Sudden Hearing loss _{Page 23 of 105}

Nitrams2000
I am not sure about Prednisone. But after I had the onset of sudden deafness in the right ear I was given only 6 days of that med. by the first ENT guy.
My left ear was fine. Then when I saw the first ENT guy again, he put me on BIAXIN XL an antibiotic because I had and still have fluid in that left ear.
To make a long story short, after the 7-8 days treatment of that med. the hearing in the left ear had declined to the point where I had to cuff the ear with my hand in order to hear as well as I did the week before.
I now have an expensive hearing aid (a Phonak Savia BTE) for that ear.
I am not a doctor, but I would say that in some cases it does not take long to get a hearing loss from these ototoxic drugs.
This is why I wish we had doctors that would sit down with us and explain all these factors to us.
Take care and be well

tempted bigtime but still I have not taken the prednisone. I shall wait. I have some good news. I looked up the shot they do in the ear and the medicine they put in the ear is called 'decadron'. Good news is even though its a steroid it doesnt seem to be atotoxic from what i read YEAHHH!!! hopefully that will work. I plan on flunking that test with flying colors on purpose just so I can get the shot.

also just for the record. the maker of prednisone has tried to make a connection between hearing loss and ototoxic drugs. so far to date they have less then ten cases of prednisone and someone complaining of hearing loss. out of the millions of prescriptions they only have ten. not bad.

any advice for my monday appointment would be much appreciated and i am taking a paper with some questions to ask so if you want some questions answered please let me know and now is the time to ask so i will have him to myself for a bit. JM

Nitrams 2000 - I was on prednisone (60 mg) for one week and it didn't help to get better. I wanted to keep taking predisone but my doctor explained some serious consequence of taking the steriod. I don't remember what the Dr. said because I was going through a shock at that time but I only remember I was scared when the doctor explained some side effects. Prednisone is very effective but should take it with caution. Maybe you should consult your doctor Monday before taking it.

i know I just hope i am not waiting to long. this ringing started like monday or tuesday. im going to flunk the test on purpose so he will give me the ear shots anyway. they say that is alot healthier for me. i have the prednisone with me and have almost taken it like 3 or 4 times. i dont give much of a crap about the side effects. i figure what ever else it does i can live with. if it fixes the hearing. so far i can hear n that ear. but ringing seems to be getting louder. this is not good.

taking of the prednisone is tempting. if my condition worsens i am defenitly crassing the line and taking it. so far its just a stuid very stupid ring. not a hugely loud ringing. its more like a background ringing that is ittitating in quite areas but just noticeblae some what in other eareas.

Before I am going away for the day (the fall colors have reached their peak here in New England), I want to put in my two cents.
- Octobergodess - I totally agree with you, these steroids are not a medication to take lightly. And maybe the reason some doctors are so careful when dispensing them is simply because of their potency especially when confronted with a patient like me on high blood pressure medication and high cholesterol medication.
- Nitrams2000 - First of all I want to reiterate my frustration with the doctors when it comes to SSHL. However for you to play a game of faking an onset of SSHL in your other ear is not fair either. This might be one of the reasons some of these doctors are so careful when prescribing these medications?
a. you told this board last week or the week before that your hearing is 100% back but you were still afraid of the outcome of the MRI. That according to another post came out OK. And I am very happy for you.
b. You say that you have some tinnitus, very little...Many of us suffer from severe Tinnitus. But that should not be a reason to tell the doctor that you have another onset of SSHL.
Many people with SSHL try to find solace and support reading or posting on this forum, we need to keep it honest and trustworthy.
I am sorry, but this is how I feel.
To all please enjoy the day, enless you are in the lake region and got some early snow....I used to live in Corning N.Y. I am sure they got as much as Buffalo....

hope you are correct. I admit it I am a big chicken. I dread not seeing him before the day is up. the ringing I got was faint but has increased. I started getting in my good ear on monday and it has gotten louder ever since. now it is not as loud as the left ear was when it was infected. infact it is now where near that, also I have noticed a slight sensation in the right ear that i can not explain. its more like a tugging sensation or like when somone has there finger on your ear. not in it but on it and around it. like somone is pulling my ear. these new things scare me and its true I very well maybe overreacting but its so hard not to when no one else will be proactive. you have to bug these gys to do something.... since when whould we have to demand, bag and lie to get the service we deserve in the first place. someimes it makes you wonder if they are indead truly here ot help us or not. I thought they did for the glory of help and not just the money but maybe I am wrong. JM

doctor advice.

1st. doctor= Numbskull old guy that wants you in and out. He is smart but doesn't want to take the time for you.

2nd. doctor. Dr Atkins. Very educated guy, nice guy, but still I know more then this thing then he does. Half the test I mention that I should have that they show as routine online, this guy has never even heard of.

3rd. dr. who is his name. accupuncyure. great guy, very nice, greatbeside manner but his favorite thing to say is if you want to treat this and beat it you will need many many treatments, many many many treatments. he says this everytime i see him. tell me that doesnt sound scammy.

4rth docotr dr. sheemish from isreal. this guys a winner LOLOL. he gots some pills he would like to sell me and they cost 1000 and would like to have sessin talks with me over the phone. 2 a week 350 a appointment. which I would truly spend if i thought it would help but I did some research and found out what is in his pills anyway. here it is.

1 .One capsule:
Vit. A (0 - 350 I.U.)
Thiamine (0 - 0.5 mg)
Riboflavin (0 - 0.4 mg)
Pyridoxine (0 - 0.1 mg)
Pantothenic Acid (0 - 0.7 mg)
Nicotinamide (0 - 0.9 mg)
Cobalamin (0 - 0.15 mcg)
Vit. D2 (0 - 35 I.U.)
Alpha-tocopherol acetate (0 - 0.2 mg)
Calcium phosphate (0 - 3.5 mg)
Cobail sulphate (0 - 0.006 mg)
Magnesium sulphate (0 - 0.5 mg)
Manganese sulphate (0 - 0.6 mg)
Zinc sulphate (0 - 0.004 mg)

2nd pill Another capsule:
Thiamine (0 - 4 mg)
Pyridoxine (0 - 9 mg)
Cobalamin (0 - 10 mcg)
Passiflora dry extract (0 - 4.5 mg)
Valerian dry extract (0 - 1 mg)

Both capsules also contain a blend of herbs based on:
Allium sativum
Capsicum annuum
Melissa officinalis
Rosmarinus officinalis
Geranium maculatum
Cimicifuga
Crateaegus oxycantha

this is common stuff. hows this supposed to help me. :( infact the only good news I see on this whole thing is 2 stars that had this are Rush limbaugh and Foxy Brown and both got their hearing back. both are 100% thanks to the implants. so unless you got some serious money to throw around you better not get this disease. most likely if it comes that I will get the implants too because only three things are happeining here for me..

1. this will go away with me fighting.
2. if i live with it i will jump off a bridge.
3. im getting the implants. i'll spend the damn dough.

sorry to send so much jargen. I love you guys. your the only one that understands.

Just wondering how long people have had treatment for and still found some help from it. I lost my hearing nearly a year ago (in November) and saw several docs who put me on steriods and saw a small improvement. I was suppose to have a procedure done where I would have steriod drops but then I found out I was pregnant and then nobody would do anything until the baby was born. Baby is due in 5 weeks time and thinking about starting to pester the doctors again. Just wondering if they will do anything for me as I know that the sooner any action is done the better. Are there any success stories out there?

mhoyuk honey I dont even want to say this because there is always a chance and I say never give up but from what I see even catching it early is very bleek at best. I hate saying that to you. I myself have been fighting this since Sept the 7th . I got it real quick. got pills and shots. even took higher of doses of pills to match the study and did more then the original ear doctor said but now my hearing is back in the bad ear which was my left ear and my right ear had decided to play games with me. Dont give up and i wish you luck.

I would say do the steroid shots and take the pills but be realistic with yourself. if that doesnt work then maybe implant if they even do that for one ear. i think its only for cases where both ears are death. I'm very sorry. my prayers are with you.

for those keeping up on my results. friday the 13th so far has been good for me. it seems this morning the ringing has still went down. I have not taken the pills yet and still plan on shot for monday.

im actually amazed that it is not ringing like ti was yesterday. yes its stillringing but not as bad. hard to explain. the wierd pulling sensation is still there. that strand. but sounds better.

Thanks Nitrams2000 quick response! I've kind of resigned to the fact that this is the way life will be from now on (ie. deaf in one ear). While it is a pain at times (like in large crowds or in noisy places), I thank God that the rest of me is healthy. I think I will try to contact the ENT specialist that seemed very proactive and try to see what he can do - if anything. It doesn't hurt to try. I'm not even thinking that my hearing will come back 100% - but anything is better than nothing.

Dear Nitrams2000,
I am praying for each of you here in this thread everyday. I also pray that you all find someone that can help you through this devestating problem, SHL.

I too, had this happen to me earlier this summer. Gratefully, I am nearly well now, with only mild tinnitus, noticeable only in a very quiet environment.

Nitram, the herbs you listed can indeed help you, as well as all the vitamin and minerals. Because whatever is the root of this SHL, your body needs to be replenished and supported with more than normal amounts of nourishment you get from a healthy diet. Herbs can and will heal, as well as homeopathy. That is where if found my healing. One can easily use the Remedy Finder on the front page of this website to help find what homeopathic can work for your individual symptoms.

It is good to have the support and information you all have posted here. However, there is hope outside of mainstream doctors where most of you seem to have gone to for help. Just know that I am continuing to read every post, and send you all good thoughts through out my day.

Blessings, love, peace and a sound mind,
Jade

For those with partial or total hearing loss, do you happen to have discomfort in the eustachian tube area (including popping, sensation of fullness, or cracking sound when yawning, etc). Have you found any relief?
Thanks

nvega - Just got back home, it is so beautiful today here in New Egnland. The colors are great. So good to be alive even with this hearing impairment and screaming Tinnitus.
I have the noises you have and I found out that I have eustachian tube dysfunction.
Found that out by reading on the Internet. I HAD TO TELL MY SECOND ENT GUY about it and then he agreed. He did not tell me that up front.......
Now do not get me wrong I have also a third ENT doctor and he is famous in Boston. I am not mad at him but surely at all the others.
Nitrams2000, please do not talk about your Option #2. Just let me tell you that you will never be totally deaf, should you loose your hearing in both ears at any time, there are very good doctors out there that do CI implants. I was already told by the doctor in Boston, that he will do one for me if I need it. That brings me some peace of mind.
To mhoyuk - have you looked into the Baha System? according to the testimonials they are great.
I am not a candidate for it because the hearing in my remaining hearing ear is not good enough. But if you still have very good hearing in one ear, check out the Baha System webside and talk with your ENT doctor about it. Good luck with your Baby, if you go far enough back on this forum, I think I remember that a few pregnants ladies got their hearing back after giving birth. I wish you good luck
To all: hang in there, a great September day is worth living for even with our handicaps.

My name is Justine and I am 18 years old and about 2 months ago I woke up with a loss of hearing in my left ear, yesterday I was finally told I definetly have SHL. I know nothing about this and I was also told usually when you have SHL if you get a treatment of steroids within the first two weeks you have about an 89% chance of getting your hearing back. But because a nurse employed at a certain hospital I now have a 0-25% chance of getting my hearing back. This nurse looked at my ear for about 15 seconds (no lie) DID NOT ask me any questions (like do you have a fever, runny nose, and other symptoms of a cold) and told me I had a cold infection with fluid causing my eardrum not being able to vibrate. The she gave me a prescription of antibiotics which was meant to last 10 days but it took me 15 to complete. THAT WAS MY TWO WEEKS! It took me about 4 weeks to get correct treatment.

Do you know anything about the CROS AID? My ENT Doctor recommended it.

Justine - I am so sorry to hear about your onset of sudden deafness which was not treated at once.......
I have heard of CROS AIDS.
I asked my audiologist when I got my Phonak Savia BTE hearing aid about that. He told me it would not work for me, but did not tell me the reason why not.
If I were you I would ask that same question on the 'hard of hearing concerns' forum. There are some posters there that are real techies. Somebody on that board will come up with the right answer for you.
Take care and be well
P.S. If you are already on the web, just type hard of hearing concerns and hit enter, then click on hard of hearing concerns list and take it from there.

Justine the cros aids are usually used to pick up some of the frequencies in your good ear.My understanding is if you have some of the frequencies back in your bad ear they can pick up others from the good ear. My ENT mentioned it to me but he also said to wait 3-6 months for a hearing aid as it can sometimes take up to 2 years to get hearing back?
Mine happened 4 weeks ago yesterday and I got 20-30% back in 3 weeks and have my next test on Tuesday, I feel I can hear a bit more so never give up hope.
I will do a time line post this weekend with a list of treatments and supplements that may help someone.

Nitrams2000- you are so lucky to have your hearing back in what was your bad ear but all I can say is it is easy to react to Tinnitus as it is usually bad before the onset of SHL. But SHL is exactly that SUDDEN up to 72 hours, the fact that you haven't yet lost the hearing in your good ear is a good sign and your tinnitus is probably just tiniitus due to many other factors. Have a look at the T-Gone remedy site it explains the many different types of Tinnitus.Just Google T-Gone.

Good luck with your appointment and like Hope01 I agree its better to be honest in your test so that you give Atkins the best help at treating you.
I too get Tinnitus in my good ear and do worry but I had Tinnitus before all of this so it can be due to other things.

Hope01, I am hoping that my hearing will get a bit better after giving birth. Before getting pregnant I did notice a slight improvement in my hearing and then it seemed to get worse as the pregnancy progressed. In the meantime my ENT doc has referred me to a tinnitus clinic. The problem with where we live (in the UK) is that it takes absolutely ages to be seen by any kind of doctor. Took me nearly 3 weeks before I saw my first ENT specialist.

Hopefully after having this baby I can start to take some of the vitamins/herbs that people have mentioned and see if that helps. Not expecting miracles at this point but you never know!

I am having a bad Tinnitus night and therefore I am already up and getting ready to leave for the weekend.

To all of you that cannot get quick ENT's appointments:
Go to the emergency room (as I did the day of the onset of SSHL since I had a gut feeling that something was terribly wrong). The doctor on call will check your ear for possible wax blockage, if he/she sees nothing, it will be called a possible onset of SSHL a MEDICAL EMERGENCY and an ENT, if none present will be called. This is how I saw the first ENT the next morning.
The reason I only got the Prednisone is probably because I am on 4 medications (2 for high blood pressure, one for high cholesterol and one to digest the other three). This is a genetic thing with me as my Dad passed away at the age of 57 because of hardening of the arteries.
My problem with these ENTs is that they could at least take the time and explain why they are hesitant to prescribe ample supplies of these steroids for somebody like me. Or why they do not want to give the shot into the ear.
For those of you that might have (like me) to eventually consider a cochlear implant. I will give you the name of my third doctor (had to wait over 3 months to see him). It is Dr Steven Rauch at the Mass Eye and Ear clinic. I was very impressed when I met him. Check out MEEI on the Internet, he has written books and speaks on the Internet, he is great. I heard from some of his implantees and they are doing fine and 'hearing' again.
So Nitrams2000, please never consider your option #2, because there is help out there. Also, unlike hearing aids that are not covered in the US (I paid over $3.000.00 for one but it includes the fitting sessions), cochlear implants do have insurance coverage including Medicare.
For those of you not in the US, I am sure that your emergency rooms also consider an onset of SSHL as a MEDICAL EMERGENCY. So please visit your closed ER
as you cannot afford to wait 2 3 weeks to be seen by a specialist.
To all, have a nice weekend.

Sorry I meant to say closest ER.

Ringing in my ear is still there. Today not one of the better does. It has been worse but yesterday was much better then today. Her's something I noticed. When SSNHL comes to one ear it could be a million things but when it comes to both ears its almost always a diesease called 'AIED' if you read the symptoms on this link you will see.

http://www.entnet.org/healthinfo/hearing/autoimmune.cfm

This does make sense to me and very could be what I have. I hope that I am wrong. more importantly. read this paragraph from this article.

Treatment For AIED? Most patients with AIED respond to the initial treatment of steroids, prednisone, and methotrexate, a chemotherapy agent. Some patients may benefit from the use of hearing aids. If patients are unresponsive to drug therapy and hearing loss persists, a cochlear implant maybe considered.

So according to this Prednisone & methotrexate is what i need.


has anyone ever heard of methotrexate?

Heres my theory. from reading and knowledge I have learned that these drugs helped me in the past. helped others and are suggested for these conditions so by 'not' taking them right away how do i know that I am doing the right thing. even though no doctor has said to take them , doctors are almost always wrong on this thing anyway. look at all the doctor problems we have. My guess is I need these right now and by waiting I may suffer with this ring for ever. ..... just a thought.

I was put on steroids orally for 7 days and I have not gotten any other treatments and my doctor just told me we will do 6 month check ups. I feel like he is giving up on treatments and is just hoping I get my hearing back. Is there any other kinds of treatments I should look into? I appreciate all of what you have wrote me and I do not feel like giving up. Doctors say that every 3 out of 100,000 people get SHL but yet we have got it and I feel like they are not doing all they can do. I think we should bring this out to the public, so others know the symptoms. I don't think they are really familliar with this hearing loss and we need to show them it is a big deal. I don't know but I think we should do something. I don't know if anyone here is familar with myspace but I am posting information about SHL so it gets around.

Hi, Has anyone been read this-(on Google)
'Transtympanic steroids as a salvage therapy in sudden hearing loss:preliminary results' 2006 Journal for Oto-Rhino- laryngology. I have only read the abstract on Google- and am unable to get into the full article- but it looks interesting.