Sudden Hearing loss _{Page 60 of 105}

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

Thank you so much to sahmof3babies and Mark. It has been a roller coaster ride for me, I'm sure like most, and the best thing is just me talking about it and hearing your support. As soon as I finally get over the shock of having a new life and disability so suddenly, I'll make it an ok life. I thought about antidepressants or even valium to decrease the anxiety. I'll ask my doctor. Thank you sahmof3babies. Mark, my symptoms are much like yours, but not as great. Most likely because it's early. Thank you , thank you, thank you again for checking in. I'm day to day.

Hope01,

I just read your post. Thank you. Yes, internal strength and effort seems to be the future for us. No more taking anything for granted. I've hugged my wife a thousand times the last 4 days. Hope01 is a great name because I think hope is all we have left.

Ray

Hi Hope01, I have been reading this forum for a while, since I lost the hearing in my right ear last month, and decided to join today because it might help both me and others. I can really relate to the sense of occlusion you describe being unbearable. It feels as if my r. ear and also the middle of my face, where I would hear breathing before, are occupied by an ostrich egg or cotton balls. This varies and gets better and worse from hour to hour, day to day. Meanwhile my left ear is probably 'hyper accusive' (I think that's the correct jargon) I tried to ask my ENT about this because my left ear is so sensitive. She really refused to comment. But, after reading others' experiences I think that this may be a normal response by my body to compensate for the profound hearing loss to my right ear. I hope it doesn't mean I will be losing my left ear next. I always was hypersensitive to sound..now it is extreme. I did the prednisone therapy, starting within the first 24 hours. I have regained some hearing compared to what I had and the time the SSHL struck. But the progress is MUCH slower since I tapered off of prednisone. I think that the medical community should consider low doses of prednisone early in SSHL, after the initial higher dosing for 2 or 3 weeks, because the first months after an SSHL event are so critical. Anyway, I didn't mean to write so much (and I have lots more to say still!) I wanted to say that I really can completely relate to the horror of that full and empty feeling around the affected ear or ears! It is unspeakably hard and impossible to make others know how bad it is at times.

I want to respond to MarkLM too, I find, reading your posts, many parallels between our experiences in recovery from an SSHL in one ear. I had profound deafness when I went to the ER that first 12 hours. Slowly I have been able to sense more and more around me. When I sleep on my good ear I can suddenly, at about three weeks out, hear voices, distinguish between the sexes and even almost understand some louder commercials. It has now been about six weeks and sometimes I can understand my sons even when they are on my deaf side. I'm also a little better at determining where sounds are coming from so must be getting better triangulation than before. My ENT said that the first suspect was viral, second, occlusion of blood supply to the auditory nerve. She said I could take up to a year regaining my hearing and scheduled my first audiogram, after the baseline, out to six months from the SSHL. At the baseline test they found the hearing in my left ear to be perfect but I feel that something happened to it too. The quick use of prednisone may have saved my left ear. Anyway, apparently it can take a long time to regain hearing. Although, I worry that she gave me a year just so that I would get used to the idea of being deaf in that time, sometimes. I am scared to death of, the first time I catch a cold, losing my left ear. Like many people on this forum, my life wasn't all that easy to start with and I am scared and hopeful both.

checking in

Hey its me. just coming in to say hi. So far so good. I cant beleive how long the lord has blessed me with good hearing and next week I will be paying it back. My church needs a new piano and a few other things so im paying back. I bought them 2 new windows and a YAMAHA-CLAVINOVA-CVP405 piano.

any enough about personnal stuff. heres the update. so far everything is good. I lost hearing in left ear and had bad tinntitus. ' so bad i wanted to kill myself' but a awesome lady from this board convinced me it wasnt over. so i took the prednisone, did the ear sots and got back full recovery.

one wierd thing i have learned to live with. i have tinnitus in my right ear but it very small and only hear it at night or silent rooms. other then that im good. dont ask me how it went from one ear to the other but all is good, i can deal with that small tinittus if i have full hearing in both ears.

my church says it was god, my doctors call it science and getting on it early. everyone wants credit but i will give it to them both. thank the lord for this board. with out you guys i most certainly would not be here today.

god bless you all

for the record my first post was 2006-09-12

do this sept 09 will be a important day for me. im still very scared of hearing loss and watch everything noisy like a hawk. no concerts or loud areas for me im very scared of a jinx. i do not want it to happen again.

Here's my update. Yesterday, 2 weeks after onset, I went back to the doctor. The audiogram confirmed what I already knew. I had regained a decent amount of low frequency hearing and a only little of the mid / high frequency. My speech discrimination was 20% (It was 0% on day 1).

I received the steroid shot and stayed on my side for 2+ hours. According to my doctor and other stuff I have researched, results usuallly don't begin to kick in for 3 or 4 days. So - I'm in waiting mode. And no more prednisone - now that's something to be happy about!

Hello sweetsoundoffrogs - Nice name! Thanks for joining in.

I wanted reduce your worry about losing your hearing in your good ear. In the first couple of days I also thought my good ear hearing was dropping. I had an audiogram on Day 1, 3, and 14. My good ear has always been EXACTLY the same. I think when one ear goes out, we simply don't hear as much. As an anaolgy, it's like if you have two good speakers in a room and you unplug one of them, it's not as loud, even though the one working is still just good. Also, once I got a very little hearing back - which happened after four days - everything seemed better. And I'd ask for another audiogram sooner. I like to know what's going on - good or bad - and I don't think I could wait six months. That would drive me nuts. I am actually going back again in 3 weeks.

I am also much much more sensitive to sounds, though I think this is getting a little bit better too. Loud sounds never used to bother me, so it's been a BIG change. And yes - I think I have cotton balls stuffed in my ears also, though it doesn't bother me too much except when I'm thinking about it - like right now !

Finally, Ray and Esthergean - I hope things are improving with you. Keep the faith and we will all get through this as so many before us have !! Ray - I'm glad you have a wife you can hug 1000 times. I have one too - and she GREAT! Make it 2000 !

Mark

Hello Mark and others,

I had a sudden hearing loss on Oct 10, 2007, like most of you. Dr. Doug Bigelow from U of Penn gave me steroid shots in my left ear starting around Oct 23rd. This continued every two weeks. With about 4 shots I got about 60% of my hearing back. Also, I took oral prednisone (60 mg/day) for about a month and I don't think that helped.

Just last month I had Bell';s palsy on right side, which I am almost recovered from. SHL has to do with the 8th cranial nerve and Bell's palsy has to do with 7th cranial nerve.

Even though these nerves that were affected are on opposite side side. I still feel that it is not a coincidence. Does anyone else had Bell's palsy with SHL?

I am taking treatment from an acupuncture doctor.He believes that I have Mercury in my head (from old fillings in my teeth from past)and I have itching in my head, SHL and probably Bell's palsy becuse of that.

Please read upon dangers of Mercury, esp. articles by Dr. Hal Huggins from CO. Does anyone have similar problems?

AC from NJ

MarkLM,

Your history of even partial success makes me hopeful. And your 'good ear' story helps alot. I've been anxious now with my good ear. Just natural I guess. Yes, my wife has been amazing. I'll go for the 2000+! Thanks for checking in! It helps me day to day.

ALC123,
Your success with the shots sound hopeful, considering you received them 2 wks in. I haven't seen any sshl website connecting bell';s palsy, so hopefully it is isolated. Mercury is tough to connect as well, but who knows. I have been resting my jaw lately because of bad TMJ, and I actually think it might have contributed to my sshl. Good luck to you and all who are suffering. Keep in touch.

Ray1967

nitrams2000,

I am so happy for your full recovery. Your story gives us so much hope. And I see even with full recovery, anxiety switches to 'hope of not losing it again.' Better than the alternative. Thanks for checking in!!

Ray1967

MarkLM, and everyone,

I took in what you said about expecting to get tested more often, whether the outcome be good or bad. This has been so frightening to me (probably like many people) that I have been afraid to find out just how horrible the damage of my SSHL was for my right ear. At the time that I was tested I was crying. The tester seemed not to comprehend how devastating sudden hearing loss is despite her job dealing with people with hearing loss. She was very cold and discouraging saying I was 'unaidable.' She later, in a phone conversation with me, admitted that this could indeed change with time. At the time that I was tested I couldn't even hear myself swallow on my right side. Little by little I have gotten some sensation and a little hearing back since then. The doctor, whom I saw later, wasn't a lot better. She seemed very closed minded to the idea of prednisone period. I feel lucky that I got some at the ER.! When I asked her about the procedure to apply prednisone directly to the inner ear she said that that wouldn't help me. She said that the oral prednisone was more effective and that the direct application to the cochlea(?) was just for diabetics. As I already said in another post, she wouldn't even answer about the hypersensitivity of my left ear. Cold objectivity is great if you are a scientist but not so great if you are dealing with living, feeling human beings!

So, reading about all of the treatment that everyone else is getting I am thinking that I should seek a second opinion. The thing is that this clinic I'm going to is the big ENT clinic in Vancouver, WA. I'm surprised that that there isn't a more cutting edge attitude there. Maybe it's just the doctor I got.

Mark, I am waiting to hear about how your prednisone treatment works for you because I am going to follow your example. I hope that you get a breakthrough in hearing! I hope we all get the help we need. Also, I appreciated your common sense analogy of the two speakers. Losing one ear is going to affect the acuity with which the other hears for sure. It has to. These are the kind of things a good doctor should be saying to me. I'm really glad for this site! Thank you.

I'm sorry to be a posting hog but I'm rereading what ray1967 and ALC123 wrote. I recently (only a month before the SSHL) had a Zirconium crown put in on the side of the my hearing loss. I am going to look that up. I put looking things up off because I often get depressed for awhile afterwards. Anyway, I too have TMJ. I fell two stories when 3 year old. I landed on top of a parked car. I was in traction for a broken pelvis for 6 wk.s. I was knocked out, my nose was broken and I have a terrible cross bite and TMJ as a result of the fall. I guess since I was a baby they couldn't do much for the soft bones of my face. I do wonder if this, along with many other factors, contributed to my adult SSHL. This is the kind of history that good doctors should be compiling so that they can figure out what kinds of things (like TMJ) may eventually result in an SSHL. I'm taking too much posting room but I guess the dam broke on my communicating! Sorry!

Hello sweetsoundoffrogs,

Sounds like you had some pretty cold scientist types 'helping' you. Sorry to hear that. I can't say the people who have helped me been overly warm, though they haven't been cold-fish either. How can they not know that losing your hearing is a BIG deal? It's mind boggling how stupid and insensitive some people are.

On the dental front, I don't have TMJ though I do have a mouth full of 30+ years old silver fillings. A body healer that I went to last week told me my body was full of mercury and lead - and that was the problem. And that the hearing loss was related to the mercury from my fillings and possibly an infection. She told me to get off of the steroids and to certainly not inject any steroids into my ear. I needed my liver detoxified, and I shouldn't be adding more poisons. I didn't take her advice, though she certainly may be right. This SHL thing that we have is such a mystery. Now that the prednisone is out of my system, I am going to start taking some herbal medicines to cleanse my liver. I figure it can't hurt and hopefully it will help.

Besides the recent postings, I haven't read anything connecting dental issures or Bells Palsey to SHL. But there's also essentially no research out there.

I just got back from dinner with a couple of good friends. Damn it's hard. The brain static sure gets louder as the conversation gets more and more animated. I really hope this gets better with time.

It's a little over two days since my injection and no change. Doctor said that if anyting happens, it would take 3 - 4 days. I'll keep you posted. I am hoping for some improvement though not overly optimistic.

Mark

ACL123,

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I have read some stuff cautioning against multiple steroid shots, though it seems to have worked well from you. Did you get most of the gain from you first shot and then gradually less with each one? Or did you keep 'going for it' until you got some progress.

Thanks,

Mark

Mark,

The shots in my ear definitely helped me. I felt 32% improvement a day after the first shot, then the next shot (after 2 weeks) increased my recovery to about 50%. After about 4 shots, it stabilized to about 64%. I wanted the doctor to continue with the shots, but he did not agree. For me, the shots in the inner ear definitely helped. I could feel improvement very soon after the shots while the oral steroids did not help at all. In my case, I am positive that the leakage of mercury from my teeth fillings (that have been in my mouth for all these years) caused my SHL loss as well as Bell';s palsy since my diet is very healthy. Just a couple of weeks back, my sister-in-law got Bell's palsy two days after her wisdom tooth was removed. SHL can be caused by damage to the 8th cranial nerve. Shots of Prednisone directly into my inner ear decreased the swelling in that area and that is how my hearing improved. That is my view point. Bell's palsy is caused by damage to the 7th cranial nerve that runs very close to the 8th cranial nerve.

I wish all the best to all of you.

Please research the writings by Dr. Hal Huggins, DDS on the internet about
toxicity of Mercury.

Regards,

ALC123

Hi ALC123,

ALC123, you really have pulled together some good info. and I'm glad that the prednisone shots have helped you so much. Even the oral prednisone helped me so I'm not hard to convince. The first 24 hours of my SSHL I lost some hearing in my left ear too. I experienced vertigo at just before 24 hours throwing up, having difficulty walking , standing up etc. When I lay down I felt as if I was continuing to fall through the bed. Once the prednisone kicked in the vertigo left. Within that 48 hr.s the hearing that was missing from my left ear returned fine. This all happened on the wknd. of course. By the time I got my first audiogram my left ear was 'perfect' according to the tech.

You probably know how prednisone acts. It accelerates healing and reduces damaging swelling. If you don't taper off prednisone your adrenal glands will shut down. It must have some action similar to adrenaline and naturally occurring steroids (cortisol?). I think it mostly did good things for me but if you take prednisone for too long your body pays a price. My sister has been on it for years, as she has Crohn's. She worries about osteoporosis from prednisone.

So, considering that it's my hearing that is at stake, prednisone is a good risk for short term treatment. It does make you really moody (both high and low) and shaky though. Thank you, ALC123, for sharing all of your useful information and links with everyone. You have saved me steps!

I just want to say, MarkLM, that I don't think you should waste the early start you have on prednisone. I feel like I might have missed the window for shots thanks to the bad advice from my ENT. But I'm still going to seek a second opinion.

I think that sometimes progress is slow too. My eldest son and I took a walk to the creek last night. The last time, over a wk. ago, we walked he had to stay on my left side. This time he could walk on my right and I could suddenly hear his voice all low, fuzzy and rumbly even though he was on my right. I might be getting a little better!

Anyway, don't give up your headstart on prednisone lightly MarkLM. Questions: Does the shot leave a hole and does the doctor use the same hole for the next shots? Can this be a problem? Thank you for keeping me up to date on how you are doing MarkLM.

Hi again, Mark,

I feel like I'm writing too much. But, I want to add that I can really relate to the difficulty of social situations. Noise ups the tinnitus and, for me, even the sound of my own voice causes painful, sharp bursts of wiry noise on the right side of my head. This sensitivity does seem to vary throughout the day and from day to day. I think that it has gradually gotten better for me as my ear recovers. But, I still seek out quiet more than I ever did before. I feel like I take too much space posting but I wanted to respond to your post more. I'm going to try and research the risks of direct application of prednisone. I know that some shots (decadron?) can cause blindness, although rarely. That would really make for a bad day! Keep positive and keep in touch.

Frogs

Hello ALC123,

Thanks for getting back and answering my questions on the shots. It's great that they worked well for you ! I agree that the Bells Palsey / SHL seems too similar not to be related. Now, I guess the real question is how to prevent it. My boss has had Bells Palsey twice, and recovered completely both times. His last bout with Bells Palsey was similar to SHL in that it came on in a matter of hours. I'll ask him about his dental history.

The mercury connection is interesting - and a bit disturbing since it's not easy to purge metals from the body. Thanks for bringing up the Dr. Huggins information.

Mark

Hello Frogs,

I can relate to that 'rumbly' voice. I call it the 'science fiction computer generated' voice. As you know, I can relate to those small gains in hearing. I can sometimes walk with my wife on my bad side. It's boderline, though at first I definitely couldn't !

And the shot doesn't leave a hole. It sounds worse than it is. They numbed my ear with a cream, waited 30 minutes, then stuck the needle through the eardrum (Sounds scary, eh!). It was a little unconfortable, but that's all. Doctor says it will be totally healed up in less than a week. It hasn't even been slighlty sore or anything since it was done.

Regarding the risks of the shots, my doctor has had one case in about 30 where the hearing got worse after the shots. And an Italian paper showed hearing getting worse for one patient after three shots were given. (This is opposite of what ACL123's experience is). So, overall, I think the risk are minimal. I personally haven't read about the 'blindness'. That would really mess things up !

Thanks for your support. I am staying positive, keeping fingers crossed, and hoping to get a case of SHB (Sudden Hearing Back). I haven't had any change though since the shot was given on Friday - hopefully tomorrow will be the day !

Mark

Mark,

My accupuncture doctor has asked me to take 30 tablets of Chlorella pyrenoidosa each day to remove mercury from my body (head). This will take a few months. Please read up on these tablets on internet. Also I will see a dentist who removes fillings of mercury and restores with fillings of composite/porcelain material. I am sure it will be expensive, but there is no choice. There are dentists who belong to iaomt.org Organization in USA as well as in other countries. I highly recommend your boss to look into it. The neurologists only detect Bell';s palsy but cannot say why we get it other than by lyme's disease (which I did not have).

Good luck,

ALC123

I started on this forum almost 2 years ago, after my 2nd instance of SSNHL (1st one was Aug. 2005) and follow all the postings, even though I made good recoveries after both episodes (both in my left ear). I took 60 mg. of Prednisone both times for 2 weeks with my hearing restored. The second episode required one shot of Decadron to bring back the last 20% of my hearing loss.

I am left with tinnitus (which I seem to be able to live with), a healthy respect for loud music (wear ear plugs or just leave the music venue), avoid getting water in my ears, carry prednisone when I travel away from home, have added additional supplements to my diet and tune into the forum to learn more from others.

I continue to be mystified at other things that have happened to me (all on the left side of my head). A very scary TIA-like event happened on 5/5/08. Subsequent tests (EKG, carotid artery ultrasound, MRI & MRA) disclosed nothing related to stroke or any other brain/vascular issues. Interestingly enough, the neurologist (having told him of my hearing issues and an eye doctor concern---around my left eye) believes that I have 'silent migraines'. I now have (in addition to tinnitus)some weird 'heaviness' that occurs sporadically down the left side of my cheek.

I find it hard to believe that there is not some systemic issue with the left side of my head/brain. I have a great PCP M.D. who is naturopathically-oriented and he is frustrated with his inability to figure this one out. With no real answers, I am living my life as it is, thankful for what I have, massaging my head a lot, especially around my left ear and cheek. I do believe that I also have Eustachean Tube dysfunction, as my left ear starts to 'close up' and get heavy (like it did before each SSNHL episode), which I deal with self-massage and lots of yawning.

Summary statement: Since doctors cannot tell me what the heck is going on with me and this left side stuff (except possible silent migraines), I am on my own. So I pay attention to my body a lot more and what it's telling me, have good dietary regimen and good supplements, follow up on anything that sounds reasonable and appreciate what I have versus what I don't have.

Good luck to those of you in transition and I continue to learn from all of you.

I'm 31 years old and experienced sudden hearing loss over 5 years ago in Nov. 2002. The circumstances at the time that may be contributing causes are:
1) received my first flu shot ever several weeks prior to losing hearing.
2) previously took Acutane for acne problem (3 years previous for 6 months).
3) poor circulation in arms and legs (began in 1998).
4) very stressed out at the time from job that required very early morning attendance (i.e. getting less than 5 hrs. sleep/night).

I had 100% loss and vertigo for nearly 6 weeks, but have since regained much of my low tone hearing. Continue to suffer from very loud tinnitus ringing and a constant 'scratchy/buzzing' sound, which makes high tone hearing and directional dicernment impossible.

After being told by my ENT at the time that there was no cure (MRI was negative) I've tried to learn to live with it (I only discovered that there are fellow sufferers recently via internet). I dealt with it okay until Jan 2005, when I started having panic attacks (never had any type of panic/anxiety disorders previously and no family history of such). The anxiety has continued to get worse and worse over the last 2 years, to the point that I'm now forced to address the issue before things in my life go downhill quickly.

I was never told about any inner ear injections, as discussed by 'nitrams2000'. What are these and who do I go to for them? Will they still work after having hearing loss this long (i.e. 6 years)?

Anyone else experience full recovery?

Any help on full recovery or overcoming anxiety is much appreciated. Thanks.

I haven't been on this site for quite awhile.
For newbies..I had a SHL left ear at work Sept.5/06. Went to emerg..the doc. said it's plugged, go back to work.I went back to work, started getting dizzy so went home.The next few months were hell, with severe hearing loss 100% in left ear, 3 kinds of tinnitus, and severe vertigo.I did the prednisone but started day 6 and lower dose for 2 weeks..stuff is harsh! Went for therapy, many types over next half a year, Here I am now with 3 types of tinnitus that is not to bad unless I get stressed, or in a noisey environment, some days I wake up and it's just a bad day. My vertigo is pretty well controlled and I know how not to move. I have low level hearing in my left ear, not audible. After a year I had a bone anchored hearing aide implanted behind my left ear. (BAHA) This is meant for one sided deafness and I am very happy with it. It is pretty much the same as having an implanted tooth, as it's a titanium post implanted into bone. It conducts sound that comes in through my BAHA,sound conducts through the titanium post and bone over to my right cochlea and back. Pretty incredible. It is not perfect but sure makes a difference in what I am able to hear. Makes music better also. I get stereo sound.... something I really missed.
Anyhow after a long time and much distress etc...I will be going back to work in a new job, not sure what management will come up with but I can not work in the OR anymore as it's a noisy environment with air exchanges, machines etc. I am nervous but excited. I want you to know that it takes time to adjust to all of this. In my case I had wonderful support from my husband but it wears thin after awhile and creats stresses in relationships. I had to go on an antidepressant for my tinnitus but also for my depression. Never thought that would ever happen to me The most important thing is to take care of yourself and be very very assertive with the docs....(can't stress this enough). The ENT docs. here didn't think BAHA was appropriate for me . Thank goodness my husband was on the computer all the time researching hearing loss etc. when I was so sick. We found an ENT doc.in another town that did the surg. and was very supportive. I also worry when I get a sinus infect. or flu as this was apparently viral related hearing loss. I had the flu the week before.
Take care
Anne

Hi everyone !
I'm French but not many forums on french sites about sshl ! I too experienced this s..t in february ! Since then I did some research about it and it's amazing to see how this illness is mysterious and misunderstood. However I found the german sites to be the most interesting and most of them relates sshl to mental stress which is (at least in my case but seems to be general) probably right. Were all of you stressed/depressed when that happened ? Just curious to confirm the link...
Take care !