Seeking Advice for Sensorineural Hearing Loss and Drinking Question

Hi everyone,

My mom has been experiencing some very puzzling symptoms that might be related to hearing loss that we can't figure out. I'm hoping somewhere here will have insights, experiences, or advice that might shed light on her situation.

Background:
My mom has dealt with severe sensorineural hearing loss in her left ear for the past 15 years. Over the years, she has also struggled with on-and-off issues related to depression and alcohol consumption. In the past few months (as far as I can tell, and my baseline is healthy skepticism), she has stopped her drinking and is now in a much better mental health state.

Current Symptoms:
Despite these positive changes, she still faces some baffling symptoms:

- After car rides longer than 15 minutes, she experiences nausea, confusion, irritability, and forgetfulness about 1-2 hours after returning home.

- These symptoms are followed by a bout of hypersomnia, during which she randomly sleeps for extended periods over the next 36-48 hours.

- She emits a peculiar fragrance during this period. It's hard to describe but it smells sort of like a wilting flower, like something that smells good but is a tad off...

- Certain smells, particularly fishy odors, become extremely bothersome to her during these episodes.

- Her blood pressure tends to rise during the more severe instances.

- The symptoms generally subside within 36-48 hours, but these symptoms also tend to appear during cloudy weather or periods of low atmospheric pressure.

Additional Context:
- She had been drinking for about a decade - she would usually go out to buy liquor, drink at home, and exhibit the above symptoms. So when we first found out she was secretly drinking, I assumed all these symptoms were a result of the drinking. Therefore, when she stopped drinking a few months ago and these symptoms persisted, I initially suspected some conditioning might be at play, given the car rides usually preceded the drinking and hence symptoms.

- However, since these symptoms persist even when she's in good spirits and not consuming alcohol, I'm suspecting if it might have more to do with her hearing loss - riding in a car, throwing off her balance, etc.

- She had experienced hearing loss in both ears as a child, and she believes it's linked to streptomycin shots.

- Around 15 years ago, she was diagnosed with severe sensorineural hearing loss in her left ear, with her doctor indicating the inner ear's neural hairs were all non-functional. Interestingly, she recalls hearing a loud bang! in her left ear and subsequent ringing during the exam - she thinks maybe the assistant accidentally cranked the device to max, but either way her hearing has since deteriorated.

- Her hearing loss has hampered her speech as a kid (not dramatically at all but the difference in some of her pronunciations are noticeable). This is also in her native tongue - it's impossible for her to learn English and I think that has been a huge weight on her psyche and confidence over the past 25 years.

Has anyone here seen or been through similar situations? The interplay between sensorineural hearing loss, previous depression, and drinking might be wholly unrelated or maybe they're all tied together. I feel like I can't even figure out what's what at the moment, let alone what the best path forward should be. But I have to get to the bottom of this and help my mom get her life back in order. Any insights, personal experiences, expertise or advice would be greatly appreciated!