Sudden Hearing Loss in less than 8 hours.....

[helthnut]

Hello I am a 24 year old college student living in Athens, Greece. 8 days ago around 11:30 am I notice a small buzzing/ringing sound in my right ear, as I didn't think much of it around 2pm I took an hour nap thinking that this ringing in my ear would pass if i just rested a little. After waking up around 2pm I came to realize that not only has the ringing/buzzing in my ears gotten worse but I have lost ALL sound out of my right ear. As I start to worry i make an appt. to see a local ear specialist by my house. After running a few hearing tests, he informs me that I must get to a HOSPITAL ASAP. It is now 9pm and i check myself into a hospital here in Greece. On the way to the hospital I felt uneasy, light headed, dizziness, spins, vertigo, nausia, very weak, as well as signs of vertigo. The first night in the hopsital was an absolute NIGHTMARE!! I was vomiting every half an hour, breaking out in cold sweats and waking up to the hospital room spinning around and around. After stalizing me the first 24 hours the IV and steroid use started through my body. It has been 8 days in total since this has happened to me, and 2 days since I left the hospital..... I still cannot hear anything out of my right ear, feeling very weak and tired all the time, i am a student and have yet to return to any of my classes. I can deal with the headaches and diziness. But what I am really affraid of is my hearing loss. CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT THIS IS CALLED? and if I will ever regain hearing in my right ear again? I have taken both an MRI and a CATSCAN and both came back with no major indications.... THANKS
JOHNNY!

[sadie03]

I am not a physician, but have worked in a hospital based audiology dept. The symptomes you describe are often associated with Meniere's disease and/or Perilymphatic Fistula. Information on both of these can be found on a ****** search. Hearing associated with these problems may fluctuate or improve over time or in some cases continue to show a permanant hearing loss. I would recommend that you follow-up your hospital stay with a good Otolaryngologist (Ear, nose, throat specialist) and an audiologist to monitor your hearing and medical condition. It's difficult to differentiate between Meniere's and Perilymph Fistula. Some doctors state that the only way to really identify a fistula is through exploratory surgery. Before jumping into that, I'd want to carefully monitor the stability of my hearing and other symptoms through a doctor's care. Good luck.

[Boomer2b]

Originally Posted by helthnut

On the way to the hospital I felt uneasy, light headed, dizziness, spins, vertigo, nausia, very weak, as well as signs of vertigo.

I agree with Sadie, and would add that the first thing you noticed was the tinnitus and then the loss of hearing (both related). The dizziness you noticed a bit later is associated with the malfunction of the vestibular (balance) system, & both are in the inner ear, so you've had a failure of all systems in there. A complete workup by a neuro-otologist is your best bet to find out if it is temporary or permanent, one sided or both. You've already done the week's bedrest usually prescribed for a perilymph fistula (supposed to be strict), by the way. The dizziness should get better if only one ear was affected as your system gets used to its loss, even if the ear itself doesn't recover.

[helthnut]

Hey thanks Boomer2b, so how can I tell if i will ever be able to get my hearing back....? and will i have to go through all this pain when it eventaully comes back..? thanks!

[paul428]

Man, so sorry to hear what happened to you I can relate, May 14th it happened to me; same symptoms! I was at work 4pm experiencing tinnitus a bit loud, (I have had tinnitus on and off but very soft volume for a year or so), Riding my bicycle home at 445pm and with the traffic to the left of me I noticed the sounds were coming to me from the right! Hearing from the left was GONE! I got home looked up sudden deafness found a website that described my symptoms and a study going on regarding a tapering prednisone treatment, either oral or injections into the ear through the ear drum. "I am on the oral treatment".
I contacted the Univ.Mass.Med. via email that was participating in the treatment study and described the onset of the hearling loss in the last few hours and gave my phone number! (I live in Houston, no study going on here, would have saved me a FORTUNE since the treatment is free for participants in the study program. I am self-employed...no health insurance, just the MRI was $2400! hope Greece is easier on your pocket.
Well early the next morning, 15th at 2 Am I woke up with the hallucinating vertigo as you had, I was just non stop wretching . Unreal experience, totally helpless.
At 830AM U Mass called me at home!!... and told me I had to get to Baylor Univ Neuro center. The Dr. there was familiar with the prednisone treatment program and had a professional collegue at UMassMed.
Well today is day 15 on the treatment and really nothing has happened except for relief from vertigo. Tomorrow is my follow up visit, hearing test and find out the results of the MRI.

I have very loud tinnitus on my left side and the hearing has not returned at all. My balance is ok,.. but not what it was, I can walk and ride a bicycle "carefully". As with your experience I am still in shock how this has changed everything so fast. I am 53 yrs old.
It seems that what I have read is that recovery is inversely proportional to the intensity of the onset.
I wish you the very best of luck. . What I have read (and I have been non stop on this computer) is that trying to actually put a name on it is really difficult, it will take a load of tests (that I know I can't afford)
Please respond since I am wondering if you or any others that have experienced this are experiencing any tinnitus after the steroid treatment?

Regards, and best of luck
Paul