View Full Version : Diagnosed myself..
Right so at around 5-6 months pregnant i developed pulsatile tinnitus, where you can hear the sound of your pulse in your ears. My GP said this can happen in pregnancy due to increased blood flow but that it would definitely go once i'd given birth, it's not and its 11 weeks later and just getting worse.
It is there 24 hours a day, and has been for months & is driving me crazy, it's definitely my pulse & gets louder and faster on exertion, sometimes its so loud i struggle to hear people or the t.v and makes me feel so sick, a constant whoosh whoosh whoosh in line with my pulse
I googled the causes and they're all very bad, a tumour in the neck, narrowed neck arteries or jugular. I want to see my doctor but i know they will just relate it to anxiety when it's definitely not that, yes anxiety probably makes it even more noticeable but this is a real thing that must have a cause and i've checked, anxiety can't cause pulsatile tinnitus. I'm losing sleep over it & it's making me ill :weep:
How can i get them to listen to my concerns about this and not dismiss it?
AMomentofClarity
05-04-18, 22:44
Interesting. I just Googled pulsatile tinnitus (got to WebMD) and one of the first causes listed is high blood pressure. Also hardened arteries from cholesterol, etc. As far as the narrowed arteries or jugular thing, the exact quote used is “Irregular arteries. This is a common issue.”
So not only did you decide you have something without a doctors diagnosis, but you automatically jumped to the worst case scenario causes, going so far as to describe them as “they’re all very bad”, despite there being multiple relatively benign causes.
Interesting. I just Googled pulsatile tinnitus (got to WebMD) and one of the first causes listed is high blood pressure. Also hardened arteries from cholesterol, etc. As far as the narrowed arteries or jugular thing, the exact quote used is “Irregular arteries. This is a common issue.”
So not only did you decide you have something without a doctors diagnosis, but you automatically jumped to the worst case scenario causes, going so far as to describe them as “they’re all very bad”, despite there being multiple relatively benign causes.
I have been diagnosed with pulsatile tinnitus, but I've self diagnosed the cause :weep:
I could not find anything slightly benign when searching for possible causes, my blood pressure is low so it's not that. I'm 27 and have a healthy diet so would hate to think it's hardening of the arteries from cholesterol!
As i said it's not something i can just get on with, its making my mental state far worse and stopping me from enjoying anything, with it being there 24 hours a day there's no break from it so my anxiety is through the roof. Ideally i would like to be referred for a scan of the neck and or other tests they think are needed to try find the cause, but i will probably have to demand it as i know they will try and send me home with just anxiety advice.
I don't recall. Are you getting any real life help for your anxiety? If not, I highly suggest it. being a new Mom is stressful enough but add to it severe anxiety and I can see why you're struggling.
I wish you peace.
Positive thoughts
I don't recall. Are you getting any real life help for your anxiety? If not, I highly suggest it. being a new Mom is stressful enough but add to it severe anxiety and I can see why you're struggling.
I wish you peace.
Positive thoughts
No offense Fishman i appreciate your reply but this is exactly what i am worried my GP is going to do, i am well aware of my anxiety and probably have done and know more about it than 90% of this forum.
Having anxiety doesn't rule out the possibility of real health problems, i know that first hand. As i have said, i was diagnosed with pulsatile tinnitus, i have it, no if's or but's, not anxiety, a real condition that cannot be treated with CBT & that should be taken seriously, but because of my anxiety issues it will be dismissed as this has proven.
I find it quite rude to dismiss someones suffering on the basis they have anxiety. If i never had a history of anxiety, would a GP not look into the cause? They would. If they can diagnose me with something surely anybody would want to know whats causing it and get the correct treatment.
Being a new mum is extremely stressful, especially with a pre existing anxiety disorder, add to that this relentless sound i can't escape from then yes its torturous for me.
No offense Fishman i appreciate your reply but this is exactly what i am worried my GP is going to do, i am well aware of my anxiety and probably have done and know more about it than 90% of this forum.
Having anxiety doesn't rule out the possibility of real health problems, i know that first hand. As i have said, i was diagnosed with pulsatile tinnitus, i have it, no if's or but's, not anxiety, a real condition that cannot be treated with CBT & that should be taken seriously, but because of my anxiety issues it will be dismissed as this has proven.
I find it quite rude to dismiss someones suffering on the basis they have anxiety. If i never had a history of anxiety, would a GP not look into the cause? They would. If they can diagnose me with something surely anybody would want to know whats causing it and get the correct treatment.
Being a new mum is extremely stressful, especially with a pre existing anxiety disorder, add to that this relentless sound i can't escape from then yes its torturous for me.
Anxiety sufferers can and do have real physical issues.
I have real physical issues too. More than 99% of those on this forum. I've been in therapy for depression. I've taken meds to help. I'm not a sufferer but I know damn well how much work and effort goes into overcoming mental obstacles. To this day I use the techniques and exercises I learned in therapy to help manage and control the negativity when my real physical symptoms are overwhelming me.
I get it. There are some that never will control or overcome their mental illness. I just don't believe you're one of them. You owe it to yourself and your family to give it 110% to do so.
"Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we handle it." - Charles Swindoll
"Positive" thoughts
MyNameIsTerry
06-04-18, 01:51
Right so at around 5-6 months pregnant i developed pulsatile tinnitus, where you can hear the sound of your pulse in your ears. My GP said this can happen in pregnancy due to increased blood flow but that it would definitely go once i'd given birth, it's not and its 11 weeks later and just getting worse.
It is there 24 hours a day, and has been for months & is driving me crazy, it's definitely my pulse & gets louder and faster on exertion, sometimes its so loud i struggle to hear people or the t.v and makes me feel so sick, a constant whoosh whoosh whoosh in line with my pulse
I googled the causes and they're all very bad, a tumour in the neck, narrowed neck arteries or jugular. I want to see my doctor but i know they will just relate it to anxiety when it's definitely not that, yes anxiety probably makes it even more noticeable but this is a real thing that must have a cause and i've checked, anxiety can't cause pulsatile tinnitus. I'm losing sleep over it & it's making me ill :weep:
How can i get them to listen to my concerns about this and not dismiss it?
Hi Katie,
I have to question what you have been reading. See what the British Tinnitus Association say, which appears to contradict what you have read:
https://www.tinnitus.org.uk/pulsatile-tinnitus
Tumours of the head and neck cause the development of abnormal blood vessels and this can result in pulsatile tinnitus. The majority of tumours associated with pulsatile tinnitus are benign rather than malignant.
Note that is clipped but I think it is important to understand that even a tumour is not what we may automatically think of when we hear the word. My GF had a tumour that caused her pain that her GP thought was kidney stones. She was referred and the consultant said it is a benign tumour you can be born with and never realise you have until picked up on a scan and providing it wasn't causing any issues they wouldn't do anything about it anyway. In her case it was wrapping around one of her ovaries hence the pain so they had to operate on it. So, when they say that the majority in the case of your diagnosed disorder are benign you have to remember that it is not the same as the type of tumour we tend to associate with aggressive cancers.
Another interesting snippet is this:
Blood that is flowing quickly makes more noise than blood that is flowing slowly. Increased blood flow throughout the body can occur in strenuous exercise or pregnancy. It can also occur in severe anaemia or when the thyroid gland is overactive, a condition known as hyperthyroidism or thyrotoxicosis.
I agree that your GP should be looking towards root cause if it's not going away. Considering it's connected to pregnancy and blood pressure they may be thinking it's something that resolves itself but once it doesn't they should investigate in case treatment is needed for another root cause.
Have they been monitoring your blood pressure? Anything pregnancy & birth related is way outside my comfort zone and I hope some of the ladies on here can help you understand what may be a potential cause after a C-section.
Katie, have you had your ears checked? I've had something like this a few times when the pressure in my ears was messed up due to congestion, or getting the eustachian tube sort of stuck open. It's so annoying, for sure.
Hi Katie
A quick google search for ‘pulsatile tinnitus anxiety’ brings up countless hits ... it definitely can be caused by anxiety - i’m Not saying that’s definitely the case for you or that it doesn’t require investigation but anxiety is another potential benign cause of what you’re experiencing. I know I definitely get it when i’m Particularly anxious & the more I think about it the worse it gets.
Anxiety sufferers can and do have real physical issues.
I have real physical issues too. More than 99% of those on this forum. I've been in therapy for depression. I've taken meds to help. I'm not a sufferer but I know damn well how much work and effort goes into overcoming mental obstacles. To this day I use the techniques and exercises I learned in therapy to help manage and control the negativity when my real physical symptoms are overwhelming me.
I get it. There are some that never will control or overcome their mental illness. I just don't believe you're one of them. You owe it to yourself and your family to give it 110% to do so.
"Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we handle it." - Charles Swindoll
"Positive" thoughts
Yes i get that. Its something I've been trying really hard to do because the last couple of months I've faced a lot of 'real' issues and have been trying to not let my anxiety get our of control, but it's so hard and I can see that my thinking is very negative so I know I'm in a bad place with it. I'm not under the impression that if this gets resolved my anxiety will go, I know from experience it doesn't work like that, but I'd like this to be addressed so I can then focus on getting help with my anxiety again
---------- Post added at 07:38 ---------- Previous post was at 07:35 ----------
I've not had my ears checked but that may be something I ask as I always have a strange crackling in them especially when yawning and sometimes they feel full.
Terry yeah I read about those tumours and that did give me some relief, I do have a lump/mass in my neck at the side a bit bigger than a marble I've had it since being a child and its been scanned, not sure what they said it is but wasn't anything of concern at the time.
My thyroid is another possibility i suppose, I'll discuss these with my doctor and hopefully something will come of it, I'm still not recovered from the pregnancy and birth it's really taken its toll!
I did a quick google of this and it said only in exceptional cases is it a sign of a more serious underlying condition. There was also lots of advice about lifestyle and relaxation therapy to treat it which suggests it can be linked with stress and anxiety. Like any medical condition that could potentially be serious, your doctor should look into it. I'm always very up front with my doctor about my worries. I tell him that I appreciate my anxiety is probably disproportionate to the problem but that I would like him to do any tests that he would consider necessary on a non anxious person, not attribute everything to anxiety but also not to test just for reassurance. Hopefully if you have an honest conversation with them they are less likely to fob you off.
I did a quick google of this and it said only in exceptional cases is it a sign of a more serious underlying condition. There was also lots of advice about lifestyle and relaxation therapy to treat it which suggests it can be linked with stress and anxiety. Like any medical condition that could potentially be serious, your doctor should look into it. I'm always very up front with my doctor about my worries. I tell him that I appreciate my anxiety is probably disproportionate to the problem but that I would like him to do any tests that he would consider necessary on a non anxious person, not attribute everything to anxiety but also not to test just for reassurance. Hopefully if you have an honest conversation with them they are less likely to fob you off.
Thanks this is good advice and that's exactly what I want, I don't want to be tested just to reassure me, I just want them to listen to what I say and do any tests they would do on s non anxious person, I definitely do not rule out stress and anxiety exacerbating the problem, without a doubt it does! And it's obvious my anxiety is high about it but just don't want to come out of their with no answers or feeling like it wasn't taken seriously, I know they take one look at anxiety in my notes and never address the issue, even when I see a new GP they will usually start talking about anxiety with me when I've gone there over a physical thing like a chest infection lol
I don't have that big a history with the doctors as most my concerns I've never gone to a GP for reassurance, just on here!
Do you think it is possible that it is always there because you’re checking for it all the time? When I had ectopic beats, I had them almost relentlessly for months. The only time I didn’t have them was when I had another health problem that lasted about 2 weeks. During that time I never had any ectopics. However, once the other problem was resolved the ectopics returned all day, every day. You might think you aren’t checking for the pulse beating in your ears but trust me you are...all the time.
whatisthis
06-04-18, 14:04
I randomly developed a hissing like tinnitus 2 years ago and it drove me to the point of madness. I felt I couldn't live with it and I was the opposite hoping that they would find something that was the cause of it even if it was sinister.
After a while I just somehow accepted it and I only really hear if I stop and listen for it in a quiet room/headphones etc. My brain just ignores it most of the time. Consultants did say anxiety could be the cause or making me focus on it more. I'm actually trying to focus on it more to get my mind off another problem.
I hope you feel better soon.
Do you think it is possible that it is always there because you’re checking for it all the time? When I had ectopic beats, I had them almost relentlessly for months. The only time I didn’t have them was when I had another health problem that lasted about 2 weeks. During that time I never had any ectopics. However, once the other problem was resolved the ectopics returned all day, every day. You might think you aren’t checking for the pulse beating in your ears but trust me you are...all the time.
I'm really not sure because it's so loud most of the time that I can't hear what my partner is saying or the television always needs turning up, if it had times where it wasn't there then I might consider it but it's been non stop for months no matter what I'm doing, where as other symptoms of anxiety usually let you when I'm busy or out doing something.
But then again I know how powerful anxiety can be so I'm open to all possibilities but just hope my doctor will treat this as he would with anyone else because whatever the cause its really affecting my day to day life. I have an appointment on Tuesday hopefully it will help clear a few things up!
---------- Post added at 15:02 ---------- Previous post was at 15:02 ----------
I randomly developed a hissing like tinnitus 2 years ago and it drove me to the point of madness. I felt I couldn't live with it and I was the opposite hoping that they would find something that was the cause of it even if it was sinister.
After a while I just somehow accepted it and I only really hear if I stop and listen for it in a quiet room/headphones etc. My brain just ignores it most of the time. Consultants did say anxiety could be the cause or making me focus on it more. I'm actually trying to focus on it more to get my mind off another problem.
I hope you feel better soon.
Thankyou
Do you think it is possible that it is always there because you’re checking for it all the time? When I had ectopic beats, I had them almost relentlessly for months. The only time I didn’t have them was when I had another health problem that lasted about 2 weeks. During that time I never had any ectopics. However, once the other problem was resolved the ectopics returned all day, every day. You might think you aren’t checking for the pulse beating in your ears but trust me you are...all the time.
This is what I'm getting at. I don't doubt you are experiencing tinnitus. I actually have a bit in my left ear from chemo treatment and documented hearing loss via testing. If I focus on it, I can hear it but 99% of the time I don't even notice it. It's just like those posts about hearing your heartbeat, seeing floaters etc. If I focus on it, I can hear my heartbeat and a slight ring in my ear when I lie down to go to bed. BUT... I'm able to immediately distract myself with other thoughts and next thing I know I'm asleep :)
From what I've read here and elsewhere, anxiety has a pretty extreme self monitoring/examination aspect and IMO that's a big part of the issue. Again, how many threads do you read here where someone goes on vacation and feels great only to come home and their symptoms return?
So while there may be an actual physical cause, it's how you handle it that can make a difference in how it affects you.
Positive thoughts
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