Sudden hearing loss and an echo

@maryjax @lioness @imallears
I am going to cancel the flight.

I am not worried about the cost. I have thrown away many tickets over the years. And thank you all. For your ticket advice.

I just feel really really bad disappointing.my uncle for not being able to attend my little cousins wedding. I have not been back to Illinois in over 5 yrs to see my uncles and their kids. I was really looking forward to seeing them all.

I have another trip I'm taking on 10/20 hopefully by then I have it figured out what is actually wrong and hearing returns.

I will say it appears at times throughout the day today I have some improvement. But that seems to come and go. The large crowd I was around tonight. Over echoed in my ear.

I'm also beyond hyper on these steroids. I feel like ricochet rabbit. I'm am wide awake. I only had 4 hours of sleep last night. And I am still Ready to rock and roll. Lol.. Do These pills always have this effect on people? I dont know if this is a good or bad thing? To be this hyper??? I seriously feel like I'm on a race track.. very strange to add this to the issue.

Hi Jackie...…. I have been on steroids four times and have the same reaction as you. Very high energy, not sleeping for several days. The first time I took steroids I was canning tomatoes and making jam at 3am, vacuuming the carpets at 4am and so on. Also I could not stop talking. I did not realize it was from the steroids and continued to take them. One day I went to the mall, filled the trunk of my car with my purchases, then had no memory of buying anything. Saw my doctor and she lowered the dose and shortened the duration. I have friends who have had these same reaction to steroids so you are definitely not alone. That time the steroids were for a different issue but when I took them for sudden hearing loss a lot of my hearing came back. Unfortunately that was temporary and I have lost more in the last few months.

My point is be careful! Especially when stopping the steroids be sure to taper off very gradually. This is very important and not all doctors explain what can happen if you just stop. Ask lots of questions. Good luck to you and I hope that you regain all of your hearing.

I hope you can take that trip later this month. Social isolation is another drawback of hearing loss. This is why it has been shown that hearing loss can lead to early onset of dementia.
Regarding the steroids-YES, I had the same reaction. I've belonged to a health club for many years. I lost my sense of smell and taste so the ENT put me on Prednisone, a popular steroid. It did nothing for the problem but I got some of the best workouts in my life! We know that steroids are not good for the body so once your prescription is over, please do NOT ask to get it refilled. BTW, it took about a year but my taste and smell returned on its own.
Tony in Michigan

@travelgirl
Hi,
Yes, steroids have different effects on your metabolism including an uptick in energy , insomnia and weight gain. You won’t and shouldn’t be on them long term. Magnesium glycinate about an hour before bedtime will help calm you down and hopefully aid in sleep.
I take 2 every night. Bottle will say 400 mg on label. Get it in a health food store or a store like Whole Foods or Sprouts...will probably be in the sleep or calm area of the vitamins. Avoid Solray brand...not reliable. It has to be glycinate and it’s the best absorbed kind and easy on the stomach.
You’ve just started steroids so thinking you noticed a slight improvement is a positive sign.
What others said here about tapering off the steroids is so important and I hope you are not on them too long.

You go Ricochet Rabbit!

FL Mary

@imallears Good Morning.. I am up bright and perky after 5 hours of sleep. I noticed another change this morning. I am not dizzy like the last few days. So I think that is another good sign. Let's see how I feel after my luncheon I have to attend today. Loud rooms have been bothersome.
I am not very hungry either. So I am hoping I won't gain weight? We shall see.
They have me on Steroids for 14 days. the first 8 days it is 6 pills a day. 2 pills 3x a day. Then it tapers to 4 pills a day then down to 2 and 1 pill a day.
Ricohet Rabbit is signing off..
It's time to go bounce away ...
Fill you all in later..
FL Jackie

@joangela @sjd324 @colleenyoung @tonyinmi @nurseheadakes @imallears @judyca7 @lioness @maryjax
Hi everyone just thought I would check in and let you all know how I am feeling.
The hearing seems to be getting better. I hear more sounds. Music and Loud places are bothersome. It still feels like half of my head i working only.
Been getting a headache on and off. Yesterday I was completely exhausted. Good thing I decided not to travel to Chicago. I would not had the energy.
Today I felt better more energy but still tired. I can feel the pounds coming on my body UGH.. I think I already gained 3 pounds on the steroids and it not even been 1 week.
Besides weight gain? Do they also mess with your bladder I have to constant;y run the to bathroom? My Bladder never feels like it is emptying.
Plus I have a headache on and off. Yesterday it was most of the day my head hurt on the same side, I lost my hearing. Weird.. Today it only hurt once. I took 2 Tylenol and the headaches went away. The pain is above my eye, like a sinus headache. What was also weird unless I am loosing my mind it seems what ever is causing this pressure on the ear, moves to the sinus and there I felt pressure. Thinking that is what caused the headache?? With the headache the hearing felt a little better. There is still a seashell sound but not as drastic as it was.
How long the the steroids take to work? I have 14 days of pills, It has been 6 days, after tomorrow I taper off the dosage.
Tomorrow night at 10 pm I am getting the MRI. It was the only time that opened up somewhat close to where I live. I will keep you all posted on the outcome of that.
I had to stop reading every thing on DR Google, Cause it makes you want to put the Coroner on Speed dial..
I am a bit scared of getting the MRI, what if they say I need to be hospitalized? It has to wait, cause I have to give a Travel Talk on Wednesday at a museum and I have about 40 people showing up. This is nerve racking to say the least. So I am trying to talk myself into being well.
I kept busy all day that way I didn't think about the issue..
Good night.. going to try and sleep tonight. The 230 am wake up all week is killing me. LOL..
Jackie

@travelgirl
Okay...calm down ...except for the bladder which I am not sure of , your side effects are common and temporary. Read the potential side effects list on the insert that comes with all prescriptions. The steroids may be making you more thirsty and causing you to drink more fluids thereby more bathroom trips. If this continues after everything is cleared up and you are off the drugs then go to you GYN for a checkup. Depends on the dosage strength too.

As for the MRI, you won’t get the results that night so don’t worry about you presentation. You might want to preface your speech with a SHORT synopsis of what’s been happening to your hearing in case you have a question and answer session and think you might have a problem hearing. They will be sympathetic.

Everything is connected above that pretty neck of yours....eyes, ears, nose, teeth, throat. So you’ll feel side effects in other areas.
That’s why we have ENT specialists. By the way a good ENT doctor who you are seeing for your ears should also be checking up your nose and around your lymph nodes routinely at each visit.

I don’t know anyone who hasn’t experienced some weight gain on steroids. I did once on oral steroids and am on steroid eye drops now and swear they have added a pound or two even though they don’t get into the blood stream as fast as an injection or orally.
I “hear” you stressing again....stop that😁. You sound like some improvement is occurring so that’s great and thanks for keeping us informed.

FL Mary

Travelgirl,

When I was first diagnosed with Meniere's, my primary doc (not the useless ENT I had seen) sent me off for an MRI, too see if there was a possibility that there was a tumor, which is a pretty routine thing to do in order to rule out something that could be fixed. A couple of days after the MRI, I had an appt. at my primary doc's to hear about the results. This doc is someone whom we've floated rivers with, a good friend as well as a thoughtful and careful doc who took super care of us until he retired five years ago. He reported that, "There's nothing in your head," which I found pretty funny, to learn that I had no brain (which I've suspected on many occasions). That's often the way a Meniere's diagnosis is confirmed: you don't have a tumor, so it's probably Meniere's. There's nothing clear cut about the diagnosis, just an elimination of what it isn't, which is why many of us believe that it's not A disease but a bunch of related inner ear diseases with no way to distinguish between them.

Later, when the diagnosis was confirmed by Dr. Owen Black, I learned that the auditory and vestibular nerves are often twisted together so that a nerve section to sever the vestibular nerve (THE treatment 35 years ago) often means that the auditory nerve is severed with it. I thought that might be a good thing due to the recruitment and distortion, but learned that nature will stubbornly fill the void of silence with our companion, tinnitus. Because there was a 20% chance that a nerve section might leave me in a wheelchair, I refused--and I'm very glad that I did.

So, relax. Chances are, you'll learn "there's nothing in your head." You may wind up with a Meniere's diagnosis, not because your symptoms are all typical but because it means a magic number so that the clinic and the doc can get compensated. Again, no real way to determine exactly what's wrong (other than eliminating a few things) isn't a good way to get a diagnosis, just a good way to get slotted into the system so that future hearing tests, etc. will be compensated.

@joyces @imallears Well here is the latest. Ended up at the ER this morning. Woke up 2 times last night to pee. The second time at 530am My head was spinning so bad I crawled to the bathroom and threw up 3 times. My heart was racing. I could barely breath from the spinning. It was like I was on a whirlwind roller coasters and i couldn't stop. This is horrible I honestly thought I was going down. A voice in my head kept saying stay with us Jackie. Seriously it was that bad.

My husband was in the other part of the house getting ready for work when he finally heard me call him. He helped me to the car and took me to the hospital. They gave me an anti puking medicine and something to stop the spinning. Took a chest ex-ray that was fine. Took a CT scan that was also fine, Took blood work it was negative. I told them I had a 10 pm MRI. at their sister hospital they said to keep that cause they are backed up. Once I was able to start walking on my own they let me go home.

Gave me a prescription for dizziness and vomiting with instructions to take as needed.
I am feverishly working on my clients trips right now so I can get them done. Just in case.
Keep you posted
Jackie

@travelgirl
Hi
Wow...scary situation. Keep the steroids going as prescribed until you see ENT again. Hope they can find the reason for all your symptoms soon. Glad you were not driving when it happened. Kind of hard to keep calm as I said when this is on your mind constantly but try and not get overwhelmed and over fatigued.
We appreciate your letting us know what’s going on.....such a big help if someone else has a similiar experience.

Hoping for a resolution.....FL Mary