Question: Hello,

I have been having strange sensations in my head for around 2 months.
It started with something that resembled feeling my heart beat pulsing in the back of my head a few months ago.

Then I started getting random physical jabs in my head, usually in the back around the middle. I also occasionally get a buzzing in the top of my head, as if something up there is vibrating.

I told my father who is a GP and he sent me off for an MRI as he was concerned about an aneurism as we have had a relative suffer from one of those.

The MRI came back clear. Both my father and the specialist who checked the results were satisfied with it.
Since then the symptoms seem to have gotten worse.

The most noticeable thing that triggers the symptoms is when I go for a car ride longer than 20 minutes.
The other day I went for a 2 hour car drive and felt the symptoms very strongly for days afterwards.

Towards the end of the car ride just about every little bump on the road was sending noticeable jolts through my head. It gets to the stage where I have one hand constantly on the back of my neck for support.

It feels like the suspension holding my neck in place is not working. So every little bump is felt.

The next day I went for a walk, and 5 minutes into it every step was sending these same jolts through my head.

The other things I have tried is firstly I had a few months of physio to loosen up my neck and back. There seemed to be a little tension in there but not too much. It didn't really help with the symptoms.

The other thing is I went to my own GP recently and he thought it could be a migraine. He has put me on amitriptyline 10mg and sandomigran .5mg. 1 tablet of each per day.

These are making me feel a bit woozy, but they don't seem to be helping the symptoms at all. I've been on these for almost a week.

The reason I thought it might be a good idea to have an ENT Doctor look at it is I found similar stories online where there was something ear related causing the problem. Also the thing that seems to trigger the symptoms is both sound and movement. If I'm sitting still in a quiet environment the symptoms are much less noticeable.

I know doctors probably frown on patients doing their own research! However I've found it very difficult to sit around with these symptoms as they are affecting pretty much every area of my life.

If you have any answers I would greatly appreciate it!

Hi Dr Bhatti,

Thank you for your reply.

Do you think I should be getting an appointment with an ENT Doctor to get the ear examination?

To answer 2. I don't think the MRI covered the cervical spine. It was head only.

3. So I should see a Neurologist also?

Thanks again,
XXXX