Woke Up with Severe Vertigo and Complete Loss of Hearing in Right Ear: Tinnitus Followed Later On

Hello all,

Early November I woke up in the middle of the night with severe vertigo, couldn't sit up without the room spinning and being violently sick. Complete loss of hearing in my right ear. Called the ambulance and they checked me over and said it was probably an ear infection.

Over the next few days the vertigo eased enough for me to manage the stairs on day 3 and back stable again by day 6. My hearing started to recover by day 2 or 3 but sounds like s's my own or other people's s's in conversation sounded metallic and difficult to listen to. I was taking some steroids as prescribed by the doctor and some Stemetil for nausea.

Week 2 balance was back, although a little light headed all the time. High pitched sounds still a problem. I think this is where the tinnitus started.

Week 3 a few small vertigo wobbles but now constant high pitched tinnitus. It seems reactive to sound. If I have a shower, a conversation or even driving, the tinnitus sound seems to get a lot louder. I had a referral to the ENT who confirmed my hearing in my right ear was 0 past 5000 Hz. ENT doctors said it may be Meniere's disease as the vertigo cleared pretty quickly but can return at any time.

I am now on week 4, I wake up sometimes with very low tinnitus but instantly jumps to a horrible level once I'm awake. I'm constantly light headed and adverse to any normal noises. I use an app Beltone Tinnitus Calmer where the fire/rain sound seems to mask it a bit.

I'm way more tired than usual, sleeping on average 2 more hours a day than would normally.

I have an MRI to be done and a consultant appointment on 20th January.

I can see the effect it's having on my family already. I have 3 kids (12/3/0.6) and I can't interact much with them without asking them to tone it down.

So hello all, I'll be here reading, responding, and figuring life out.

Thanks,
Darren

 

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to say I just developed the same symptoms as you just today. I posted for support at the main support forum. Perhaps you can join in the discussions there and post your condition too. Frankly I am more concerned about my severe vertigo than the ringing. I hope some hearing will return to my left ears. Let's pray things will improve for us both. Take care. God bless.