Sudden Hearing loss _{Page 21 of 105}

To all - This sudden deafness seems to strike a lot of people lately. I stay in touch via email with some of my former colleagues and soon after I had an onset of SSHL, a colleague from our Germany office emailed me that it happened to him (4 weeks after my onset). But he got spontaneous recovery in a matter of several days.
There was somebody on this forum that told us that he/she wrote to Oprah, I am wondering if that person heard from the Oprah show?
I wrote to the congressman from the district where I live to see what could be done to make the public at large aware of this terrible affliction.
So far I have not heard back.
I wish us all best of luck

I mention this to everyone I know all the time and allthough I do run into a very few people that have heard of tinnitus , I would say about 95% of people I talk to have never heard of SSNHL and have no idea what it is. in fact they are very surprised. out side of the medical field it seems to be sorta hush hush and i dont think anyone that hasnt had it much cares because when you explain it to them they are just happy they dont have it... most people seems to have relating and understanding what it is you have.

Hi, all. I learned a lot from Dr Neil Bauman at hearinglosshelp.com. He dedicates his whole life to people with hearing damage. I bought his book called 'Ototoxic drugs exposed'. It lists over 700 ordinary meds that cause hearing problems!!! I was taking a lot of ibuprephen (for toothache) when this happened. Could be the cause? I do not know.

But I agree with Hope1 100 %. I mentioned before, but I needed to take sedatives daily for anxiety and my good ear got so sensitive, echoing, started hearing phantom(sp?) noises. DROVE ME NUTTS! It went away when I stopped taking the med. If anyone wants me to check your med, just let me know, OK?

I did write to Opra, but have not heard anything.

I go to monthly group meeting here in SF. I have met 3 people who also suffered SSHL in last 2 years. At work, I found one person had it last year. I never met anyone who had this say 10 years ago. It must be new, kind of epidemic, I tell you.

Take care, all.. LOVE

Sorry that you couldn't find the information within the forum. There is a lot of information to troll through here (which is great!!). I found the doctors name: Prof Antony AAP Narula. He is at St. Mary's Hospital in Paddington. I just asked my GP for a reference to see him as I wasn't happy with my current ENT specialist and wanted another opinion. He wasn't too happy about giving me a reference but I think he felt incredibly guilty about my ear (he originally dismissed my hearing loss and said it was just a virus). I was impressed with Prof Narula and he seemed willing to at least try things where my other ENT doc completely refused. Prof Narula was going to insert a wick into my ear so I could administer steriod drops but then I found out I was pregnant and they wouldn't do the procedure as I would have to be put under (possible risk of miscarriage). Now it's almost been a year since my hearing loss and not sure if they would consider doing a procedure like that again since it's been such a long time.

My current ENT specialist has referred me to a see a tinnitus consultant as the ringing is constant and annoying at times. Just hoping that things get a bit better once I have the baby and can be a bit more proactive about getting treatment. Nobody seems to want to touch a pregnant lady - but only 6 more weeks to go!!

mstctiger i was just curious. does it say anything in your book about laxatives being Ototoxic. just wondering.

This may have been mentioned before, but in the last 10+ years more and more human beings are operating their lives with noisy instruments in their ears. From the walkmans to the phones, boom boxes, you name it, there is noise pollution everywhere more and more.

My friends and I have a difficult time finding PEACE in a restaurant these days.
There is so much blasting 'music' going on. I call it NOISE.

This was not really my daughter's case since she wore no technology in her ears, her SHL was definitely from medications.

I'm 68 and have taken my share of OTC pain pills in my early years but in the last several I have cut back immensely. I've never worn any of these noise makers in my ears and never will. I don't own a cell phone but could break down one day for emergency sake. I would say my hearing is 100% fine today. Thanks Mother/Father Nature!!!

There does seem to be an epidemic of hearing loss going on in the world at this time.

This may have been mentioned before, but a 'famous' radio/tv political talk show person in the U.S. lost his hearing due to heavy doses of oxycontin(sp) it made big news here. He had a Cochlear Implant at House Clinic in LA a couple years ago. I don't follow him since he is so on the other side of my political views. But it was in the news big time.

Then there was a young rapper star, I think her last name is Brown who went deaf in her 20's. There was a big article in a magazine about her.

Just more info about all this.

I have been reading all these posts on SSHL and I am sure that is what I woke up with one month ago. I have lost my hearing in the lower region of my right inner ear, but I can still hear out of it at certain ranges, but everthings sounds like it is coming through a tin can. I have become overly sensitive to noise of any kind though, to the point of cringing . I met my brother for lunch yesterday and he was so concerned about my reactions and blocking my ears at everything that he took me out and bought me a pair of noise blocking earphones. I can still hear with them on but they block out all the background noise that is accociated with life.
Has anyone tried these. They are making my life tolerable right now.
My ENT guy never said anything abour steroid treatment, although I had to wait 3 weeks to get into see him. I go for an ABR and CT scans next week so I should find out then if this is SHL. I do know that I have never given into anything like I have this. It is devasting.
Is it possible to have SHL in only one region of the hearing range. I cannot hear the dialtone of a phone but I can hear speech. My ENT never metioned SHL but I wonder because on reading up on it, it seems to fit my problem.

Dear hopebc-
I lost my hearing the same way a year ago this month. I don't know where you live but you need to see an ent that understands how important this is. My doctor here in Pennsylvania,usa- told me that the first couple of weeks are the most important. You need steroid treatment. The scary part is that I did get hearing back to the point you do, hearing through a tin can, Then a month later I lost all the hearing and still can't hear out of my left ear. See as many doctors as soon as you can!



I also wanted to let everyone else know that I agree that we have to get this out there. No one I speak to knows that this can happen to anyone, at anytime! If you have ideas on how to get this out please contact me. I am 28 years old and have lost all hearing in my left ear. Woke up like that last October.
Still have heard nothing new! Best advice- Relax!!!

Hello! I have been reading this forum for about one month and found it to be extremely informative and helpful. I must say it is better than my doctors including ENT. I had 100% hearing loss in my left ear on September 5. I've never had any health problems before. I was on predisone for one week and did a hearing test- still no changes. My ENT doctor told me to stop taking the steriod pills because it didn't help me within one week so it is not going to work on me anymore. She told me to just wait and see. After reading about steriod shots on this forum, I've mentioned it to my ENT. She said there is no proof that steriod shots actually work and it is not practised in Canada. I want to move to America!! I was incrediably depressed and scared for about three weeks. Mainly because I had to adjust to living with one ear and my balance was still not stable. I am taking a bunch of vitamins ( A, B, C, & D), calcium, Coq- 10 etc.) and also getting some acupuncture treatments twice a week. I don't know what is helping me but recently, I went for my second hearing test and my hearing did improve a little bit. ( from 110 dec(profound) to 80 dec.(severe)) I am able to hear some loud sound but not much use because it is not at functional level. I also get tinitis which drives me crazy!! My ENT doctors are not very helpful and not hopeful that I will recover some hearing. In fact, the first ENT doctor told me I may never get any hearing back. I was devastated!! At least my acupuncturist thinks that I will recover 70-80%. I don't know but I am hopful that I will recover.
Thanks for sharing your experiences on this forum. It means a great.

My brain must be effected too. I can't even post a reply properly - I ended up creating a new topic (SLH)!!

ok got my MRI and everything seems to be fine. the imaging center that did the MRI said the my ssnhl was not defined in my MRI because everything is fine. To the ones one the board that have tried the prednisone but stopped keep in mind the study shows 60mg a day for 12 day. or one ear shot a week for 3 weeks and you can do both aat the same time. the idea behind the steroids is to get blood flow to the area, decrease swelling and increase your immune system or atleast body's strength. The fact that the doctor did not give you enough or told you to quit due to lack of results is simply crazy. I beleive your time to heal this is short and I have seen people get hearing back as much as 21 and 25 days after the onset. this means you can take the whole prednisone for the 12 days and not see any results but that doesnt mean its not working. it very well could be but just takes time but you will never know that if you dont stay on it for the right amount of time in the first place... try it again I say..

also keep in mind that if your hearing loss is not to do inflamation or swelling in that area then the prednisone probably wont work for you. it doesnt mean steroids doesnt work because I am living proof they do. but it does mean that you probably dont have inflamation and your loss is do to something else other then inflamation.


Pills, Vitamins , stteroids, accupuncture, homeopathy. I beleive all of these do help and work but keep in mind if those little hairs in you inner are indeed dead then probably notihng will work.

at that point then one of only 5 things will work. implants, possible hearing aids, waiting for hair transplants to become reality, a miracle from god and just putting up with it.

i know it doesnt sound like much hope but i think the steroids saved my life. the only main symptom i have left is a weird feeling in my head thats wierd and of jettering feeling. it doesnt do it that much but there is something theree. but if thats all i got then i can deal with ti if i am safe.

explain this one. Prednisone is what everyone prescribes for hearing loss but yet prednisone is on the list of ototoxic drugs. isnt that a oxymoron? I noticed that today. I would sware by Prednisone and I do beleive it helped but I help taking that stuff wont hurt me in the long run.

Hello Mich18

Take homeopathic remedy chenopodium 30 for a week daily a dose. Observe another week without taking medicine and report back.

'now my right here.' here we go again. I need some advice on if i should be worried or not. my left ear is the side that was effected. now as you all know what I went through with my left ear and now it is fine but my right ear starting ringing a little bit over the weekend. the ringing is loudest enough to hear very well in silence and faintly in noise. this worries me bigitme becaue i dont want this ti happen all over again. this is almost exactly how the left ear started, first it was ringing and then it felt closed. now right ear isringing and i dont feel any closure yet. has anyone had this. is it natural to hear the ringing. i always heard a ring in the right ear but it went away so much that you could hardly here it at all. I really dont want to go threw this again. I'm not built for this at all and not as strong mentally as many of you here. I cant beleive I might have to go threw this all over again. JM

soory had to repost. to many typos.

'now my right here.' here we go again. I need some advice on if i should be worried or not. Please help.

my left ear is the side that was effected... Now as you all know what I went through with my left ear and now it is fine but my right ear started ringing a little bit over the weekend. The ringing is loud enough to hear very well in silence and faintly in noise, This worries me bigitme becaue I dont want this to happen all over again. This is almost exactly how the left ear started, first it was ringing and then it felt closed. Now my right ear is ringing and I dont feel any closure yet. Has anyone had this? Is it natural to hear the ringing. I always heard a ring in the left ear but it went away so much that you could hardly here it at all.

I really dont want to go threw this again. I'm not built for this at all and I'm not as strong mentally as many of you here. I cant beleive I might have to go threw this all over again. any help or advice anyone can provide would be much appreciated. JM

Just got back from a weekend away from home.
Joyce Martino - you are right this SSHL must be due to ototoxic drugs, or to the noisy world we live ine. Looks like the doctors did not study this 25 or more years ago, as most GP's do not even know about it.
The guy you mentioned is back on his show with a CI, seems to hear well. I am not on his side of the isle either.
Octobergodess - Do not feel bad about Canada, I am in New England and they did not suggest steroid shots, or hyperbaric oxygen treatment. They even told me it was not used in the USA, when it is indeed used on the West Coast.
Nitrams2000 I am glad to hear that your MRI was fine
I wish us all the best.

hope, I thought I would ask you wait your take on my right ear now ringing is. I know you might not know but you always respond quick so any advice is good advice. my ear now rings in right ear a little higher then in left ear. the left ear was originally the SSNHL ear.

I spoke with doctor and he said to watch it and be carefull with noises. he asked what i did this weekend and I told him, I went to a jazz festivel and a halloween thing called halloween horror nights at universal studios. he said my ears now are not like other peoples ears and that i need to be crefull and not be around all that noise. he also mentioned that this might be what caused it be he said not to worry because SSNHL 90% of the time does not effact both ears and ringing might be natural for me. he didnt seem to worried but ofcourse I am.

you guys are much stronger on this board then I am. thats for sure. This stuff makes me a nervous wreck. now I am trying my hardest to avoid anything bad.

I got my pills ready and waiting if i need them and the doctor has allready said and approved shots to the second ear so im ready with all guns a blazing. Hopefully with god on my side answering my prayers I wont need them. Knock on wood.

Nitrams2000
My ringing in the deaf ear is driving me crazy. So I know what you are saying. And I am also very worried about my left ear. But all these ENTs keep on telling us that SSHL usually only happens in one ear.........
I have always used a lot of vitamins, but I have now added Vitamin 12, not the regular one but the one called methylcobalamin. You might only find them in a Vitamin store.
Also, I notice that my ringing gets worse if I stay on the phone for an extended time. Now I tell my family and my friends that I need to get of the phone after about 15 minutes. If they have something important to tell me they can email me. When I am home I check my email a few times during the day.
Again, I am glad for you that your MRI was OK. Still cannot figure out why your ENT guy did not order one right at the beginning.
I am loosing faith in the medical profession.
Take care and be well

engelchen - what a great user ID you have on this forum. I love it.
In any case, I read your post in disbelieve. So here you are in a new area, and the doctor does not even refer you to an ENT doctor in that area???????
It is quite scary. We all have to do our home work ourselves.
And he did not know about sudden deafness either????
I still hope that mistctiger will get a reply from the oprah show, so that he/she can talk about SSHL on that show so that SSHL will become known.
Best wishes to you for finding a good reliable doctor in the area where you now live.
Take care

engelchen my heart cries out to you. I wish and hope to god that you will find a way. you sound like you are built alot like me. im a nervous wreck. even with my hearing back in that ear im still not out of the clear. I called all 3 doctors today. 1. said my mri was fine and to not worry about ringing tell it becomes hearing loss. he said the silliest thing you wont beleive. he said. turn on the phone and listen to the dial tone from both ears and if it sounds any different at all from one ear to the next then call my other dr. dr. Atkins and tell him. I thought to myself. ok but why call doctor atkins. why not just try to help himself. never heard of that one.

'engelchen' I dont know if this will help but let me let you in on a secret. if you want to see a really good doctor in your area then check with the guy that gave you your hearing test. all the doctors send there people to hearing test guys and they hear and see them all. my audiooligist refered me to the only two doctors that do ear shots in florida. also if you need to go to someone in Neurotology you are supposed to be reffered from another ear doctor but what I did was lie. I just went up there and said they did. you gotta do what you gotta do.

go online. do your homework. find the big Neurotology guy in your state. call him freaking out and lie. sound legit and your in. thats what I did. im not healed but without dr. atkins I would be worse off. He may not be perfect but he will doo.

MAY GOD AND JESUS ANSWER MY PRAYERS. RIGHT NOW I PRAY FOR ME AND ALL OF US HERE. JESUS AND GOD HERE US.

OUR NUMBERS MAY NOT BE MANY BUT TOGETHER WE ARE A GREAT AMOUNT OF YOUR PEOPLE SEEKING YOUR HELP. I KNOW YOU WILL FIND AWAY. I KNOW YOU HAVE THE POWER AND YOU WILL FIND AWAY TO HELP US HEAL US IN OUR DESPERATE TIME OF NEED. HEAR IS GOD AND HELP US AS WE NEED YOUR HEALING ANSWER. JM

Nitrams 2000 - you are so right about being assertive. The first time I went into see a doctor, he told me I will get my hearing back soon and prescribed medication called Serc (for dizziness) and refused to refer me to a specialist. I had to go to the hospital emergency next day and finally saw the specialist the third day. Engelchan, I understand how you must have felt. I hope that you find a good doctor in your area soon.

Octobergodess - I was so sorry to read your post. What is it with these doctors, yours also does not seem to know about sudden deafness.
The public at large including these dumb doctors need to be made aware of this condition.
And the ENT guys need to come up with a uniform treatment plan and not tell us these stories......
People should not have to resort to lies to get help.
Nitrams2000 - I have prayed and prayed but God seems to have a different plan for me. I even put several drops of real water from Lourdes (that my Mom had brought me from France years ago) into my ear, hoping for a miracle, but nothing happened.
There is a reason for everything that happens in our lives, but I do not know yet what mine is. Since you have recovered and should get all your energy back soon, you might become a great spokesman for the cause of SSHL (spelling?)
Best wishes to all_

Thank you so much for the info on Prof Narula. I will follow it up.

best wishes.

Nitrams 2000--I had the same thing happen to me a few months ago--I have not regained the hearing in my right ear but I did start to feel it coming on in my left ear the same way it started in my right ear. It got to the point where I really believed that I was going to go completely deaf, maybe in a few hours, that I actually went to my ENT's office and demanded to see the doctor while he was with another patient. They first sent me into the room for a hearing test and it turned out that I was just experiencing some rining but that the hearing was still 100% in that ear. The doctor told me to do the same thing with the phone--test the hearing by the tone but I have had to stop doing this becuause I was making myself crazy by picking up the phone every time I passed it. The more I worried about it the more it felt like it was now happening in my good ear, so try to put it out of your mind (I know easier said that done)
Hope--I also can't tolerate being on the phone too long. A few tiimes in the last couple of weeks I spent the morning on several long phone conversations (but thats always been normal for me) and my bad ear was really really bad for the rest of the day. It wasn't even so much the ringing but the clogged feeling and the pressure becomes so much worse and then I just start to feel sick. Funny how we all share the same symptoms :) Take Care everyone.

Copy of email I sent to a fellow Canadian. It is how I feel about the long waits we have to endure here in Canada. I go for my ABR tomorrow. Has anyone had that and if so does it tell you anything.
I am sending you this email directly as I too am from Canada. I go under hopebc on the forum, actually that is where I live in Hope , BC.
I still haven't been diagnosed with SHL, but I think that is what I have. Since my hearing loss ( I don't even know how much loss) I have been a different person. When I am out the noise around me is killing. I have become very jittery in my body feeling you know, nervous or ???. I even get tingles up and down my right arm several times a day???
I think our medical system stinks as when I went to my GP firstly he didn't indicate anything seriously was wrong, and then I was booked an appointment with an ENT two month in the future. Well, as I have now found out, that is way too late for steroids. Also, because I had no idea what was wrong I didn't ask any of the right questions of the ENT.
The ENT saw me sooner on a cancellation, but still a month after the onset of my hearing loss, but when I got to his office for my 8.15am appointment , there were about 15 people already there waiting, so I didn't want to bother him with my worries. I don't get to see him again until Oct 30/06. I feel very alone in all this even though on reading the forum there are lots of us around.
I also have this feeling of fullness in my head that is very bothersome. Thank God I don't have tinnitus, It seems as if I have suffered some hearing loss, but developed super sensitive hearing on the other end. I don't know what to think of any of this, but I do know it has totally devasted me. I have never given into anything in my life before.
Have you found out what the cause of your SHL is. My ENT said on my one and only visit it could be a burst blood vessel (mini stroke in my ear , his description), and the CT scan would show that.
as I said on my post, I have started wearing noise reducing headphones for a lot of the bothersome noise and they have helped greatly, except they hurt my ears after having them on for a few hours.
Sorry for rambling on , but I seem focused on my problem and feel I have to get it out with someone who has similar problems.
Please feel free to commiserate with a fellow Canadian if you wish,

Barb

Some of you must think 'how come she is always on the forum?' It is that when my house is clean, I sit on my PC as I am trying to write a book. So I peek into this forum from time to time during the day. I am not working anymore since the onset of SSHL. After my software engineering job was outsourced to India, I only found a job on the phones in some corporation.
--To Barb--
I am glad you shared your problem with us on this forum. I do hope you can see the ENT guy before the end of October. Time is of the essence here.
I saw a famous doctor in Boston (I live in MA)only three months after I tried to get an appointment. They send me in the meanwhile to another doctor, but he did not give me anything (had gotten a 6 days course of Prednisone right after the onset from my first ENT doctor. My Kids insisted that I go to Boston for more and better treatment........
The famous doctor might eventually have to do a CI implant, if the hearing in my left ear fades away also.
I am so scared....
But to get back to your problem Barb, insist on seeing a specialist asap. Insist on having an MRI done.
- the treatments it seems are:
1. Prednisone in pill form for at least 6 days
2. Steroid shots right into the ear
3. hyperbaric oxygen treatment
Follow the way Nitrams2000 does, he seems very very proactive and the results are that he got his hearing back.
The famous doctor (I do not like to name doctors here) told me that my onset of sudden deafness might have been a mini blood clot. But I did have an upper respiratory viral infection 4 weeks before the onset?
The medical profession does not seem to come to a definite conclusion as to what causes these onsets.
After the onset (1/22/06), I had so much pressure in the deaf ear and a feeling of fulness, now this is replaced by constant tinnitus that drives me crazy.
I have also tinnitus in the other ear but that is masked during the day by a hearing aid that I have to wear (have now mild to severe hearing loss in that ear)
Again, make sure you can see a specialist asap.
I am so surprised, I was always under the impression that you guys in Canada have a much better health care system than us in the US.
I have a very dear friend outside Toronto (her and I went to the same school many many years ago in France) she seems quite happy with the system in Canada.
I wish all the best and I hope you can see a good ENT guy now.