Help: Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL) - very scary

Has it got better

Same thing happened to me and I got bad urgent care advice saying it was a blocked eustacian tube. It was a sudden sensinaural hearing loss. I have age related loss in both ears but with a cross hearing aid, I hear fairly well. I am thankful that I have some residual hearing in my right ear. So now I am right eared.

wow Norma, i experienced the exact same thing, from the sudden hearing loss to the misdiagnosis at urgent care, to using a cross hearing aid, to being "right-eared". sorry i have nothing helpful to add for anyone, just wanted to share that there are many of us out here, and it's always good to know that we have company. thanks.
wendy

Good luck. From what i experienced, it is all about the timing. I don't know what the odds are of full recovery, but catching it within the first day is in your favor! Hope the steroids work for you!

Same thing happened to me with misdiagnosis from primary care physician. Lost several days because of this, but doctor finally referred me to ENT. By the time I got appointment and saw an ENT, it was 12 days since I woke up with sudden hearing loss in right ear. ENT put me on 12 days of high dose steroids, which have worked amazingly for me. Have recovered almost all hearing in right ear (except for very high frequencies). Hope u have a wonderful outcome, since you got steroids much earlier than me.

Yes, Wendy, I was told that when it happened to me and I met a high school kid when I asked for a hearing device at a theatre and he told me he had the same thing happen after a bout with pneumonia. Apparently it isn’t just an age thing either.

Right after my post Oct. 26 about using one aid, the woman at Costco determined that, since I was in a good place as far as Meniere's Disease is concerned, that my long useless right ear can at least hear enough to locate sounds, with a new pair of aids (total cost: $1,399). Got 'em, and found that, although I don't hear much from the right side, the tinnitus lessened and aural hallucinations disappeared. (Ol' Ma Nature had no vacant space to fill with sound.)

However, now I can't find a doc willing to prescribe an adequate level of hormones to keep the worst of Meniere's at bay. Not only is my hearing far worse, with a return of recruitment, distortion, tinnitus, and aural hallucinations, but I live in a constant panic because I don't know exactly where I am in space, or where the things around me are. I can't reach for anything with confidence, as it may be a couple of inches to one side or the other. I can't walk through my own house without bashing into furniture that hasn't moved in years. Worst of all, no longer can I back my boat down a launch, not even a three-lane wide one. A month ago, with more hormones on board, I backed down a narrow one-lane launch smoothly in one pass. Today, I really have no idea where the trailer is EXACTLY, or where my car is, either. Yesterday, a new doc refused to prescribe a temporary adequate amount of hormones to get me out of this hell, so I'm pretty discouraged.

Still, it IS encouraging to learn that, when I'm closer to normal, using the new aids cancels out the noise that Ma Nature provided.

I had similar problem and I was not successful in having my hearing restored; however the reason I am responding is that you caught it early, did the right thing, got the treatment that is available and the hard part is waiting. When you have done all that is required and available to you, you can at least rest in the knowledge that you did everything that science has to offer at this point.

I’m new with sudden hearing loss. MRI Tuesday and just had 3rd shot. Not working . He said MRI is routine. Now I also have tinnitus. Any advice will help!!

It can happen during air travel as well, I think due to changes in air pressure. One can emerge from a flight with sudden hearing loss. It’s truly astonishing that there’s not more public education about this, and the need to get treatment promptly.