My Turn for Your Support — Woke Up with Sudden Hearing Loss and Severe Vertigo

It is time I need your advice.

I woke up this morning with very loud ringing in the left ear. I didn't care about the ringing even though it was louder than usual. I went back to sleep but woke up with the left ear totally losing hearing. The right ear is buzzing, in a metallic like quality.

But the worst is severe vertigo. I tried the Half Somersault Maneuver for BPPV but it didn't help the vertigo. It is very severe vertigo. Perhaps it is Meniere's.

Anyone with similar experience or advice, especially about the vertigo? If you had similar experiences, did your hearing come back and did your vertigo go away?

I will keep positive that things will improve. Your support is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Very sorry to hear of your discomfort. I have never experienced vertigo but when it's accompanied with tinnitus, it could indicate Meniere's as you've mentioned. If this doesn't improve in a day or two, I suggest you see an ENT doctor. The ear and auditory system are too delicate for something like this to leave and not be investigated.

Hope you start to feel better soon.
Michael

 

Hi @billie48, this sounds like sudden hearing loss which is a medical emergency. You should either go to an ER or see an ENT today so you can get steroids ASAP. With sudden hearing loss, the sooner you receive treatment the better.

I’m in a support group for sudden hearing loss, and some of those people got their hearing back with prompt treatment. Some had severe vertigo like you’re experiencing that improved either when their hearing returned (with steroids) or with time.

Get to a doctor ASAP!

 

Hi Billie,

Sorry to hear about this issue with your hearing.

I know someone who has Meniere's. For a couple of months they kept having random vertigo attacks where they would be fine one moment but then fall unexpectedly. They had to be driven to and from work in case they had an attack.

They were diagnosed with Meniere's by a doctor and given medication. Since those couple of months they've been free of vertigo for a couple of years now. Apparently Meniere's can just flare up suddenly and then stop again for months or years at a time. They didn't have any hearing loss, as far as I'm aware.

Have you been to a doctor? I know they can't help much with tinnitus, but I believe Meniere's is a bit different, i.e. easier to diagnose and easier to treat. Have someone drive you, just in case.

 

Billie, very sorry to read this.

I don't have experience with vertigo and you probably know this already but your mention of sudden hearing loss reminded me of the importance of getting hold of prednisone asap.

I Googled to confirm this:

'Sudden deafness, also called sudden sensorineural hearing loss, is an emergency medical condition that affects several thousand people annually, usually between the ages of 40 and 60. It often arises without an obvious cause and occurs in one ear all at once or over a period of up to 3 days. Oral steroids, such as prednisone, are usually prescribed over the course of 2 weeks to restore hearing. There is only a 2- to 4-week window of time for treatment before hearing loss becomes permanent.'

I would get yourself checked out by a professional at the earliest opportunity and if it is possible where you are, perhaps contemplate going to an A&E department in a hospital so that they can have a look at you.

Hope that this helps and that your situation improves and hopefully resolves itself.

Let us know how you get on.

I don't visit this forum regularly but will watch out for updates.

 

@billie48
I am so sorry to hear this has happened to you.
It could possibly be one of two things.
SSNHL or Meniere’s.
You should get on a course of prednisolone ASAP in case it’s SSNHL.
I do know of someone who had exactly the same symptoms - the deafness and vertigo who was
misdiagnosed with Meniere’s Disease and did not receive Prednisolone.
Do you have any other symptoms? Does your ear feel full? Do you have any residual dizziness or vestibular symptoms?
@DebInAustralia this sounds like what happened to Les.

 

Thank you all for your support. My family doctor told me to go to emergency to do test. So after getting CT scan and ruling out a stroke or tumor, and testing blood and urine, they couldn't find anything wrong. So I got prescribed Prednisone, Gravol and antibiotics. I am home now still very dizzy but not vomiting. Thank God. Now just have to spend the time for body to heal. Thanks again for your kindness. Much appreciated!

 

Hi Billie, as you saw I had the same symptoms a month ago. My severe vertigo lasted a few days then started to clear up by around day 6 I was up and about on my feet again. My complete hearing loss lasted a few days then gradually came back but this manifested into a high pitched tinnitus and loss of hearing range above 5000 Hz and what i believe is also hyperacusis as I can't bear to be around a lot of sounds at the moment.

I have an MRI (hopefully) coming in the next few weeks and a consultant appointment late January (6 weeks away), until then i have to cover up sounds and live as quietly as I can. The vertigo hasn't come back but I have had a few waves of woah! that have lasted a few seconds but nothing like it was a the start.

I can't give any advice as I don't know what is happening and have not been diagnosed with anything as of yet. I only had 3 days of steroids which I am now thinking is a mistake from the doctors and should have been more but I can't change that.

One thing I do remember when I was going through the vertigo stage was to look at an object, keep my eyes focused on it, and then move my head left to right whilst still focusing on the object. This would help reset my balance to my current elevation or angle.

I hope you feel better soon.

 

Thank you for your advice. I works greatly to help balancing and preventing severe dizzy spells. My balance is better today after taking the 1st round of medicines. So fingers crossed for better days. I will keep positive and hope for the best. I will see an ENT next week to check out the ears. Hopefully some hearing will come back to the left ears. Thank you again for your kind advice. God bless.

 

Hi @billie48 and @Darrenb111, here is my story just in case it's useful to either of your case.

Before my hearing issues (which are related to Azithromycin and not this), I had a series of extremely severe vertigo attacks (full rotational vertigo with vomiting if I even moved my head a millimeter or opened my eyes), the longest lasting 48 hours straight. I was first diagnosed with Meniere's, then vestibular migraines but nothing helped until I got viral titers and had very high EBV titers so they started me on anti virals. Anyway, I have not had one attack in over a year and a half since starting anti virals (still on a low dose and probably will be for life) and I was having them every month or two.

In my case, my hearing issues and tinnitus happen to be unrelated but often viruses cause idiopathic hearing loss and tinnitus.

You could very well have Meniere's. The "metallic" part sounds like it, see this video:

What Does Meniere's Sound Like?

...or vestibular migraines but I feel like I need to shout "it could be viral" from the rooftops because it is so often overlooked and if I could prevent anyone suffering like I did with vertigo (I had to be hospitalised each time it lasted more than 4 to 6 hours because I couldn't even drink water or use the bathroom on my own).

 

Sorry you have to deal with hyperacusis. I had it when it came soon after my tinnitus started. I remember having to wear ear protection often and trying to stay in a quiet place too. So I had empathy for what you are going through. Hopefully yours will fade over time like many people do including mine. Try wear good protection for the MRI as it may be too loud for people with hyperacusis. Perhaps ask them what protection they will give you explaining to them you have hyperacusis and if they allow you to bring your own. Best of luck. Take care.

 

FGG brings up a very good point about antivirals. Every doctor I have seen has tried to blame my sudden hearing loss and subsequent hearing issues on a virus even though I strongly believe it’s all noise induced. Anyway, antivirals have helped many others restore their hearing and balance, and I think it would be a good idea to ask for some in addition to your other medications. They have very little side effects and it couldn’t hurt.

 

At the very least, request a viral panel, in particular, the herpes family (CMV, EBV, zoster/chicken pox and simplex).

One doctor has gotten good results treating a lot of "Meniere's" cases with antivirals:

Ménière's disease is a viral neuropathy

Some have even recovered hearing:

Recovery of Hearing in Meniere's Disease after Antiviral Treatment

 

Really sorry to hear this, Billie. You don’t deserve any of this, especially after all the kindness you have shared with others on here over the years. I hope your symptoms subside soon.

 

Hey Billie!

I'm sorry to hear the situation your in. I can't imagine what your going through with vertigo in addition to hearing loss and increased tinnitus.

I recently had a similar episode where I was laying in bed to go to sleep and my right ear all of a sudden felt full. I then went deaf in that ear and my tinnitus sky rocketed. I basically couldn't hear anything, but a fire alarm level of tinnitus. I initially thought it was a fleeting tinnitus moment and wanted to wait it out. After about 2 min I started to get a bad feeling and got out of bed and went to go sit on my couch. Not being able to sleep I sat there all night until morning. One of the scariest / stressful nights I prob ever had. I then called my ENT and went in for an appointment to make sure there was no visible damage or anything, which there wasn't. Long story short it took over 12-16 hours for me to experience any sort of improvement. From then on my hearing came back and my tinnitus went back ton "normal" levels. I would say I was 100% back to normal after the 2nd day.

I have experienced moments like this before where a fleeting tinnitus lasted longer than the typical 5 min. Majority of the time they lasted between 4-6 hours, but never 2 days. @coffee_girl had a similar situation as well and hers resolved too.

I am not sure if you feel your situation is similar, but I thought I would give my 2 cents.

Something my ENT doctor did tell me though is that sudden sensory hearing loss, SSHL, is a very real thing and that steroids need to be taken within the therapeutic window. He said this is around 2-4 days of SSHL onset, but the sooner the better. In my case, my hearing was slowly coming back by the time I saw him and by the time I got a hearing test the next day it was back to normal. If my hearing test didn't match my previous test from six months earlier, he would have given my prednisone. Luckily it came back before then.

I hope this can somehow help you. I will be thinking about you and hoping for the best. Sometimes the wires in our brains get crossed and it takes a little time for them to get back to normal. I highly suggest speaking with your ENT though.

 

How are you, Billie?

 

I recommend you to go specifically to a vertigo / Meniere's disease specialists, as there are specific tests, manouvers and medication for vertigo and balance issues.

 

Hey Billie,

This happened to my cousin.

She was at the tail end of a viral (?) upper respiratory infection, when she experienced sudden onset of vertigo accompanied by profound unilateral hearing loss.

Unfortunately, it was misdiagnosed as Meniere's. After seeking a second opinion, it was concluded that it was post viral.

I would strongly suggest trialing antivirals as FGG has recommended, along with Prednisolone.

Please let us know how you're doing.

We are all here for you.

 

Hey Billie

This is grave news. You did the right thing coming here to ask for advice. You already have been given the advice to get prednisone as soon as possible and fortunately you received it already, so I don't really have to add anything. I hope you can get your hearing back. If you need emotional support, just tell me.

All the best for your recovery
Sevv

 

Thank you Ed and all for your kindness. I guess life is unpredictable and things don't go our way sometimes. I will keep positive that things will improve. If It is a permanent hearing loss that my left ear wants an early retirement after all that can be done to save it, I will say good bye and move on. The challenge now is to get used to balancing with just 1 ear as the eyes don't get input from the left ears and so I don't balance well. However I will try move around and be active until the body corrects the balancing issues.

An update is that i just saw an ENT and he confirms that left ear is still not hearing after 5 days of prednisone. He thinks my SSNL may be due to nerve damage or the rare case of a tumor. So he schedules an MRI for me. He also suggest I get a treatment with high pressure oxygen chamber which he thinks can help my body to restore or heal the left ear. He didn't even look into my ears. He just uses the hearing test result to make his conclusion. So I will get my family doctor to get an anti viral drug to try it out. Is there any good suggestion such as drug name so I will ask my GP if He can prescribe the same or similar one? @DebInAustralia please ask your friend for the drug name if possible. Thanks.

 

Thank you for your suggestion trying out antiviral drugs.

Can I ask what drug brand is helping your case?

I will ask my GP to give me an antiviral drug but don't know what type or brand is helpful for SSNL situation. Thanks.

 

Thanks. Can you or anyone else suggest a good support forum for SSNHL? I may need to go there to learn more wisdom about living with this. Thanks.

 

My problem was Epstein Barr (I was negative for everything else but Chicken Pox but I had reproducibly extremely high EBV titers), which may not be your issue even if yours does turn out to be viral but they tried Valacyclovir first and I couldn't tolerate it so now I'm on Acyclovir. At first every 6-8 hours, now I take 1 tab every 24-48 hours and double up if I feel a twinge of dizziness and have been fine with no side effects. Different viruses have different protocols, though.

P.S.: you can totally start antivirals while on Prednisone btw.

 

I would ask your doctor to prescribe Acyclovir.

Which antibiotic are you on? Do you have a copy of your audiogram?

HBOT would be a good idea.

I wonder if low dose naltrexone could help, as it is used to modulate the immune response?

www.ldnresearchtrust.org[/QUOTE]

 

An MRI and hyperbaric oxygen therapy are useful suggestions, but be aware that MRIs can be loud enough to give you a noise trauma (on the ear that still hears). Definitely use hearing protection (without metal parts, they might provide it themselves) and if possible, opt for a more silent MRI (they exist, although it still might be fairly loud from what I've read on here). Regarding hyperbaric oxygen therapy first make sure that you can properly do the valsalva maneuver (pinching your nose and blowing) for adjusting your ear pressure. If you you can't do it or need excessive force I would personally advice against hyperbaric oxygen therapy as it can cause barotrauma leading to further ear injury. You might be interested in reading the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy thread in the Treatments section of this forum to give you a better understanding of the potential risk for barotrauma. I'm not saying you shouldn't try it, just saying that there are risks involved that have to be considered.

 

Hi @billie48.

Did they not offer you an intratympanic steroid injection? I’d be happy to discuss with you if you want to PM me?

BW

 

Hi @billie48, I’m sorry that you’re going through this. Have the steroids helped at all?

 

The left ear is still blocked and not hearing. I am on day 6 of 50mg Prednisone, one pill per day. Not looking good. I will start exploring the HBOT treatment starting tomorrow.

Thanks.

 

The challenge right now is daily dizziness, not balancing well but not vomitting, left ear felt like pressured and full with a constant sensation like when yawning with that air/wind sound or sensation. Right ear hears ok but still feeling blocked and my head is like in a fog with minor headache. Strange sensations. Not sure if these are side effects of the 50mg prednisone, or the penicillin, or the antihistamine. I will stay positive that even if I lose the left ear to hearing my balance will be back with a clearer head. Anyone know a good SSNHL support forum to get some advice on how long these sensations may last.

 

My ENT briefly mentioned the injection option but he didn't propose it. Instead he didn't even look into my ears. He just looked at the hearing test result and suggested the oxygen chamber treatment which I will go for orientation tomorrow. Perhaps I can learn some experienced advice from you coping with the symptoms. Thanks a lot for your offer to chat with me.