Greetings Everyone,
My name is Adam Wade, call me Adam or Wade. While I wouldn’t say I’m happy to be posting here (I’m guessing no one is happy about experiencing chronic conditions), but I am grateful to be amongst so many kind and caring people. I signed up a few days ago and I’ve been reading through a lot of the information here.
A little about me:
I live in San Francisco bay area; my home is in Oakland (so depressed at the crushing defeat of the Warriors last night 
). I’ve got a really interesting but sometimes stressful job working as an engineering and earthquake geologist for Pacific Gas and Electric Company. I evaluate and mitigate geologic hazards for the company’s infrastructure. Before I became a geologist, I was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne. Throughout my life I’ve had to pull many long days and have put my body and mind through the wringer. Anxiety has been an old friend of mine and I’m no stranger to its many mysterious symptoms. Over the past 10 years though my list of symptom complaints has grown extensively and more recently have started to point towards something structural within my body. I’m not sure if what I’m experiencing sounds like Eagle Syndrome, so I’m interested to learn more from everyone here.
My mysterious symptom story:
To be honest I really don’t know where to start. But I’d say things first got weird for me back in 2015. One day I was at a restaurant eating lunch and all of sudden I felt like my chair and table were very unstable. I had the feeling of anxiety and could feel my heart rate pick up. Not sure how long it lasted maybe 5 to 10 minutes. This happened a few times that year, and always while eating lunch, but because it was so infrequent, I thought maybe I was just really sensitive to a wobbly chair. I don’t really remember this happening again for a while. Around 2019 it happened again while I was eating lunch with some friends. They took me to the ER where my heart was evaluated. They didn’t find any abnormalities; told me my potassium levels were a little low and sent me on my way. Beginning in 2020 this started to happen a little more frequently. More trips to the ER and multiple doctors’ visits. I had extensive heart studies but discovered no problems. My doctor concluded I was experiencing anxiety and panic attacks. I took medication and underwent psychotherapy. I also started having a real problem with insomnia, which made things worse. So, I increase my exercise routine thinking it would burn off the anxiety. The condition never really went away I just got used to it and didn’t worry about it too much, which seemed to make it a little less severe for a while. in mid-2023 I went through a pretty stressful period and also had a severe neck strain. For over a week my neck and back of head got so stiff and painful I couldn’t do anything but cry. Doctor gave me NSAIDs and muscle relaxers and it subsided and the strain went away. A week or two later I was doing some work in the field and woke up one morning in my hotel room and heard some tinnitus. At this point in the story I should say I do have some hearing loss in my right ear from gunfire during my time in the Army. I did experience some mild tinnitus after that event, but it resolved and went away. That was over 20 years ago. That morning in the hotel room I thought the tinnitus was odd but wasn’t too worried about it. Later that morning it went away.
A couple weeks after this is when my life really flipped upside down. I was sitting at my desk in the office and all of a sudden, I started to hear very load tinnitus in both ears. A few days later I saw a doctor who referred me to an audiologist. My hearing was tested and not a big shock they noted I had high frequency hearing loss in my right ear. I also noticed my ears got really sensitive to small pressure changes. They would pop just driving up a small hill near my house that never happend before. I saw an ENT who said the tinnitus was due to hearing loss. I told her that happened 20 years ago and that tinnitus went away. Plus, this was bilateral tinnitus, and my hearing is normal in my left ear. She shrugged her shoulders and that was the end of that. When I asked about the popping ears, she said it was Eustachian tube dysfunction and to use a nasal spray. I saw a few other audiologists and they had similar responses. My anxiety levels started to skyrocket, and I started to experience terrible insomnia. After about a year, the anxiety levels felt like the leveled off a little bit. My sleep got better but never really went back to what it was before. I still have really poor night’s sleep that occur randomly. Beginning around August or September of 2024 I began experiencing a new form of tinnitus in my right ear. It’s a beeping sound with a staccato rhythm like morse code and I can modify it by moving my head/neck and jaw. I can briefly make it stop by pushing into my ear lobe or pressing under my chin and below my ear. I visited more doctors who concluded it was due to TMJ so I saw a couple of dentists. I was changed $6,000 for a night guard that has made no difference. My jaw does occasionally pop or crack on my right side.
Wondering if this was all related to my neck (I’ve had ongoing problems, mostly stiffness, with my neck for years) I went to see Dr. Hauser at Caring Medical in April of 2025. He noted a bone spur on my C1 and some instability in my lower neck along with some possible pinching in my neural foramina. He also mentioned an elongated styloid on my left side but said nothing of Eagle Syndrome. He also noted from an ultrasound some compression of the IJV, degenerated Vagus nerves, elevated velocities in vertebral arteries and low HRV. He attributed all of this to a loss of the cervical curve and ordered curve correction therapy.
Lately my symptoms feel like they’ve worsened. I’ve also started getting headaches and my left eye twitches often. Some other symptoms I have not mentioned are spasms in my ears, it feels like someone pinched my middle ear for a second. It seems to happen randomly although may occur with certain head positions. I’m sure there are about half dozen other symptoms I’m not listing. I forgot to mention that my tinnitus sounds are completely chaotic. I have different sounds in each ear, and they change every day. I also have different sounds at night/early in the morning when I wake up. The intensity is usually higher in the right side but can sometimes be stronger in the left. Sometimes when I first get out of bed, I’ll also hear what sounds like my head deflating. And then, very infrequently, it will all just disappear for an hour or two before starting back up again.
I recently met with a neurologist who’s ordered an MRI and MRA of my head and neck. I brought up Eagle Syndrome to him and he said I don’t meet the criteria because my chief complaint is not pain.
I do have a couple of 3D CT scans, one from a dentist in 2024 and one from Caring Medical. When I view the data, I can see the left styloid and feel like I can make out the faint trace of another one on my right side. I’ve got a consultation with Dr. Osborne tomorrow afternoon (5/15/2025) and shared the scans with him.
My experience feels similar to others that I’ve read on this forum. It seems like the condition has a lot of variability. I know all too well the problems of self-diagnosis, so I’m not completely sold I have ES. I’m interested in some feedback from others. It seems like getting a proper diagnosis and treatment can be a long and exhausting process. I’ve felt so alone going through this, I guess I feel good to be able to share with people that know how challenging a mysterious condition can be.
Any feedback or suggestions for next steps would be greatly appreciated. I’m looking forward to hearing what Dr. Osborne has to say tomorrow.
