunate to not have any symptoms. I had an MRI and hearing test 1 month ago and everything is stable and normal, however, I have now developed tinnitus and over the past few days I developed these sudden short (1 second) burst of dizziness. It freaks me out every time. Sometimes it feels like I'm falling down an elevator, but it is like a flash and then gone.

Has anyone else experienced this and is this likely related to the AN?

Thank you!

[Mark F.]

Tinnitus is very common, my AN is on the smaller side at 12mm but is very symptomatic.  Which is why I have surgery scheduled soon.   But yes I have had sudden dizziness, I have always done my own mechanic work on my vehicles and noticed 2-3 years ago that all of a sudden if I was laying on the ground under a car, when I went to get up I would get extremely dizzy for just a few seconds.  It eventually progressed to the point that I get dizzy spells just from standing up after sitting in a chair too long, or getting out of the car.   I'm not doctor but it most definitely could be related to the AN.   It also could be something else, but if I was a betting man I would say yes, you are starting to develop some symptoms.

[Ken_Texas]

Thank you for the quick reply!

I've been very anxious about the symptom. It is such a sudden and short disorientation that it scared me. It weirdly only happens when I'm sitting, primarily at my computer desk.

[Mark F.]

I am curious, if you have had no symptoms in 6 years as to how your tumor was discovered if you don't mind telling.   Mine was discovered because I was very actively participating in 5k races and I would wear my ear buds while running, one year in the spring when I went to my first race of the year I thought I had broken my left ear bud, but when I put it to my right ear I realized it worked.  So I made an appointment with an ENT doctor who confirmed major single sided hearing loss and ordered an MRI which of course showed an acoustic neuroma tumor on my left auditory nerve.

[Ken_Texas]

It was an incidental finding. I was having some general twitching in my body likely to due anxiety so they did an MRI and found it. I have strong anxiety related to health which can manifest in symptoms. I have had some slight dizziness over the past 6 years but it has always been very subtle so I could always dismiss it. These latest events are very different, much more sudden and intense.

[Mark F.]

Well one thing I have learned, is that everyone's experience with this is different.   There are some symptoms that nearly everyone ends up with at some point, but there are numerous other symptoms that only seem to hit a few people.  And don't let the size of the tumor fool you either, location seems to mean a lot more than size.   Some people with rather large tumors have almost no symptoms, and some people with fairly small tumors can have debilitating symptoms.   It all depends on what it is doing to the nerve, not how big it is.