A Few Weeks In After Virus

[DarthRaspberry]

Hi, I've been reading a lot on these forums since the start of my ordeal about 2 weeks ago. My story started with viral pink eye that I believe I caught from my five year old son, who had a chest cold. I managed to cure the pink eye with a saline/povidone iodine mix but it spread down through my sinuses and throat. I believe the adenovirus took up residence in my system because it came back a few weeks later starting in my throat. I woke up one morning with pain in my left ear but took ibuprofen and didn't think much about it even though I had hearing loss and ringing. I Thought ear infection. A few days later I went to a clinic and got antibiotics. Later that night it spread to my right eye and to both of my eyes. A few days after that I started reading myself and found some minions online of adenovirus causing SSHL. I got worried and went to the ER, where I was treated like a hypochondriac by everyone, including the ENT who finally came to see me. However, I did get a hearing test the next day that confirmed the moderate high frequency hearing loss. I am now tapering off prednisone and I think my hearing has improved but the T remains. At first I was so stressed I didn't know how I would cope if this is permanent but I realized I'm going to have to. I decided I'd have to commit to staying super chill. Radical acceptance. I even allowed myself to enjoy the T--which seemed crazy! But it's better than fighting it. I reframed it by thinking of those bowls Buddhists use to begin meditation--like an ever present clarion call to be present in the moment, even though T can initially seem like a barrier between you and he rest of the world. I have a background practicing meditation and I think that has helped. Of course music helps to distract from it at times and I still hope it goes away or decreases. I never knew that my mom has had T as well since she got sick as a teenager.
I hope that the details of my case and coping mechanisms can help someone.

 

[Ricardo1991]

Hey! how did things go after all? Mine was apparently caused by a virus as well that spread to my left ear. I don't necessarily hear ringing more of hissing robotic noises and my eustachian tubes keep crackling.

 

[DarthRaspberry]

I am happy to report that after a month on steroids, my second hearing test came back normal. I really didn't expect such dramatic improvement but I consider myself lucky. Now, I only hear tinnitus occasionally. I also felt eustachian tube weirdness that has gone away. Mine was high frequency loss so it was very high pitched.