Hi . I am 36 years old. Three days ago I went to an ENT and was diagnosed with left side Severe profound hearing lost. The doctor ordered an MRI with contrast and put me on steroids. This started more than 2 weeks ago when I felt my ears got congestive both sides left more than right. I though that it will go away. Next day , I wake up with dizziness and went to ER. At ER they told me that my ears were filled with liquids and prescribed inhalation and a nasal spray for congestion/ allergies that it will help but will take time. The symptoms continue , but I though it was part of my initial diagnoses until I noticed that I was not hearing well on my left side. Then , I went to see my ENT. I started steroids and I am waiting .
I will have the results tomorrow. I am totally devastated. Have two small children. I live a healthy life style. Have never use any drugs, exercise everyday, eat healthy…
Very sorry to hear about your sudden loss. Unfortunately, the sequence of events you described is quite typical of sudden hearing loss, as there is not enough awareness of the condition by primary care and emergency clinics. Someone perceives the loss, and by the time wax and fluid is ruled out and a full audiogram is finally performed weeks or months later there is little that can be done. Don’t feel blame, there is not much chance anything about your lifestyle or health habits could have done to cause or prevent this.
Went to see ENT today. MRI was negative for tumor. The doctor suspects I make have had an infant to the ear because there is a loop in the artery supply but he is still not sure if make have been congenitive. My ears are the same. There is no change … I started taking ginkgo biloba. Any advice?
don’t waste your money
I finish my first tap 60 mg of steroids once a day I can hear a muffling sound on my left ear. Like an eco. Does it mean my hearing is returning of this is part of hearing loss…
Starting tomorrow next tap 40 mg / day for 3 days. Anne them will try steroid injection. Is this painful? What should I spect…?can you share your experience
Indi, I was curious how you have been doing. Have you had the injection yet? The ENT will normally put a numbing agent on the ear drum, but you may feel slight discomfort. The injection is sometimes a last resort option, sometimes it works, but not all of the time. It is worth it to say that you did everything you could do.
I’m thinking of doing a month of 60mg/prednisone to save my remaining hearing cells. Is an antiviral going to help and is not ototoxic, I’ve been taking valtrex with the prednisone
I’ve been exactly where you are, though my sudden loss was quite so profound. It started with a painful ear infection and congestion, but the hearing loss didn’t go away when the congestion cleared. I am 37 years old, so I know what it’s like to suddenly have something like this that you’ve taken for granted taken from you. It can be lonely, especially since friends and family, as well-meaning as they are, cannot really understand what you’re going through. If you need to vent, please feel free to PM me.
The only treatment I know of that has any evidence to support it is the prednisone. I did a 60mg course with taper, too, but it had no effect. Hopefully you will have better luck. The muffled sound in your ear sounds like what I’m still experiencing, and is I believe a symptom of the loss. I also have ringing and popping/clicking in my left ear. Fortunately, my hearing aids have helped with that greatly.
Best wishes for recovery, and please be careful while on and especially while coming off of the prednisone. It’s a vey effective drug, but it really messes with your body and brain chemistry.
I agree with Latinist that you should be cautious using prednisone for a month. Many doctors believe 2 weeks of large dose prednisone with taper should be enough for treating SSHL if the patient does respond to the treatment(many don’t). Prolonged usage would not make much difference besides adding a lot more unwanted side effects. I suffered serious SSHL 4 month ago myself. I took prednisone starting with 60mg for 2 weeks. It helped a little bit. I recovered more after stopped the treatment as time went by. Right now, my hearing is sort of stable and I am planning to get a hearing aid. It was definitely a nightmare. I was extremely sad for more than a month, couldn’t sleep and eat well, felt fatigue all the time etc… Things getting a lot better now. If your loss is not severe/profound, it’s still likely your hearing will fully recover. Try not to panic and rest well. You need this. Good luck!
Think about this logically, if I lose my hearing I’m not going to be able to WORK, I’m going to be HANDICAPPED and I’m going to be unable to COMMUNICATE with people. Your hearing is PRICELESS. I’ve started to wear earplugs all day now.
I am going with a month of prednisone, no doctor can say with 100% probability that 1 month of prednisone is not going to work. I’m also taking NAC and glutathione based on pubmed.
where do you plan to get that prednisone?
I think you are seriously underestimating the risks that a month at 60 mg of prednisone present. You’ll be suppressing your immune system and your body’s production of cortisol. And you will greatly increase the dangers presented by withdrawal. The longer you take it, the harder it is for your body to restart the production of cortisol.
No matter your decision, please be very careful and have others watching you closely for signs of personality change, paranoia, depression, etc. and at the first sign, get yourself to a hospital. Prednisone and prednisone withdrawal are not something to take lightly; people die of it.
is there really a risk of adrenal damage?
I’m starting to taper with a medrol pack, I’ve never had problems with prednisone or Addison’s.
I have to deal with the diabetes damage which seems to be the main issue. I need to exercise and cut out the soda and sugar my BG was 140 the other day.
I was on one for allergies a while back…
how do people die from prednisone? I am going to a taper and be very careful and take metformin for diabetes and neurological damage from that. I am going to die of starvation if I can’t work and hear people and I’ve read online studies of 60mg of prednisone for a month for severe hearing loss. I went to Mcdonald’s and I couldn’t even order food from the cashier because I couldn’t understand what they were saying, the same thing happened at the minimart
Back in 2005 I went to bed with fine hearing and woke up the next morning with NO hearing in the right ear and tinnitus. I had not been sick nor been aware of any infection. I got a same-day appointment with my primary physician who put me on prednisone and an antiviral and sent me to an ENT who saw me the next day. Over the next few days my hearing started returning.
On my own I went to consult a Boston doctor who specialized in sudden sensorineural hearing loss. He tested me, approved of the treatment and said that I “took the prize” for how promptly I got treatment. He said he saw many patients whose doctor sent them home with a decongestant, only to find out a month later that their hearing loss was permanent.
Over the next month or so my hearing gradually returned, but not completely. I have a significant loss in the lower frequencies in the right ear, and the tinnitus never went away. I had been playing trombone in a town band, but had to give it up because the practices were painful.
Recently it got so that I was having so much trouble understanding people in noisy situations, or even my own wife, that I visited an audiologist again (had done so a couple years back) and got fitted for hearing aids, my first. I should have them (Oticon OPN MiniRITE BTE) in a couple of weeks.
The advice I would give you is what the doctors told me - always treat sudden hearing loss as a medical emergency and don’t take no for an answer. Tapered prednisone does help, but it is not a cure-all. Pretty much everything else I have seen suggested for this condition is worthless. And don’t talk to me about the quack tinnitus “cures”.