Hello

[Clare0866]

Hi everyone. I'm feeling quite sorry for myself at the moment and wondered if anyone in this group has experienced something similar to me and how they coped in the early days.

12 days ago, while on a bike ride, I suddenly lost all hearing in my right ear. No reason that I'm aware of, there was just a sudden kind of woosh, unbearably loud ringing and slight imbalance for a few minutes. I went to A&E within 2 hours and saw an ENT consultant the following day, hearing tests showed no sound getting through at all. I've just finished 10 days of steroids and had a MRI scan on Monday, which my GP has just told me has ruled out anything sinister (fantastic news!!). I've been looked after so well by the NHS and I'm really so grateful for their support.

My next ENT appointment is on 23rd October and they'll be doing another hearing test to see if there are any changes.

I'm really struggling to cope with normal everyday sounds in my good ear - everything seems unbearably loud at the moment and the tinnitus in my deaf ear is all consuming. I've just been booked off work for 2 weeks to give my brain/ body a chance to adapt as my workplace is very noisy and I've not been able to cope there this week.

Does anyone have any suggestions of what I can do to help myself adjust please? Sorry to be so gloomy on my first post. Clare x

 

[Nina Saleh]

Hello Clare
My thoughts are with you X
I think as long as the middle and inner ear don't have any damages, your case might be a severe ETD and I happen to know many people who were cured from ETD but ear treatments take a long time to heal.. They have been using decongestants ( e.g nasonex mometason) for few months until they got better and the pressure of the ear was released.. In your next visit, make sure your ENT tells you if your middle or inner ear don't have anykind of damages.. You also need to do a blood test to find out if you have any deficiencies, that would help you more knowing if your body lacks a certain vitamin..
Hope you get better xx

 

[ChiGuy]

@Clare0866 I'm sorry to about what you are going through. As stated by Nina, it may be ETD. It may also be sudden sensorineural hearing loss (in which a high percentage of people recover from). As far as the loudness in your good ear goes, it may be your body attempting to compensate for the loss in your other ear. You need to get good rest and a positive mindset. Hope you get well soon.

 

[glynis]

Hi Claire,
Glad to here your test results were ok and fingers crossed that your hearing comes back.
Keep us posted on how you are doing.
Love glynis x

 

[Clare0866]

@Nina Saleh and @ChiGuy
Hi both, thank you so much for replying and for giving me some helpful pointers and hope. I guess its just a waiting game at the moment - and me needing to get some positive thoughts going. Thanks xx

 

[Kolisar]

Hello @Clare0866, and welcome.

Sorry to be so gloomy on my first post

You need to read some of the other "Introduce Yourself" posts, yours is nowhere near gloomy compared to most.

Seriously though, this is a support forum, you do not need to apologize for a sad or gloomy post, if you were happy or not struggling you would not be here in the first place.

Does anyone have any suggestions of what I can do to help myself adjust please?

The best I can suggest is to try to stay positive.

@billie48 wrote his success story demonstrating how positivity helped him habituate.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

@Michael Leigh wrote the following, excellent post on negativity and tinnitus:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-and-the-negative-mindset.23705/
and the following on the importance of positivity
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/is-positivity-important.23150/

As the posts reverenced above will show, maintaining a positive attitude will help greatly. Also, tinnitus often leads to, or exacerbates, depression. That is a very slippery slope you want to try and avoid if at all possible as they tend to feed into each other (tinnitus and depression) and create a feedback loop that can be hard to recognize and escape from.

I am glad you found this forum (I'm sorry you had to find us, but glad you did) as here you will find many people who understand what you are going through, and it can often be difficult for those who are not experienced tinnitus to understand how devastating it can be. We understand, and we are here to help each other. While you are waiting for your appointments, take advantage of this excellent resource and the incredibly caring, compassionate, and sympathetic people here who are always willing to offer advice, support, and comfort for their fellow tinnitus sufferers.

I wish you luck and hope you find what you need here. Please keep us updated on your progress and remember that we will be here when you need us.

 

[Clare0866]

@Kolisar. Hi and thank you so much for your reply. I really like the 'The AAA' approach that Billie48 talks about. X