Sudden hearing loss: Am I a candidate for hearing aids?

Have you turned on a fan or radio or something to cover up the tinnitus when trying to sleep?
A noisy, clicking ceiling fan helped me way back when my first tinnitus was driving me crazy.
Picture the playing card kids clipped on the spokes of their bicycles. Repetitive noise helps.
Maybe a drum solo.

For help with tinnitus there are some free apps. They ploy sound through your phone. The sound can be wind to music. There is also apps that play zen music where notes do not repeat. One app that is free is Starkey Relax. It has be helpful in getting the tinnitus to lessen. I hope this is helpful to you.

Thank you for the suggestion. I did try a fan when my tinnitus first started, and I’m pretty sure that made it worse. Ugh! I did recently just by a sound machine, and the pink noise seems to help. I honestly don’t have trouble falling asleep initially. I just keep waking up around 2 AM, and then I’m unable to fall back asleep. I think it has more to do with anxiety than the tinnitus at this point. I have to admit that I’ve been quite a mess since this started, and that is not like me at all. I’m hoping that I can get back to my normal calm self eventually… and I hope getting more than a couple of hours of sleep a night can help with that

Hope you feel better soon. On YouTube there is a good video on tinnitus. It might help you with some more information and ways to lessen its impact and help you relax. Stress can also make tinnitus worse.

Exercise is good for a good night sleep too. Doing projects that get you outside and sweating help you rest at night. At 38 I do remember a few beers would help me sleep.

Being tired doesn’t help the tinnitus. Anxiety might need a little doctors help?

@aky13rx I think the word you were looking for was “redundant”.

@Raudrive Sleep and blacking out aren’t the same thing my friend Alcohol makes me sleep much worse. The processing is exothermic, which makes you hot, and then once it’s all been processed by the body your REM cycle gets messed up and it wakes you up at weird times. I do miss a nice bourbon though. Several more months to go.

Definitely agree with the exercise thing though.

@mchriste I know one of the things you’re trying to do right now is understand what might have happened, and what potential solutions are. Learning all you’re learning though can be a stressor in and of itself. Think maybe about taking some time off from it.

A thought on melatonin use: I was taking too much and it was actually keeping me awake and up most of the night… then I heard that if you take a very low dose 2-3 hours before bedtime, it will help. I have been doing that, like 1mg 3 hrs before bed (chewable kind, but dissolve under tongue), and it is working! So glad to be able to sleep again! And my tinnitis isn’t bothering like it was. Still there, but I’m able to sleep.

Yeah, I totally understand that prednisone has it’s purpose. I just sure hope I don’t ever have to take it again. I’ll go crazy!

Thanks for the laugh about meetings I have sat through many pointless ones myself, and I can relate. I hope that you are enjoying your well earned retirement!

@Raudrive All good suggestions! I do get some exercise every day (walks and yoga). I wish that there was more to do outside of the house right now, but thanks for our current situation in CA that has been a little difficult. I should try harder and be more creative about things to do out of the house, though.

Honestly, I’m kinda scared to drink which is a total bummer because I really enjoy a drink or two or three I had a couple of drinks a couple of days after my tinnitus started (before I realized that I had the sudden hearing loss that required medical treatment), and while the tinnitus was silent for the night I more than paid for it over the next few days with super loud tinnitus. Eek!

Agreed about seeking the doctors help for anxiety. I do hate taking medicine, but I am going to reach out to my doctor to see what my options are just to get me through this rough patch. Thank you so much for your advice!

@phobos512 You make a very good point about trying to find answers and solutions being a stressor in itself. I do feel like I’ve reached a point where I’ve probably learned enough for now, and taking more time to do things I enjoy would help me to stay more positive. Much appreciated.

You are not by yourself. Most of us came here needing help. It has been wonderful for me.

I think you need to have further testing beyond an audiologist. You should have an MRI with contrast to rule out the possibility of an Acoustic Neuroma. There are rare and benign. The reason I say this is because many doctors and audiologists are not informed about this.
In 2006 I noticed I wasn’t hearing well in my left ear. I went to an ENT doc and he said “ I don’t see anything”. So for another 6 years I muddled along to 2012 and my balance became worse and tinnitus was very bothersome and a strange taste in my mouth occasionally. So 7/2/2012 I had my first MRI and they found the tumor. It was 2.5cm. Everyone with this tumor have different symptoms. Some are mild, headaches or maybe slight numbness on the same side as the hearing loss. They are slow growing. Well worth having this checked as a cause for your hearing problems. Good luck.

Lots of good advice here. I want to build on what Blacky said. You need to own your hearing loss and understand that any one health professional may not have the answers to your problem. The fact that you had a sudden hearing loss and have not mentioned getting scheduled for an MRI to rule out an acoustic neuroma is concerning. Their is lots of confusion/lack of data to confirm the effectiveness of steroid treatment or whether injections are any more effective than oral steroids. There is also information out there that questions on why exactly prednisone may work in some people. The generally accepted idea is that it tamps down inflamation in the cochlea, while their is other information that something in the predisone affects the machanism of the inner ear in other way. My experience is that once you are past the prednisone treatment and do not recover you will be referred to an audiologist for hearing aids. As you dive in to your health issue and educate yourself you will find that their are many things that can affect hearing- cardiovascular issues, inflamation issues, dietary causes…I had poor hearing in one ear most of my life so when I had sever hearing loss in my “good” ear it was debilitating. I’m fortunate in that my hearing loss fluctuates. Since being confronted with this issue and doing several prednisone treatments and consulting with a number of ENT’s- I’ve tried to improve my general overall health, I eat gluten free, I try to limit meat and dairy, salt and other things that may affect my hearing. For me being gluten free has made a huge difference and I encourage everyone to read Dr. Fasano’s book Gluten Freedom to understand how individuals can be affected. Good luck!

I am another SSHL sufferer. I went to bed one night in 2011 with my hearing fine, woke up the next morning with no hearing in my right ear and tinnitus. I received steroid and antiviral treatment right away and my hearing mostly came back but was uneven in both ears - the tinnitus never left.

I got hearing aids in 2017 and it was amazing how much a difference it made for me.