Pulsatile or Vascular Tinnitus

Well I guess I will start this off with a simple definition. Pulsatile or vascular tinnitus is when the sound you hear , be it a ringing , thumping or whooshing in your head is in sync with your heart beat. For some it is painful for others its not, for some its constant for others it is not. One thing for sure is that if your T pulses with your heart beat you should seek medical attention. This may be a warning sign of something serious. The good news is that many cases it is very curable. Many things can effect your PT. Most noticeable will be diet , exersize , and stress. In my case it caused extreme anxiaty. Feel free to ask anything or just vent about your bad day. Remember , were all in this together and this site is here to help.

 

Hi Karen. I have PT. Do you mean that all PT is vascular? I can tell you after reading the Whooshers site not many are cured.
Are you circulating your scans? I am trying to find other PT suffers in California. I'd like to know what doctors they have scene. Also can you tell me more about the stapedotomy surgery? Thanks

 

A little off topic but can someone tell me briefly what pulsatile tinnitus really is? does it have somewhat of the same path of origin or is it like a Add-On to tinnitus and its various qualities of symptoms. Thanks in advance to anyone willing to answer.

 

Yes, It is the tinnitus sounds that are in rhythm to your heart beat.

 

LCV595

Karen and I both have vascular tinnitus... at least that is what my ENT said. I am supposed to do a carotid scan and an MRI. My regular doc says that she hears normal flow of blood tin my neck and heart. The ENT also said he heart a heart murmur. No one else has though. My EKGs don't show it.

Mine pulses with my heart beat.

 

The problem I'm thinking of here after reading a little bit about pulsatile T from the websites mentioned and others I've found is that they are considered different in terms of one being objective and the other being subjective and that Pulsatile is linked to more serious health conditions.

I think the most important thing here is to make an absolute distinction between the 2 so that we can have a better front on both. A separate section for pulsatile would be nice but what I'm really wondering is if there is any correlation between what causes tinnitus tinnitus and pulsatile tinnitus. First step to figuring out anything medical related is understanding the etiology as we all know.

All I can ask in this situation for all the pulsatile T people in here, of the recommendations common and not so common to remedy, lessen, make less obvious do they work about the same for you or less or more. Does imbibing alcohol make your T elevated. Does high volume sound overtime aggravate T for you guys or make it higher permanently? Do drugs in general make your tinnitus worse?

I may not know about or have pulsatile myself but I truly would like to keep myself aware of such things as I still consider it "in the same boat" as myself if not worse which I'm sure it is for many.

 

2. Are you the type that is startled, annoyed, or distracted easily? I'm only asking because its my reasoning that some people who experienced tinnitus aggravation from loud sounds only do so because it causes them stress they may not associate with being in that environment. For others it may simply aggravate it for the duration and some time (30 minutes to a couple hours afterwards) or may be a permanent thing like in my case because more trauma was caused to the ear somehow.

4. The fact that your on same footing with myself in terms of how you got pulsatile vs how I got regular T (categorically speaking) gives me reason to believe that they can still be undone the same way at least in our medication induced cases. The biggest clue you gave me is the fact you already had some hearing loss and mild tinnitus to begin with. From my observations you were already a risk factor to anything you added to your regimen pill wise. I dont like going overboard with "every pill is toxic to the ear" but im starting to learn that in many cases it is and its the body's ability to process and handle the side effects (some of us have better chemistry than others) of the meds that decides what we are more and less susceptible to. Theres many cases around the world concerning kids getting significant hearing loss from frequent use of antibiotics. You dont need to get T from meds to know it did you wrong. We just happen to be on the shorter end of the stick.

5. See thats a bit of an issue for me to get. What I'm asking myself is are you hearing your T and the Pulsatile together sort of like 2 different streams or are you hearing your pre T in your ear and you feel the vibration from your pulsatile or are they simply synonymous with each other at this point. I know this sounds confusing but perhaps it would help if you could tell me was there any real overall change in tonality or quality of sound once you got the pulsatile.

In your case it seems linked still. Many people go on hypertensive meds yet we have a statistic of 3 percent of the population that get T have pulsatile as they say. My best bet is that perhaps taking the blood pressure was a trigger of sorts. In my simple mind I believe it simply damaged/warped your ear system more giving you that quality. On the other hand you could have a House M.D. sort of situation where taking it acted as a catalyst to something not so good happening in the body and your body's way of telling you was to go and stay in pulsatile T mode. Obviously I'm no expert and I can see youve gone through and researched many treatments and surgeries of various kinds. Your own medical history and your families medical history might be the key in finding the pandora's box that the hypertensive med opened. I know this probably wont help much but Im brainstorming as thats what I like to do.

If you can absolutely rule out the hypertensive med that I can firmly stick with the thyroid explanation. The problem with getting T or Pulsatile is that it isnt gradual in any sort of way. You either got it or didnt get it and that makes it difficult to pin the exact cause of it in many situations.

I dont know much but my father's doctor is basically one of the main factors of his early demise. One of my mother's friends was put on on a liver medication of some kind (dunno if it was that but anyway) and she ended up being unable to breath depending on a mask and a tank to make it through the night. My grandfather died in the HOSPITAL for high blood pressure as he wasnt monitored and treated properly. I know many doctors want to help but the system wants our money and care for little else in my opinion.

 

Hi Warren, I've been on the site for approximately 2 years now. My understanding of PT was obtained through a process of reduction. I noticed that my symptoms where less similar to the regular tinnitus and were more aligned with PT. I had a humming sound with a higher tone in my right ear. The lower sound is 260 Hz and the higher tone eventually went away to be replaced by the whooshing, but only after a series of cracks and pops.
I also noticed how pressing on various parts of my head ''seemed'' to alleviate the symptoms. I noticed that my humming sound was also aligned with my heart beat, ''nearly most of the time. The symptoms are at their quietest when I am standing. My vascular surgeon said that this makes sense, as my blood flow is less at this point.
One ENT doctor suggested I increase my high blood pressure medication, Ramipril. I've done so, in an incremental fashion, but this hasn't really had an effect.
I've had an MRI and CT angio-scan which reavealed a dehiscence in my jugular bulb. The 2 ENT doctors that I have seen said that ''Hypo-Tympanic Re-surfacing'' would not help my condition. Anyone saying so probably experienced a ''placebo effect''. Hey I would settle for that !
Anyways, all the best, at this time of the year.

Roger

 

I'm new on this site & finished adding my "intro" part in other category. It seems, I'm the only deaf (sensiorneural) one here? and I did have the ability to hear my heartbeat clearly most of my life. Now w/ the tinnitus added, it appears they're 2 separate issues but still interconnnected. In some cases it's dishiscence. I've learnt many have superior canal dishiscence which is one reason of these symptoms. Mine is abit more complex but I've never had my tinnitus evaluated w/ the heartbeat. Is the only way to do this is thru an angio - scan to check the arteries? The ct/mri do not show this. I've also had low vit d deficiency for 3 yrs even w/ double supplements of the stuff which is questionable as well.

 

My mum had otosclerosis (often runs in families) from women after having children. She started losing her hearing and had the stapedotomy which revived her hearing to normal. She did not have tinnitus though. She's had it done 2 more times after hitting her head severely and each time was successful. Key: a good Dr. to perform it.

 

hello there. sorry to say, but you're not the only one on the forum who is deaf in the ear they have tinnitus.

 

Today I have asked my Neuro-oto. for tests (which should have been done prior my CI) for an MRA. Discovered I now have to get the "magnet" off my skull (under skin) out first to do this. You'd think an ENT Dr. would inquire into a few options/tests before drastic surgery, which has me totally deafened and depressed. I require ENG/VNG tests etc. for the balance issues.

Does anyone have addt'l inner ear issues along with their pulsatile tinnitus such as Tullios syndrome or dehiscence (SDC) etc? From my understanding, I do not have otosclerosis even though I mentioned the family history. I am not sure if it would occur w/ people with sensiorneural deafness - I am sure it could but it's not my reason.
I do take a lot of natural supplements to try and -help- my condition.

 

I'm glad to hear that -seriously. Because more info. could be provided about tinnitus from both conductive and sensiorneural (90 db +) hearing-loss sufferers.

 

The Dr. who quickly put in my cochlear implant that made my pulsatile tinnitus and depression worse. I asked him recently for an MRA to check my arteries. I also have chronic sinus disease and thought maybe somehow I have some abnormalcy to veins near my ear or sinuses that's causing it etc. He told me "Pulsatile tinnitus and awareness of various body sounds is normal in patients with 3rd window symptoms. She had a CI so a MRI is not a good idea and interventional radiology studies such as catheter angiography is an option but does incur a small risk for stroke. I would not recommend it". What is the difference between an MRI and a non-invasive MRA? Also CTA? I didn't ask yet for the "catheter" one. Are there other options or ways to check for pulsatile tinnitus?

 

Just thinking aloud - You'd think a Dr. would complement an MRI along with MRA/MRV at the same time through one appt. to rule out all issues (if it only just requires injecting contrast dye)? Rather than do them separately at later times? (more costly, more wasted time). I am considering the "angioplasty -catheter" one and would like to ask any one here if they experienced it. Did it make a big difference than just using their MRA alone?