Do Symptoms Come and Go?

[ahmedhashim88]

I am a 33 year old male that was diagnosed with a AN at the start of this year. Earlier this year I woke up with sudden hearing loss in my left ear with ringing and fullness. I met with my family physician who said I have an ear infection and prescribed me antibiotics and referred me to an ENT. The ENT ran a hearing test and verified that I have hearing loss likely due to the infection and started me on steroids'. Luckily he also sent me for a MRI which confirmed a 0.4CM/4MM sized AN in my left ear and referred me to Department of Otolaryngology.

Prior to my meeting with the nuero my symptoms had already subsided in about 5 days and I felt my hearing get better and had no ringing. At that point based on the size and no symptoms really I decided to wait and watch with my next MRI booked for March 2022.

A few days ago I woke up again with hearing loss and intense ringing, whooshing and fullness in my left ear. I have booked a consult with the doctor but the appointment isn't until a couple weeks. For now my symptoms don't seem to go away and its making me concerned that my tumor might have grown in size? I know its different for every individual, just looking to see if individuals here have symptoms that are consistent or come and go.

[Greece Lover]

I'm obviously not a doctor, but I've been through all of this and have read the stories of many people.  I do think it is correct that symptoms can vary and change over time, and they are not linear.  What I mean is, while there may be a general correlation between tumor size and symptoms, those correlations are not always clear nor consistent, both from patient to patient but also for an individual.

I do know there is pretty clear medical evidence that steroids can help recover sudden hearing loss. (I was also given steroids when my hearing loss was first discovered.)  So, it could be that as those wore off, the symptoms came back?  obviously I don't know.  What I'm trying to suggest is that a change in symptoms is not necessarily an indication of rapid tumor growth.

Your tumor is pretty small, so W and W seems smart.  But the symptoms are certainly frustrating.

good luck!