New to Tinnitus

[Jae]

I posted in the wrong section being the noob that I am...anyways I am a 22 year old who just recently had a prolonged period of Tinnitus and hearing loss. The reason why I said prolonged is because last year I had my first episode of (sudden) hearing loss and a minor tinnitus which went away after 3 days of heavy prednisone dosage, followed by a taper...then some 7 months later, I had another episode, but it faded away after 1 day of heavy prednisone dosage...then some 4 months later, which was up to last week...I had my 3rd episode, but this time the prednisone isn't cutting it.

In fact, right now my hearing loss, and tinnitus progressed even more while I am on the prednisone. Intinially my hearing loss was minor, and the tinnitus was not that loud. But as each day progressed, it seems like my hearing is getting worse, and the tinnitus is either getting louder, or I am becoming more sensitive to it. Up until yesterday, I could still hear myself speak through my affected ear, but now i can't and certain frequencies gets distorted. On my first two episodes of SSHL I had an ENT who prescribed me 80 mg of prednisone for 3 days before I went on a taper. The 3rd episode I had a different ENT since I was away in University, who prescribed me some 50 mg for 5 days followed by a taper. After 5 days however, my condition didn't get any better so I asked for heavier dosage, which didn't have any effect either, and my hearing is getting worse as I described before. Do I really have SSHL this time or is this really it for me...? Feedback please...I am really scared...

 

[Jae]

Woke up today morning, my hearing came back for the most part, and tinnitus died down...but then as the day went by, hearing loss occurred again, and my tinnitus is back. I don't think this is normal even for a supposed diagnosed SSHL. Do you think perhaps I have some other ear illness?

 

[Karen]

Hi, @Jae,

It's hard to say if this is something other than tinnitus and hearing loss. Has your hearing been tested recently by either one of the ENTs? How bad was the hearing loss at that time? Maybe it would be worthwhile to go back and have another hearing test, to see if it has deteriorated any. Increased tinnitus could occur along with increased hearing loss.

I hope you'll keep us posted on how you're doing, and what your doctor says.

Best wishes and hugs,
Karen

 

[Jae]

Yeah I had my hearing test, and they said it was "normal" aside from a drop on a certain frequency on my affected ear. For whatever reason yesterday my tinnitus, and hearing loss got really bad, that even the sound of people's voice starts to distort. But before I slept, I got a bit dizzy, so I took some prednisone tried to sleep. While I was lying down, my tinnitus practically went away, and my hearing was almost restored, I was so happy I couldn't sleep. Then came today...was fine this morning, then around noon my hearing and tinnitus went really bad again gradually. (came back with a vengence).

I am really distressed by the false hope I had that I was recovering really well....

 

[Karen]

@Jae,

Tinnitus is really unpredictable. Sometimes it gets lower with no really good reason, then goes back up again. The main thing to remember is that it is very up and down. Please try not to worry, and things may improve again. Sometimes anxiety can make your tinnitus seem a lot worse.

I had dizziness for quite awhile when my tinnitus first started, but it is gone now. The dizziness often means an imbalance in the Eustachian tubes. I'm wondering if that's what has happened to you.

I'd say the best thing is to try not to worry, get some sleep, and see if things improve again over the next several days. You are young, have normal hearing, and there is reason to hope that things will begin to improve soon!

 

[Jae]

@Karen,

Thanks for the support. Really appreciated it. As for my hearing, it's not like I lost it completely, rather if I cover my good ear, I can still hear things quite clearly though the volume seemed a muffled (which is probably why they said my hearing was good on the audio gram). However when I speak, I can't hear the feedback of my voice through my bad ear; it literally feels like there's something stuck inside. Funny thing is they say tinnitus isn't an illness, but a symptom of an illness, the fact my hearing can somehow recover, and then go bad again tells me that I probably don't have SSHL, which is why the steroids didn't work... I just hope this is something my body can fight off by itself because I am already on my prednisone taper, and I still haven't recovered aside from today's small window of relief.

 

[Karen]

Yes, I think you're right that you don't have SSHL, and I'm glad you're tapering off the steroids. They don't seem to be helping you, and long-term use of steroids has some undesirable side effects, from what I've read.

I have tinnitus in only one ear myself, and it always feels like the sound in my bad ear is muffled, so that could be similar to what you are experiencing. At any rate, I hope you begin to recover soon.

 

[Jae]

@Karen, yeah I feel theside effects already, I had a lifting competition today and I felt so much weaker than usual. Ironically lifting helps me feel better as it distracts me alot, and for some reason caffiene (and music) doesnt seem to make my T worse (rather I felt better after lifting) which is good for me cuz I can still do my hobbies.

 

[Karen]

@Jae,

Yes, it sounds like a good thing that you're getting off the steroids. I'm glad you're able to still do the hobbies you enjoy doing. That's a great distraction from the tinnitus. You're on the right track when you do that; distraction is one of the best ways to begin to feel better.

I don't have any bad effects from caffeine, either. Maybe you're like me, in that there aren't any foods that affect your tinnitus one way or the other.

Hope your tinnitus begins to settle down soon.

 

[Jae]

@Karen, thanks I hope I have a spontaneous recovery, tho it is rare, but the fact i'm unaffected by caffiene (I took ALOT today prob like 500 mg) means I prob don't have something like meniere's disease (not that I had vertigo to begin with). Somewhere inside tho, I kinda hoped I had something like ETD, and hoped that the pressure from lifting heavy weight can clear it out, but I guess I was wrong =/.

 

[Jae]

It seems like my tinnitus died down alot again, but hearing is still weird...kinda hurts to hear people talk at times (like it feels like my ear drums move a bit). Didn't do anything particular today, aside from lifting (and i drank alot of caffiene as well due to it). I thought because so I prob don't have meniere's , but now that I think about it, I might not have menieres but I can have cochlear Hydrops....can my hearing come back if the fluids in my ears balanced?

 

[Karen]

Hi, Jae,

That's a good question, about whether your hearing will come back if the fluids are balanced. It certainly doesn't sound like you have Meniere's. Only time will tell if the fluids will rebalance and you'll regain your normal hearing.

Does anyone else have an opinion about this?

 

[Jae]

Hearing came back during saturday night, and lasted till Sunday early evening....and my T seems to go along with it. I am really tired of these false moments of silence....

 

[Lauren Morse]

Weird, I have been experiencing the same phenomenon for months (progressive hearing loss, intermittent ear fullness, fluctuating tinnitus, etc), though not the fluctuation hearing loss as you have, and mine does seem to be noise mediated usually.

Hmm, is your hearing continuing to get worse pretty fast? It's just a thought, but it could be autoimmune in nature...bloodwork ordered by a neuro otologist (they check for certain antibodies) could potentially rule that out. Are there any in your area that you can make an appointment with? That is important to do if you can, as ENT's are not knowledgeable enough usually, at least in my experience.

It could also be secondary hydrops as you suggested. In that case what you put in your body could have an effect on the fluid levels in your inner ear, including food allergies and food products high in salts/sugars. It's seems strange to me that the hearing fluctuation is cyclical and comes back in the evening, which makes me think you must be repeatedly eating something or doing something that sets it off at a particular time of day. I would definitely keep a log of what you eat and see if you can establish any connections to your diet. Oh, and definitely stay away from sugar and really salty foods for a while (and I mean no excuses). I remember that I once overate a lot of salty and lost a very slight amount of hearing from that alone, that never came back.

As a fellow young person also losing her hearing, I feel for you and I hope you will somehow get on the mend soon!