Started Hearing Whooshing, No Known Cause — Worried If It's Vascular/Aneurysm

[watts612]

Hi there, I'm new here. I'll give a quick breakdown:

24, female, low blood pressure (110/60), haven't drank in over 3 months, don't smoke, eat a clean diet, normal weight (5'9", 140lbs)

About 2 weeks ago I was relaxing on my balcony listening to music in my AirPods, nothing too loud. I went inside and did some light stretching and breathing. After I did my breathing (deep breaths, followed by holding my breath for as long as possible to release tension) I showered and continued about my day.

Later that night I started noticing a "whooshing" in my left ear. It sounded like the pace of my heartbeat, but I sloughed it off thinking I was just tired and feeling a bit hot from the weather. Fast forward 2 weeks and it's still here, nothing I do can relieve it or change it. I've tried pulling my ear different directions, got them flushed, essential oils, everything - no relief. I find it's at its worst late at night or if I bend down/go upside down. I haven't had any prior issues like this other than anxiety and the odd heart palpitation if I've had too much caffeine/stress but as I'm looking up Pulsatile Tinnitus I'm starting to worry thinking of all the things that could be wrong - especially vascular/aneurysms. It just seemed so strange that this happened randomly, especially since I'm not in a traditional "high risk" group for cardiovascular issues.

Since then it hasn't stopped or gotten better. It's been CONSTANT every day. The sound and pitch don't change, just the constant "whoohmp, whoohmp". I know a few people mention it going away for periods of time, but how long does it stick around for??

My doc listened to my chest & head, checked BP, flushed my ears, and said he didn't see any obvious abnormalities. He scheduled an MRI to take a look but I'm feeling so anxious in the days leading up to it. Has anyone found any relief or knows if there's any signs to look out for indicating something more serious?

 

[tiniturtle]

First, I post these so I don't have to type out a fairly lengthy explanation each time I respond:

If You Have Pulsatile Tinnitus, Here's the First Thing You Need to Do to Get Answers and a Diagnosis

and:

http://neuroangio.org/diagnosis-and-treatment-of-pulsatile-tinnitus/

You should also have an MRA. MRI can miss quite a lot of things, especially vascular. The vast majority of cases of PT are caused by a vascular issue. I'm not saying that to worry you, but so that you don't brush it off either. Even if there is a vascular cause, it isn't always dangerous, especially if you catch it early. It should have a thorough investigation.

It's not really related to blood pressure or being part of a high risk group. In my case it was a dural arteriovenous fistula, and I'm relatively young, healthy, and athletic. Also in my case, it didn't become life threatening until after a long delay in diagnosis. Read those above links, and I will answer any questions you have. The latter site is written by the doctors that treat me in NYC.