I have had constant left-sided unilateral pulsatile tinnitus for a little over 6 years. It occasionally increases or decreases in intensity but it never goes away...ever! It is definitely a whooshing sound. For the first few years it drove me crazy and I thought there's no way I could live like this but now after 6 years the sound doesn't bother me nearly as much as not knowing what it is. Hearing tests came back normal, MRI normal, it's not a sinus problem and I don't have fluid in my ear. I just had another MRI/MRA last week because I've started getting frequent headaches that start at the base of my skull and slowly envelop my whole head. I've also noticed a tingling/pins & needles sensation on the left side of my head/neck/face that happens on occasion. I haven't gotten the results of my most recent MRI/MRA but I have a sinking feeling there will still be no answers as there were none from the last scan (though that was a few years ago now). It sounds terrible for me to say I hope they find something, but after dealing with the constant noise I'm sick of getting that call from the nurses at Doctors offices saying "Everything looks good!" thinking that should make me feel better. It doesn't because while everything my LOOK good, it definitely isn't good. I worry that there is something serious being missed and I don't know what direction to take if these scans are clear too. I've read a few peoples comments that indicate they had some clear scans before one that finally showed an AN, does this happen to many people? I also found that most people had the pulsatile tinnitus intermittently; is that common with an AN or are there people who have it continuously too? I may be going down another dead end street here but I'm trying to be proactive for my MRI follow up appointment to make sure we keep things moving in the right direction to investigate the cause because from everything I read about pulsatile tinnitus, it really shouldn't be ignored...as if I really could ignore it. Does this sound like anyone else or should I keep looking for other stones to turn over? Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. I am a 34 year old female with no other health conditions that I am aware of.
