Sounds in my head

Noises in head very frustrating/ stressful…have seen other comments on head sounds. Has anyone experienced swishing sounds like buzzing . Seems to happen when weather changes, maybe barometer change?
Some nights can’t sleep due to other sounds

Hey Lynn,
“…anyone experienced swishing sounds like buzzing…” yes and yes, but over time they have reduced. The buzzing is a bit of a constant, I’m not sure if I’ve just become desensitized to it now. The swishing sound was really bad, especially when walking and the more tired I was the worse it became but I’m pleased to say this has now dissipated, but initially, post surgery, it contributed to my balance issues. Now I’m just naturally unstable LOL.
I too find weather a contributing factor. When I brought this to the neuro’s attention they looked at each other like “This guy must be crazy” then said “well, that’s nothing we’ve done” I wasn’t actually blaming them, but they became real defensive. I’ve been sent to audiologists, ENT specialists, but they can’t find any cause. But since then I’ve found it is quite common among neuro patients. One lady told me she’s more reliable than her household barometer in predicting the weather.

Merl from the Moderator Support Team

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Having not raptured aneurysm on the watch and all kinds of sounds in my ears :slight_smile: ringing ( never stops) , buzzing , swishing , clicking …

I am having it right now. It is perfectly quiet here in my office. I am about to make my rounds out in the busy airport terminal-I cherish this peaceful time, however, in the anxious moments leading up to pushing myself to go out there, the buzzing gets louder. I wondered if it is blood pressure like swishing? or my own nerves? Sometimes it drives me a bit crazy.

I believe, for me, it’s a combination of things. Within our skulls there is a fine balance between brain matter, cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) and blood. If I have one thing out of balance, I get symptoms. I have a problem with CSF, the fluid does not drain properly from my skull and due to this the medicos have inserted a shunt (a plastic tube) to drain the fluid as a permanent feature. When that fine balance is out of whack I start getting the AWFUL swooshing sound.
For me and my thinking, If it was solely blood related that wooshing would be regular like my pulse, but it’s not. It is there, but I start to move and it gets louder and swooshes with each step. I even tried speeding up my walk and it speeds up the wooshing, like the fluid rushing past my ears. As for the buzzing, the neuros tried to say it was tinnitus, but the ENT specialist couldn’t find anything. In fact the ENT said “Well what do you expect, you’ve had brain surgery…” which was a bit of ‘well, tell me the damn obvious why don’t you’ but there was no way the neuro’s were going to entertain that idea. They thought I was attributing blame. I wasn’t, I was looking for answers, not blame. So in the end I gave up getting answers and just added it to my list of things to manage.

Merl from the Moderator Support Team

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Check in with your family doctor. My PCP suggested a desk fan, not a ceiling fan as the desk fan makes more noise. It helps a lot. I also with approval of my Neurosurgeon, take a benedryl at night on the days it’s really bad. But I am allergic to most everything, except animals and this time of the year is the worse. So for me, it’s sometimes allergies, sometimes I think BP, and sometimes tinnitus.

Yep, that all sounds right! I have to check in again with the doc. There is a fine line about the types of noise I can stand. It is hard to explain, but since this happened, I seem to be aware of so many noises, lights, smells. It is like everything is so apparent to me now. It can be overwhelming at times. There are days I just want to go sit in a dark room and hide a bit. I think it sounds sad, but I really feel that way. Other days I am ok, but still very aware. I guess managing all of these new things is the trick.

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I had my hearing checked a few months back. It had “vastly improved” in six years. Family and friends often laugh when I’m around dogs as the dogs and I look at something we hear and no one else does. I have tried several types of ear plugs, Bluetooth earbuds, so far I’m really pleased with the noise isolating earbuds that are OSHA approved as I can listen to my music and it brings the higher notes to a tolerable level.

My head feels like I’ve got bubbles in it… so weird… seems to be worse if I have any stress in my life! Hard to hear clearly when I’m competing with bubbles. I also have the ‘sump pump’ in my head which allows the fluid in my brain to be drained to my stomach.

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PMSL “Sump pump” LOVE IT!!! Good name for it too.

So they chop our head open, put in an artificial appliance, then say “It’s nothing we’ve done…” or my personal favourite 'Ohh don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong, It’s all in your head…" YA THINK!!! GGGGRRRRrrrrrrr. I have a bit of a ‘Love/Hate relationship’ with the medicos. I just love to hate them LOL

I’m currently on that merry-go-round again. I was hoping/wishing/praying/begging that I’d have at least a few years clear… …not to be. Damn it. And it sounds like they want to go chop, chop again. Ohh don’t we just LOVE that merry-go-round. NOT!!!

(Sorry, having a BAD symptom day and I’m a bit frustrated with it all. I’ll shut up now.)

Merl from the Moderator Support Team

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Merl, so sorry to hear they may want to go back in. It’s frustrating to say the least! I hope they can figure something out before they go in. Big hug to you and your wife from NC!

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Thanks Moltroub

Wow, thanks for responding to 'sound" question. My neurologist asked " how do you know it’s in your head and not your ears? " I tried to explain. But it was one of those moments when my brain didn’t process the question until I was 20 minutes out the door. Very frustrated no one there when this 1st happened, 6 months ago. Still dealing with maze of services, medical bills and stuff. And all the normal life stuff. But suppose to be “destressing” . Grateful for all of you sharing. Sorry, one of those days.

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were you coiled? mine is tinnitus and its loud, very disturbing and magnafyes all negatives like confusion, forgetfulness, anger etc etc

Have somebody tried drops like ear noise relieve ? I didn’t yet, wondering if it helps at least for a while …

Sisterrose53,

Like many on this board, after a ruptured aneurysm and subsequent SAH, there are a lot of medical mystery not answered by a simple explanation. When we visit our Neurologist, the physician will listen to our issues but will treat this information as anecdotal then look at your history: bleed area, evidence of stroke (infarct), the territory that the bleed may have affected as well as your past history: drug use, prior neurological deficits. Without evidence, there will be no diagnosis or treatment. So, we have provide as much data as possible. Like you, I started to experience constant “ringing” in my ears. My Neurologist and Neuro-Surgeon explained to me that it is unexplained based on my post surgery MRI. So, I went to ENT (a specialist neurotologist) who confirmed that I had a single side hearing loss as well as 40% loss in vestibular function in my right side. But, the final diagnosis and treatment came from my 9th and 10th physicians who found that I suffered a small stroke (infarct) in the brain stem. My original Neurologist concurs with the diagnosis and treatment as now I have a lot of medical evidence. For the tinnitus, there is no treatment like medication. What I found that helps (especially for sleeping) is finding sounds or music which masks these sounds. (I don’t know whether your buzzing sound is tinnitus) As I am writing this post, the ringing is really intense so I am listening to music. Good luck. It is not easy navigating the medical community after ruptured aneurysm and SAH with an unexplained medical condition.

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My ringing is pretty loud , sometimes other sounds includinf buzzing comes up:) . Went to ENT , they didn’t find hearing loss …

what interesting for me , my aneurysm was not raptured and is on the watch , but I have so many symptoms that patients after surgery have : short memory problems, problems to focus , vision problems , ringing , balance , getting tired all the time …migraines and headeches , and it’s not psychosomatic , I started to have it before aneurysm was found … puzzle for me …

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I had my rupture in April of 2016 and a shunt put in this past Sept. Yes, the humming in I my head drives me crazy sometimes. Hard to explain to family and friends because they say all the time how well I look. All I can say, is just take one day at a time. We are still here, that is all that matters.

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Before my intervention surgery it used to sound like a washing machine in my head at times, usually when laying down. When I learned I had an aneurysm & I asked about the sound, I received a dog-like head tilt from my surgeon. “No”, I was told, it makes no noise. My thought, oh yes it did! It did make a sloshing noise which is gone since my coiling.

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Yes, I know that “head tilt” hound dog look. Maybe there were some sounds before hemorrhage, I wasn’t aware of. It has been interesting the different responses from people. Thanks for sharing.

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