HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Hearing heartbeat in right ear.

Support Forums
>
Migraine Headache
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 11/2/2011 6:31 PM (GMT -5)
Hi all,

I was hoping that you may be able to provide some solace / advice.

For the past 8 months (on and off) I've been hearing a whooshing of my heart beat in my right ear and it is really frustrating and a cause of my constant worry and anxiety. It's not all the time, but is most apparent in the evenings, or if I'm lying / sitting in certain positions. I've seen the doctor about it and they've put me on decongestants, but don't seem to think it's anything to worry about. Unfortunately, I have committed the cardinal sin and googled my symptoms and have since convinced myself I have a brain tumor. I also suffer from anxiety so it's hard for me to separate the reality from my fears. The doctors seem to think there would be more sinister symptoms if the situation was more serious but I can't help thinking it's something scary :-(

Any sort of advice would be hugely appreciated.

Holly
Posted 11/3/2011 2:57 PM (GMT -5)
I was just worked up with all the vestibular tests and there is something called a Superior Canal Dehiscence. Google it and see if you have the symptoms.
Posted 11/4/2011 4:18 AM (GMT -5)
You may just have fluid in your middle ear. I had that for an entire year (heartbeat was driving me crazy) and then it went away. The ENT wanted to cut my eardrum but I didn't like that idea. Have your regular doctor look in your ear and see if there's fluid.. maybe he didn't do that?? Do you also have tinnitus?
NY VEGGIE
Posted 12/8/2011 2:18 PM (GMT -5)
Hi all,

I just went for a check up with the doctors again. The headaches have subsided but the whooshing of my heartbeat and the occasional pressure above my right eye still remain. She also said my right pupil looks slightly bigger than the left, but she wasn't sure if she was just imagining it before. I've never noticed this before, but as soon as she said it I can see it now too and looked online and the first thing I saw was that it was synonymous with brain tumors and aneurisms. Safe to say I'm in a huge state of panic and anxiety now.

The doctor's referred me to get my hearing tested and she wants me to get an eye test and see her again in two weeks. Consequently I've turned into a giant mess now having left her office.

:-(
Posted 12/10/2011 8:05 PM (GMT -5)
Your symptoms match those of intracranial hypertension (also called pseudotumor cerebri).  Look it up.  Have your doctor dilate your eyes and check for papilledema.  The defining test is a lumbar puncture.  It's something to rule out.
Posted 12/12/2011 10:28 AM (GMT -5)
Holly, you might want to get your eye pressure checked for glaucoma.
Posted 12/16/2011 4:30 PM (GMT -5)
Holly, I have exactly the same thing in the right ear and I am a migraine sufferer. I had an ultrasound of the carotid artery on the right and it showed nothing. Like Sunnie I was thinking along the lines of intracranial hypertension.

Ironically I had a lumbar puncture a few weeks ago after a very severe and sudden headache. Because I live in a small town, they said they did not have the technology to measure the pressure of the spinal fluid. I have had my eyes checked and no papilledema shows up. I am on a cancellation list for headache expert. She is so marvellous there is a 14 month wait.

The whooshing does not bother me. I know it is vascular because if I press my neck on the right it stops.

As for committing a cardinal sin, these message boards are where we get our best information!
Posted 12/19/2011 2:45 PM (GMT -5)
Hi guys,

Thanks for your replies, it's nice to know I'm not alone.

I went to the opticians about the difference in the size of my pupils but everything came back fine, though he is sending me for a referral just to double check.

Harrietgate, I double checked and my whooshing also stops when I press my neck.

From looking online the intacranial hypertension doesn't look too scary and obviously there are steps to manage it.

What worries me is the pressure above the right eye, coupled with the whooshing of my heartbeat. I try not to panic but it does continue to worry me.

Holly
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply