Pulsatile tinnitus

My first episode occurred during the night. The swishing sound woke me several nights in a row and I actually went outside at 2am to check the irrigation system and on another night to check the water level in the swimming pool. The sound soon changed to constant loud rapid thumping and continued for a year before I was able to consult my cardiologist. It was maddening and kept me from sleeping. I eventually was prescribed Losartan and Metropolol for high blood pressure. Now, another year has gone by and my heart beat has slowed and so has the thumping, which I rarely notice during the day. It does thump at night. I think my problem was caused because I stopped daily aspirin after 30 years. None of my physicians comment on this supposition, however. The thumping did start shortly after I quit taking the aspirin. Trying to decide next step. Thank you for your comments.

I only have the pulsatile tinnitus, and was told it's probably a vein and my ear is just picking up the turbulent flow sound. I don't hear it when my head is in certain position.

It's interesting that yours only happens sometimes.

It is August 2023. I made mistake as senior citizen getting the last Covid Booster after I
had had all the initial shots. Many symptoms occured and I got very sick. I think I have pulsatile tinnitus and I am anxious to find the right doctor and treatment. It is scary as I am anemic with blood flow problems. I do think or am mostly positive that Covid booster
attacked my immune system and began a series of health issues never had before the shot.
I need to act on this soon and plan to try Mayo. May start with local neurologist, ENT, or any other relevant provider. It's is strange that tinnitus just now is showing up with people reporting it a lot.

I have the same thing. Only when I go to bed! It is terrible. Had gone to my GP a couple of times. The second time, I had a meltdown Had so much trouble getting to sleep and if I happened to wake up during the night, that was it. I was up for the rest of the night. Se finally she thought about it and sent me for a CT scan. They saw that I had previously had a stroke. I had no idea. From there I was sent to the ENT DR and then to a neurologist. The ENT sent me for an MRI . Two months have gone by and I still have no heard from him. The neurologist sent her results to the dr and mentioned something about the pica is touching the cochelear nerve... I have no idea what this is all about. So I just continue to wait!!!!! So frustrating.

@dorajak there is no excuse for taking two months to reply. It is up to you to pursue the results of your MRI. You must be your own advocate for your health care and while 2 weeks is typical, two months means your results have been overlooked or they have your phone number wrong or something happened because you should be given the results. The old squeaky wheel getting the grease adage means you must continue to call your doctors for results, and an appointment to discuss the things that you don't understand. If you don't feel capable of doing this, is there a family member who can advocate for you?

It is just so frustrating! I called his office and I am not sure what is going on. It leaves a message saying due to the recent closure of our associate practice. So I guess he is gone!!!I also saw a neurologist and apparently she saw the resullts of the MRI She told my GP that there was a contact between the left pica and th vestibular cochlear nerve.
She said it would be difficult to draw a connection between PT and the finding. SO as far as I am concerned the ENT doesn't give a crap or just does not know. I know I will never hear from him!
I am getting desperate. I see that there are some PT doctors in the USA but I live in Canada . I did find a dr by the name of Vitar Menes Periara.. He is in toronto. I am going to look itnto seeing him. Of course I need to get some kind of idea of what it will cost ....
Thank You for Responding to my post!

@dorajak that is very frustrating. I found a reference to a procedure where the pic artery was putting pressure on a nerve causing pain which was relieved by surgery. I think you are correct in pursuing a specialist at this point. I know how difficult that can be with Canadian healthcare. While in this process, you can also look into any audiologists who specialize in tinnitus. They have very specialized training and many tricks to help living with this irritating condition. Good luck with this battle. Don’t give up.

I have been dealing with pulsatile tinnitus in my right ear for about a year. After going to my primary, then an ENT, I finally ended up at a neurosurgeon. I had an MRI first which showed narrowing of a vein close to my ear. The neurosurgeon then performed a cerebral angiography and venography. Finally diagnosed with Dural AV Fistula. This is all pretty recent, so good times. I now have to have some kind of procedure where surgeon will block some vessels in my brain to prevent the turbulent blood flow which is causing me to hear blood swooshing in my ear. My point is there always seems to be a cause for this, so don’t give up!

I was very interested to read your comment. I have tinnitus and have been exploring on the Internet anything that can help. I read on the Internet that carotid stenosis is generally accepted as the most common cause of arterial pulsating tinnitus. My GP has scheduled a test on my carotid artery. He is also doing an MRI on my brain.