Sudden Hearing loss _{Page 80 of 105}

Frogs - thanks for the feedback on your experiences with your 'good ear.' It does help to know you've also experienced odd sensations in it since your SHL, but have kept your good hearing. I have one more appt with a new neuro-otologist next month (just to get answers to some questions) and maybe he will shed some light on why this is. If so, I'll post. Thanks again, Rhonda

Rhonda

I have permanent tinnitus in my good ear, but not as loud as what it is in my deaf ear. The tinnitus in my good ear is a very high pitched constant hum - I rarely notice it now, but it did worry me that it meant that I have some sort of damage in my good ear - although my hearing remains good in this ear. The doctors couldn't really give any explanantion to what is causing the tinnitus in my good ear - they siad it is probably my perception and that it is really in my bad ear!!!! I think I can tell right from left so I doubt that explanantion.

It's funny how the doctors just don't know anything about this. Scorpio - that's funny they said it was probably your bad ear. At any rate I'm glad your good ear is still working fine!

My bloodwork came back and the doctor called to say it was positive for the screen for autoimmune disorders, but negative for all the specific tests. So he felt like we shouldn't rule out autoimmune stuff (because last time he ran the test it was positive) if the ear gets worse or if I get any other symptoms, but not to run off to see a rheumatologist just now. So thus far he hasn't ruled out ANYTHING. Acoustic neuroma (redoing MRI in several months), Meniere's, autoimmune, virus, it's all possible.

Does anyone ever feel what feels like a rumbling or fluttering in their ear? I've been noticing this (very subtle) lately.

Scorpiouk - thanks for the feedback. I don't have tinnitus in the good ear - just a feeling of pressure. You were told you don't know your left from your right and I was told to put a heating pad on it as it was probably TMJ. Gotta love the docs! I am chalking up what's going on on the right side to the new 'normal' as it's been over a month and the hearing is still good and hasn't changed. But I know its related to the hearing loss on the left, as is your tinnitus. Maybe just my brain adjusting.

Shortcake - almost like a feeling of a clogged ear opening up? I've felt that a few times. But isolated incidents - I just feel it for a second.

rhonda - not really like a clogged ear opening up. Well maybe...but it goes on and on. It's very slight and easy to ignore if I'm busy doing something else, but annoying if I'm thinking about it. I think it may be a little muscle spasm.

Hello Everyone and Hi back at you Sweetsoundsoffrogs!So nice to be accnol. and not ignored lol.Sad to say I went to get a hearing aid today. Thought my insurance would cover it...only 10%. my husb. is one of the 700 bricklayers in his union hall who is laied off so, can't part with our savings at this time. BUMMER.. The Dr. told me it would only help a little anyway. A little cane as she called it. Why are these thing$ so exp. With technology the way it is and China mass producing these little things. What is the mark up ? I swear this country is 3rd. world. I break my arse everyday at work and our healthcare system only pays 10% if your lucky enough to have health ins!!
She gave me a state website to check out for assistance. I just can't swing $2000. We surely make too much money with me working and husb. on unemployment.. What a joke. If I were on public assistance ,I'd surely get the hearing aid for free. Bitter...you bet ch !!Thanks all, Just venting. I was looking foreward to my appointment for months !!

My hearing hasn't improved much since my test last fall. The T is still there but, it's do-able.
She did say that a virus caused it. My ENT called it bells palsy of the ear ( that wacko) :O
Goodbye all, Hope I'm in a better frame of mind next time.. Catch Ya, Trish

Howdy. This is really getting old. Just flew from Sacramento to Rhode Island and back for vacation. Didn't have major problems, aside from the cabin announcements and the incessant drone of the engines blocking out any conversation in my good ear with seat mates. I simply had my wife order me a drink whenever she got one because I couldn't understand anything the flight attendants said to me on the plane. This was a tougher trip than the last cross-country flight in December, ear-wise. Not looking forward to a flight to Ireland in November. Airport security gets very interested when they see me carrying a set of Remington shooting muffs thru the concourse. My tinnitis seems to have gotten worse, but I just started gingko for that and maybe it will help. I go in for 10 month audiology test next week, but I have not detected one iota of improvement. At least summer is here and I can be tan with hearing problems and spend more time outdoors where the noise doesn't reverberate off the walls into my head. Arrrgh!

Trish - so sorry about the hearing aid. What a disappointment!

Sandman - I do know that when I flew, the tinnitus seemed worse for several days (maybe a week?) after the flight and then slowly improved.

Hi Sandman, That sounds awful. I could really feel the examples that you gave.

I have not had a drink since Jan. the alchol seems to make my T roar ! I'm too afraid.

I take 2 ginko a day. When I run out and don't buy any for days , I swear it seems worse.

I wonder if after years it will get better? No one seems to post anything about it. I suppose after many years you wouldn't bother going on a forum anyway.

My 1 yr. anav. is Sept. 14. Whoo Hoo !

Thanks Shortcake !

Ps . A dear friend of mine was killed by a bee on July 4. One bee stung him in his truck 8 times. There are worse things in life mates.

Catch Ya, Trish

On the subject of tinnitus, it has been in my SSNHL affected ear (left) since my 1st episode in Aug. 2005. It has remained at a farily constant level since then and through a 2nd SSNHL episode in Oct. 2006.

After 4 years, I guess I have adjusted and it only annoys me when I focus on it and get irritated that, apparently, I have to live with it forever. It's during the quiet moments that I get fixated on it. It does not affect my hearing levels, which came back to normal after both episodes of SSNHL following the use of Prednisone (and an injection in the case of the 2nd episode).

I don't post much anymore, as things have been decent around my hearing and so many of you have had so much more to deal with, leaving me with a kind of 'survivor's guilt'.

However, I do read and follow your stories, always wishing you the best in my thoughts.

Seattlestan - thanks for posting. For us new to this, it's great to hear about people who have had some recovery! Mine is not very severe, so I know what you mean about feeling 'guilty' - but even so, this forum is so supportive and has helped me a lot!

As for tinnitus - mine overall has almost disappeared. Except when I am stressed out it comes back. Also I once noticed it after caffeine, but for the most part I am off caffeine so I haven't tested that. Sometimes I get random 'dinging' in my affected ear but that goes away quickly (and has happened less after my shots, which did improve the hearing somewhat).

Trish - so sorry about your friend. How horrible.

Hey Shortcake- just wondering if yor hearing came back? Also how were the shots? I am down to about 6.5-7 mg of prednisone - last week the hearing went out a bit again and I had an MRI. I am hoping that it won't go out further or that may be it will recover again fully. I am not going back on the prednisone again no matter what but my ENT did mention an injection into the ear if there is another problem. How was that for you? Sounds scary to me.

Seattlestan - is your hearing back to normal now and did they tell you what caused the problem?

Thanks!

Suncasa,

My hearing is in the normal ranges for a 64 y.o. I got the usual: 'it's either vascular, viral or auto-immune in origin, but cannot tell you which'. I started taking supplements to cover auto-immune and vascular after the 2nd episode (took nothing after the 1st episode since they said the likelihood of it happening again was nil).

There has been no reoccurence, however I have times when I start to feel the 'heaviness' around the left ear and vigorously massage the area and yawn alot to open up my Eustachean tube. It seems to abate the 'heaviness'.

One event happened a year ago that I thought was a TIA (transient ischemic attack, or a small stroke), but I was told it probably was a silent migraine. It was on the left side of my head (same side as the SSNHL)which makes me wonder if the SSNHL was vascular in nature.

I am now doing a lot of aerobic exercises, have lost 10 pounds, changed my diet and am going back for more bloodwork to check my cholesterol/triglyceride levels to see if all these things (including natural statin-like supplements)have lowered my levels and will help defray SSNHL and further silent migraines in the future. Funny how it all is on the left side and you would think are connected, but the medical folks just can't tell me anything really definitive.

My primary care physician is a naturopath with M.D. credentials and he says he thinks about me alot and is trying to solve the puzzle.

Thanks for asking.

Hi Shortcake- thanks for your response. I'm glad you made ti through. What are the supplements you are taking and do you think the shot made a difference?

It sounds like our problems are very similar. I really want to get of the prednisone now. Hearing was out a bit again this morning but after taking about 3-4 mg of the pred. it has returned back to normal - I think. Thanks for your input.

Hi Suncasa - My hearing did improve with the shots - then seemed to fluctuate a bit. Right now it is at a good level - not totally back, but much better than it started out. It seems to fluctuate about every week, so I expect this is only a temporary high - it seems to go down to a point where it's bothersome and then back up to how it is now, where I hardly notice it. The pressure and noise sensitivity seem to coordinate - right now they are not bothering me but when the hearing drops off a bit they will come back.

I didn't find the injection to be too bothersome. If your ENT thinks it would be worth a try, I would go for it. It's difficult because you have to try not to swallow for 1/2 hour. But the injection itself is nothing (they numb the area) and if they do it well it's not uncomfortable at all. My doctor said it helps to warm the vial up in his hands first - if the medicine is cold it can make you dizzy. When the 'other' doctor gave me an injection she didn't warm it as much and it did make me dizzy. Only for a moment though.

I have an appointment next friday with the acoustic neuroma guy at Stanford to talk about whether he thinks I have that, or what else he thinks. I don't expect to do any other procedures, but I want to get his take and if I do have an acoustic neuroma, he's the guy to see.

Newly diagnosed with SSHL, 2.5 weeks now, just came off 7 days of Decadron, Lost 100% of my hearing in my left ear while on a cruise, 3 days later woke up with severe vertigo, dizziness and vomiting had to be admitted to the ship's hospital. Upon returning home went to a ENT who put me on 7 days Decadron. He said my hearing will not come back because of the time delay. No hearing yet and still dizzy and unbalanced. Have Dr's appt this Thursday. Question, do they give injections in the ear if you have dizziness?

I don't know if they do injections in the ear with dizziness, though I would imagine so. And 3 weeks is not too late to try the injections - I've read they give them up to 6 weeks out. (Plus I didn't get to the doctor until about 3.5 weeks and he still tried Prednisone orally first with me. It didn't work, but he felt it was worth a try.) I would definitely investigate injections! Some docs don't seem to want to do them and others do.

HI Charlee- sorry you're having problems. My hearing was out for almost 3 weeks before I started a course of prednisone which immediately brought my hearing back (low tone loss only though) I did not have any dizziness though. I suggest going to as many experts as you can. I would get a second opinion. Hope you get better.

I just came back from my 10.5 month audiology test and the hearing in my right ear has remained the same at about 5% and has shown no signs of improvement. Bummer, but I expected this result. I guess I just need to learn to live with it and test-drive one of those cross-over transmitter-receiver hearing aids and continue to be more careful crossing the street and railroad tracks. If the fullness and tinnitis in my bad ear would just give me a break, it would help me better accept the hyper-accusiveness in my good ear. I can get by as I am without a hearing aid, unless I get rotated back into jury trials.

So sorry you are having such problems. I know how bad the fullness and tinnitus can be- almost worse than the hearing loss. My right ear is the problem ear too. Good luck.

Hello fellow half-hearing peeps,

I lost a good chunk of auditory functioning in my right ear a little over a year ago. I am left-handed. I came home from the beach and noticed that my right ear had a strange sound in it like a constant wind gust or like the sound of air moving through a shell being held up to my ear. I thought maybe it was allergies or a piece of cotton stuck in my ear from a q-tip. By the time I went to the ENT or Otolaryngologist, took the auditory tests, pressure test, finally got the MRI,they said that it might be too late for the prednisone to work. I swallowed the pills and then took the shots straight through my frickin tempanic membrane..um, not so cozy! And, all it did was make me fat and cost probably close to $4000 for all of the testing and the MRI. I walked away being half-deaf, gaining 10lbs from the roids and gaining a fat bill.

Final prognosis was that they had no idea what caused it and they have no idea how to fix it. As for the constant buzzing sound in my ear...the hair dryer going off 24/7 with occasional long, high-pitched rings, well, the doctor said that he has a ringing in his ear, too. That was all.

Frustrated and dealing with my new impairment which affected every aspect of my communicative relationship with the world, I took a long break from trying any more doctors or treatments. I knew that I had some structural issues that could be affecting my hearing loss. I had mentioned that to the ENT but he disregarded my consideration.

I still feel so positive about 'alternative' treatment. The way I see it is that it's western medicine that does not have an answer for this disorder/disease/whatever, but what about other healing therapies?

What I know structurally:

tempromandibular tightness
(jaw clenching)

cervical vertebrae misalignment (neck vertebrae almost touching ear)

hip out of place

emotionally:

I was in a relationship where I felt like there was a communication break down and I wasn't hearing what I wanted to and I didn't feel as though I was being heard or rather that my communication was understood by my dude.

Then, suddenly: half-deaf.

Today I went to a doctor of homeopathic medicine and chiropractor (therapeutic massage concentrating in the neck, head (tempramandibular) and sacrum would have been even better). I told him about my hearing loss and he adjusted my jaw, neck, hip and ribs and gave me some homeopathic medicine to take.


Immediate result:

I felt a fluid (possibly cerebrospinal or cranial sacral) moving from my ear down my neck. He explained that rather than the fluid being misdirected behind the tempanic membrane, it was now going along its prper course. I felt the fluid movement at least once more while sitting in his treatment room.

about an hour later:

the hair dryer, static, air moving inside of a shell sound is still there but it is much lower. Much lower! MUCH LOWER! I am so hopeful that I will regain the hearing in my right ear through chiropractic, acupuncture, massage, homeopathy and being good to myself. This was just the first treatment but I'll keep you posted with any more news.

I wish that I found this support network last year. It's been an interesting time. I also have pretty severe ADD inattentive type and so you can imagine how disruptive a constant buzz in your ear is. My favorite is when someone tries to whisper in my ear at a restaurant, party or wherever and I always say that they can whisper in that ear all they want but I won't hear a thing! Ha! Always makes me giggle. Dang hearing loss. Glad it's an ear and not an eye. Although I wear glasses too so there we go.

Best wishes to everyone and I hope that you try the following:

therapeutic massage focused on tmj, neck, etc.
chirporactic (from one who understands how s/he can treat hearing loss)
acupuncture

Maybe we can all do an experiment and see if it works for us.

Cheers to all. Best wishes my fellow hearing impaired peeps. Half-Auds Unite!

Great story- glad your better, I know that hair dryer sound well! My hearing in my right ear went out last March. I woke up to the hair dryer sound but didn't know what it was. Meanwhile 2 weeks later I see the ENT and my low tones hearing in that ear was out. I took prednisone and it worked to bring it back 100% but as soon as I went off it, my ear went out again. After 3 tries, i am weaning off very slowly. I am going to an acupuncturist 2 x /week a cranial sacral therapist, I went to a gentle touch chiropractor and I have also had phone appointments with a naturopath. I am having a little hair dryer sound in the morning but for the most part the hearing is sticking. I am down to 6.5 mg of prednisone and cutting back .5 mg a week physician. I also have structural issues...C3 vertebrae and TMJ. I am going to look for a good homeopath. thanks so much for your story.

Hey Suncasa,

sounds like we have similar structural issues. The axis and C3 are out of place and I have the tmj d/o. When I woke up this morning, My jaw was clicking and it usually doesn't. It was sort of loud but after a few bites and chews of a crunchy granola bar, it leveled out. The 'hair dryer' sound was back in full force. Now I have music on and the washing machine going so I don't know how it will progress through the day. Hopefully with more treatment, I'll have more success.

It sounds like the docs are filling you quite a bit with cortisone. I would be concerned about the long-term effect of taking that much steroid. As far as I know, all of the clinical research ends after giving the subject an initial course of injections. But, could totally be wrong on that.

Anyway, the homeopath did a really extensive search of my symptoms and the result was correlated to personal/emotional events happening in my life around the time of the hearing loss. So, as the days go by, maybe that remedy will also help.

I hope that everyone on here has a supportive and loving network. Although it's not debilitating or deadly, it is absolutely LIFE ALTERING and it is a LOSS to the person who cherishes being able to hear and acknowledge, listen to music, go to live shows, have a lover whisper in her ear without having to turn her head to the other side (not sexy but at least funny:)

I hope that the scuba divers on here don't have to give that up either, but if you do, I hope you try mountain climbing or something else that will exhilarate you and satisfy the explorer in you.

Cheers everyone,

Bananie

Hi all..the aldosterone is working. Read my earlier link or research it on the web for hearing loss. I am taking it under the supervision of my doctor while weaning off the prednisone. My hearing seems to be returning to normal again. (It had gone out after I reached 7 mg of prednisone) I'll keep you posted on the progress. Certainly worth the try!! YAY!

Suncasa - that is great news! Thanks and keep us posted on this! I'm curious - didn't you say your aldosterone levels were normal? Did you and your doctor decide to try it anyway?