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Ashster 
11:12pm, October 21, 2009
Before all of this, I had no idea what that word meant. I had never even heard of it in my life; just like most of you reading this. Unfortunately, I now know what it means & experience it every single day. From the second I wake up until the minute I go to bed. It gets the most annoying at night, when I am lying down & the room is silent. Silence has now become my worst enemy.
What is pulsatile tinnitus you might ask? Well, it is a rhythmical noise that beats in time with your pulse that is heard in your ears. In my case it is a loud swooshing noise that has not let me had a good night's sleep since November of 08.
How I miss those quiet nights...
I can live with the noise if it wasn't for the fact that I know of the horrible things that could cause pulsatile tinnitus; glomus tumors, turbulent blood flow from a blood vessel that becomes narrow, vascular tumors in the inner ear, arteriovenous malformations, abnormal group of arteries and veins that occur within the cranial cavity near the auditory nerve.
That's not the worst part...
It started out as just the swooshing noise but 2 days later I got the worst headache of my life along with dizzyness,lightheadedness and this horrible pressure behind my eyes. I have been to the emergency room about 6 times this past year.
I spent Christmas and New Years laying on a bed in a hospital....what fun.
My daily life consists of pressure all over my head & especially behind my eyes, visual obscurations and disturbances, pulsating headaches,lightheadedness and swooshing noises along with my heartbeat, derealization(everything feels unreal)...24 hours a day, 7 days a week...
This has greatly interfered with my life believe it or not. Everyday tasks have become almost impossible for me.I can not drive, walk without feeling like I am about to fall, or sleep peacefully. Those are just some examples.
June 1st 2009 was my first visit to John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore,MD. I am hopeful that I will get some kind of help here. I visited Dr.Charles J. Limb who is a doctor in the Otolaryngology department. He referred me to a neurologist in Sinai Hospital. He sent me to get a lumbar puncture done and my opening pressure was 32. That's when I was diagnosed with MILD pseudotumor cerebri so that's obviously not that cause of all my symptoms...well that's what he said. From there, I got referred to a neuro-opthamologist who checked my eyes for Papilledema. There was no swelling and everything was fine. I later got an MRV, I have no blood flow on my left sigmoid sinus veins (where blood drains out). It's not a clear picture though, so they don't know if it's a blood clot causing the interruption or what? I am waiting for my appointment with a neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins on November 11th. I can't wait, I don't like to whine but I need some relief, I am hopeful that I am going to get some solid answers to what is going on with my head.I have been worried that it could be heart problems because I also get arrythmias, I visited a cardiologist who said they could be due to stress. I used to have high cholesterol but I got that under control, I really hope it's not a coronary artery causing this. So far, I've had these exams done:- MRI/MRA (came out normal)-Carotid Artery Sonogram (normal)-CT Scan of temporal lobes and arteries with contrast (normal)-Blood tests(cholesterol, diabetes, anemia, D-Dimer, Lupus) (normal)-Echocardiogram (Normal)-EKG(arrythmia and tachycardia)-24 hour holter monitor(arrythmia and tachycardia)-EKG Treadmill test(fast heart rate due to overweight)-Lumbar Puncture (32)-MRV(no blood flow in left sigmoid sinus vein and small right vertebral artery)So this is where I stand...what is causing the poor blood flow to my brain? Blood clots? Too much fluid in my brain? I am just going to have to wait and see. For now I am taking daily aspirin.I know God is going to help me, he won't leave my side.
What is pulsatile tinnitus you might ask? Well, it is a rhythmical noise that beats in time with your pulse that is heard in your ears. In my case it is a loud swooshing noise that has not let me had a good night's sleep since November of 08.
How I miss those quiet nights...
I can live with the noise if it wasn't for the fact that I know of the horrible things that could cause pulsatile tinnitus; glomus tumors, turbulent blood flow from a blood vessel that becomes narrow, vascular tumors in the inner ear, arteriovenous malformations, abnormal group of arteries and veins that occur within the cranial cavity near the auditory nerve.
That's not the worst part...
It started out as just the swooshing noise but 2 days later I got the worst headache of my life along with dizzyness,lightheadedness and this horrible pressure behind my eyes. I have been to the emergency room about 6 times this past year.
I spent Christmas and New Years laying on a bed in a hospital....what fun.
My daily life consists of pressure all over my head & especially behind my eyes, visual obscurations and disturbances, pulsating headaches,lightheadedness and swooshing noises along with my heartbeat, derealization(everything feels unreal)...24 hours a day, 7 days a week...
This has greatly interfered with my life believe it or not. Everyday tasks have become almost impossible for me.I can not drive, walk without feeling like I am about to fall, or sleep peacefully. Those are just some examples.
June 1st 2009 was my first visit to John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore,MD. I am hopeful that I will get some kind of help here. I visited Dr.Charles J. Limb who is a doctor in the Otolaryngology department. He referred me to a neurologist in Sinai Hospital. He sent me to get a lumbar puncture done and my opening pressure was 32. That's when I was diagnosed with MILD pseudotumor cerebri so that's obviously not that cause of all my symptoms...well that's what he said. From there, I got referred to a neuro-opthamologist who checked my eyes for Papilledema. There was no swelling and everything was fine. I later got an MRV, I have no blood flow on my left sigmoid sinus veins (where blood drains out). It's not a clear picture though, so they don't know if it's a blood clot causing the interruption or what? I am waiting for my appointment with a neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins on November 11th. I can't wait, I don't like to whine but I need some relief, I am hopeful that I am going to get some solid answers to what is going on with my head.I have been worried that it could be heart problems because I also get arrythmias, I visited a cardiologist who said they could be due to stress. I used to have high cholesterol but I got that under control, I really hope it's not a coronary artery causing this. So far, I've had these exams done:- MRI/MRA (came out normal)-Carotid Artery Sonogram (normal)-CT Scan of temporal lobes and arteries with contrast (normal)-Blood tests(cholesterol, diabetes, anemia, D-Dimer, Lupus) (normal)-Echocardiogram (Normal)-EKG(arrythmia and tachycardia)-24 hour holter monitor(arrythmia and tachycardia)-EKG Treadmill test(fast heart rate due to overweight)-Lumbar Puncture (32)-MRV(no blood flow in left sigmoid sinus vein and small right vertebral artery)So this is where I stand...what is causing the poor blood flow to my brain? Blood clots? Too much fluid in my brain? I am just going to have to wait and see. For now I am taking daily aspirin.I know God is going to help me, he won't leave my side.
