Feeling freaked out over new symptom, lost hearing in an ear

[taniaaust1]

Hopefully my ear is just blocked, I did have to get my ears drained once as a young child (when I guess things like that are more common) but right now Im really freaked about this new symptom I've only just found out I have.

I was speaking to someone from the ME/CFS society on the phone and when I went to change arms and ears as I usually do when my arm starts to hurt, I suddenly discovered I had very bad hearing in the other ear. I switched the phone back to the other side and the other on the other end was still talking fairly loud, I switched back and forth getting the same result each time.

A fairly loud normal voice, I couldn't keep the phone on my left ear as its too hard for me to hear, I had to strain to hear the voice on that side. I know my left ear was working right at least a few days ago when I had a phone to that side.

I've always suspected I have severe mitochrondrial issues with the ME/CFS and I had two weird days in my childhood with what could of been a mitochrondrial issue coming in in which I suddenly found myself unable to walk further (once at 8-10yrs and once at around 14years old). My father had a hearing aid(s) as a child but hears good now as adult. (Aspergers which I have and is throu my family has also been said to be connected to mitochrondrial disorder).

Anyway.. Im freaked out right now to find out Im suddenly near deaf in one ear. (I did have a very stressful day, day before court and have been crying, could that affect an ear so it no longer hears well at all?)

Right now I have all kinds of thoughts running through my head due to this.. what if I wake up in the morning only to find myself completely deaf?

Other then mito issues or a completely blocked ear, what else can cause one sided sudden (unless its been happening over a couple of days but I didn't notice) hearing loss? Could crying have blocked my ear???

 

[themjay]

Please don't panic. I have had a similar thing happen a few years ago. It is very frightening. My doctor just shrugged and said I propably had Meniere's disease - this stressed my out even more.... Eventually it corrected itself, but I do still get episodes. You obviously need to rule out anything else none ME related.

 

[Valentijn]

@taniaaust1 - A temporary blockage is probably the most likely culprit. You probably don't get your ears properly cleaned very often, and swelling can also cause issues.

 

[Marky90]

Dont worry, i have the same isues from time to time. It usually goes over after some week. Its probs just ear wax

 

[Never Give Up]

Get it checked, promptly!

 

[rosamary]

Probably something like ear wax but:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...-Dont-just-assume-just-ear-wax-far-worse.html

Just in case. So get it checked by a pro.

 

[taniaaust1]

thanks all. This morning that ear is hearing fine so I'm assuming its just wax or something in there. I'm going to ask my support workers to take me to the health shop next time I get taken shopping so I can hopefully get an ear candle there and use it on that ear so it don't happen again.

 

[Forbin]

I sometimes get brief episodes of tinnitus in one or the other ear which begins with a significant loss of hearing in the affected ear. The ringing usually last only 5-10 minutes, but it begins with a sort of quick "pinching off" of the sound from that ear.

[FWIW, ear wax can also affect hearing without blocking the ear canal. It can reduce hearing by simply becoming partially lodged against the ear drum, thereby interfering with the ear drum's ability to move.]

 

[Misfit Toy]

I have one ear that hears better than the other; I don't really understand this because I listen to music and I listen to music with both ears. Why one over another?

But also I have problems with my eyes which started when I turned 38. They've slowly been declining-I can only see things far away instead of up close. Some days my eyes are better than others, which lets me know it's part of the disease whether it's Sjogren's syndrome or CFS, I don't know.

I know that Sjogren's syndrome really does affect the eyes and it seems to of been turned on around the same time that I started having joint pain and hormone issues.

Tania-Anyway, I'm glad things are better now and that you can hear in the ear that was troubling you... ear candling sounds like a great idea. I would like to have it done myself.

 

[August59]

Don't panic, but I would encourage you to see an ENT if the symptoms last more than 3 days or the symptoms start waxing and waning.

Do you have any echoing (autophony) or sensation hearing yourself chewing?? If so, it could be your eustachain tube. You can sort of check it by "popping" your ears (hold your breath/nose and blow). I have to pop mine at least once per day because my left one is much harder to pop than my right, but I'm 90% deaf in right earear even though I have severe tinnitus in my right ear.

 

[physicsstudent13]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2808688/#B17
prednisone is the standard treatment for sudden hearing loss. for vision problems you should get your eye pressures checked at an opthamologist

 

[Ailúron]

I know this is an old thread, but members may still be experiencing sudden hearing loss, so I just wanted to add my recent ordeal of sudden hearing loss (this is called SSHL). It has been not only extremely upsetting, but also deeply depressing and discouraging. (This is for those in misery from sudden hearing loss, as misery loves company. You may very well not want to continue reading.)

Back in early April (I mention the month because a number of other people say their sudden hearing loss occurred in early Spring and like me, most often in the left ear - I have no idea why this seems to the typical scenario), I lost 100% of my hearing soon after I woke up in the morning - it was preceded by some strange clicking (almost a smacking sound) in the ear and tinnitus so intense it was painful. I quickly contacted my local emergency clinic and was told it was probably a build-up of earwax against my eardrum, so I put some high-quality wax removal drops in my ear and lay down for this to work. However, when I got up 15 minutes later to let the drops drain out, the noise was gone, but so was ALL my hearing in that ear!

I rushed to the emergency clinic and they found no build-up of wax at all, and I was given an immediate emergency appointment with one of the most reputable ENT specialists in the area who confirmed that my ear canal was clear and I was put on huge doses of prednisone - to which I am very, very sensitive (as I am to many standard meds) - both physically and psychologically (prednisone makes me panicky).

However, after suffering through two days of 60mg of prednisone a day, and feeling very ill all over and unable to sleep at all b/c of the steroid, I returned to the ENT clinic, and was told that to avoid the serious systemic effects that oral prednisone was having on me, methyl prednisolone would be injected through my eardrum into my inner ear. The injection process was painless (the ear was numbed), but hours later I felt like my inner ear was ON FIRE!!! (I feared that more damage was actually being done to my inner ear! Returning to the ENT again, I was injected with an old steroid that I knew I was tolerant to - Kenalog - and had two more injections of it during the next week.

Sadly, my hearing didn't return, but tinnitus is now constant and plagues me all day and night. Weeks later, I noticed that I was beginning to hear a rattling sound in my left ear when I heard certain frequencies and volumes of sound that were normal sounds to my right ear. The rattling has continued to increase somewhat, but there is never any discernable speech or music in my left ear. The ENT has given up, saying that it is most likely serious viral damage from a cold I had last winter and blowing my nose too forcefully and up my eustachian tube, and there is nothing more he can do. I have had an MRI, but it shows nothing.

This crisis, along with my mold allergy and the constant fear of COVID19 fear is dreadfully overwhelming.

I keep taking all my nutritional supplements. But I'm taking much more xanax than I ever wanted to take, just to keep from "losing it". I keep hoping for some miracle.

 

[IThinkImTurningJapanese]

 

[Ailúron]

This was incredible, ITITJ ! Thank you!! I've gone to asiustechnologies.com to find out how I can get access to try this device shown with various people with hearing loss, but so far I can't find out how - I think I'm so agitated right now that I can't focus. Watching the people burst into tears - especially the man about my age hearing again for the first time in 17 years - made me cry, too. But I do have something to ask about in looking for a second opinion from another ENT here locally, as a neighbor, a retired allergist and immunologist suggested I should. Again, sincere thank you!