doc heard murmur in neck artery :( need advice

[motox&mascara]

Hope you all are well.
I am just looking to vent after my lovely a&e visit this morning to see if anyone else has had the same news that can maybe offer some in site. I hope this post doesn't worry anyone...

I went to a&e this morning after another spell on my way to work (second one in under 2 months). Its like someone is pushing on my head and i feel like i black out for a split second. It actually happened right outside a&e so I went and got checked out. After explaining what had happened the doc remembered me from the last episode and started thinking they might be seizures (great!) And that I probably shouldn't be driving right now but he also said he wasn't a nuero so couldn't say for sure. Said my gp should maybe sort a scan out (i had an EEG and MRI about 3 years ago all fine). So there I am thinking f**k I'm having seizures there really is something wrong...

Anyway he did some obs then an ECG - all normal... until he listened to my neck.
He told me I have a humming type murmur in the artery on the left side of my neck. Said its rare to see in people my age (I'm 27) and can cause blood clots. he said he didn't mean to scare me (too bloody late) but I should go see my GP as soon as to organise getting a scan.

I burst into tears and my boss came and picked me up and took me to my mums where I'm now waiting to get a call from my doc. My partner thinks I'm fine and its just my anxiety :mad:

I'm freaking out and my worries bounce between maybe having seizures or the fact I may have a weird thing going on with my artery that could cause me to develop a clot and die (the latter being more prominent now). I was at the hospital just the other day for something unrealted (having iud removed) they did bloods and urine both prefect.

I don't want to google which is why I am posting here. Has anyone else out there in NMP land experienced this? I'm so scared. I don't even know what its called thus murmur thing.

Sorry for the long post...I have trouble keeping things short and sweet lol.

Thanks in advance to anyone who replies

X

[Catherine S]

It could be what's called a Venous hum which is actually benign. The flow of blood can sometimes make the veins of the neck vibrate and this can create a 'hum' that can be picked up on examination.

:)

[motox&mascara]

It could be what's called a Venous hum which is actually benign. The flow of blood can sometimes make the veins of the neck vibrate and this can create a 'hum' that can be picked up on examination.

:)


Thanks for replying :)
Thats interesting, have never heard of that - thanks for the info.

The doc at a&e didn't really explain it very well he pretty much just scared the crap out of me he didn't even give it a name. And on top of that telling me I shouldn't be driving in case they are seizures arrg I'm scared I just wanna know...
Still waiting to hear back from my actual gp about whats next. Still pretty scared but trying not to work myself up to much :scared15:

[motox&mascara]

Update: my gp said its a Bruit, otherwise known as a vascular murmur. He said its very unlikely to cause me any trouble at my age (alongside all clear tests etc) but is sending me for an ultrasound for my price of mind. Fingers crossed I'm all good!
Its the last thing I'd ever think was wrong with me but could explain the dizzy spells (especially when angry and my blood pressure rises).

Has anyone else suffered this?

Thanks for reading.

[swgrl09]

I haven't, I've had heart murmurs though that were no big deal and eventually went away. It's really a good thing that your GP isn't worried and the ultrasound will hopefully provide you some relief from worrying.

[beasty340]

I went to the doctor for a mild chest pain and they did an EKG that was highly abnormal. It was saying that my heart was enlarged. I went to a cardiologist and another EKG and Echo later, my heart is fine just a small murmur. It is not always as bad as it seems.

[motox&mascara]

Thanks for your replies :) good to hear you both had no probs!
Yeah I think the a&e doc made it sound a lot worse and I just took the worst case scenario from it. Luckily my doc explained it to me in a way I could understand and calmed it all down a bit (he's also a heart specialist part time so i trust him with this). He even said my risk is that small they might even deny us the ultrasound. I hope not though, I just wanna make sure everything's alright in the artery and its not blocked (my doc did say its very rare to see in someone my age who is hhealth, usually seen when older - my only risk factor is that I smoke which I will be giving up now).

Just hope I get the all clear and that this is all related to my dizziness. I still have the seizure stuff floating around in my head too that the a&e doc mentioned but my GP doesn't even want to go down that road again as he's adament it not whats happening...hope not cos I really need to be able to drive!!

Ahh I'm going off on another health ramble now tryna rationalise it all so I better stop haha.

Thanks for your words :)

[motox&mascara]

this is killing me now,
since it all happened, i have now started to get pain in the side that the humming was heard. trying to rationalise with myself but its hard when you get in the throws of it.

surely if they were that worried they would have sent me straight to the hospital? at present, i am just waiting until my GP hears back about an ultrasound referral.
my bloods and ECG are fine, and my risk factors are super low so i assume thats why my doc is not concered.
still cant stop thinking "what if" though..

i've been stuck in bed since i found out, basically in tears worried that i have a stroke waiting to happen, or something of the like. i really dont want to have to make my partner take me back to the hospital again!

this is horrible :weep:

[motox&mascara]

Hi all,

I’lol probably just be talking to myself here but thought I’d give an uodate as I know there are a lot of posts where you never really find out what the outcome was...

Anywho I ended up getting my scan done...nothing found, nada - the doctor couldnt even HEAR the murmur that the original A&E doc heard and was told my arteries are “beautiful”. All that worrying for nothing!!

I also ended up seeing a neuro not long after (see my other posts for seizure/ms/tumor worries) and got the all clear from there to. Didn’t even want to run further tests. Although the thoughts do creep back in every now and then I try to remember that a Nero knows what they are looking for and nothing she could see pointed to anything neurological (I’ve recently started to question this but I have to remember it’s my HA talking).

I try to stay away from the HA section now and work on my thought patterns (I actually cringe at some of the past posts I’ve made). Some days are hard yes but that’s life. I’m now focused on getting my hormones balanced as I think that may be where half my problems stem from since tracking cycles.

Wishing everyone the best in their journeys and remember, most of what you think isn’t true :)

[Anxiousamyj]

Thanks for the update! It's always nice to see stories that reinforce the fact that health anxiety is indeed powerful and produces some weird and awful symptoms.

[IreneRumi]

Thank you for following up! I remember reading your story a while ago and its nice to hear a positive update.