Sudden Hearing loss _{Page 59 of 105}

hello everyone. I lost my hearing in my right ear on May 9th, 2006 when I was just 16. I woke up like any other day and went to school. I began feeling sick and felt pressure in my right ear and could not hear out of it. It also began ringing that continues today. I began getting dizzier and dizzier throughout the day and finally went home. I had an episode of vertigo that lasted for a few days. I went to the doctor, but there was nothing he could do. Same result when I went to an Ear Nose and Throat doctor. I have not had any major vertigo attacks since, but I am still deaf in my right ear and hear ringing all the time. I'm about to get on Flavonoid to give it a try and see a Otolaryngologist in Little Rock. I was just wondering if anyone can give me any advice on what to do to try to get some of my hearing back. Thanks

LionSoFly much of here are in the same boat with you or someone we know is. Right now there is not much that can be done other than steroids injections with the first 4 weeks I believe. This in itself doesnt always work and sometimes only returns about half of peoples hearing. Here is a great website I found that constantly has updates on all the treatment that are being tested and underway to prevent and cure SHL(sudden hearing loss).
the website is w w w . hearinglossweb . com

To: Rosetta

Thanks for your posting referencing the Taiwan study on SSNHL & Stroke. This led me to other web sites, resulting in a connection between SSNHL and Migraines (silent ones).

Because of some strange TIA-like symptoms on the left side of my head this last May(same side as my 2 SSNHL events over 3 years)and the web articles, I made a number of medical appointments. I have since had a carotid artery ultrasound, an echocardiogram and, finally, an MRI/MRA. The results apparently point to silent migraines (also verified by my eye doctor in a recent exam---optical migraines)and not stroke.

So the neurologist that I have seen has encouraged the following: CASE (C=Caffeine in the morning; A=Aerobic exercise; S=Sleep in the sense of sound, complete and 8 hours; E=Eating in the sense of grazing, portion control and the right foods).

Although the medical community doesn't know what causes migraines (like SSNHL) it has made some sense to me and lessens some of the stress around the possibility of my SSNHL being a precursor to stroke.

Hi, I am new to the forum but have a long complicated history. June 2001 I developed severe vertigo and was in the hospital for a week. All blood work, imaging tests were negative. Docs told me that I had a weird virus. My hearing in my left ear was diminished. I was released from the hospital, it took a while for the vertigo to go away entirely. My hearing came back and then I became deaf in my left ear. About a year later the hearing in my right ear started to drop out. Since then I have had about 6 episodes of flucuating hearing in my right ear. Up until late May 2008. the hearing in my right ear was not soo bad, hardly used my hearing aid. I am in the middle of another episode now with my right ear but this time the hearing is not coming back. My speech discrimination is horrible. My hearing in the right ear has never been down this long. I took pred for two months and have had the decadron shots, water pills. Also taking methotrexate and enbrel. My hearing literally fluctuates hour by hour. The other night I was able to talk on the phone. tonight I can barely understand my husband. I have also lost volume this time around too. It is so scary knowing that I will eventually be deaf. I had a cochlaer implant on my left side in the hope that if/when my right ear goes that I will have the cochlear but so far it is just so noisy to me and I have less speech discrimination then in my right ear. I also have roaring tinnitus in both ears and osolopsia (sp?) and hyperacusis (sp?). I lost my job, cant work the phone and am applying for social security disability. I was reading thru other posts, and I havent found anyone else who has repeated episodes. I am not sure if this is auto immune inner ear? a mutant menieres? I am 34 years old and have a five year old son w/autism. I need to be able to hear!!! Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

http://www.menieres.org/forum/

The forum above is where you need to be! (copy and paste the link)I think you will find lots of answers here as yours sounds like a pretty classic case of Meniere's Disease. What tests have you had? Have you got a good Otolaryngologist? You must have had a lot to do with ENTs so far, why have they no diagnosed Menieres? I had a sudden hearing loss on 25th Nov 2006 and am only now in the process of being diagnosed with Menieres - I don't have all the classic signs but from what you have said, you do! Loads of luck and keep us informed. Julie

Thanks Julie. I am going to check out that forum. I have had a battery of blood work including rheumatology work up, mri, ct scan, everything is normal. I am treating with a neurotologist at the Mayo Clinic.

The Mayo clinin is world renowned so you should be getting the best treatment. Have you had any tests specific for cochlear hydrops (Menieres)? This week I am doing just that, I am having an Electrocochlergram (ECOG), cochlear dehydration test, caloric test and 'other balance tests'. There is no single test that will confirm Menieres but these will give a very good indication. See you on the other forum!

I am 24 hours into not being able to hear out of my left ear. This forum has been interesting to read and I thank all for their honesty. Here's my story.

First, my smae is Mark, I'm 45 years old and in very good health. Never had a hearing problem in my life.

On 8/13/2008 I had a slight sore throat and a slightly clogged sinus. It wasn't very bad - I went surfing that evening. 8/14/2008 I felt fine. Sometime during the night of 8/14/2008 I woke up and heard a loud ringing in my left ear. It lasted a few seconds, and I fell back asleep. When I woke up on 8/15/2008, I couldn't hear out of that ear. I took two sudafed, hopped on my bike and rode 12 miles to work hoping that would unclog things. No luck!

I went to the ENT the day I lost my hearing (yesterday), and I'm on 60 mg/day of prednisone and Acyclovir. Pretty standard stuff based on my crash course in SHL over the last 24 hours.

It's now 24 hours since losing my hearing and so far no improvement. I am writing this partly for my own mental health and also to post my progress for other to learn from.

I will keep this forum posted and again thanks to all who have written in the past.

Hi Mark, try to get the shots directly into the ear as soon as you can as it seems these can work and you have nothing to lose if they don't. You also need to be evaluated for other conditions so need to see an otolaryngologist and have an MRI scan. Good luck.

Thanks JeWel41 for the reply. I went to one otolaryngoloist on Friday and a friend got me in to see another otolaryngoloist on Monday (tomorrow). I will be well prepared with questions. My hearing loss is pretty much total, which isn't good. However, I have seen a few encouraging reports on the web of at least partial recovery with shots directly into the ear - though these seem to have been administed AFTER 10 - 14 days of oral prednisone. And at least one of these recoveries was with a guy about my age with similar initial hearing loss. I will defiitely ask this question !

So far no improvement, but I am hopeful !

hi there everyone....
i want to say i am so so glad to have found this site
i am so scared right now and it has helped me very much reading about everyones comments, information and your own experiences with SHL and Tinnitus.
I woke up last Sunday with slight hearing loss in my left ear and by Wednesday it was totally deaf. i have went to an ENTS on Friday and I like so many of you was started on prednisone my mouth. They started me on 60 mg a day but by the 4th or 5th day for some crazy reason my body didn't do very well on it, i started to have severe mental problems and was very suicidal and banging my head against my bedroom wall ect.. ( almost thought i was going to have to check into a mental hospital so i didn't hurt myself) so they stopped me from taking it orally and i am now scheduled for on Monday 08-18-2008 for the steroid shot in my ear drum. i am like so many of you hoping and praying for the best but i am asking for the Lords help for it seems that there is not a lot of medical hope out there
god>>>>>>>>>>
it really seams so crazy to me that medical science is still not sure how to help with what causes SHL and that there is not much of a cure out there for the tinnitus, for that is what i am having such a problem with, the deafness with silence is one thing but the Tinnitus noise is consuming me, almost eating me alive.............
i guess i am thankful, im sorry ill change that statement >>i am very thankful that i do not have vertigo or severe dizziness with the tinnitus but the mental battle i am feeling is so overwhelming. I have begged the doctors for something to help me cope with this mentally and they put me on an antianxiety drug to help me with my severe depression & to cope with the sounds in my head for im so not handling this noise very well ( and i thought i was strong )

But i want to say to you all on this site and others that are out there I am in constant prayer for all of you....and May God our Lord Jesus Christ have his healing hands on you and may he guide the doctors with His wisdom and guidance...


again thank you to all that has taken the time to write on here...it has given me a spark of light into this world of madness i have found myself in

God Bless you all!!

Hello Esthergean,

That's definitely a really rough time you are having. I am so sorry. Don't forget, you are not alone in this. 48 hours ago, I had never heard of SHL, and now I know there are 4000 people in the US every year that get it. It sucks, but we will have to figure out how to adapt. I'm trying to look at it as another chapter in this book of life.

I'm in a similar situation hearing wise as you. My left ear is almost completely deaf and the whoosing sound is constant. The Prednisone hasn't had any effect on my hearing (but fortunaely it hasn't affected my mental state.)

Please keep strong and let me know how the shot goes. From what I have read, the shots may be our best bet of getting some hearing back.

Best Wishes,

Mark

Hello JeWel41, Esthergean and all,

I went to a specialist today. I'm 4 days into prednisone and essentially no change in hearing. The doctor recommendation was the steriod shot directly in the ear if there was no improvement in 14 days. He's also going to do an MRI and CAT scan next week to rule out the worst case scenarios. He said that there is a small chance (at most 5 - 10%) that the steroid shots can cause hearing damage due to the shock they put on the ear. He says the real dilema will be in 2 weeks if things are better but not great. His position is that if the hearing improves to a point that treatable with a hearing aid - then perhaps don't do the shots. It may not be worth the risk. Just stay on the pills for another two weeks. However, if I'm still basically deaf, then go for it.

My real immediate question for this forum now is how quick should I be seeing improvement if anything is going to happen? It's been 4 days - is that enough? How long do these pills take to kick in?

Esthergean, I thought about you today while talking to my doctor. I hope your treatment went well. Please let us know.

Mark

I just got my hearing aid. I have profound loss on 500 hz and higher frequencies on my right ear. Left ear is normal. My audiologist said the aid probably won't help me too much with hearing except for some sound direction, and helping to stimulate non-working hair cells so that my hearing won't go worse in the long run. It's quite expensive for something that doesn't seem all that beneficial. So far it hasn't masked my tinnitus. Any input anyone? Thanks!

Glad227,

I certainly can't giive much input as I am only 6 days into SHL, though you and I seem to have about the same level of hearing loss. So, instead of input, I just have questions. I'd really just like to know if it helps at all. I was sort of assuming that a hearing aid wouldn't do much since the ear isn't doing much. By the way - how expensive is expensive???

Best of luck.

Mark

Mark, I'd say don't worry about hearing aids, just yet. I'm 5 months since SHL onset. For me, it seemed like none of the prednisone or earshot treatment worked. But out of all that I've tried, in addition to acupuncture, chinese herbal medicines, vitamins, gingko biloba supplements, my hearing at the 250hz did go up to almost normal. In the mean time, I suggest you keep a positive attitude, eat a healthy diet, relax, meditate, yoga or whatever to let the body heal itself. I wish you best of luck!

Hi, just a quick update on my situation since Mark seems to be in a similar one right now. NO improvment whatsoever! Still deaf below 85db. But I am coping pretty well with it, considering the initial shock mentally and to my whole system. Only problem I noticed lately, very loud noises close to my deaf ear (cracking thunder, my son screaming etc.) takes my vision out for a split second and gives me a headache. Afterwards I get VERY emotional. THAT can go either way, anger or crying. Not sure why that it, it a recent development and I will ask my doc about this when I go back.

I am thinking about getting the cross-over hearing aid. I don't want the BAHA, just that thought of having something permanently put into my skull freaks me out. Does anybody know if the cross-over is covered by Tricare (military health insurance)? If not, how much does it cost and does anybody use it? How has it improved your life? It has been almost 8 months since onset, no improvement, but life is ok...

Thanks - I'm doing the Prednisone and earshot is scheduled for about a week from now if the pills don't work. I'm also doing accupresure, eating well, etc. etc. Attitude is good ! I did notice yesterday a very very very small amount of hearing in the mid to high ranges has come back. I can now just barely hear the beeps when I dial a number. Fingers and toes are crossed.

I have not posted on this forum for quite a while. I see that these onsets of SSNHL keep on happening. I lost all hearing in the right ear in less than 15 minutes while shopping in a Super Market on 1/22/2006. If you go back quite a few pages you will see some of my postings.
Well it is now well over 2 years that this has happened to me.
I also have moderate to severe loss in the left ear due to an ototoxic antibiotic I had received after the Prednisone (oral) for the SSNHL. The worst thing for me is the 'brain static' in the deaf ear as my doctor at MEEI in Boston calls it. At the time I had the onset, MEEI did not do the shots into the ear and that bothered me a lot.
I have a BTE (the Savia 211 from Phonak) hearing aid in the left ear and I hear quite well with that hearing aid even though I have Tinnitus in that ear.
I am not yet a candidate for a cochlear implant I am being told because I still have about 80% speech discrimination. However I am always so afraid that one of these days I will get an onset of SSNHL in that ear as well and then what will I do since I live alone????.....
Pretty scary thought.
However, all you guys do not give up. In 1989 I had lung cancer (never smoked) and I was given 6 to 8 months to live. I believe that positive attitude helped me to overcome that cancer.
When I get depressed I think about the blind mountain climber who went up I can't recall one of the highest mountain picks on earth. We must not give up.
Please think about that when you get down.....

Take care and best wishes to all

Hope01

Y'all, check out this website http://www.soundpharmaceuticals.com/technology.html
It looks like this company is seriously working on a drug that eventually could help us by 'growing' new nerv cells in the inner ear (something currently impossible since the hair cells in the inner ear do not renew themselves). I am afraid to get too exited but it gives me hope down the road...

Thanks Sahomf3babies, Hope1 and all for the comments.

I'm 6 days into this now. My low range hearing has definitely come back a little. The mid and high are still virtually nil, as is my speech discrimination. And the 'brain static' is always there, especially as things get more noisy around me.

I had a therapeutic Jin Shin accutouch session last night which certainly helped get my energy flowing, though so far no hearing change. (This Jin Shin seesion was at a place primarily working with people with spinal cord injuries, so my little ear neuron problem seemed pretty insignificant ! Puts things into perspective...)

Hope01 - so sorry to hear that you had hearing loss from the antibiotics. That's awful - especially on the heels of the SHL in the right ear. I think I'll pass on any antibiotics if I am offered. Any reason why they didn't give you the shot in the ear when things didn't improve? It seems like there's not much to lose. And finally it's incredible that your still around after lung cancer !

Thanks again

Hello MarkLM - Thanks for your compassionate words.
The reason I could not get the shots into the ear is because I am a patient of MEEI in Boston and MEEI is under the Harvard Medical School and at the time, they did not believe that the shots directly into the ear do help. They thought it was a spontaneous recovery each time somebody around the country announced some recovery after the shots.
MEEI has since then (late 2006 early 2007) changed their minds, but of course it was too late for me. These shots need to be given no later than several weeks or so after the onset of SSNHL.
So I hope that wherever you live you have access to the shots.
Antibiotics are OK as long as they are not ototoxic. Look up 'Ototoxic Drugs exposed' on the Net. You will see what drugs are ototoxic. So all you have to do is avoid these drugs; if your doctor wants to put you on an antibiotic on that list, simply tell him/her that you want another antibiotic drug.
Yes I was very blessed that I recovered from that lung cancer.
Take care

Hope01

I'm new to this forum. Have had sshl right ear for 4 days now, on the po steroids,and got my first injection. also on valtrex. I don't have 100% loss, but profound loss in the midrange. How has anybody coped with the brainstatic? Is there a masking possibility? And depression? I'm having a hard time.

Dear ray1967, it is a huge adjustment to the system and I have heard from several people other than myself that they got hit with depression. The thought of dealing with deafness and tinnitus for possibly the next 40 years is mind-boggling. I have heard of some who have been on anti-depressants for a little while. I did not take any, although the thought did cross my mind several times. But I managed without and for the most part live my life like I did before the onset. I am still deaf in the left ear but go about my everyday business as usual. So, even if your hearing does not improve, you will be able to go back to your normal life after the initial shock wears off... In the meantime, think about the antidepressants. I also never used any masking noises other than having the TV on in the beginning to help fall asleep. But not anymore. It has been 8 months since onset.

Hello Ray1967 and all,

I'm 13 days into this, and for Ray and no doubt future people joing this forum, here's my abbreviated story.

I started with severe loss in the low range, and total loss in the mid to high. I began prednisone the day it happened. Low tone whooshing in the ear and a fullness feeling all the time.

After about 4 days I started hearing a very little in the mid to high ranges.

I would say I'm at about 50% in the low range and 25% in the mid / high range now. My tinnitus is not as bad as initially, and seems to be at a higher pitch than before. Perhaps I am also adjusting. Since the onset, I occassionsly get a 'tuning fork' sound in my ear. They last just a few seconds. I am convinved that these are improvements happening.

Since about day 10, the prednisone is getting to me. I don't always sleep well, and I'd kinda like to punch some random stanger in the nose for no reason. (hopefully i wont !) My blood pressure is up and I'm tense. However, I'll deal with this for a while if it helps my hearing!!

I go back the doctor tomorrow where I may get the shot in the ear. There is a paper entitled 'Transtympanic steroids in refractory sudden hearing
loss. Personal experience' by Dr. Dallan in Italy that discusses the effectiveness of oral steroids followed by shots. The paper shows about a 70% success rate with this treatment -though there were only 10 patients. I e-mailed Dr. Dallan - in Italy - asking him if he has more data. He e-mailed me back in two hours, and said that he is up to about 40 patients and slightly less than 60% success with little to no downside.

I will update this forum after my doctors appt. tomorrow.

I haven't really gotton depressed, though I'd say I hit my lowest point 3 or 4 days after the onset. It's scary and uncomfortable - especially in a loud place. Ray, try to give it some time and see where you're at in a week or two. It's not easy and everyone is different. Get support from friends and family - it helps. After being essentially deaf for 3 or 4 days, having something back seems wonderful - stange how perspectives change. And for what it's worth, my improvements didn't start for 3 or 4 days.

Good luck and let me know if I can help.

Mark

Hello Ray1967 - unfortunately the brain static will stay with you if you do not recover from that onset of SSNHL.
For me what is worse is the occluded feeling I have in that deaf ear. I am getting used to the brain static, but not the feeling of occlusion.

I get sometimes depressed for a few minutes then I tell myself, OK get over it, there is nothing you can do about it girl. Then I try to get busy doing something anything to forget about the noise.

Hope that helps

Hope01