Ladies and gentlemen, I present the following as a warning to others as I have been told that this is not as rare as I might have thought possible.
On Sunday, March 17, 2024, I was in day three of a particularly nasty case of influenza. It is extremely rare for me to be sick, let alone THIS sick. I was running a fever around 101 degrees, was coughing my head off and felt utterly miserable. I went to sleep that night and my hearing was 'normal' (as normal as it could be anyway).
I woke up on Monday, March 18 and had what I would consider to be 95% hearing loss in my right ear and about 20% loss in my left. I wrote this off to head congestion and never really gave it much thought. I was fighting the flu after all.
I got over the flu, but my hearing did not return. It felt like I had water in my ear and that if I shook my head just right, it would come out and I would be able to hear. No such luck.
I contacted my sister, who is a nurse practitioner, and she said I needed a round of steroids. So I got those and hoped for the best. No such luck.
I then went to a clinic and saw a nurse practitioner. She told me I had fluid behind my eardrums. She gave me some prescriptions to help "encourage" the fluid to vacate that area. Again, no joy.
Finally got in to see my primary care doctor, however, she decided not to show up for work that day, so I had to see yet another nurse practitioner, who stated that they would give me a referral to an ENT doctor to get an idea of what is going on. This was at the 5 week mark of the hearing loss being there.
Week 7 rolls around and I get into the ENT doctor. They do a hearing test and find that my hearing is so bad in my right ear that I qualify for a cochlear implant. The physician's assistant sees me and she's an absolute delight. However, she has nothing but bad news with a glimmer of hope. She point blank asks, "When this started, did you have any kind of viral infection?" I tell her that I had the flu. She nodded solemnly and tells me that they see this all too often. The viral infection attacks the auditory nerves, damaging said nerves and causes the hearing loss.
HERE IS THE IMPORTANT PART!!!! It has to be caught within the first 6 weeks!!!!! If it is caught in the first 6 weeks, it can be treated with massive doses of oral steroids, or with steroid injections into the ears and will see a positive result and restored hearing.
Unfortunately for me, I was in week 7. She said there wasn't much hope, but it was worth a try. So I did the massive dose of oral steroids for 2 weeks. I had my follow-up appointment yesterday and there was zero improvement.
So, at this point, they are thinking the hearing loss is very likely permanent. She stated that there was a slim possibility that it would gradually return on it's own in time, but that if it did, it would be very slowly. So, I have an appointment in 6 months. She told me not to get my hopes up, though.
So, TL;DR: If you go to bed one night and your hearing is fine, and you wake up the next morning and you have lost most of the hearing in one or both ears, DO NOT WAIT! Get into see a doctor ASAP. Apparently, my sister had the right idea with the steroids, just not the dosage!
Don't let what has happened to me, happen to you.
On Sunday, March 17, 2024, I was in day three of a particularly nasty case of influenza. It is extremely rare for me to be sick, let alone THIS sick. I was running a fever around 101 degrees, was coughing my head off and felt utterly miserable. I went to sleep that night and my hearing was 'normal' (as normal as it could be anyway).
I woke up on Monday, March 18 and had what I would consider to be 95% hearing loss in my right ear and about 20% loss in my left. I wrote this off to head congestion and never really gave it much thought. I was fighting the flu after all.
I got over the flu, but my hearing did not return. It felt like I had water in my ear and that if I shook my head just right, it would come out and I would be able to hear. No such luck.
I contacted my sister, who is a nurse practitioner, and she said I needed a round of steroids. So I got those and hoped for the best. No such luck.
I then went to a clinic and saw a nurse practitioner. She told me I had fluid behind my eardrums. She gave me some prescriptions to help "encourage" the fluid to vacate that area. Again, no joy.
Finally got in to see my primary care doctor, however, she decided not to show up for work that day, so I had to see yet another nurse practitioner, who stated that they would give me a referral to an ENT doctor to get an idea of what is going on. This was at the 5 week mark of the hearing loss being there.
Week 7 rolls around and I get into the ENT doctor. They do a hearing test and find that my hearing is so bad in my right ear that I qualify for a cochlear implant. The physician's assistant sees me and she's an absolute delight. However, she has nothing but bad news with a glimmer of hope. She point blank asks, "When this started, did you have any kind of viral infection?" I tell her that I had the flu. She nodded solemnly and tells me that they see this all too often. The viral infection attacks the auditory nerves, damaging said nerves and causes the hearing loss.
HERE IS THE IMPORTANT PART!!!! It has to be caught within the first 6 weeks!!!!! If it is caught in the first 6 weeks, it can be treated with massive doses of oral steroids, or with steroid injections into the ears and will see a positive result and restored hearing.
Unfortunately for me, I was in week 7. She said there wasn't much hope, but it was worth a try. So I did the massive dose of oral steroids for 2 weeks. I had my follow-up appointment yesterday and there was zero improvement.
So, at this point, they are thinking the hearing loss is very likely permanent. She stated that there was a slim possibility that it would gradually return on it's own in time, but that if it did, it would be very slowly. So, I have an appointment in 6 months. She told me not to get my hopes up, though.
So, TL;DR: If you go to bed one night and your hearing is fine, and you wake up the next morning and you have lost most of the hearing in one or both ears, DO NOT WAIT! Get into see a doctor ASAP. Apparently, my sister had the right idea with the steroids, just not the dosage!
Don't let what has happened to me, happen to you.
