Tinnitus and pulsating Heartbeats in your ears!
I am a 70 year old woman who has experienced migraines since age of 14. Earlier this year I started getting tinnitus and heavy pulsating heartbeat in my ear ( just one) ! It’s very concerning and strange. The headache I understand but these new symptoms are awful! Anyone else had this?
Hi
- I have heard of this before, and experienced a few times myself. As far as I know, for me it was pulsatile tinnitus. There was a thread about the topic made by . Perhaps they would be willing to share their experience more. You can also find their post here: https://migraine.com/forums/pulsatile-tinnitus.
Do you feel like this resonates with your experience? Or do you think it might be something else? - Cody (Team Member)
Hi
Thank you for sharing your story. It's important to note when we have new and/or different symptoms it's always a good idea to let our provider know so they can make sure everything checks out OK.
Tinnitus is a fairly common migraine symptom, but again, when it's new it's important to discuss with the doctor because there are a number of other things this could be.
Please keep us posted and I'm sending you wishes for a low pain day, Nancy Harris Bonk, Patient Leader/Moderator (team member)Hi, I never had tinnitus until I had the covid vac. I had multiple neuro symptom but never tinnitus until then. Now when I have a migraine attack my ears ring so loud its horrible. I also had a bad lumbar puncture and had horrible spinal headaches which included ringing in the ears.
A couple things to consider. Definitely let you doc know you are experiencing a change in symptoms. My mother found out she had fibromuscular dysplasia after she started hearing a swishing sound in her left ear. She also had head pain. After testing she found out she has this disease which most people don't find out until they have a stroke. It causes beading in the arteries and weakens them. It increases your risk of a stroke or dissection of the artery. She found out she has it in her carotid artery and renal artery.
This can also cause migraines.
She was worried I had it but after having at least 12 brain MRI's over the past 9 years, thankfully I do not.
Another diagnosis doctors miss is migraine cause by csf leak.
That can cause terrible head pain and ringing in the ears.
It's hard to find a neuro that knows about this. They rely on an mri to show the leak, but according to Dr. Ian Carroll at Stanford, that is not correct. Most leaks don't show on an mri, you need a ct myelogram to find it. He specializes in csf leak and has found many patients diagnosed with migraine who actually have a csf leak. If you have access to Youtube you can pull up his lectures on this.
I know migraines are so complicated and cause so many weird and scary symptoms.
I hope you can find an answer.
I should add for me, I have to be so careful of what I eat due to being so sensitive to foods now. Sugar, along with foods higher in histamine make my symptoms worse.
Hope you feel better.
Thank you ever so much for such an informative post. It's incredibly helpful when our community members share their wisdom earned and lessons learned with the community. It can leap others forward in their processes to hear about the journeys of others. For those reading along, who may want to learn more about CSF leaks and what they mean- here is a link to the resources we have on that topic: https://migraine.com/search?s=csf. I was tested for that years ago so am familiar. This community member gives a thorough and firsthand tale of this condition (who also saw the same doctor you reference, by the way): https://migraine.com/stories/nightmare-hope.
And yes-it can't be overemphasized that migraine is a complex neurological disease that rarely presents in the same way in two people. There are so many symptoms and, as you said, it's key to report changes to our migraine doctors.
Thanks also for making mention of the challenges that can come with histamines. We have a good amount of resources on this topic as well for those who may want to learn more: https://migraine.com/search?s=histamine
Thank you again for taking the time to share what you've learned along the way. We are blessed to have you with us. Warmly - Holly (team member)
I’ve experienced 24-7 tinnitus for more years than I can count. With & without a raging migraine. I would love to find a way to be gone with this constant high pitched sound. I must always have some type of background sound to lessen the ringing. I’m 77 yrs old with having migraines since an MVA at age if 32.I was knocked unconscious & believe that played a catalyst for the migraines & tinnitus.
Hi
Thank you for joining the conversation and sharing your challenging experience with us. I'm sorry you are dealing with tinnitus, which can be so debilitating. I truly empathize with you as I have it too. And like you, believe my fall in 1996, which left me unconscious for over 20 minutes, exacerbated my migraine attacks, started 24/7 tinnitus and set the stage for daily chronic pain and other chronic health issues.
Have you had a chance to discuss this with your doctor? I haven't but plan to do so at my February appointment. I'm wondering if my hearing is impacted at this point. Good to hear background noise is beneficial, I haven't tried that yet.Please keep us posted on how you are doing and I'm sending you wishes for a lower pain day, Nancy Harris Bonk, team member
I'm sorry to hear you're struggling so much with Tinnitus. I'm no tinnitus expert but I do know a couple of people who have benefitted enormously from using cognitive behavioural therapy to lessen it's impact on day to day life and ease the depression they were feeling (associated directly with the tinnitus). There are lots of articles on the evidence base for it over on PubMed. Has your doctor given you any treatment options ? Wishing you a gentle day, Tracy (Team Member)
