Sudden Hearing loss in left ear with Vertigo

[ayalaman]

Hello, I need some input from people who might have had the same problem as me. Ill try to keep the story short. On Wednesday morning driving to work I all of a sudden lost hearing in my left ear . I never had any hearing problems before or any slight hearing loss. After working half a day the vertigo came on strong. I went to the ER and was told I had a earwax build up . My ear was flushed and wax removed. I told them I could still not hear anything but, was told it might be water on ear from flush. They sent me home with meds for vertigo. Two days go by and I tell my wife something is still not right, There is no change in hearing. I make an appointment and my doctor sends me back to ER for CT scan and MRI. The ER doctors say they see no signs of stroke or tumors. I make an appointment with the ENT on that Monday. He looks at my ear canal and sees nothing wrong . He prescribes me 20mg of prednisone for 9 days and taper off the next 4 days after . Its been 5 days now with no change in hearing and I'm getting another MRI on Friday. The ENT also said they might inject the Prednisone in my ear if the tablets don't work. Has anyone had the same experience as me ? Thanks for reading...Manuel

[ayalaman]

Anyone ?? I'm on my 6th day of Prednisone still no hearing change. Just pressure in my left ear but no sound except a lot of hissing. talking and hearing from my right ear makes the pressure worse..

[alabamajane]

I didn’t have that but if you have another MRI you may want to make sure it is done with the contrast. They will do part of it without the contrast and then pull you out to inject the contrast and continue the MRI. This helps to see these tumors especially when they are small.

Another thing, if you tell us where you are located there may be some folks who could tell you which doctor to see for a second opinion. These tumors usually require a doctor with extensive experience with ANs  to get the best outcome.

Hope your hearing gets better!
Jane

[ayalaman]

Thanks Jane, I'm from Sunnyvale CA. Most of what I'm reading says that there would have been signs of hearing loss if a small growth is there. This just happened all of a sudden . My hearing has always been good. My Doctor is from Kaiser. It's just been a long week with no answers. I can't go back to work yet because I'm still feeling dizzy. I will ask the doctor about the contrast , thanks..

[alabamajane]

Well good luck to you next week. I wish you well and a good report.
I will say that I did not have or notice any hearing loss before my diagnosis. I was incidentally diagnosed by MRI for a seizure I had.

But good luck,,,,
Jane

[ayalaman]

Well , its been no change. I had my first injection on Tuesday but , I still have total hearing loss . My doctor said that its viral . I getting an MRI tomorrow to focus on the left side but, ill just wait and see. the hissing on my left side gets really bad at times and I hope I can get used to it in time. The prednisone tablets are effecting my sleep and I cant eat I get angry and depressed. Thanks for reading ....Manuel

[Kathleen_Mc]

any change your hearing was deteriorating and you weren't aware?
My AN was on the left side, being right handed I held the phone to my right ear, I thought nobody could hear in a bar etc and it was only when I had nerve conductions testing done that they told me I had 50% hearing loss in the one ear.
Kathleen

[ayalaman]

Well I got my MRI test back and the good news is it was negative .INTERNAL AUDITORY CANALS AND CEREBELLOPONTINE ANGLES: No mass. Seventh and eighth cranial nerves are normal.
  COCHLEA, VESTIBULE, SEMICIRCULAR CANALS: Normal signal and morphology
BRAINSTEM AND CEREBELLUM: Normal.REMAINING BRAIN PARENCHYMA: No acute infarct. No mass effect or herniation. Signal intensities are within normal limits for age.
 
VENTRICLES/EXTRA-AXIAL SPACES: No hydrocephalus or extra-axial fluid collections.
Impression
No vestibular schwannoma or other retrocochlear abnormality.
 
But I still have no hearing in my left . Prednisone didn't work. direct ear injection didn't work .

[PaulW]

Unfortunately sudden hearing loss does happen. It remains unexplained but the most common theory it is a latent effect of a virus, even up to 10 years after the event.
I believe Epstein-Barr is a possible suspect.