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Very depressed

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3 weeks ago i started get fuzzyness in my left ear now ive lost lower sound in that ear. I also had a sharp pain in my jaw when a few days before this. My ears feel very full.

I cant sleep at all and am starting to fell helpless.

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Go see your doctor.
Get the wheels turning to figure this out.
Good luck

This is very much how my Menieres used to present. It is always a vicious cycle as anxiety and depression always made everything worse. For me the good news was that generally I bounced out of it eventually but it was horrible when I was there.

So key is to work out what you can do. See people, see the . When I have ‘full’ days I tell people, work, friends, family that I can’t hear. For work I say this is going to be an IM and email day. I am not going to attend meetings, I ask people to take notes and I work on things that I can do without hearing. I may be really lucky to be in a job like that and you may not have that luxury but I have always found that if I focus on what I can do rather than worrying about what I have lost I am generally in a better place.

Good luck and keep us updated.

What I will also say, is these feelings that you have described are very normal feelings, its a worrying time, telling people not to worry is a silly thing to say as of course you are going to worry. Anxiety is there because something is important to you and the fear of losing that something is a very valid thought for anxiety.

Do you wear hearing aids already?

Edited

In reply to @Um_bongo

@Um_bongo said:

Have they tried steroidal intervention?

I don’t know about guidelines in your or the OP’s country, but after exclusion of contraindications, there is also the option of HBOT - hyperbaric oxygen therapy (IIRC, at least 2.5 ATA pressure).

First, however, an and audiological examination should be performed, if only to know the baseline state of hearing for comparison with the effects of possible therapy.

Getting hyperbaric treatment is really difficult around here, there’s only one facility with a bit of a waiting list. The point about sudden losses is that they need rapid intervention to get reversibility in the results.

Good call if there’s a facility available though.

Edited
@Um_bongo said:

Getting hyperbaric treatment is really difficult around here, there’s only one facility with a bit of a waiting list

Even private ones don’t exist? (They are expensive, I know. I ask out of curiosity.)

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IIRC, NFZ (Polish “NHS”) pays 500 PLN (~£100) per 1.5-hour session, including 1 hour with 100% oxygen. There is needed at least 10-15 sessions, so 5000-7500 PLN (£1000-1500). I think that was in 2021, now it may be different.

Not to mention the commute and the considerable amount of time spent on that as well.

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@Um_bongo said:

The point about sudden losses is that they need rapid intervention to get reversibility in the results.

Indeed. I know people who even has spare corticosteroid tablets just in case…

But were you in ? Maybe you are undergoing diagnosis; you have a few tests to be done, so it is too early to speak about hearing aids.

In reply to @DarrenMc

It’s a scary time that something may be failing and the thought of being different is hard. Hearing aids aren’t cool and the stigma associated is worrying. I get that.

The simple reality is tho that as we age we tend to disability. This doesn’t have to be the end of our lives or awful tho.

Life with hearing aids is pretty amazing. I am deaf entirely without them. With them you wouldn’t really be able to tell unless I told you, I mean, I don’t look deaf do I?

I am not going to say don’t worry as you have got to process that but what I will say is life is precious and anything you can get to help you with it is always worth it.

Good luck and please do still keep checking in. I was depressed for a few years at first. That’s normal.

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