Lightheadness, vertigo, possible bruit: should I be worried?

[john]

For years I have been getting a sharp pain in the right side of my neck when my heart beats real fast. My physician said it may be a carotid bruit and to go to a cardiologist, who pretty much told me i was making it up and never did the ultrasound. Also, a week ago I was standing by my desk at work when all of the sudden it felt like my brain was vibrating inside my skull for about 5 seconds, immediately followed by a strong feeling of vertigo for a good 15 seconds. While it was happening somebody called me over to them but it was all I could do to grip the desk to keep from falling over from the dizziness. This has happened about 4 times in the last 6 months, and I am wondering if it could be related to my arterial pain, like my brain is losing circulation or something. I am only 18 though, so a blockage doesn't seem likely, though I know I have high cholesterol and high blood pressure do to pretty crappy genes. Could these little symptoms be signs of something worse?

 

[greengo]

For an 18 year old to have a blockage is very extremely rare, but symptoms do need to be evaluated.
If your heart has episodes of rapid heart rate, you should get checked for cardiac conduction abnormalities such as wolff parkinson white syndrome. These type of abnormalites occur at any age.
You might also benefit from an "event monitor" which is a device you wear and press a button when symptoms happen. It will transmit what your heart is doing during the symptoms. sometimes you get checked when you are NOT having symptoms and everything is normal. But you need to be checked when the symptoms are actually happening.
Did your doctor listen to your neck? Did he hear a bruit? A bruit is not something that it "might" be, either you have one or you don't. It sounds like a swishing sound when you put the stethoscope on the neck. Did the doctors listen to the neck? If the cardiologist listened and there was no sound, it would explain why he did not do the ultrasound. However, you still have the symptoms, and a "bruit" does not cause those symptoms. And vertigo is not caused by carotid blockage, but rather vertebro-basilar artery blockage. So, wrong blood vessel anyhow. But do get the event monitor.