Throbbing and pulsing head

[Beautifulgirl01]

Do anyone else experience throbbing without pain including the pulsing sound? I’ve been having this a lot, and it’s normally when I move positions or too fast. I was told it’s considered “vertigo” and that migraines caused it.

[bamboo89]

Yes, I do, quite frequently, though mine may last for some days. The sound you hear is referred to as 'pulsatile tinnitus' or a bruit - it just means you can hear the blood pulsing through your vascular system in your neck and head, in my case, only ever on one side. It's the same side where I experience vertigo, and also the same side that is most affected by a compression in my neck at C5/C6. The sound drives me bonkers at times, I even have to turn the tv up, its so intrusive, and sometimes, it feels like its throbbing inside my ear, and yes, I do notice I have to be a bit careful about turning my head or getting up quickly when its going in, because I will be less stable than usual and may end up 'staggering' momentarily. Usually, an ultrasound scan is done just to make sure its not a blocked carotid artery, especially if you occasionally feel what I described as a ''warm rush' down the side of the neck, because that can be the cause - in my case, it wasn't. I do remember one episode some years back that went on for a couple of weeks, and I had real trouble remaining upright, kept feeling like I was going to faint... coincidentally, I had to have an MRI on my lower back, and because they knew my neck was troublesome at the time, they propped my head on a sort of block or rest (bit like the ones they use in the morgue!), so the chin was angled downwards while I laid there - oddly, when I got up, the sound had gone and I didn't feel faint any more. Which suggests to me that it's more related with my neck than migraine...though another piece of the puzzle might be that fairly recently, I had a complete hearing check on my ears, and apparently, the left ear (the troublesome side) has a 'poorly functioning,floppy eustachian tube' (whatever that means...) so my hearing is a notch or two down that side as well. Is it connected? No idea...

[Beautifulgirl01 in reply to bamboo89]

I’ve basically had the same experiences. My neck & shoulders are very tender! I had an MRI done on the brain because of the pulsing noise & turns out everything is fine. My back has been hurting more than ever lately though so I’m not sure if that plays a part as well.

[bamboo89 in reply to Beautifulgirl01]

Drives you mad, doesn't it, trying to work out what the hell is going on... I just shove a load of Ibuleve gel on the noisy side if its making me dizzy or spacy, up the neck and anywhere else I can think of, stick on a good number of magnets, lay flat on my back at bed time on two flat pillows and take a 2mg diazepam before sleep .. That sometimes does the trick...

[Beautifulgirl01 in reply to bamboo89]

Yes it do drive me crazy! Makes me think something serious is going on! I just have to find something to works for me. I will definitely try those options though! I also need to find ways to relieve this tension from my neck and shoulders. I was told anxiety causes your body to be tense.

[bamboo89 in reply to Beautifulgirl01]

I missed this response - dunno if I already said this, but I can't praise a cranial osteopathic treatment highly enough for neck and shoulder problems. Needs to be a good practitioner, obviously, and it won't be cheap, but they usually sort it out in one visit And yes, anxiety does cause tension everywhere, but specially the shoulders and neck - my osteopath told me to take up yoga because he said my body was always rigid and tight whenever I went. I never did, never had the time with two kids, working and no husband, but maybe it would have helped down the years. Bowen therapy is quite good too, if you can find a practitioner, failing that, acupuncture can be helpful so long as its not deep needling. And stop worrying its something sinister - that worry doesn't help (though god knows I remember that worry myself for years, with each new symptom) and your MRI was clear... there are far more chronic, ongoing health problems in the world that make our lives miserable but aren't going to kill us than there are really serious ones. In fact, the last time I saw the most senior physiotherapy doctor, he told me had been a GP but switched to this instead. When I asked why, he said he was so troubled by the fact that he could only help 40% of his patients with their problems, and the rest, the 60% clearly had some malfunction that he could neither diagnose nor fix, even if he sent them to a specialist - he found that soul destroying, so changed careers. To be honest, now I'd say to him maybe you should have trained in nutrition and remained a doctor, cos nutrition and exercise are 2/3rds of being healthy, and all the average GP knows about nutrition is from the 1 or 2 hours they get in their 7 year training, along with standard NHS advice (never in depth, and always behind the times) so effectively nothing at all.😊

[Beautifulgirl01 in reply to bamboo89]

I agree. I always worry myself about all new symptoms I have! I really hate I have anxiety but I guess this is the challenge God placed in my life and want me to learn from. I also wish it was more natural meds for the symptoms I experience, besides the man made meds that causes other problems too

[bamboo89 in reply to Beautifulgirl01]

You sound like me, quite an anxious person - I look back down the years and can see that's what I was,now, always worrying about what might happen next, and worrying even more if I got a new symptom (not to mention worrying about my kids non stop, even when they were full grown). In fact, I don't think there was much I didn't worry about...I think the only thing that kept me going was my strong and rather wacky sense of humour. I mean sometimes, I even made myself laugh, I was being so ridiculous, chewing my own elbow with anxiety, so I suppose I was sort of aware of it. But, we are what we are... Been looking at Mindfulness Meditation recently (mostly cos I've got cancer and it apparently helps to keep you calm when things get tough)- seems like something you might try, as well as either the right sort of yoga or Tai Chi. Oddly, I worry hardly at all now I've got terminal cancer than I ever have... now,when I get a symptom, I might think oh lord, what fresh hell is this (even that makes me laugh), but then, well, who cares, none of it matters any more anyway, I'll just ignore it, whatever happens, happens... seems to have been living that worried me! But I guess there's a level of detachment that comes with being in my position... Find something you can do that helps you relax...

[Beautifulgirl01 in reply to bamboo89]

It also don’t happen all the time, but if it do it always come on the right side. It’s just becoming annoying.

[bamboo89 in reply to Beautifulgirl01]

Ha, mine's on the left... seems like one of those things (like migraine) up with which we must put,and at least its not gonna kill us....

[Beautifulgirl01 in reply to bamboo89]

Which sucks because I’m only 24 year old smh

[bamboo89 in reply to Beautifulgirl01]

I figured you were young - get your neck looked at/sorted out, just in case. I started with 6 week long intermittent episodes of vertigo at the age of 25 after a very, very minor car accident which left my neck slightly restricted on the left side, which I did not discover was the case until my first visit to the cranial osteopath in my late thirties. I wish to heaven I'd seen him or someone immediately after that minor accident, or even knew it might have some significance - I knew nothing at all back then, that any knock or bang to the face, head or shoulder may disrupt the neck without our being aware of it, and what starts out as minor damage may lead to long term, increasing repercussions over a life time... including forms of migraine.