Coping with sudden hearing loss and very loud tinnitus

I'm so sorry to hear about your struggles with tinnitus...hope it is gone by now or that it has lowered the volume so you can rest. In my case I got it out of the blue...so the doctor had no clue either..so I got no words of confort from him but youll get used to it. My ear felt so bad that while sitting at home I felt the urge to turn upside down and to my surprise after the inverted position tinnitus subsided, quiet down. It is not permanent, but it brings me relief....maybe you can try it...I lay from the waist down on my bed and bring my head to the floor and hold it there for a minute or so. My husband says it brings blood and oxigen to my bad ear...I dont know if it so but...once I come back...tinnitus quiets down and it last several beautiful hours....maybe you can try it and see how it goes...hope it works

Hi Ollieboo

I suffer with moderate to severe hearing loss around the 70db level with annoying tinnitus, I did ask the audio department at my local hospital about the white noise sounds, and they explained it’s basically the brain filling in the missing frequencies that you can no longer hear, which made sense to me. They also said the hearing aids they were fitting would help which to be true they have during the day when I wear them.

I did read somewhere if you think about the noise you "tune in" to it and it’s very hard to make it go away, so I no longer listen for it and its gone better as daft as it sounds...

The audiology nurse told me hypnotherapy can help tinnitus, if you can’t tune out of the noise, but since mines faded to nearly no noise for 80% of the time I haven’t perused this route but I’m sure she was right.

The NHS hearing aids by the way are totally fantastic, and I love hearing again. They are slim and light and you can’t notice them when I’m wearing them they are that good.

Thanks Ollieboo, I'm now feeling more positive about my aid, and looking forward to trying it out once it arrives on March 5th. My one anxiety is that I have very short hair, so I tthink the bit behind my ear will be quite visible. But as you have pointed out, if it gets me hearing, and at no cost compared to going privately, it has to be a good thing. I will let you know how I get on.

I'm really glad I found this forum today. My tinnitus is driving me nuts! I have had Menieres with low level tinnitus for years but since November I've been getting sudden loud noises as well as all the other tinnitus sounds. I get the sound of Concord sitting on the runway revving up and this gets louder and louder until I feel my head is going to burst. I get the sound of a child's plastic trumpet blown right into my ear. I get the feeling of a bumble bee flying into my ear and buzzing. All very unpleasant, unnerving and distracting.

I've been to ENT and await results of MRI.

Meanwhile, I've been wondering if a hearing aid would help or not. The specialist said 'not' as I have good hearing in my left ear and very poor hearing in my right (tinnitus affected) ear, although he is willing to refer me for one if I want. He said that as my left ear is good, my brain would be confused if an aid is introduced to my right ear.

After reading your posts on here about NHS aids, I have decided to ask to try one, if the MRI doesn't show anything that can be treated.

THank you to all who have posted - I have found reading this a great help.

Well,Razouski, it's good to hear all the different points of view.

The results of my MRI are in and I have an appointment with ENT at the end of May. My GP is reluctant to discuss the results ahead of this, although he has read them to me over the phone. He said that there is something shown on them to do with the pituitary gland but he doubts that there is any connection that ENT will be concerned about. The ENT specialist's secretary assures me that I would have been given an urgent appointment if there was anything to worry about, rather than the routine one that I have now.

So, when I get to see the ENT man again, I will ask for a full explanation of the MRI and discuss the hearing aid thing again. He has told me that, if I want, I can try one to see how I get on.

Unfortunately, I think the hearing in my one ear is in a rapid decline. I would say it has got even worse since it was tested in February, so if that's the case, aids my not help.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Hi Ollieboo

How is the hearing loss 5 months on has the tinnitus reduced any?

Without my hearing aids on it’s a quiet world for sure, with them on it’s a loud place at times. I do wear the hearing aids (both ears) every day and enjoy hearing the birds etc in the mornings. At work, I find the telephones to be an issue due to feedback whistles from the hearing aids and my tinnitus is much less these days, in fact I do not notice it 70% of the time which is what the audiology department at the local hospital told me 6 months ago.

Hope things are better for you also.

 

Hi all.

I'm glad I found this discussion as I was beginning to think no one really understood what I was experiencing. I am relieved to find I am not alone. I suffered sshl last November. I awoke one morning to the sound of a car horn....but it was inside my head. When it subsided to a jet engine noise after a couple of hours, I realised I was completely deaf in my right ear (95db loss across all frequencies). Subsequent MRI was normal, steroid tablets, intratympanic injections all to no avail. Now 6 months later it's just the same. My voice, outdoor sounds, any stress, in fact any noise at all exacerbates the tinnitus greatly to the point where it drowns out the ambient sounds. I am a commercial pilot, but it seems unlikely that I'll be able to return to work since this happened. My ENT specialist would like to try a super powered hearing aid, so I'd be interested to know if anyone knows of any success with this. Life is a battle, but we must fight on. I am an optimist, it came suddenly, it may go just the same. Fingers crossed. Good luck to you all.

I am a male 73 years old. While working at my desk I heard what seemed to be an ossilating sound and shortly after I list all my hearing in one ear.  Steroids used.  ENT supposed to view the MRI shortly.  No other obvious health issues.

Hi Ollieboo,

I am 27 and last week got sudden hraing loss from my left ear. Severe tinnitus is annoying me besides hearing loss almost completely. My doctor prescribed me a prednisole but has not recovered my hearing yet.