On a daily basis, Whooshers.com receives stories like the one below from patients who persist.  Persistence often pays off.

Just wanted to say that I found this site as soon as I started whooshing in the fall of 2014. I started out with an ENT who sent me for hearing tests and an MRI with all the tests coming back as normal. I was told to live with it and nothing was wrong. I left the office upset and depressed.

From there I ended up going in anti anxiety medicine so I could try to move on with life.

Then in the Spring of 2016, I restarted my journey, knowing something wasn’t right with me, especially when other family members could here my whoosh just by putting their ear next to mine (I whoosh on my left side). This time around I had an MRA, which came back normal.

Again, upset, I reached out to local radiologist, thinking more eyes on the images would be helpful. They said the scans were not very clear and maybe I should get another scan done.

I decided to wait...

Spring 2019 I went to Rush Hospital in Chicago, and had another MRA done where they have top notch MRI machines and neuroradiologists.

Finally, after 5 years I received my answer!!! I have beading in both of my carotid arteries and was diagnosed with Fibromuscular Dysplasia (FMD).  Next step is to go to a specialist that deals with FMD.

So, I just want to thank you for having this website. It’s so informative! It also helped me with finding my answer, and guiding me on my journey!! I knew something was wrong with me, and my doctors were inferring it was all in my head, no pun intended!!

[I wrote this because] it’s important to let others know that you have to keep on pushing and be your own best advocate. The journey was a long one (5 years) to find an answer. I have to undergo more testing to see if I have bad arteries in other areas of the body, but the important thing is I pushed along and found an answer of why I am whooshing.  

Thanks again for starting Whooshers.com!! This site has been a blessing!  It's been my support and comforting to me that I'm not alone!

Deana Herkert

Thank you, Deana!  Keep us posted on your treatment.  

For more information on FMD see FMDSA.