My first round of hearing loss happened in July of 2010. I woke up one morning and could't hear out of my left ear. I was using earplugs at the time. I knew something serious was going on and and made a Dr.s appointment at the clinic that is part of my insurance. This Dr was pretty casual about the whole thing and told me to take an over the counter drug and call him on Monday (appointment was on Thursday) if there was no change. There was no change and I called him first thing on Monday and was referred to an ENT. The ENT diagnosed Sudden Hearing Loss and said that it could be from a virus. He told me that my hearing would probably return and that I would be OK. He also added that I should have an MRI to rule out something else. My hearing returned and I thought, OK, he was right. It was a virus. I had it in the back of mind to have the MRI but was sort of waiting for my super industrial strength insurance to kick in (April 2011) and it just really didn't seem that important.
This past March 2011, I had some strange sounds in my ear so I went back to the ENT. He scolded me for not getting the MRI and I said I'm going ASAP. Got the MRI and tahdah! Acoustic Neuroma! Went into total panic mode for about 2 weeks. Researching obsessively, I gathered and continue to gather as much information about the subject of ANs as possible.
VERY IMPORTANT: If you have Sudden Hearing Loss it is important to get on a high dose of steroids ASAP (within 24 hours of the onset, the sooner the better). At HEI you can call them and they will call in a prescription for you. It is an emergency and if you can't get a prescription called in, go to an emergency room.
I had a second round of hearing loss on Mother's Day (May 8th) and was on the steroids within 2 hours. My high dose was 60 mg of Prednisone for 5 days and a quick tapering off for 5 days. The day after the onset of the SHL I started aggressive acupuncture treatments while taking the steroids. A hearing test at HEI 10 days after the SHL indicated that my hearing had slightly improved since a hearing test in March 2011. Was this from the steroids or the acupuncture? I don't know. I'm continuing the acupuncture until July 14th when I have another MRI to see what is happening inside my head.
I think the ear plugs alerted me to my AN early because they increased the pressure in my ear. I no longer use plugs and try to avoid anything that will create pressure in my ear. I sleep with a fan on because of a small level of tinnitus. Silence is an enemy to tinnitus and will make the tinnitus worse.
Hope this helps.
C'est moi,
Lisa M
