UPDATED @5:35pm:
Dr. said that I now have total loss in my left ear. He pierced my eardrum and injected a steroid through my eardrum and into my inner ear. It burned and hurt a lot. Still thinks it is a virus but is sending me for MRI tonight. Still can’t hear – still ringing and now a pierced/burning eardrum with steroid fluid rolling around in there. He will get the MRI results STAT tonight and relay the results to us as soon as he gets them. I need some relief and some answers :(
UPDATED @noon:
Have an appointment for 4:15 today…Dr. wants to see me again since my hearing loss is greater today than it was on Monday when I was in there – ugh.
Day 5 and it continues.
I now have complete loss of hearing in my left ear with a high-pitch ringing. My right ear is not far behind that and it’s so annoying and debilitating. Apparently I am suffering from something called Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.
All I wanted to do last night was to lay in bed and listen to the rain fall…but couldn’t hear a thing! Actually the wind kicked up early morning…knocked over a few chairs on our deck and slammed our bathroom door — I didn’t hear either thing happen – just felt my husband leap out of bed.
The worse part about this is that nobody (not even Google) can say for sure what causes the symptoms I have. The Ear, Nose & Throat specialist who I saw on Monday continues to believe it is an inner ear infection…most likely viral. I’m on my last full dose of prescribed Prednisone (steroid) today and then begin 6 days of weening off it. Still, haven’t felt one bit of relief.
Thought on Tuesday that I was hearing a little better, then “WHAM!” – yesterday woke up with this complete loss of hearing in my left ear with the ringing being so intense that it sounded like all the smoke detectors in the house were going off – it was/is THAT bad!
So, I’m not writing this to complain and wallow in my little ringing world over here, but rather to reach out and see if anyone has experienced these symptoms. I have ZERO pain…no vertigo…just a little unbalanced if I walk across the room or close my eyes while standing in the shower.
All of my bloodwork (taken on Monday) for auto-immune and other disorders came back negative.
Being on my computer actually seems to help me ignore the symptoms and makes me less dizzy.
I connected with a good friend last night who is an audiologist and she tells me this is not un-common and that all of the proper measures, tests etc. have been taken by my doctors, so that made me feel much better.
Today, I still can’t hear and there is STILL insistent ringing.
I have also heard from other friends and through some research I’ve done that permanent hearing loss/damage can occur from this…but I’m trying not to get ahead myself. I’m already a wreck.
I never thought something this unbearable would happen so suddenly and with no warning. I’ve never had any problems with my ears (only had one bout of swimmer’s ear when I was younger) and am shocked by how the loss of this sense is making me crazy.
That’s where I am with this. Any thoughts you have are appreciated.
I’m just trying to keep the iTwins happy and entertained with their Nemo DVD on repeat and lots of healthy snacks while I try to make my way through these long days with this condition. Ugh.
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This is just terrible. I hope you get some relief. I wonder if there’s any bio-therapy cure.
Thanks @Ken – me too…yeah I’m going to need to see what my options are (biotheraphy included) if this doesn’t resolve soon. Thanks so much for your concern.
Twitter: myitwins
OMG! That sounds horrible! Joss, I’m so sorry to hear that the treatments are just as bad as the condition! Still haven’t heard back from Amy, but when I mentioned it to my Dad he said he of course heard of this condition when he was in the service, on the flight lines. One of his buddies lost his hearing for a full two days. Obviously you haven’t been next to a jet taking off, but he wanted to know if at any time last week you used a phone or earphone that possibly could have an intense pitch/tone/sound wave to it, undetectable in volume; like maybe some kind of malfunction in sound waves of one of your electronics/gadgets/gear/alarm… anything could do it is his point. I’ll let you know as soon as Amy offers any advice. I was actually thinking of contacting my college(they had an awesome audiology department; maybe there’s a professor or eager grad student there who could offer more help? I know I’m grasping at anything, any idea. Do you want me to check into this for you?
oh no – i’m so so so sorry! I have no words of advice or wisdom but i hope you feel lots better soon.
@brandy – thanks lady…it is a horrible thing to be going through. Appreciate your comment and lovin’
Twitter: myitwins
Teri: Thanks so much for your comment – now I just have to wait and see how extensive the damage is…I guess how much I am able to hear again depends on that and they are saying at leat 4-6 weeks for any healing – ugh.
Twitter: myitwins
Calgarydaddy: LOL – yeah I keep saying that to people….”I hear ya…” and then realize that actually, no can’t hear ya. Thanks for the support :)
Twitter: myitwins
Ouch. I hope all goes well…sorry to hear ( worng choice of words…but you are smiling right now, no?) about that!
Shane :)
I am so sorry things are not better for you! I had chronic ear problems from the beginning and I don’t think I got rid of them for good until I was almost 20. According to tests my hearing is fine, but things sounds a little more hollow on my left side than they do on my right. I hope you get relief soon!!
Twitter: mightymfamily
So sorry Joss! I’m going to ask my sister, Amy, about this for you. This was one of her majors in college. Maybe she has something helpful to add or knows of another resource to seek.
I’ve been following your tweets the last few days about this. I’m so sorry this hasn’t cleared up. It must be so frustrating & kinda scary too. I thought the meds would help, but it seems its only gotten worse since Monday. Keep us posted. Hopefully they can tell you something new today.
Twitter: RantRaveRoll
Oh no! I hope you get answers soon.
Twitter: thepanamamama
Oh my goodness! I am so sorry to hear about this, how scary! I really hope they figure it out soon and start fixing you up. I have no idea if this would help in your situation at all, especially since they don’t even know whats up, but my mother in law started going to see an acupuncturist for hearing loss/ringing. It apparently helped restore some of her hearing and made the ringing go away. Good luck, keep us posted.
Thanks Loukia: I know, well I’m glad they are going to see me again today — it’s unbearable really. Thanks for the sweet comment and hopefully there will be some more positive posts soon.
Twitter: myitwins
Oh, mama… I am so so so so sorry… this must be so incredibly hard for you… just when you thought you were getting better… shoot… maybe you need stronger medicine? Go bakc and see your ENT? I’m so sorry… thinking of you! I hope your next post talks about how your hearing has fully returned!
Wow! That’s awful! I’m so sorry you are having to deal with this. How miserable! Does your doctor know that the Prednisone didn’t help? I must say.. I love your blog, graphics, writing, etc. I hope you are helping to get your complete hearing back very soon.
*I hope you are helping to get your complete hearing back very soon*
Oh gosh.. I was talking to my daughter the same time I was leaving you this comment. I meant, I hope you get your complete hearing back soon.
Amy: Thanks lady…yeah it’s not at all like the ear infections the little ones get — this seems like a viral inner ear thing – it’s driving me pretty mad – ugh.
Twitter: myitwins
I might just have to do that if I don’t have any relief soon…I’ll be back to my ENT next Wednesday and then we’ll go from there — thanks for the advice lady :)
Twitter: myitwins
I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. I’ve never had hearing loss/ringing to that extent but I do know all about ear infections. My hearing loss has always been with fluid in the ear.
Hey, do you have a chiropractor? They might be able to help. If you don’t, maybe look into it. (If you need help finding a good one, let me know…I have the inside hook-up!)
Good Luck!
@oneplustwoboys
Katie