Sudden hearing loss

[Gillyfran]

About six weeks ago my husband had an incident that was thought to be a stroke. At the time of the attack he said there was a bang in his ear. He was very sick and the side of his face dropped. He was rushed to hospital. It wasn’t a stroke thankfully and he was diagnosed with Bells Palsy and given steroids. The one thing that was missed is his deafness in one ear. We told the doctor he sent someone to see him who when looking in his ear seemed disconcerted, so much so I actually asked why he seemed worried. He wasn’t going to say. A few days later we received a letter from the GP to make an appointment with the ENT clinic. They are not making any appointments due to Covid and will go on the list.

Whilst my husband can Potter around in the garden when it comes to going out for a walk he has problems. He says it feels like his brain has a problem telling his hips, knees and feet to move, so he walks like he is flat footed.

Has anyone else had something like this. It’s hard to know whether the GP practices want to be bothered during this pandemic and a hospital appointment is very far into the future. The one good thing the face and eye droop cleared very quickly.

Gill

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I would call the GP and insist on an account of what concerned the doctor enough to decide he needs an ENT appointment. And frankly, I would also want to know if it is something concerning enough to go to A&E with it.

If your husband has difficulty walking after such an episode, there may not have been any sign of a stroke at the time - but a TIA, a transient ischaemic attack, doesn't leave visible signs of bleeding or damage, That should have resolved entirely after a day or so. It hasn't - why not?

The insistence on news programmes that "the NHS is working" doesn't always seem to extend to GPs judging by some people's experiences!

[YuliK]

Gilly good morning

So sorry to read that your husband has been through the mill..hope he is feeling a little better now.

There is a very similar illness, very similar to Bell’s palsy. It’s called “Ramsay Hunt”. ( I know about Ramsay Hunt,as someone in my family suffered from it )

The symptoms are similar to Bells Palsy but the difference is that it can leave one with hearing loss, usually the side of the face has same symptoms of a stroke , and leave the sufferer with vertigo symptoms.

Also, Ramsay Hunt doesn’t always display a rash.

Ramsay Hunt ( not very common) is a bit like PMR in the way it’s not very well known.

mayoclinic.org/diseases-con...

rarediseases.org/rare-disea...

Hope this bit of information may be useful to you.

YuliK 😷

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