I Laid Down Flat — Struck with Worsened Tinnitus and Sudden Hearing Loss (Now at the Emergency Room)

I'm having a hard time. I'm at the ER.

I was trying to just live normally. Tinnitus was aggravated because of fighting with girlfriend and yelling.

I laid down today flat with my head to the pavement to look at my car left side down.

Suddenly I got extreme tinnitus akin to when I pass out... but I'm not passing out and have not used any drugs recently. I had the engine running before but always wear earplugs for that.

I tested my hearing. I lost 30 dB in my left ear. Just gone. Nothing sounded right immediately.

Ironically I had a great and quieter tinnitus weekend. I don't know what's happening to me now.

The only thing is that my left ear made some odd noises yesterday like popping sounds and my eardrum fluttered. That's all. I had fleeting tinnitus moments this morning... It took lying down to knock it out.

This happened before with Hyberparic Oxygen Therapy, where I couldn't hear out of my left ear, but it resolved.

Now I have high-pitched nail-biting tinnitus in my "good ear". Hurray.

I am fucking terrified.

 

Did your eardrum flutter after you had gotten into an argument or did it precede all that? I have zero hearing loss but some of your symptoms are too familiar. I’m thinking something to do with increased pressure from lying down and maybe you have inner ear barotrauma/PLF.

I hope you get it figured out and easy for me to say but the best thing you can do is stay calm.

 

The eardrum flutter and the popping sounds were absolutely after the argument with my girlfriend. Not immediately, but after a couple of hours.

My hearing has come back up to 10 dB over 4 hours. Praying the rest recovers and the tinnitus abates.

So now I have to be afraid of lying down?

Of course the ER will do nothing even though the hearing hasn't recovered fully and could just happen again. I'm still in the waiting room. Yay Canada.

 

It could be worse. You could be in Ontario, Canada.

I have gotten the ear fluttering after episodes of increased stress or anxiety. Sometimes the anxiety just came on its own, sometimes it was external stress. I kind of know the feeling and it’s a very odd and unsettling feeling though I can’t say inexperienced the hearing loss. I would try some meditative breathing to get you out of fight or flight. I usually do 4 count in and 10 count out, that should be enough to settle you down a bit.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

Prednisone?

 

As a follow up for anyone with sudden hearing loss in Canada.

They don't care unless you are completely deaf in that ear with no fluctuation.

I have had several fleeting moments while in the ER of hearing and tinnitus going/coming back and what I got was "you aren't getting any worse, right? so don't worry, you won't go deaf." and sent me on my way out the door.

They did call an ENT, who said no steroids were required (I had requested an injection at least be contemplated tomorrow if things got worse).

Since then my hearing has 90% come back in my left ear according to the hearing test but the tinnitus remains. I got no treatment whatsoever.

I would really... really... REALLY... like to know how common it is for tinnitus sufferers on here to get fleeting tinnitus, partial deafness (I lost 30 dB at 6 kHz in my left ear) when you've done nothing out of the ordinary (it happens based on a body movement or idiopathically, not due to noise trauma) for HOURS before it comes back (we're not talking a few moments of a ring sound).

 

That sounds horrendous. I'm sorry you went through that and I hope you make a full recovery.

 

I can't say for hearing loss, my last audiogram was a year ago. I have and always have had a lot of fleeting tinnitus though, especially with air pressure changes (weather related). I, sometimes, have multiple fleeting tinnitus episodes in an hour, even prior to my tinnitus worsening a year ago: maybe my ears are fucked up more than I think.

 

None given to me, but I have some.

Why didn't I take the Prednisone right away?

The last time I did oral steroids, they made my wavering and distortions much worse off.

So yah I really don't know what to do, if I should take the chance or not.

 

I think I read about you saying that when I was considering Prednisone. Was the new tinnitus permanent?

 

The distorted hearing was yes, as well as the seashell noises.

Oddly my "normal tinnitus" tones seem toned down, yet new stuff is coming onto the set as loud as can be.

Has anyone ever had a drop in just a single frequency by more than 25 dB? My tinnitus is raging loud but the hearing recovered. There was only one frequency affected in the left ear. It lasted for hours.

 

Hi, so sorry to hear that you too are going through this. I’ve recently gone through another noise trauma and have the same symptoms. Anxiety is overwhelming.

How are you now? X

 

Well... my hearing did come back but I still have ringing, and a low awful triangle wave buzzing in my right ear now too.

It woke me up in the middle of the night. It just keeps on giving. Hearing is there but I'm a bit worried obviously!

 

How do you habituate with all the noise changes?

 

Lol. I post regularly to the suicidal thread. You cannot habituate to it.

In the beginning when it was "just" noise trauma, I do recall when at night I'd hear "static" in both ears (pretty loud), and that was all.

I literally remember saying this is almost peaceful. I shouldn't complain if this is what it'll be for life now.

What I wouldn't give to get that back. That was habituation, and it took about 2 months.

Sometimes you can get a glimpse of living again when the tinnitus volume decreases. This weekend it had lowered quite a bit, where it was more of whispering garbage sounds (all kinds of shit) in my right ear and left ear was quiet. When I would stop masking, I'd get residual inhibition for... 10 seconds? I had my cat on my lap licking my hand and I thought... again... this isn't so bad. I can try to do things that bring my joy in spite of this again more and more if it keeps getting quieter. I had taken an SSRI that weekend and figured that was why, or just a better sleep, as I could mask the garbage and sleep entirely on my left ear to... well silence.

Then yesterday happened and everything went tits up.

At the end of the day I think there is a REASON mine is so bad and why it CAN quiet down. So I have hope, it's the ENTs that are garbage and keep saying to live with it.

 

I hope you figure something out man. I think tinnitus is “normal” but having all these different sounds and distortions is just messed up. Do you think you could have something autoimmune going on? How did you get barotrauma?

 

There is hope and believe it or not, I enjoy your posts. I try not to go to that Suicidal thread anymore because it was bringing me down.

I hope to keep reading your posts...

Sending hugs and good vibes your way.

 

How are you feeling now @Matchbox? Hope you are doing as good as you can, sending prayers your way.

 

Stay hopeful. I am hopeful that because my tinnitus is so bizarre, there must be a treatment.

Think about medical advancements. Think about the fact that tinnitus has never been this well-known before. We will get treatments. In our lifetime, it is extremely likely we will have a cure.

Just over 20 years ago, AIDS was a death sentence. This is no longer the case.

My point is, our medical progress seems to grow exponentially. We WILL have extremely effective treatments, if not a cure, in our lifetime.

 

My lost hearing is all but fully returned.

My tinnitus, on the other hand, well the contrast between last weekend (amazingly less) and this weekend is real and brutal.

 

Unreal. Glad you got your hearing back at least.

 

Did the tinnitus every fully resolve from this?

I also get something similar to this where my hearing drops out and I get high fleeting tinnitus. Over the course of hours my hearing and tinnitus slowly come back to normal though. It feels like a long version of fleeting tinnitus.

 

Sorry, long time, no reply.

Yes, the tinnitus from this abated significantly. Even resolved some days. It took about a month for it to happen, with most improvement happening the last week.

I took some nasal steroids for my Eustachian tubes, but I can't tell you if that's what helped or not. It certainly wasn't much, maybe a spray a day for 3 days.

Yeah, it is very much like a lonnnnnng version of fleeting tinnitus, but terrifying instead of a conundrum.

I can still trigger this by eating carbs or especially from loudly talking.

Exercise (intense) also seems to bring my distortions full front and center.

Yawning creates sounds too in both ears.

Zopiclone or Benzos also make it WORSE for at least a week if I use them. Who knows why but maybe some of this random nerve firing can be pointed to overuse of depressants for my brain.

Everything seems to be pointing to some kind of pressure damage though really. But... in both ears? Seems unreal.

The distortions and tinnitus are worse in the right ear, same with air bone gap.

But hearing loss? Seems to be happening more in the left ear, and it's always been for a day at most, then it all comes back.

 

Sounds like a combination of somatic tinnitus and ototoxicity. I hope it continues to get better!