Woke Up to No Hearing in Right Ear, Room Spinning & Tinnitus — Labyrinthitis & SSNHL

Hi,

My name is Larry. After reading some stories on here, I feel somewhat awkward in thinking my problems compare to what some people are going through. But, the problems are real to me and I have no one around me that really understands.

On 12/23/21, I went to bed feeling normal. I awoke on Christmas Eve to having no hearing in my right ear and the room spinning. I fell to the floor if I tried to get up. Being the normal guy, I decided to wait it out - It will go away in a few hours - I kept telling myself. Finally on Christmas morning, I couldn't take it anymore and my wife called for EMTs to come because she couldn't get me out of the house. Spent 3 days in the hospital and with the help of physical therapy the vertigo was manageable enough to go home. Still with no hearing in my right ear, and severe (to me) tinnitus.

Diagnosed with Labyrinthitis from the hospital. Follow up with ENT - hearing test confirmed no hearing in right ear, doctor has no idea if I will get my hearing back. I went for a 2nd opinion and it was stated that I was treated correctly and I suffered from sudden-onset sensorineural hearing loss. Prognosis was not good and suggestions of a BiCROS hearing aid.

My tinnitus is constant, and gets louder in degrees to ambient noise around me. I went to dinner with my wife to a crowded restaurant and was almost brought to tears. If my 1-year-old granddaughter squeals when I pick her up, it really makes my head scream. Driving increases the sensation. The 2nd opinion doctor told me I had to acclimate to it. Well, I guess that is what I am doing, but I am looking for some tools to help me acclimate. I tried ear plug in my bad ear, figuring I couldn't hear anything anyway, but that didn't help. If I put one in my good ear, well I can't hear anything. My family doesn't understand when I move off to a quiet part of the house to be away from noise, just so I can get some peace in my head. Not really peace, but quieter sound.

I look forward to continue reading the posts and stories on here and hope to find some tips or tricks to help me cope. I cannot imagine I have anything to offer that can help anyone else but if I do I will be sure to share that also. I am in the learning stage and am reading a lot of information and probably getting myself confused. I hope to become less confused utilizing what appears to be a wealth of knowledge available from the people of this site. Thanks for allowing me in.

 

Is there anywhere you can go for HBOT? According to scientific studies this helps the prognosis for SSHL.

 

Hi Larry,

I'm really sorry to hear about your situation. You shouldn't feel awkward about what you are experiencing as total hearing loss is on the more severe end of what people post about.

A BiCROS hearing aid is one option. What about considering a cochlear implant?
I'd also find out about intratympanic steroid injections. They usually have to be administered within 6 weeks of the onset of sudden sensorineural hearing loss to have an effect, but there's zero risk to having them done considering you have no hearing at all in the ear.

You may want to wait and see if your hearing starts to come back over time, but if it does not, a cochlear implant allows you to perceive sounds in the ear that is now totally deaf, so it's better than not having any hearing.

Personally, I think "learn to live with it" is never a valid opinion unless all options have been exhausted. You should get a 3rd opinion. And if it's the same, get a 4th. Are you located in the US? There are lots of treatment options and there are doctors out there willing to try them. You just have to arm yourself with research.

How are you doing?

 

@Jxzz1, actually there is a place relatively close by. I am going to do more research into it. Thanks for the suggestion.

@RadioKid722, yeah, I have read that in all but extreme cases of labyrinthitis symptoms clear up in 3 months. I am only coming up on 2 months. So maybe there is a little hope of it gradually coming back. Of course, the prognosis' I get from the doctors seems to differ from what I have read about the actual diagnosis, hence my confusion, I guess.

I have been reading about the cochlear implants. I have a follow up with ENT and audiologist in about 2 months. I may have a better read on how I am progressing then and with the help of people on here and what I have been able to read up on, I should be better armed for those discussions. I can bring up the cochlear implants then if necessary. Fingers crossed it isn't necessary.

Thanks so much for the replies, I am getting a lot of good information from the wonderful people on here. I feel like I will be much better prepared for my next visit to a doctor.

 

Welcome to the forum.

I have similar problem with SSHL from December 2020. Like you, I lost hearing in one of my ears waking up one night. I also had bad vertigo, so bad that I had to crawl my way into the ambulance. The ER doctor checked that I didn't have stroke so he just sent me home with some Prednisone. Then I saw an ENT and got about 2 weeks of Prednisone. I also took anti-viral drug and did 3 injections plus 20 sessions of HBOT.

All to no avail. My left ear has no word recognition at all.

Yes, I also have a jet engine like roaring tinnitus from the deaf ear. So my ENT is suggesting that I go through a cochlear implant assessment for better hearing. One thing really bothersome for me is that the ears always feel plugged up like a drum under pressure.

Anyway, if you are in the US, you can try google up "MED-EL" implant trials. This company recruits patients to try out their MED-EL cochlear implant processors with all expenses covered by them. One guy in Seattle that I met told me he had it done in 2 hours and feel much much better. Worth your research on it.

Good luck. God bless.

 

I wish you to be part of the people who see major improvement in their tinnitus with a cochlear implant!

 

Yeah, all these websites say that people get a full recovery from labyrinthitis but I'm learning that this is likely not true because every ENT says "learn to live with it". The information is conflicting and it is annoying.

Sounds kind of like labyrinthitis with those symptoms...