Was your hearing loss sudden or gradual?

[Nicole222]

I lost 60% of my hearing literally overnight in Dec of 2006.  I woke up one morning and went to use my hands-free attachment on my cell phone and thought it was broken--full of static.  So, I went right out and bought another--that one was broken, too .  It took me a while to put it in the other ear   Anyway, I had static and ringing for a while, but that went away. 

I was just curious about other's experiences--if it was a gradual thing, or sudden, like mine.

[Pooter]

I think mine was sudden also.  I noticed the ringing and hearing loss about the same time.. Very quickly afterward I went to my primary with a sinus infection.  Over the last year or so I noticed that my allergies were worse and I got several sinus infections.  The ringing and hearing loss were pretty sudden, though.  My primary told me that it might be the current sinus infection but that if the ringing and hearing loss didn't clear up with the sinus infection, for me to self-refer to an ENT.  After that visit, it was determined that my symptoms were not sinus related and he orderd blood and an MRI.  Between the two his feeling was that all possibilities would be eliminated.  I had the MRI and the next day he called me, and the next day I was scheduled to see one of the surgeons.  The following Tuesday I was scheduled to see the other.  Needless to say things were moving FAST so far as medical things do.  About a month later I was at surgery.  It moved FAST!  But, the size and location of my AN dictated that they move fast, and they did.  It was afterwards that seems to drag. 

I know, more than you wanted to know.  Heh.

Brian aka Pooter...

[er]

Nicole222,

Mine was very gradual I didn't even know that I was losing my hearing. It was the fullness in my ear that bothered me.

eve

[leapyrtwins]

My hearing loss was sudden.  One day I was sitting in my office at work and I realized that I couldn't hear well out of my left ear.  The diminished hearing was confirmed to me when I answered the phone and held it to my left ear like I normally did.  Although I had good word recognition, the words were very muffled.   In addition, I had a fullness in my ear - like the feeling you get when you're in an airplane before your ears "pop".

Jan

[sgerrard]

Medium gradual.

It started about a year before diagnosis, with a routine hearing check at work, where the guy said "you have some mid range loss in your left ear, might want to check that out," and I did nothing about it.    Six months later, the airplane ear plugged thing started up, and I noticed I couldn't hear too well, and started the sinus sprays. I got my nose really well cleaned out, but my ear stayed plugged and my hearing got weaker. Finally a real audiogram led an ENT to order an MRI.

Steve

[Tumbleweed]

My hearing loss was progressive (in steps). I would get sudden attacks of fullness, tinnitus and decreased hearing (simultaneously). Thankfully, that hasn't happened in about 4 years. I attribute my good luck to an improved diet, but who knows? I've heard from doctors that the effects and tumor size are not necessarily related and that symptoms don't usually progress linearly (having a smooth trend).

Best wishes,
Tumbleweed

[jtd71465]

Sudden.  I woke up one Sunday morning and had muffled hearing in my right ear, a short stay on prednisone and my hearing returned to 100%, but a day later the MRI showed my AN.


Joe

[HeadCase2]

Hi Nicole,
  My hearing loss on the AN side was sudden.  I noticed it over a weekend in 1980.  And it was accompanied by crackling sounds on the AN side, which I noticed most often the shower. It was not a complete loss, but rather a sudden drop in perception of the higher frequencies. The ENT misdiagnosed it as hearing loss from exposure to loud sounds.  The ENT even told me that the hearing loss was not sudden, that I just noticed it-- which I knew was not the case!  I'm actually glad the AN diagnosis was missed at that time.  I may have been tempted to treat it then when AN treatment outcomes where more risky than today's treatments.
Regards,
  Rob

[Kaybo]

Nicole~
I think mine was gradual - I was young and busy, but I think it just happened as the tumor grew.  Other things I can look back at & say, "Oh, now I know why that was happening..." but not really with the hearing.  I was teaching 1st grade for the 1st time when I noticed it and thought that it was just their sweet little voices.  I had them do me when they did the kids for the vision & hearing check - poor parent volunteer - I never heard a sound!!  My whole class was sitting watching me on the carpet & I was just trying to be a good example - little did I know that the parent was frantic behind me!!
LOL!!

K

[Nancy Drew]

This is a good question.  When I was first diagnosed with AN it was by accident.  Actually the hearing in my AN ear was better than in the non-AN ear.  And, the hearing I had was considered within normal limits for my age.  I had just lost a little but not anything they could attribute to the AN since it was basically the normal hearing ear.  So W&W since 12/2005.  About a year ago I started noticing that I needed the TV turned up a little louder at times.  I was the one who always had the controler so I could up and down the volumn as needed.  My family sometimes got mad at me for going up and down.  About six months ago I really started to notice a change in my hearing.  I started having problems with word recognition, couldn't understand some people at all especially if my back was turned or I was a certain distance away,  I changed the phone ear to my non-AN ear, and the TV was up louder than ever before.  Bothersome to say the least, but my hearing is considered serviceable according to the hearing test.  So, I can say that my hearing has gradually gotten worse.  I wonder about the accuracy of those hearing tests.  Anyone here feel the same way?  I mean after awhile you just remember the words they ask you.  Why don't they use different words when they do the word recognition?  Nancy

[sabuck]

My experience was almost identical to Ms. Nancy Drew although I'd say my loss occured more like over a year and a half. Other than everything Nancy experienced, I thought voices on the phone sounded a little metalic-like. Very weird and hard to explain. Sort of like trying to explain tinnitus to someone. My AN was also discovered by accident after a hearing test indicated that I had a high freq loss on the AN side. The ENT almost did not send me for an MRI. He said "...it is probably nothing but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't send you for an MRI."
So I guess my loss was slow to moderately slow over about 1 to 1 1/2 years.

[Jim Scott]

Nicole:

My hearing loss was very gradual.  I can't state exactly when it began, but I would guess around five years prior to my diagnosis.  I know that it was effectively gone within two years of my diagnosis.  I mistakenly attributed the hearing loss to the fact that I was a radio broadcaster for 25 years and wore tight-fitting earphones (generally quite loud) for many hours a day over more than two decades.  The fact that I was only deaf in one ear seemed odd but I saw no reason to pursue it with a doctor.  O.K. I freely admit that was dumb but I think it was partially the result of my never having any health problems my entire adult  life and so, not realizing that anything could ever go wrong with my body.  Ha! 

The only positive to the gradual hearing loss was that by the time I was diagnosed (May, 2006) and subsequently had the surgery (June, 2006)I had totally adjusted to my SSD and wasn't disappointed or upset when that didn't change after my operation and later radiation.  Basically, I had no hearing to lose so preserving it was never an issue.  I did have the 'retrosigmoid approach' surgery but that was my neurosurgeon's choice and had more to do with his having better access to the tumor than preserving my non-existent hearing in my left ear.   

After reading the posts that preceded mine, I can see that losing hearing due to an Acoustic Neuroma varies with each patient.  This is why we so often caution 'newbies' that every AN patient is different and no two cases are ever exactly alike in every way.  This thread pretty much proves it.  Thanks for asking the question. 

Jim

[lori67]

Well, as usual, I like to be different -

I guess I'd call mine sudden.  I had absolutely normal hearing until that fateful day in February of last year when I was wheeled into the OR.  Went in hearing - came out with nothing.  Well, on the right, anyway.

I don't think it gets more sudden than that.

Lori

[TP]

Mine was somewhat gradual. I would talk on my phone and yell and ask people to speak up never thinking that I was losing my hearing. Finally I tried to listen to my daughters IPOD and couldn't hear anything that is when I went back to my pain Dr a few days later and told him my situation and he scheduled an MRI within a few days and I learned I had a brain tumor which had to be removed within the month. SO THANK GOD I listened to my daughter's IPOD that day in May....

[Nancy Drew]

Jeez TP.  You had a big one sitting in your ear--4cm+ WOW.  I feel sort of guilty when I compain about my little one.  I remember one day driving in my car thinking the speaker on the left side (my AN ear) was bad.  I could hear the one on the right.  Thought maybe my son had blown out the speaker since he had done it on the other car.  Then when we got a new car I thought the speaker was also bad even though the car was brand new and my son hadn't ever driven it.  Anyway finally figured out it wasn't the speaker when I put my right ear to it, and also touched it and felt the vibration.  I notice often that I plug up one ear and then the other with my finger to compare hearing.  Sometimes I get all mixed up because I think the AN ear goes in and out sometimes.  Also initially the AN ear had better hearing than the non-AN ear.  This whole experience is weird.  I hate that it will always be a part of all of us who have ANs.  Nancy