If you felt headaches and heard sounds that caused sleepless nights, yet no one believed you, would you question yourself? Would you struggle to care for your family?
That’s what plagued Kathryn Caplan for five years before she turned to physicians at Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Center who provided solutions to her real health issues.
A widowed mother of five girls and two grandchildren, Mrs. Caplan, 55, is the West Caldwell, N.J. township tax collector. When she started hearing a whooshing sound in her ear, she could not identify the cause.
“I could feel my blood pumping through my head,” said Kathryn. “It was causing bad headaches and a whooshing sound in my ear that was driving me mad. At first, the sound was sporadic, but became constant after a couple of months.”
The headaches and sound would get worse when she was active.
“Whenever I got my blood pressure up, such as walking on a treadmill, the sound would get louder, so I stopped going to the gym.”
Affecting her moods
Kathryn’s family saw how her moods and her health were affected by this condition.
“My children noticed I was cranky because I was exhausted from not sleeping well,” she explained. “At night in a quiet bedroom, the sound seemed louder. I was also tired of not knowing the cause.”
During that same period, Kathryn also complained about her left arm.
“My left arm bothered me; it was very weak,” she said. “Every time I went to the doctor, they would check my blood pressure, starting with my left arm. When they couldn’t get a reading, the tech would get the pressure from the right arm.”
After six months of appointments and tests, the headaches and sound remained – Kathryn decided she would try living with the discomfort for the time being.
But that year turned out to be very traumatic for the Caplan family.
“My niece was diagnosed with cancer, my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer and my dad was diagnosed with dementia, so we were dealing with all of that,” she said. “Then in December, my husband had a heart attack and died.”
As the headaches and sound continued, she visited another doctor.
“I told that doctor what I’ve been going through, both physically and mentally, especially with my family’s health,” Kathryn explained. “After reviewing my test results, he decided my symptoms were psychosomatic – caused by a mental issue like too much stress.”
“Oh my, what is that?”
In 2023, Kathryn made an appointment for her annual physical with her primary care provider, Ashany Sundaram, MD.
“That was a very hectic day,” she recalled. “My head was pounding as I drove to the office. The sound was especially loud that day, so when Dr. Sundaram entered the treatment room, I said, ‘You have to listen to this.’”
She asked Dr. Sundaram to lean in so that their ears were next to each other. Dr. Sundaram suddenly exclaimed, “Oh my, what is that?”
Kathryn replied, “I was hoping you could tell me.”
Dr. Sundaram couldn’t identify the source of the sound, but she called a neurologist and got her an appointment within a few days. In the meantime, Kathryn was able to use her phone to record the whooshing sound and played it for the neurologist at her appointment.”
“I have never heard anything like that,” he said and asked her to send him the sound file. With Kathryn still in the neurology office, the provider shared the sound with vascular neurologist Ahsan Sattar, MD.
Within a day or so, Dr. Sattar’s office called her and set up an appointment.
“The first thing Dr. Sattar said to me was, ‘I know what the sound is, we just need to go in and see where it is.’ I couldn’t believe it – he totally made my day!”
Pulsatile Tinnitus
Kathryn’s doctors diagnosed her with pulsatile tinnitus, a rhythmic thumping, whooshing sound, or throbbing in one or both ears – a relatively rare type of tinnitus. The sounds correspond to the patient’s heart rhythm and can range from annoying to intense and debilitating.
Other characteristics include:
- It may interrupt your ability to concentrate, sleep or work
- It can have a range of causes that affect blood flow like vascular disease or high blood pressure
- People with chronic tinnitus may experience stress, anxiety and/or depression
The treatment of pulsatile tinnitus depends on the underlying cause.
In Kathryn’s case, it was an aneurysm causing the partial blockage in the main artery in her neck that traveled near her ear. The aneurysm kept the blood flow bottled up for a time but then would rush past the blockage. This rush of blood through the artery produced the whooshing sound that she and her doctors could hear. The excessive rushing of blood through her head was also the source of her headaches.
Furthermore, they discovered that this aneurysm was the cause of her left arm weakness and lack of sufficient blood flow to get an accurate blood pressure reading.
To fix the problem, Kathryn underwent a cerebral angiogram to determine the exact location of the aneurysm. A month later, Dr. Sattar performed the necessary surgery to repair the aneurysm and install a coil and four-inch stent to prevent it from forming again. A couple of months later, Dr. Sattar also placed a stent in her left side to clear a 90% blockage of her subclavian artery, which explained the weakness of her left arm. One final angiogram confirmed that everything was working as it should.
Teamwork at Mountainside
Kathryn credits the teamwork shown by the physicians at Mountainside Medical Center as the impetus for her successful care.
“What made the difference, I believe, was that they were all doctors who felt comfortable calling someone else and saying, ‘Hey, I don’t know what this is, but maybe you do?’ I think all the doctors associated with Mountainside are really in tune with not only their specialty but are willing to think beyond their expertise and figure it out for the benefit of the patient,” she said.
Kathryn found out later from Dr. Sundaram, her primary care provider, that her case was presented by Dr. Sattar at a medical conference.
“He protected patient information, but I knew he was talking about you,” said Dr. Sundaram. “He also said there are many people who have this condition but are not getting diagnosed correctly. Even though it was frustrating, you kept trying to find a doctor who would listen to your story. You should be proud of how you kept pushing for your own health.”
Back to an active lifestyle
She is back in the gym working out, building up to three to four sessions a week.
She also plans to take more trips south to Florida with friends and family to enjoy the beach. “When my girlfriend and I were down near Pensacola, we saw that New Orleans was just a couple of hours away, so that’s going to be our next trip.”
Her regular activities outside of work involve time with her family, reading, watching movies, or taking her motorcycle for short rides around town.
“I love to read, which I haven’t done in the past five years because the noise in my head was too distracting,” she said. “Now when I’m home, I enjoy the quiet times when I can read or watch a movie with my family.”
After all Kathryn’s been through, that sounds like a good time.
If you want to learn more about the health services at Mountainside Medical Center, visit our website.