Audiogram — Low Frequencies Burning Away — Help

So, I have been absent from this site for a bit because, well, I did not want to face the reality of my developing hearing problems and other health issues/disabilities.

Anyway, this is my audiogram from today. The high frequencies have remained relatively stable since May, but the low frequency problems are a new phenomenon. In early September everything low frequency was 5db in the left ear, and 0 or 5 db in the right ear. So that means I have lost up to 15 decibels in only 4 months, and may have lost more below this range. So, I will probably lose all low frequencies in a couple years if this keeps up.


Yet my doctors say that despite the more and more common (mild) rotary vertigo, the constant dizziness and dissociation, this pattern of hearing loss, vision problems, etc, that I do not have Meniere's disease. Ummm......I don't trust them any more for a number of reasons aside from this one.

Can someone help me troubleshoot what is going on and how to stop this? It's a major health issue because I need bass for so many reasons that neurotypicals do not (I have high functioning autism). Like, my emotions are turning off and anhedonia is settling in because of the silence without the lows...has made me more intensely suicidal.

Triggers for the losses have been ears popping violently from swallowing and sudden head or neck movements, and exertion/strain. Could this be a middle ear issue as well?

Thank you!

 

Can you describe your visual issues?

 

@Mario martz

Hey you!

Yes my visual problems are kinda like yours. Around my period, or if I lose sleep, I get visual snow or static. I have also experienced a number of tiny black dots here and there, which mostly appear when I do something that sets off my inner ear (swallowing, straining).
Somewhat related is that I get bright flashes in my eyes, sometimes they are sporadic, the worst were medication induced, but I also get them from inner ear triggers (aka swallowing).
And then I have the typical colorful migraine aura zigzaggity things. Those are pretty rare for me though; I think I have only had them twice
Lastly there can sometimes be a complete blackout of my vision for a split second. This is a manifestation of orthostatic problems most likely, but it can come from straining activities. Other times I might get a few large dark black splotches. It's freaky when it happens.

Oh yea, and my eyes do become bloodshot here and there sometimes. I think it might be related to an allergic reaction to a clay I work with, but sometimes it came on by itself. It often seems to happen around my period as well (f*ck estrogen).

 

@Coyotesheaven

I am surprised that they were able to test you at 125hz. Can't imagine how bad mine would be. I have been losing the low frequencies too. My low frequency tinnitus has become much more pronounced. It is so loud and there most of the time now. My last audiogram was 15s with a couple of 20s, but somehow I "am a long way off from a hearing aid" and there is "nothing wrong with my ear" according to the audiologist. Oh and my personal favorite, "your hearing isn't fluctuating". Apparently, it's normal for your hearing to be all over the place as long as it's in the normal range. Luckily, this wasn't a dr, though they don't seem very concerned either. I feel like this is a no brainer. I have Meniere's Disease or Hydrops really. I fail to see how a migraine could cause congestion in my inner ear, but I wish this was all some migraine.

I get the bright spots in the corners of my eyes too. I get what appears as the room dimming for a split second. I also get bloodshot eyes here and there. I thought it was from allergies, but apparently I only have a small allergy to a specific mold. I have other allergy symptoms, like waking up with one nostril plugged every morning and puffy sinuses. Apparently, this is from non-allergic rhinitis.

The only way to stop this is to figure out why it is happening. I only wish that I knew.

 

@Jkph75

Well, whoever said that super fluctuations in the normal range to you is a complete moron. I have learned to ignore the ENTs and even the neurotologists when it comes to my hearing. They are not as smart as they appear to be, or they are but would rather see me decay so they can fit me with expensive, insulting devices. I have hydrops, and as far as I am concerned, I have had hydrops (in at least the left ear) since November 2015. The fact that I have a sensitivity to caffeine and chocolate, and high amounts of solutes seems to prove this to a greater extent.

A migraine can alter the blood flow to the ears, which can affect the inner ear. I know by some mechanism that proper blood flow somehow regulates the volume of endolymph. If it is restricted, that endolymph volume will start behaving oddly, leading to a Meniere's like experience. Some say that Meniere's disease is merely a form of a migraine. And, in general, if the blood flow drastically changes, it will do transient or permanent damage to the cochlear or vestibular structures, which can cause hearing loss or vertigo.

 

Yes. You are right. I guess what I meant to say is that in my case I am not really having many migraines. Since I had my daughter, I have had them around my period and some other times but they are certainly not frequent. The ear symptoms are every day.

I don't understand why Hydrops seems to be off the table in terms of a diagnosis. I know that I don't have Meniere's Disease...yet, but it is certainly heading that way. You can have Hydrops and have normal hearing. They just seem so bent on either classifying it as Meniere's or dismissing it as nothing. Obviously, a process occurs in the body before Meniere's occurs. Most people don't know anything is wrong until they have an attack. I would say that there must be plenty of other people with milder symptoms that could easily be diagnosed as having Hydrops before developing full blown Meniere's. I would just like to be treated for that.

I am not sure if my issues are vascular or not. I still have to respond to you on that other thread. Hopefully, I'll get to that tonight.

 

@Jkph75

Well, I do think you might have hydrops, but it's very difficult to figure out whether you have elevated endolymph pressure in one or both of your ears. Sometimes they can use the Ecog test to determine that, but that is a test you don't want to take with delicate ears (it's like a full blast rock concert in your ears as if you had cranked the volume up on your ipod to near max).

Meniere's attacks are speculated to be the result of a tear in the Reissner membrane in your inner ear, which separates the endolymph fluid from the perilymph fluid (basically CSF fluid). The fluids don't have the same concentrations of solutes and are chemically different; the introduction of perilyph into the vestibular and cochlear regions of your ears set off the symptoms because the chemicals are damaging to hair cells and other structures.

So, hydrops does not equal Meniere's disease; it is merely a predisposing factor. If your endolymph pressure gets too high it can sometimes cause that small membrane to burst and give you the Meniere hell, but this does not happen in every hydrops patient.