I just stumbled across Tinnitus Talk and figured I'd dive in.
In late August of this year, I suddenly developed tinnitus and hyperacusis in my left ear. By "suddenly," I mean it was as if someone flipped a switch and I went from being basically normal to having both problems. Bam. Just like that. I also experienced a loss of physical sensation (numbness) around my left ear and in the side of my face.
My initial thought was that I was having a stroke. I'm a 36-year-old healthy, lithe, veggie-eating, sugar-avoiding runner who doesn't drink or smoke (anymore), so the idea that I'd be having a stroke seemed strange; however, what I was experiencing was WEIRD... and scary. So I had my wife drive me to the emergency room. We sat there for 7 hours without seeing a doctor and finally figured we may as well go home since I wasn't dead.
Four months, eight doctors, an MRI, various drug regimens, and a few dietary restrictions later, nothing I've done has helped. The tinnitus and hyperacusis are still going strong in my left ear, and I do register modest low-frequency hearing loss on that side. At some point, I developed much less noticeable hyperacusis and tinnitus in my right ear as well. It may have happened at the same time as the left ear, but there's no way to really know. The ringing in the left ear is much louder than the right ear, so it's hard to notice on the other side. The numbness in the side of my face comes and goes. Shortly after this began, I also started having random spasms in my face (mostly on the left side, but some on the right).
I've received a diagnosis of cochlear hydrops (Meniere's disease without the vertigo, essentially) from a sub-specialist ENT, but I'm a little suspicious of the diagnosis because:
I finally got an appointment with a neurologist for later this month. We'll see what he or she says.
There's more I could say. I'm also a musician, although I don't have much reason to think my condition is noise-induced. I've been out of the live music game since COVID-19, so it's not as if I'd recently been abusing my ears with loud sounds. I've also been good about wearing earplugs at band practice and at venues over the years. And besides, music/noise-induced tinnitus would, I suspect, be more of a gradual thing than the suddenness of my symptoms. I was sitting alone in a quiet room when it started. Anyway...
The worst part of all this is how depressing it all is. I have a 6-year-old son, and his high-pitched voice is truly painful to listen to because of the hyperacusis. I also hear distortions in my left ear and can notice the frequencies I'm not hearing when I sing or play music. If anybody actually reads this, I think the main thing I'm looking for is some guidance for not dwelling on this problem and somehow accepting it and moving on. I know that's what I have to do, but I don't really know how.
Thanks.
In late August of this year, I suddenly developed tinnitus and hyperacusis in my left ear. By "suddenly," I mean it was as if someone flipped a switch and I went from being basically normal to having both problems. Bam. Just like that. I also experienced a loss of physical sensation (numbness) around my left ear and in the side of my face.
My initial thought was that I was having a stroke. I'm a 36-year-old healthy, lithe, veggie-eating, sugar-avoiding runner who doesn't drink or smoke (anymore), so the idea that I'd be having a stroke seemed strange; however, what I was experiencing was WEIRD... and scary. So I had my wife drive me to the emergency room. We sat there for 7 hours without seeing a doctor and finally figured we may as well go home since I wasn't dead.
Four months, eight doctors, an MRI, various drug regimens, and a few dietary restrictions later, nothing I've done has helped. The tinnitus and hyperacusis are still going strong in my left ear, and I do register modest low-frequency hearing loss on that side. At some point, I developed much less noticeable hyperacusis and tinnitus in my right ear as well. It may have happened at the same time as the left ear, but there's no way to really know. The ringing in the left ear is much louder than the right ear, so it's hard to notice on the other side. The numbness in the side of my face comes and goes. Shortly after this began, I also started having random spasms in my face (mostly on the left side, but some on the right).
I've received a diagnosis of cochlear hydrops (Meniere's disease without the vertigo, essentially) from a sub-specialist ENT, but I'm a little suspicious of the diagnosis because:
- It doesn't explain the numbness
- It doesn't explain why this happened so suddenly
- It doesn't explain the frequent spasms
I finally got an appointment with a neurologist for later this month. We'll see what he or she says.
There's more I could say. I'm also a musician, although I don't have much reason to think my condition is noise-induced. I've been out of the live music game since COVID-19, so it's not as if I'd recently been abusing my ears with loud sounds. I've also been good about wearing earplugs at band practice and at venues over the years. And besides, music/noise-induced tinnitus would, I suspect, be more of a gradual thing than the suddenness of my symptoms. I was sitting alone in a quiet room when it started. Anyway...
The worst part of all this is how depressing it all is. I have a 6-year-old son, and his high-pitched voice is truly painful to listen to because of the hyperacusis. I also hear distortions in my left ear and can notice the frequencies I'm not hearing when I sing or play music. If anybody actually reads this, I think the main thing I'm looking for is some guidance for not dwelling on this problem and somehow accepting it and moving on. I know that's what I have to do, but I don't really know how.
Thanks.
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