Sudden Hearing loss _{Page 94 of 105}

David A.; your doctor is neither right nor wrong regarding prednisone (steroids) . My doctor put me on the same dose your doctor is using--so since I'm a doctor, I prescribed more for myself--like 60-80 mg per day, which just made me feel and act crazy and did no good whatsoever for my SSNHL in one ear, even when combined with steroid injections into my eardrum.

Scandinavian and many other European doctors generally don't use steroids at all, because they say statistics show they don't make any difference. In any event, the jury is still out regarding steroids, so again there is no right or wrong.

I agree, by the way, that knowledge is power. I've become a genuine savant in this field after scouring the medical literature and talking to other medical professionals for thousands of hours--and what I've found is that, unfortunately, no one knows what's best to do at your stage of SSNHL (whether it be the world-reknowned specialists at the House Clinic or Cleveland Clinic, etc, or the local ENT specialists near where you live.

In the meantime, eat healthfully, exercise, take a good vitamin supplement, live with integrity, and remember that God is good. I know it's tough right now, but time heals a lot, especially fear and gloom--and then somehow, someday, you'll feel good again, with or without your hearing coming back.

Sincerely,

Ed T.

Thanks etmd22 for your reply. I forgot to mention in my previous post that my affected ear still pops everytime I swallow. I feel it has something to do with the problem, but doctor couldn't say why it does that. It didn't pop like that before my tinnitus started. Please reply if you have any knowlege on this.

Thanks

David A,

> My doctor says that was plenty. I've had this for almost three weeks and my window for recovery is closing fast.

I regained my hearing after 3 years. The window was fictitious in my case.

> He doesn't know why the tinnitus got louder

Stress will increase your auto-immune response and make everything worse, if auto-immune is the cause.

If you respond to prednisone, like I did, again please consider an allergy. See my web site in my user profile. (I would have sent you an email directly, but your profile doesn't list an email address.)

Hi David A; My affected plus my non-affected ear pops frequently, too-- sometimes with pretty disconcerting pulse-like beats that are not related to my heart rhythm. No one seems to knows why. I sure don't know hy.

Ed T.

When the ear pops, does it mean there is air pressure difference between inside and outside of the tympanic membrane? I had such an experience when in a plane. It may be caused by the unbalance of air pressure on both sides.

Thanks again for the replies. Another thing I noticed early on in the first week of my tinnitus-hearing loss, was a sensitivity to loud or even just normal level noise. That disapeared after the first week, now this weekend at the three week mark its back.

I don't know if its from having the tube put in and taken out of my ear on friday, or my ear is still getting worse. Jhorowi1, regaining your hearing after three years is awsome, and leaves for with hope for a recovery.

David, the sensitivity to loudness will get better, whether it's due to the tube or just the normal course of the hearing loss. In any event your hope for recovery is TOTALLY realistic. Keep praying.

David A - the Dr. I saw at Shands is Dr. Patrick J. Antonelli, (352) 265-0920. After seeing several different doctors, about this issue, he was the only one who mentioned some standard, but he freely admitted it is really anyone's guess. As I am 6-1 and weigh 190 pounds, I should have been on about 86 mgs per day using Dr. Antonelli's standard. Before seeing him, I was on 60 mgs and that seemed to have cleared up the problem I was having in the left ear. It may have fixed the issue in the right ear back in the day were it not for the stapedectomy prosthesis as mentioned in my prior post. The best advice I can give is to simply be persistent when it comes to your health vis-a-vis doctors. Beyond that, I agree with etmd22 - pray, eat right, exercise, and cope the best you can knowing the Good Lord is in control. While we do not know what the Apostle Paul's thorn in the flesh was, we do know God said His grace is sufficient for him. Our family will keep you in our prayers as you begin this journey - David.

Hi jhorowi1,3 years?!
Can I ask how bad your hearing loss was - I have profound (basically dead so I'm told)left ear but get a lot of internal feedback tinnitus from the noise going in the good ear. Lost all my hearing really suddenly following a vertigo attack - did have steroids when it happened but was given the wrong dosage instructions (basically spread them out over 24 hours rather once a day) and told to stop taking them after 10 days - didn't know any better then and wondered if I had taken them properly whether it would have made a difference... I was diagnosed with a vestibular schwannoma following an MRI but Dr's were surprised I had lost my hearing from the position of it...
Anyway I have often wondered if that was coincidental and that something else was going on - I have had an autoimmune disorder develop (oral lichen planus) but no-one talks allergies much in the UK NHS. Anyway really interested in your story! E.

Esperanza,

My loss was 60db, now fully recovered. No ENT here in the US considers allergies, esp. 'IgG' allergies, except for one on the west coast.

My full story can be found in the web-site link on my profile page (just click on my nickname above, next to the 'From'). I've also started to add stories of other people who've discovered the same allergy-connection to a full cure.

All it took was one blood test, and I was able to cure myself. Insurance covered the cost; but it was $250 in total.

Good luck, and I hope you all get well soon too!

---

etmd22,

> pretty disconcerting pulse-like beats that are not related to my heart rhythm

That is another form of tinnitus. I found that I had the same experience, esp. at night based on my cortisol cycle.

All,

I found I was much more sensitive to air pressure changes (ear popping) due to some form of swelling caused by my allergy. No ENT could explain it to me either, but now that I found the root-cause for my condition, I think this explanation makes sense. I have no way to prove or disprove it.

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement. I put some headphones on today to check my ears. Prior to having my eardrum cut the sound was missing some frequencys, but the same volume as the other side. Today I noticed that ear is quite a bit quieter that the other side.

It looks like I lost a lot of my hearing because of the ear tube. Is this because the drum has a small incision in it for the tube(no longer in), or did the guy mess something up in my ear when he cut the drum?

David A; Your new hearing loss could be very temporary from the recent incision
(which is not an uncommon occurrence, and not due to 'the guy messing up'), or it could be due to progression of the same condition that caused the original hearing loss. Either way, hopefully it;s temporary.

Ed T.

I wonder if someone can tell whether the scar left behind by the tympanic injections can reduce hearing capability. Will the scar disappear by itself? It is said that if the initial hearing loss is not profound, the chances of recovery can be very great. At the start, I heard nothing, now I can hear using the bad ear if people speak loudly. Now,I rely on my own healing power using the natural nutrients provided by our mother nature. Man only exists when food is available. The creator has created the natural food for us. Food manipulated by humans is called nonfood and is not recognized by our genes. Our immune system will deal with them and this will undermine our immune system. Our fast healing depends on a strong immune system. Raw organic living food contains much life force and is the only food provided by the creator.

Thanks for the reply's everyone. It's been 4 days now since the doctor pulled the tube out the my eardrum. The tinnitus is just as loud as ever, and I can barely hear out of that ear now.

Over the weekend my stomach was really bad with bouts of chest pains, nausia, and gas. I decided it was the ambien and stopped taking it, saturday night being the last time. On Sunday I had bad gas that kept me up all night with chest pains.

On monday the chest pains were gone but my throat, roof of mouth, and inside of lips were burning. Thinking it was acid still coming up, I tried antacids, pepcid ac, and every natural remedy in the book (pickles, club soda, raw almonds, celery, honey).

Nothing worked and the burning continued. On Tuesday I went to see a Doctor and she said I could have a canida infection growing in my throat, or it could still be acid. She prescribed me some nystatin to swish in my mouth daily, and to try prylosec to the acid in case its that.

She also looked in my ear and said my eardrum was red. I wonder if thats from the tube coming out or its infected. I'm getting an mri tommorrow and will ask the ent about the redness. I hope its not infected.

This burning in my throat is driving me nuts. The nystatin cools it down for a minute but then it comes right back. I've had two treatments of this so far I hope it starts working soon. I also tested my ph today and my saliva was 7 and my urine was 5.5, which seems acidic to me. Maybe because of all the club soda and other stuff I tried yesterday.

I'm also doing the canada diet for a while till this clears up. If anyone has any comments they are appreciated.

David - you already tapered off the prednisone, right? If not, it might be the prednisone - when I was on it I had such bad heartburn and it felt like chest pains and radiated up into my head and back of my throat. At any rate your guess that it may be acid reflux makes sense. Hopefully the two things you got from your doctor will help.

Many diseases are related to diet. Almost all people having diseases have ph value on the acidic side. It is very important to keep our blood slightly alkaline in order to facilitate the absorption of oxygen. The lack of oxygen supply to our cells will invite many diseases, thus exercise is one of the methods to boost oxygen level in our cells. It is hard for people to believe that most diseases arise from the food they put into their mouth. If I know that food is acidic, I will never take it. Fresh fruit and vegetables contain a lot of healing nutrients. I believe that nature has the power of healing us, since we are the products of nature..

DAvid A; As a physician, I can only echo what Shortcake says. Prednisone does really strange things to the body, but it will be all out of your body by now or vry soon. Also, try to calm down, remember to breath nice and deeply, and insist on seeing your doctor sooner rather than later. Good luck.

Ed T.

Just got back for seeing ent. We did an mri and there was nothing wrong in my ear or my brain. He looked in my mouth and said he didn't think it was candida, but I'd been taking the medication for a day so it may have killed a lot of it. The burning in my throat and mouth seems to be less now.

He also said my eardrum was not red at all, and put a little paper patch on it to help it heal. I had to wonder, with my stomach issues and my ear popping, is it possible stomach acid was making it up into my ear? I sleep on my left side so my right ear is elavated.

I asked the doctor this and he said it was highly unlikely. I started taking asidopholis pill, and plain yogurt for digestion and to kill the candida if its that. Thanks again for all your comments.

Got SHL(R ear) few weeks ago & finished 6 day dose of prednisolone(generic)(4mg dospak-21 pills)with no help so far. The night before I lost my hearing, I had severe flu syptoms, but Dr. didn't prescribe anything else (In fact, 2nd dr. I consulted because of concern with flu symptoms told me to get tested for lyme disease since the steroids were enough of ananti-viral treatment.)
?'s for group at this point: 1 Wondering if any of you also had severe flu like syptoms, as well as what generated prescription for anti-viral meds some of you took
2. I notice some of you talk about higher steroid doses-e.g. 60mg,but my Dr said he'd only up the dose if I get any results from what he gave me within a week. Does anyone know protocol? I'm wondering if the higer dose gives a better shot at improving my hearing. I feel blessed to have found this group & look forward to participating.

To Fran C.

I had flu like symptoms when I lost the hearing in my right ear 14 years ago. However when I lost the hearing in my left ear, I had no flu symptoms just some dizziness at times. My doctor put me on 80 mg. of prednisone to start with on the left ear and dropped it to 60 mg. after three days and I stayed on 60 for two weeks. After that I had the prednisone shot right in to the ear thru a slit in the ear drum. Did that for 5 weeks once a week with little result. Some people have some results from anti virals. However, my doctor whould not prescribe. He sent me to a rheumatologist who put me on Methotrexate for an autoimmune disease which they don't know if I have or not. Another doctor took me off the Methotrexate as he said it cause more problems than what it helps. So, i have just fitted with two hearing aids and if they don't work then the doctors are talking about cochlear implants. Good luck to you. It's a long road. Protect your other ear at all costs.

To jakeabe,

> rheumatologist ... for an autoimmune disease which they don't know if I have or not.

Do you have high histamine counts or arthritis?

Please see my Profile and the web-site link in it. Maybe it will help you too.

I was confirmed to have no autoimmune disease after the blood test. Flu like symptoms may be just a sign of detoxification. If you have fever, you no need to suppress it unless it is exceptionally high. Fever means that the body is doing its own detoxification work. I had balance issues at the start, now I can overcome it. The brain is a very adaptable organ. I think that healthiness of our immune system is very important to heal us of any kind of disease.I strongly believe the natural healing power of our body if the right natural nutrients can be provided to us.

> I was confirmed to have no autoimmune disease after the blood test.

Just one blood test!? What did they test for? What were your histamine levels?

I asked the doctor if I had autoimmune disorder. The doctor said 'no' according to the blood test result. The blood test should involve a variety of tests. I did not ask further for what tests were included. I think that is routine blood test for people having SSHL Steroids are used in dealing with autoimmune diseases. The doctor treated patients with steroids when SARS attacked us in 2003. There were subsequent side effects with some of the patients who received a relatively large dose of steroid treatment. I did not know my own histamine levels.

eltonlam,

After my experiance with SSHL, and taking 3 years to find a real reason & cure, I would double check what your doctor says, they know so little about this disorder.

Get the test results! If your histamine levels are unchecked or are high something is wrong, and it could be related to your hearing loss. It was for me.

Until then you can't rule out an auto-immune disorder; unless you'd rather stay in the dark (ignorance is bliss for most people, but not for those suffering from a hearing loss or tinnitus).