sudden onset hearing loss

[Sally_Bones43]

I was diagnosed in January with PMR: text book symptoms. Now down to 5mg and doing well.

The query about sudden onset hearing loss took me back a good few years. In 1998 I had an episode of sudden onset hearing loss with associated tinnitus and hyperacusis. Was referred to ENT who said I qualified for and aid but nothing else. They gave me a masker for the tinnitus, and after about 2 weeks the hyperacusis faded but was left with constant tinnitus and a severe hearing loss in the left ear. I was given a hearing aid for my left ear but was still hearing well on the right, However my hearing on the right diminished and from 2001 I used an aid on the right. I couldn’t bear wearing one on the left.

Many year’s later, about 2008, I had another episode of sudden onset hearing loss in my right ear (was watching tv wearing my aid, and suddenly couldn’t hear anything). ENT prescribed steroids which made no difference, and said it would go away after a while. I was panicking, being at that point already profoundly deaf on the left -so got a second opinion: The much younger ENT did an MRI (I assumed it was to eliminate the presence of a tumor) then prescribed injection of steroid into the eardrum. This worked almost immediately, and my hearing was restored to where it had been before the sudden loss.

Sorry about the long history here. I did not ask why it happened as I would now, but assumed it was due to a viral infection of some kind. This all predated my developing PMR, and I am not inferring that they are related but merely observing that there are other causes of sudden hearing loss - I still don’t know what caused this, and still worry about it.

I hope that Bronte can get this sorted pronto, and get an understanding of what is causing it. It is not a trivial matter!

[Nextoneplease]

Hi Sally_Bones43 😊

Interesting to read your story and very pleased that you have retained the hearing in the right ear 😊

It’s interesting isn’t it? I was hospitalised for several months in 2017 (with endocarditis) and was on strong IV antibiotics. One of them, gentamicin, they stopped after a few days ‘because it may affect your hearing’. And I did notice that suddenly I hardly heard the clatter of the ward - and my hearing has never fully recovered.

It dipped again at the onset of GCA….. and I now wear aids for ‘moderate hearing loss’ in both ears.

Thank goodness for the aids, especially as I have them linked by Bluetooth to my phone and listen for hours daily to books and podcasts.

Sorry, not sure of the relevance here, just wanted to say hi 😊

[Sally_Bones43 in reply to Nextoneplease]

Thanks. A bit off topic I know.

[Nextoneplease in reply to Sally_Bones43]

Sometimes it’s just good to share 💐x

[Bronte11]

Thank you for that. So many different causes are possible.