Do I Have Cochlear Hydrops?

[Lisa 99]

Hi,

I've been posting on here recently following 6 weeks of aural fullness, increased tinnitus, pressure in my forehead and slight dizziness.

These symptoms started 2 weeks after a very loud microsuctioning procedure for impacted ear wax.

My Dr has referred me for MRI. The reason for posting is to ask if anyone else with Cochlear Hydrops started with similar symptoms and how was it diagnosed?

Do I need a referral to an Audiologist?

I really hate these symptoms and it has had a real impact on my life making me feel very anxious and depressed.

If this is Cochlear Hydrops is it likely to improve?

Thanks,
Lisa

 

[GregCA]

I've never heard of cochlear hydrops as a result of micro-suction. It's a condition resulting from a problem with the pressure of the endolymphatic fluid in the cochlea (the mechanisms/controls to establish the proper pressure aren't working), which I have a hard time imagining they could be triggered by such procedure.

To diagnose CH doctors sometimes request an ECOG: https://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/testing/ecog.html

My condition was originally misdiagnosed as CH, and I wasn't offered an ECOG.

Have you done a hearing test with an audiologist since onset of your symptoms?

 

[jxw7410]

So in the past, there were multiple incidents where my right ear would lose some hearing, which gradually grows slight to bad. Originally I was told it was sudden sensorineural hearing loss. I was always given prednisone, and my hearing, or at least so I perceive, would return to normal. This happened like 5 times already, and honestly the effects of prednisone had always been mixed. First 2 times, my body responded super fast to it, and my hearing quickly recovered. The other 3...not so much, it was hell, but it recovered. However during these incidents, I was sometimes told, "Yeah, you probably have Meniere's." Also these 5 incidents happened within the span of 2 years, 12/2014 ~ 9/2016

Fast forward till last week, so 3 years later... the 6th incident occurred. But this time it's a bit weird. On the first day on prednisone, my hearing did come back, but then overnight it gets bad again, and it's been like this for the last 7 days, a repeat of going good, and then bad. My current ENT told me that this is unlikely due to SSHL since his patients with SSHL don't experience that frequent of hearing losses, nor does it fluctuate like this. Instead, he told that he believes it's very likely to be Cochlear Hydrops, or Meniere's without the vertigo.

Anyways, I don't know what's really going on, and while I do want to believe my ENT, however the last 3 years I was eating pretty high sodium food which never really amounted to anything. I was wondering if anyone with Cochlear Hydrops can share some pointers about my problem.

Also, the type of hearing loss I get is low frequency. During one of the previous episodes, I took an audio test, and it showed some loss in the low frequencies, but I forget how much. My ear also sometimes feels plugged. This time I didn't take an audio test, but I know it's low frequencies since at the worse of the loss, I can't hear low frequency sounds very well, like the vibrations of motors. When the hearing comes back, the fullness feeling is gone, and I can hear the vibrations again. I don't have any vertigo either, nor migraines.

I'm really loss at what to do atm, and I haven't slept well for a while...

 

[Juan]

So in the past, there were multiple incidents where my right ear would lose some hearing, which gradually grows slight to bad. Originally I was told it was sudden sensorineural hearing loss. I was always given prednisone, and my hearing, or at least so I perceive, would return to normal.

What triggered those incidents where you lost some hearing? Were they triggered by noise or any contributing factor, or it just happened out of the blue?

 

[Matchbox]

Noise won't trigger Cochlear Hydrops. It's literally degeneration of the Endolymphatic Sac (the theory is the cells there act similar to our kidneys to regulate sodium) resulting in high pressure and low frequency losses as the "leak" and bulging of the membrane happens at the apex of the cochlea.

Some think it's autoimmune or viral based, causing repeated inflammatory events... stopping those causes could limit the damage.

A gun shot would be the only acoustic shock that could create similar symptoms called a fistula... so unless you had some trauma (not just loud music) it's super unlikely.

If you have low frequency losses, try a diuretic, low sodium and Betahistine for a couple of days. If you suddenly feel better and they come up to normal... chances are it's Cochlear Hydrops.