Are the sensations of "buzzing" and emptiness in my head normal? The vascular neurologist and the three kinds of therapists have not heard of such a thing. It's been present since the stroke 3 months ago, gets worse with all exertion, seems to be worse now than a month ago, limits what I feel like doing, and resting brings no relief.
Hi Chris, I get these sensations particulary when I'm in a noisy environment, (it doesn't take much to be too noisy for me), I've overdone it or feeling tired. If I've done something jarring or stumble etc I get real snese of my head feeling really shaken up. I now treat these sensations as an opportunity to listen to my body and rest but from what you've said that doesn;t help you. Resting means different things to different people so it could be worth looking at what rest looks like for you. Have you mentioned the sensations to your GP? If you're up to it, keep asking until you get an anwser yuo're happy with. Good luck Toni
Hi Chris, I have noises in my head all the time. My stroke was over 12 years ago and nothing has changed.
Hard question , any system is plausable , you brain has been thru a lot , some people are fine , others have their right arm affected , others have worse , even headaches 4 times a day , Sounds like your hearing has been affected , try hearing aides and have your hearing tested , strangley enough they might help .
Hi Chris, I get buzzing and whooshing in my head too. I'm nearly 2 years post and the whooshing has settled down and the buzzing is now minimal. Talk to your speech therapist about it, i.e. they seem to have a a good idea about these kind of head things. I also get spasms in left side back of head and cheek when bearing down, i.e. constipated. The speech therapist told me to open my mouth when bearing down, which seems to have helped.... weird. Good luck.
Could the buzzing be from tinnitus, from what I have read on this, damaged cells will cause tinnitus, this drives me bonkers when I stop, not so noticeable when I am busy.
With the head sensations, I also feel these, I do feel I am very aware of things happening to my body, and know there was definitely something happening "upstairs" scary feeling, after my last two MRI's the neurosurgeon said that my vessels in my brain had rerouted around my narrowing vessels. They were making new pathways. Hence the feelings I was having.
Maybe you could ask your specialists after your next MRI.
Hi Chris,
Here are some more answers for you from Facebook:
Patricia Disse Martin Yes. Drs don't honestly know what to expect. There are stroke groups on Facebook. They are great because you find others dealing with the same.
Dianne Allison Yes I definitely feel buzzy. I’m 16 months post stroke. It definitely gets worse when I’m tired.
Angela Peppiatt My husband has spoken about having a cotton wool or cloudiness in his head. It still happens six years on.
Dean Mcintosh I get an electric shock type sensation that starts with a tiny pop in one ear then rips across my brain to the other side happens when lying on my side in bed usually happens once or twice before falling asleep .. I never get used to it.. very scary I feel like it will take me off one night ..I hope not
Melissa Lochran Yes … buzzing humming fuzziness ring constant changes in pitch …. That emptiness .. yes feel like nothing in your head no thoughts nothing
Sherree Morgan I call it brain zaps, it happens a lot to me, especially when I’m on sensory overload or extremely fatigued! A very foreign feeling to navigate but a very familiar one post stroke ❤️ hope your recovery is going well for you
Sarah Dono I feel this is what I had after my first stroke 2 months ago. Hyper sensitivity with pins and needles and a numbness of sorts, always coming on when it time to sleep. I linked it to overthinking and put some strategies in place. The 2nd stroke, 5 weeks after the first, seems to have recalibrated the majority of the sleep head storms I would call them.
Karen Jacobson Yes I can relate it’s funny how we don’t think of all the new sensations till someone else mentions it I often feel buzzy in the head it’s a strange sensation I’m so glad to be part of this group to know I’m not the only one and niether are any of you people look at us and think oh they are back to normal but don’t realise that we feel odd new and scary sensations inside and sometimes can’t describe them
Cheryl Whitlock 18 months post stroke some days I’m good and many days I am not. I had brain zaps for a good 6-12 months I read that it is quite common after a stroke. I still get extreme fatigue.
Tanya McLeod Five years since my stroke and I still get this too. I just assumed it was part of my chronic migraines.
Thank you very much, Diana, for sharing here all the FB replies with me about head buzzing. To think that this might be a common after effect even though I haven't found it mentioned at any of the sites I've found online! Seems like my neurologist should be reading such posts ("I don't know what to make of this" he said). You're all so considerate to take your time and energy (which is so precious post-stroke) to inform me about this. I really do appreciate your support. I hope to pay it forward!
KJ: Good point about how we look like we're back to normal while feeling quite abnormal.
SM: Thank you for the good wishes for recovery. It seems to be about perspective--wish it was better, glad it's not worse, holding out hope.