My Journey: Tinnitus from Sudden Hearing Loss, Preceded by Taking Naproxen

Hello,

To everyone, I joined the tinnitus club a few months ago because of sudden hearing loss. It just happened out of the blue. I didn't have an ear infection or get sick. But four days before getting SSHL, I was taking Naproxen for a few days, which I later found out was ototoxic. I suspect this may have been the culprit.

I haven't improved that much from my hearing loss. On my last test, I got 70 decibels, but it left me with tinnitus, which is manageable. I'm probably going for a hearing aid next, or maybe an implant. The weird thing for me is that initially, the tinnitus was really silent, but I decided to run a bit, and it spiked it quite a bit. Has this happened to anyone else?

I'm in my early twenties and in school. I'm going to keep on pushing and live my life. I'm wondering how other people experience it and if anyone has any tips? I use a white noise machine to listen to river sounds; it seems to mask my tinnitus.

Thank you in advance.

 

Early this week, my right ear felt like it had been switched off. Thinking it would go away, I waited a day. It didn't. It makes the tinnitus 5X louder!

This morning, I did an Urgent Care visit. The doctor did basic checks, and I got a same-day ENT appt. The ENT said he needed to see how bad the hearing loss was, suspecting a possible inner ear perilymphatic fistula (PLF). The treatment would be either steroid injections or going under the knife. It was a miracle to get a hearing test late this afternoon. It turns out the loss was 20-30 dB across the board. I am just waiting for the ENT's response. Not the day I had planned...