Sudden Hearing loss _{Page 26 of 105}

after long thought and consideration. I have decided to maybe go back on the prednisone. I dont want to miss my window and i'm scared not too. today was a really hard day for my right here. probably a tie for one of the loudest tinnitus days yet. I know its not a loud as some others but mine is pretty loud. i can here it greatly at night and in the day i can hear it everywhere today but other days i hear it faintly. I just hope its not getting worse. it scares me to death to think i might have to go through this all over again.

now i am going crazy i think...

first i should use ginko then i shouldnt then red yeast rice is no good now some pills im taking may or may not be causing this. im at a loss .. accupuncture guy seems to try to help real hard but i think there is only so much he can do..

I am beginning to beleive that I am finally doomed. its all i can do to fight anymore. today I decided to walk and i was next to the road. i thought to myself these cars are zipping by if one hits made finally this will all be over with. What a night mare these lkast 2 months have been.

nitrams2000

Hang in there. I fought drug addiction for 30 years (clelan now for 9 years), fantasized about turning the wheel while driving to get out of something I felt was out of my control. Glad I didn't. Life is good (platitude). As they say in NA meetings, 'don't quit before the miracle'.

My tinnitus is roaring all day long and all I can do is to not focus on it, meditate, stay the course on treatment and believe that I am doing everything in my power to bring about a positive (or better at least) result, which includes educating my physicians on what I hear in this thread and my own web surfing and not play the victim. Since this is my second bout, I am over the top on my expectations of these medical folks working for ME.

Hang in there!

Nitrams2000
Please do not have these bad thoughts - Had I listened to the doctors when they said I had terminal lung cancer with a malignant tumor the size of a half dollar and six months to live I would have cheated myself out of many years of a good life (it happened in 1989). After I got over that I was able to travel to many parts of the world in my job. Was able to be here for my two children (son and daugther).
Seattlestan's post tells you to hang in there.
Furthermore, since you have your hearing back, I believe you are just frightend now.
We are all with you in our thoughts.
Take care and be well.

Hope your words mean the world to me. It so Nice to know you.

I am trying to hang in there. it is hard for me. I am a very emotional person that is very depressed and brokend down 'mentally' from this whole thing. I try my best but I dont think I am built like others. Some people are strong and can handle things. for me it is different I guess.

My left ear is fine now and there is just a very very faint ring in the left ear. and for that I thank the lord. but now my right ear rings pretty bad. it started Oct. 13th and some days it is not so bad but today was really bad.

I used to get on here and be so strong and fight so hard but as the days of war go by I feel my whole self just wantingto give up. If it hadnt been for support of family, friends I know and people on these boards then I dont think I could have made it.

Someone very special called me tonight and gave me some much needed support. I can not say enough to explain how much that ment to me. I dont think anyone will ever know how much it ment. To that person I want to thakn you with all my heart.


P.S. I am really surprised with all of todays technology that they cant find a simple way to fix a ringing noise in someones ear. He we today as society let things lie this ruin are qaulity of life is beyond me., If you do not have this ringing then you will never know how but it truly is. I would much rather not have a leg or a arm then this.

To all Tinnitus sufferers on this board - I just got off the phone with my daugther who called because she saw something on the net which might be what some of us suffer from?
Go to www.headaches.com (enter) then on the left click on Tinnitus and you will see, some of us might also have TMJ dysfunction. I know I have Eustachian tube dysfunction. I had to tell that to my #2 doctor and then he looked at me at the time and said 'you are right'.
One is speechless to find out that the patients have to tell the doctor what is wrong in some cases.
Take care and be well

To Nitrams2000
Thank you for your kind words.
This forum has a lot of very compationate people more so than another board 'hard of hearing concerns' which I follow. They mostly only speak about hearing aids.
The difference is that the people that post there are mostly people that suffer from progressive hearing loss over many years.
Whereas on this board most of us have suffered an onset of sudden deafness and most people are in the prime of their lives that is why there is so much understanding and compassion.
I have noticed that people with progressive hearing loss do not understand what it is to loose one's hearing in a matter of hours or less.
And some of us are so young.
Like an 18 years old young lady being robbed of her hearing, this is what makes it so dramatic and sad.
Take care and get well soon

I don't say much but I follow all of this very carefully. Have any of you heard of 'Ringstop & Hearall'. I contacted Dr. Bob Martin and he recommended this stuff. I looked it up on the internet and it is a homeopathy remedy that seems to really help.
In foolwup to my hearing loss, I have now had my CT scan and ABR and I see the ENT on Oct 25th for results. I also saw my GP on monday and cried in his office and showed him my printouts from this forum and other sites on SSHL. Although he did not admit it, I could tell he had no idea of what I was speaking about.
He prescribed 7 days worth of 50mg prednistone as he said it couldn't hurt. I will discuss SHL with my ENT next week and see what he says and ask him to test my hearing again to see if I have any improvement .
I suffer badly from a very full head, almost to the point of wondering if I have a severe sinus infection as I have had cold like symptons for a month now. Also I am getting very hot flashes and no it is not the change. Went thru that 10years ago.
Good luck all.

Nitrams hang in there I know its hard I have this roaring hissing in my bad ear which I try not to focus on and find meditation does help me to relax. My good ear rings at times and I too get frightened and it tests my faith . But some how when I focus on the 40% hearing I have got back so far and the strength I have had to fight this my faith is instantly restored. They say that nothing is put on our path that we cant handle so I guess it makes us stronger people what ever our outcome.

When I go to have my anti viral treatments intraveniously I look around me at the people having treatment with me their bodies ravaged by Cancer It really levels my emotions about my self.

So to us all hang in there, miracles can and do happen.

Nitram,
One of my doctors (a TMJ specialist) informed me that stress over a period of time may sensitize the inner ear, so please you must find another way of dealing with your now troubled right ear. In order to keep your sanity during this ordeal (and yes, I, too, have inhabited this same darkness), try to read/practice meditation. This just may help you perceive your health and body from a different angle. After all, you DID regain your hearing in the left ear. You've had more progress than most people writing to this forum. As far as the tinnitus goes, for many people it does die down with time. (Or maybe we just learn to live w/it... either way, we venture forward) Of course it drives you nuts, but going nuts over it also worsens it. It's a catch-22. Believe that you will win this.
nvega

Hello Hopebc
I had to backtrack a bit to see where you explained your condition. I am so surprised that you were not put on steroids at once after you had this hearing loss at certain ranges.
In any case, I hope you will regain your full hearing. I am not so lucky I have no more hearing in the right ear.
Yes I have heard of Hearall and Ringstop. Looked at both in a Vitamin Shop when a young girl with SSHL approched me and told me that it did not work for her.
My GP also told me that he has a patient for whom neither of these two products worked. So since they are rather expensive I did not buy them.
But when I woke up at around 5:00AM this morning, I remembered my Aunty Agnes (in my in laws family), her husband died several years ago (in his seventies) and he had tubes in his ears off and on for quite a few years
that no only drained the fluid behind his ear drums but also relieved him of Tinnitus.
When I asked my ENT guys each of them said that they did not want to do it for me as they were afraid I would loose all hearing. As a matter of fact, doctor#2 got upset at his Audiologist since she mentioned it to me during the audiogram procedure in the back of that doctor's office.
The other bad thing for me is that I have an accent, so instead of talking about my problems these doctors want to know where I come from and my impressions of the US and what have you. Even the famous doctor asked about the French celebration of the quatorze Juillet and we ended up talking also about Switzerland which he loves and where I often visit one of my brothers and where I have been skiing. Anything except talking about my ear condition.
From now on, I will see any doctor with a print out of a word file where I will have written down specific questions
Take care and get well soon

ok some updates. some bad news and some good.

first the good.

my wife bought a new fan that makes a cool noise. you guys gotta get this is you have tinnitus. its called a tornado. they arent cheap. they are around $50 but it makes like a hurling noise and i can now sit in that room. its still hard to sleep from all the stress and worry but I did get about 6 hours last night so that was very cool.

now the bad news.

woke up this morning and the ringing in right ear is there and more defined but now I do beleive I hear the ringing in my left ear. 'the original infected ear' coming back. it is defnitly there and a little louder.

I preyed to god to help me find my way.

hopebc

let me ask. with the hot flashes you have. do you sweat at night or have night sweats?

infact let me ask the board. Does anyone have night sweats??

Mertie

is there anyway I can speak with you. I could give you my number. Your doctor seems to take a much more aggressive approach. I would like to know more about him. He sounds much more knowing then my doctor. If you dont want to speak I will understand. could you tell me his name and loacation. He may be able to help me.

In reply to your question, No I dont sweat at night but I do wake up with night sweats, even a couple of times during the day. It wakes me up at night and I have to get up to cool off. My face is bright red when this happens.
It only lasts for about 5 minutes but it is very uncomfortable.
This has only started since my hearing loss.
I don't know what tinnitus is like, but what I experience is a repeat echo of every sound that goes on around me. If it is dead quiet I don't have any noise but the slightest sound, even the hum of my computer rings and echoes through my head. It drives me crazy. Is this tinnitus. This is where I find that the noise reducing headphones help. They cut down on all the ambient noise around me.
I so feel for everyone on this board as I am not as bad as so many of you but I feel as if my life is completely shattered.
Good luck

Hi, I know after reading this board that I should have been put on the steroids when this started , Sep5/2006, But these so called doctors have never once mentioned SHL to me. Thats why I broought it up with my GP. As I said I am going to ask my ENT about this medical emergency which I am sure he must know about but didn't say anything to me.
In Canada, we are very lucky to have a healthcare system where we don't have to pay astronomical fees , but we have a problem with such long wait lists to see a specialist. I do know that if I lived in the USA I wouldn't be able to afford to see a doctor. My sister lives in Seattle and her medical insurance costs are so high they nearly kill her. When her husband had a stroke 3 years ago they went thru all their retirement savings for his medical costs even with the good insurance they carry.
I guess what I am trying to say is if we here in Canada dont pay for our service maybe our system is not as good as we think it is, what with our wait lists to see a specialist in a medical emergency. I only got the steroids because I showed my GP the copies of this forum

Hopebc
Replying to your question regarding Tinnitus:
Tinnitus is a ringing or rambling or woushing, or roaring water fall noise in the ear.
Some people (like me) have three different sounds: one in each ear and one that seems to come from the middle of the head.
These noises can drive you crazy. I am now deaf in one ear (due to SSHL) yet last week before I stopped taking Gingko, I had the impression that I was standing about two feet from Niagara Falls with that deaf ear.
Today the noise is substantially less.
I am on a strict diet: no chocolate, no tea, no coffee, no alcoholic beverages, no whole wheat bread,
This morning I had a talk with my dear sister in law in Switzerland, she had kidney failure about 8 years ago and received a kidney transplant. That kidney is not functioning as it should now. When we hung up. I had to tell myself 'Do I really have the right to complain..... about Tinnitus when there are people whose major organs are not functioning as they should and they are still so young'.
Take care
P.S.On a different forum, there was several weeks ago a gentleman who called his Tinnitus 'his own symphony'
He explained that he learned to live with it. It is great if a person has what it takes to learn to live with it.

Hope if he has learned to live with it then god bless him because that is a tuff one. I do feel better today because I got some sleep last night thanks to my wife. She called me her best friend yesterday and said to never give up. She is very worried about me. The support I get from everyone reall reall means alot to me.

I am first to admit that I am a big wimp when it comes to these things. I know there is alot worse I could have but to be honest I would easily give up a limb to get rid of this sound. at least with out a limb I could sleep.

looking at people walking by is so woerd now because I wish I was them no matter who it is. Amazing what thing does to you mentally and physically.

Well I figure I got nothing to loose so I just took the prednisone. started 50mg. I hate the stuff but with ringing in one ear and ringing higher in the other ear. I figure now is good a time as any.

nothing to loose anyway.

all this talk about wether to take it again or not , geesh it was like a soap opera.

To Nitrams2000
I have to get off this PC so that I do my errants and what not. But before I go, I am so glad to hear that your wife called you your best friend. You need a lot of support and the support of a spouse and or parents and children is what you need right now because I believe you are very depressed over this whole ear situation.
Be strong, hang in there, those are just words that we your forum buddies can say. But it is the love of your immediate family that is most needed to pull you through it. If they understand where you are coming from, you will be fine (I have seen it with my own eyes in my family)

Hello this is Justine again. I am in college and I have to do an artifact paper on SHL. This is a huge assignment...it is my final exam. I want to use this forum as a resource. I am righting on how nurses and doctors are not knowing of SHL and they over look it. I have seen 4 nurses until someone realized I have SHL which by then it was too late. I would like to know if anyone on here has been in the similar situation. Also I would love to hear other comments about SHL not being known or looked for. I hope you understand what I am looking for and I will appreciate all the help you can give me. Thank you

Justine

I just found some interesting information... A Dr. Jeffery Harris, cheif of otolaryngology/head and neck surgery at the University of California, recently came up with a quick test to seperate cold infection and SHL...IF ONE EAR IS 'BLOCKED' hum out loud and if you hear your voice louder in the blocked ear, the problem is congestion (fluid in middle ear) but if you hear it louder in your good ear this indicates a viral atteack causing permanent hearing loss if untreated (SHL. Try it and let me know if this works for you... Thanks

Justine

18withSHL

for your paper. where do you want to start. I have two doctors who knew a little about it and a ton that new notihng...

DR Atkins. - New very much what it was. and is currently trreaking but he was the 3rd doctor I went to.

Dr. Who- Had no idea. only ever seen something like it once before

Dr. Skinned- had seen very few cases of it and didnt know how to treat it so anyone that comes in with it gets prednisone automatically because thats what the book tell him too do.

Dr. Murriel. - very old guy said the samething. if you got it here some prednisoen. take this and call atkins not me because he knows bettr then me. lolol

so after I would say close to 7 to 10 grand spent

I have been through 4 doctors and a mess of blood tests. half the blood tests I dont even know what they are. crazy names like western immnoblin and things like that.

hope that helps. I talke to doctors, pharmicist,

pahrmicist are really funny. they think i over dosed on aspirin...

the whole world is baffled it would seem but there is a ton of info and whats scary about it is we will come up with a general connection for every one real soon because the cases are growing and one day they will say ok we figured out why now lets figure how to fix it but they will never figure out how till they know why. they never doo.

going to sound goofy but today is easier to deal with. maybe the sleep i got or the fan, the prednisone i just took, the fact that i stopped Ginko, I dont know but it is better.

now im not saying the noise isnt there because heck ya it is but just somehow easier to deal with. hhhmmmm

i also stopped taking lunesta. i was taking that but something told me to stop so i did. hhhhhmmmmmmmm

SeattleStan:

I'm in Seattle, too. I lost the hearing in my right ear this past Labor Day. I've done all the usual allopathic stuff, and am now working with a team at Bastyr on allergies. If you'd like to chat about treatments and providers, give me a holler at laughingarcher at hotmail dot com.

Cheers, and all the best to everyone on the board...

to 18with SHL.
Justine nice to hear from you. Hopefully, you were able to put the SSHL information on myspace as you said.
As for getting information from all of us, I have a file that I created. It is the time line of my onset of SSHL, but I do not know how to get it to you.
I am not sure if you want to give out your email address on a forum like this.(I would not want to do that). How could I send you that file otherwise? I do not want to indicate on here what my phone is either.
Maybe you have an idea what could be done.
The internet is great, but it also can be a monster, the less one indicates on the net, the better (this is coming from a former Software engineer) you might think I am bizarre but that is how I feel, as there are too many predators on the net especially those lurking around young women.

Nitrams2000
thank you for the information this means alot to me. Did you say you spent 7 to 10 grand???? Thats crazy it looks like I will not be doing anymore with my SHL because I don't have that kind of money. WOW that's a lot!

Hope01
I know what you mean I'm going to give you my e'mail address that I don't really use but I will keep my eye out for yur mail! I'm not going to send it now I will wait to hear from you on this again to make sure that is ok. Thank you so much. Oh and the myspace post did go out but I do not know how far it got I will be sending more periodically.