SSHL, Labrynthitis? What is wrong with me :(

Hearing Loss
#59

YE GODS. You have my utmost empathy! I definitely get hearing issues when the atmospheric pressure changes. Speech can sound weirdly ā€œtinnyā€ and flat. On top of which my own 24x7 tinitis is louder and more tuneful: Bong! BONG! Bong-bong-bong-BONG!

I hope you get some answers to this curious phenomenom youā€™re experiencing. Drugs may cause MORE of the issue if you are sensitive to it. By the same token, Iā€™d probably try anything - even old wivesā€™ tale - if I knew of one. Antihistamine? Warm compresses? Massage the ear?

Keep us posted!

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#60

Just thought id post an update, tinnitus have calmed down a ton. Itā€™s there but nothing like it was and i can finally sleep.

Voice distortion still very much there and very annoying! ( i really dont understand this symptom )

I can now slightly hear a sweet wrapped being rustled next to the ear where as I couldnt hear anything before it was pratically dead.

Itā€™s taken a slight edge off feeling one sided at least. But i think being on week 3 from tomorrow this is probably the best im going to get!

Im currently doing music therapy. Not sure if its helped!

MRI next Thursday.

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#61

Thank you for the support!

#62

Very glad to hear the progress, especially with the tinnitus which can definitely be difficult mentally when it is new and intense as yours has been. Iā€™m wishing you the best of luck navigating the next steps - these kinds of experiences are so individual Iā€™m afraid itā€™s hard to say more then that until you have more information about the final status of your hearing.

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#63

Excellent! Please come back and share the results of the MRI. I would do anything to restore such an anomaly. What about heat compresses? Taking flushing niacin? Acupuncture?

I hope there is some form of therapy to get you back to a new normal.

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#64

Hi all, ive regained more hearing again today which im really pleased about!

Ive got a private ENT app on friday because i was hoping he would give me nore steroids. I will be at 3 weeks and 6 days since the hearing loss.

Would more oral steroids be a waste of time now or would it help with recovery if hearing have started to pick up?

NHS ent said it was impossible for me to recover any more hearing because it didnt recover in the 2 weeks steroid treatment so refused me more oral steroids ā€¦ and he was wrong!!

Is it worth me getting more or am i throwing Ā£250 into the wind ?

#65

Donā€™t go there ā€¦ at least not yet! Give your body some time to normalize. Iā€™d even explore something like acupuncture over another course of steroids. Assess outcome, go from there.

#66

Hey, if the NHS ENT isnā€™t going to give you the Steroids, neither is the private one. The window is pretty much a fortnight, any very much the front end of the first week in that fortnight.

Post COVID, Iā€™ve got one 35 year old on my books with a flattish 60-65-70dB Asymmetrical loss; he didnā€™t get immediate help as he was told by a GP to wait for the COVID to ā€˜clear upā€™ before getting tested with us a month to 6weeks later.

#67

Thanks both. Very unfortunate with the patient losing that loss post covid! This have definitely opened my eyes about how urgent hearing loss is and how quickly you need to seek treatment.

I was just going to try my luck seeing a private ENT but after doing research for more steroids, I dont think it would do anything other than cause my tinnitus to spike with the increase in blood pressure so I cancelled it.

Ive definitely regained something, so makes me wonder if the steroids helped somewhat being taken so early on.

Ive been doing music therapy an hour a day, half hour in morning and in the evening.
Ive been taking Magnesium citrate, Zinc and Gingko bilboa.

Whether any of that has helped or i recovered some hearing spontaneously I wont know but that little gain has really helped taken that one sided feeling away.
I will continue with these until I see ENT on 26th. Gutted as i was supposed to see him tomorrow!

All I can say is im in a much better place than I was 3 weeks ago mentally.

I will try Acupuncture, what is this good for? The mind?

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#68

Some people find acupuncture relaxing. It doesnā€™t have any other medical effects. I prefer a massage.

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#69

Hi thought Iā€™d post an update, my MRI was clear and my hearing test had an improvement from a profound loss to 70db in the high frequencies. Although its not a great improvement my ENT said this was positive and that i could have recovery up to a year which he have seen in many patients. He said due to my ear bone damage and ear drum rupture i had a conductive loss in there anyway and that if i get back up to the 60db id have a full recovery!

Im trying to stay hopeful, either way MRI was clear and that was good news for me!

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#70

This is excellent news, thanks for sharing your update! Hopefully the tinnitus eases up with time and you may want to look into options for hearing aids once the other issues settle down. A lot of folks with hearing loss and tinnitus get at least some relief when they wear hearing aids.

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#71

Hi thank you, I donā€™t rhink i have enough recovery for a hearing aid as of yet, i still have a profound loss in my low frequencies but i find it very odd that ive recovered high frequencies before my low ?! Strange. ENT doesnā€™t suspect menieres.

If i regain my hearing back to how it was I dont think id use an aid because I coped so well without one. As i get older that may be a different situation I guess!

Either way I hope i regain more and will continue to smash these vitamins in!

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#72

Hi all, I was woken up with extremely loud tinnitus again last night in my sleep! I havent had this since the beginning of my loss.

Is my inner ear inflamed again?? Im could cry. It was all going ok i was improving. This isnt a good sign surely ?

Im worried, not sure if i should speak wity ENT again.

Is it normal to have set backs ?

#73

Generic rule about recovery. One will have good days and bad days. Recovery is not a linear process. Most of the issues are what we do to ourself in our head.

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#74

Is this normal? Ive not had it for 5 weeks it doesnt make sense. Im really worried now

#75

Iā€™m not an audiologist, but have a general medical background. One of the hallmarks of tinnitus is itā€™s variability. It sound ā€œnormalā€ to me, but I canā€™t say. Itā€™s always ok to call your ENT. From what Iā€™ve seen from afar, Iā€™d encourage you to seek treatment for anxiety.

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#76

Ok thank you I really appreciate it.

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#77

I spoke with a doctor yesterday and he said it sounds like a Tinnitus spike which calms down in a few days but prescribed me oral steroids as a precaution if the Tinnitus continues at that level for several nights. ( this raging tinnitus was ny first initial symptom of hearing loss so he was concerned with that )

Thankfully I slept last night and it didnt spike again and I donā€™t feel like Iā€™ve lost any recovered hearing so I wonā€™t take them. Especially with the side effects. Just hoping it was a blip in my recovery.

Will also mention I am on medication for my health anxiety and have had treatment over the years for ptsd due to a medical negligence. Unfortunately im plagued with it but I can manage it sometimes.

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#78

You might find this to be a helpful little course to support you as you adapt to your tinnitus. :slight_smile: https://icbt4tinnitus.com/

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