Sudden Hearing loss _{Page 19 of 105}

see your never out of the woods. with this thing.

read this link.

http://www.innvista.com/health/ailments/earail/earprob.htm

this thing is scary.

yes, I have lost my hearing after the shots. Steriods mess you up. I gained weight and felt horrible while on them. The shots did help but then I lost the hearing again. Now it has been almost a year!

'mich18' may I ask did you gain some hearing back or all back the first time when you were on the steroids?

How much did the steroids help?

how quickly did your hearing go away again?..

this is what I am most fraid of. going offf the steroids. I can deal with the crazy feeling if i have to in order to keeo my hearing.

mich18 also when you lost your hearing again did the tinnitus come back like it did before. that is unbearable.

does anyone have a success story with this dang thing.

:( im very scared.


any need to call me can
1-386-295-5156

nitrams2000
I have no more hearing at all in the right ear.
a. december 27th could not hear from that ear around 4:00PM - came back during the evening. Did not make anything of it.
b. January 22nd, as I said before, I lost all hearing in the afternoon. Got steroids the next day, some distorted hearing came back.
c. several weeks later, same story, and I lost all residual hearing in that ear.
d. Audiogram of the left ear indicated that I have moderate to severe hearing loss in that ear.
e. Have received since then a hearing aid, it is the Savia 211 from Phonak and I am doing quite well with it. But I have to warn you hearing aids are quite expensive. BUT I CAN HEAR WELL WITH MY LEFT EAR.
Were it not for the tinnitus in my head even my dead ear, everything would be just dandy.
Please do not give up hope.
Also, saw a famous doctor in Boston at MEEI and he told me, that if the hearing in the left ear deteriorates I will be a candidate for a cochlear implant. That thought lets me sleep at night.
Take care and may you be well

ok info on reccurring SSNHL

I spoke with 1 doctor doing a study today. here name was deborah strike.

she informed me that 1 in 3 cases do get recurring SSNHL and she said that she feels unless the disorder is still in your body then you are unlikely to have it comback. this means if the disorder was caused by genetics or premenent injury that it may comeback but if it is vial and that component of viral is treated then it would be highly unlikely. like a upperrespetory infection or some type of bactrial ear infection.

so we are back at square one that i need to find out where this dang thing came from but atleast i know that it isnt noise related and i dont think its genetics. so now i gotta hope its something viral that has now left my system and that viral can go take a big flippin hike. its viral that has not left my system then i may have to do this all over again. she said for some reason my age is very typical to get this.

scary as sin
JM 386-295-5156

Hope01 your angel. you always have kind words for eveyone and great thoughts. i dont know how you do it. :)

for that i thank you.

nitrams2000
I am surprised that the doctor you spoke with today told you that your age might be a factor. I have been told over and over and also read that sudden deafness is neither race, gender or age related.
Look at engelschen, she is only 31 she said and she got it. I met some weeks ago a young Lady with a baby in a carriage in a Vitamins Store and that person is only 22 years old and she is deaf in one ear since July 2005.
Again do not give up hope. Not sure if I mentioned on this board that in 1989 I had lung cancer (never smoked) and the doctors gave me 6 to 8 months to live....Now we are 2006...... and I am still alive and cancer free. I had to MAKE myself think 'POSITIVE'.
And or course I also eat healthy food; no shunk food at all.
Take care

Hi, Hope01. I am happy your hearing aid is working for you. I never really seen one, so I checked out the website. It looks kind big. Does it work for distorted hearing, also, do you know? I have no hearing for low to mediam sound. When the sounds gets mediam to loud, I hear distorted sounds very very loud. My husband often forgets about my condition. He walks toward me from my back(I have no idea he is there) and whispers by my ear. Boy, it sounds like a megaphone next to my ear. I fall down out of the shock. So I am thinking hearing aid is not for me. I do not know. Since you are doing well with it, I guess you do not have that sensitivity? Take care, all.

Hi mstctiger -
I have only one hearing aid. The MEEI told me that there was no use to get one for the dead ear.
With this Savia 211, I hear very well from the left ear.
The only thing is that at times especially outdoors, I sometimes do not know where the sound is coming from.
i.e. the other day somebody said 'Hi Marie' I heard that but did not know where it came from, so I turned right and left, finally saw where the words came from.
So I told the person about my condition. I am not ashamed to admit my problem. On the contrary, I then jump to the occasion to let people know about sudden deafness, and the very narrow treatment window.....
The BTE Savia does not feel bad behind the ear, and it is loaded with technology. Batteries last about 2 weeks.
Get to run as I am going away for the weekend.
Take care and be safe all

HI all,
does anyone know of a device that would actually make sounds quieter rather than louder, like a reverse hearing aid? I recently realized that its my right ear (good ear) that is sensitive to the noise. my left ear is in the profound hearing loss range. my right ear hears normal. all of the tinnitius comes from the left ear, and of course gets worse with noise. i was in a restaurant last night, it really is difficult to enjoy a night out with all that background noise. i was thinking if i had something that would muffle that noise it might be a bit better......

update.

I am going to be gone till oct 1st. I got my 3rd and final shot from Dr. atkins monday the 25th. Today was my first day down on the pills. I'm starting the tapper now for the prednisone but still going to accupuncture. I get my hearing test when I comeback and I'm going to do a MRI.

So far everything is good. My hearing is back completly and the ringing is so very faint I have to actually try to hear it. Yeah!!

love you guys. I keep you updated. I pray for you guys. :(

Hi, What?. The restaurant is a bad place for me, too. The good ear takes in too many background noises. I only eat at a place with floor carpet, far from kitchen, or quiet romantic place, etc. For reverse hearing aid, I have never tried, but heard of a product called 'sonami'. Check out the website. The demo is interesting. Take care.

Hi I am new to this site with SSHL 100% hearing loss in right ear, either Viral or Vascular I think, 10 days now. Taking 40mg Prednisone 6th day and anti viral intraveneously along with Sub cranial massage and acupuncture (first session today). Johnno did you find an ent in Sydney who may do the steroid shots to the ear. I am in Perth and noticed you were in Hobart, having difficulty finding someone to do the shots here into the middle ear. I try to remain positive and hope and pray each day that I will get my hearing back along with all the others on the forum I have been reading.

Hi all. I'm new here. Woke up with complete hearing loss in right ear on 9/4/06, so three weeks and counting. Got in to see ENT w/in 30 hours of onset. Have just finished 14 days of Prednisone taper, which resulted in slight improvement in some ranges, as well as lots of internal racket.

Nitrams, I'm wondering if you can point me in the direction of the studies which show 60mg of Pred. over 12 days is best? I had 60mg, but only for the first eight days. I'd like to show my ENT those studies if I can. I'd be happy to try Pred. again if there's any chance of it helping, despite how crazy it makes me feel!

Also, Nitrams... when you talk about the shots you've had, what exactly are they? Is it Pred. directly into the middle ear, or something else? Would love more info on this from anyone!

I'm also looking into hyperbaric oxygen treatment (which my doc completely pooh-poohed), as well as natural anti-inflammatories. Has anyone had any luck with antibiotics or antivirals?

Thanks, everyone, for all the great info., and for helping me know I'm not alone in this.

Cheers!

Hi,
I am new to this forum. I am a 47 year old woman (UK) who experienced sudden hearing loss in my right ear one month ago.
My doctor put me on antibiotics (useless) and I have been referred to ENT who feels I need an urgent MRI to rule out a tumour. My hearing has returned but is still a bit muffled and audiogram shows a loss of hearing in higher frequencies. Hearing is a bit distorted.
I was prescribed steriods and antivirals late (after 2 weeks)- no difference. I'm shocked that there are so many of us!! And so many young people. This is a devastating condition and its seems to be little publicised.
Is anyone aware if steriod injections into ear are available in the UK?
Best wishes to you all.

To laughingarcher.

Should you live in the eastern part of the US (as I do) make sure to insist on the hyperbaric oxygen treatment. It is done in the US, they lied to me and said it was only done in Western Europe........
I did not question them (my ENTs)regarding shots directly into the ear, because I did not know about them. But obviously when you read the posts on this forum you see that it is also done in the US.
I am now stuck with absolutely no more hearing in my right ear.
So it is important to insist on all these treatments.
I thought that I would get the best possible treatment, but I did not.......
Wish you luck to get your hearing back

Thanks, Hope! I live in Seattle, but was told the same thing by my ENT about HBO treatments (can't do it, won't work anyway), so I tracked down a naturopath who has his own HBO unit! I'm going in Wednesday for my first session.

I'm also going in for cranio sacral work on Friday, and may try a course of antibiotics. My naturopath thinks I might possibly have a big bad infection (sinusitis or labyrinthitis) that's somehow been overlooked. I did have a bad cold and episodes of vertigo going back as far as July 4, so he might have something there.

Take care, all.

Laughinarcher - I am glad that you are taking a very proactive role in this. I believe that is the only way to go about.
I wish you all the luck in the world and hopefully you will get your hearing back soon.

Take care and all the best to all

I developed sudden hearing loss April of last year. My ENT quickly administered 3 shots in my inner ear over a 3 week peiod. He explained that this procedure helped about 1 in 10 with SHL. I have no hearing in my left ear other that any distortion that is picked up with the help of a hearing aid. Am still adjusting to the hearing loss but would be happy if I could eliminate the extremely loud tinnitus. My doctor says that I am a candidate to have the nerve cut from my inner ear to where it goes into my brain although this procedure is not performed in the states yet. I am holding off with the hopes and assumption that they will find something that can help this type of loss. My biggest concern now is the loss of hearing in my right ear. He says I will be a candidate for a cochlear implant at that time. Cost is $50K to $75K and is not covered by United Healthcare. I recently took early retirement from a major telecommunications company to get off a headset that rested on my good ear.
Such is life . . . good luck to all of us.

to justjuking
Your story sounds so much like mine. I too took early retirement.
I am like you very worried about my left ear where I have moderate to severe hearing loss (wear a HA now) and of course no hearing left at all in the right ear.
The last specialist that I saw told me that if I would loose that remaining hearing I will be a candidate for a CI.
I am still on COBRA so far. But I am looking around for a good health insurance, and I have been told by several of them, that contrary to hearing aids, cochlear implants are covered by health insurance???
I will do some more checking around and get back to this board if I get concrete replies.
Good luck to you and all of us

To all

Sorry, I still do not have concrete information regarding health insurance coverage for CIs.

Have not forgotten to let you know when I do

Have a nice weekend all

HI i am still gone from home and will be back sat. but I wanted to post from my labtop. laughingarcher. the ear shot is the most important thing i think you can do. they use a different steroid and is said to be 100 times more potent then pills. anyone that tries to lead you away from the ear shot just doesnt know what they are talking about, but i am afriad your results may not be as good because of the time. the more you wait the lesser the chances are but you still have time... if you are considering doing this then do it right NOW!!! dont wait!! RUN!!!!

also the study that they are doing now is basically a case study where they take all the people in the study and break them up into 2 groups. one group gets the ear shot one a week for 3 weeks. and the others get pilss. prednisone at 60MG a day for 12 days then taper down. it is doen to compare the 2 to see if the risks of a shot to the ear is a better benefit then pills.

I am a bit of a nut willing to try anything so i did them both. yes i am a nervous wreck and i put on 13 pounds but my hearing is back and hopefully it will stay.


The ear shot really seems to help, it cant and doesnt hurt. they use a needle that is so small it isnt funny. also its not that expensive either so DO IT!!!!!


other things i have tried are accupuncture.,homeotherapy, antibiotics, pills, but have not done the HBO... my little teem of doctors also feel there is no proof in HBO. They said even in theory is makes no sense ..

P.S. my advice. if it is safe and it wont kill U then try it. definantly do the ear shot!! also go to www.suddendeaf.org thats the study. consider upping the mg to 60 but make sure you got enough for the whole 12days. lie if you got to to get more and also make sure your body can handle the 60mg... you will notice a difference from 50 to 60mg. it is a difference that was hard for me to handle but i did it.

god bless you and may he be with you.

from what i read i guess i just got lucky with the ear shot , my ear doctor said it was a 50% chance but i noticed some didnt get good results on here. i think time is of essence. i was in and had my first shot within the 4thday to 5thday of having it. i sure wish i had more answers but i wont stop till i do get some. i will beat this thing to death till i find something out or it kills me.

God bless you guys. your in my prayers.

back home. anyone that needs to talk just let me know. im spending the next few weeks looking for a cause. someone needs to find a cause for this thing. did anyone get wierd feeling in thier head, sorta like a headache bt didnt hur? sorta like a pressure feeling when they went down to far in the pool or like a jittery feeling. i still get that? but i think i still have steroids in my system. i wonder how long steroids stay in your system after you go off of them?.

i took my last half of pill today. i have a whole nother cycle of them for future use that i saved.