Was your hearing loss sudden or gradual?

[lholl36233]

Mine was sudden.  I noticed the tinnitus before the hearing loss.  I'm left handed so when I'm on the phone, it was always on my left ear.  One day at work, I had to call an 800 number that was a recording like, "If you know your party's extension, please press 3."  I thought the volume was low on the phone.  I had to call back the next day.  When the volume was still low, I thought I'd try the right ear for the heck of it.  Volume was much better...

[Jan D]

My hearing loss was gradual too.  The first symptom was having difficulty hearing people on the phone on my AN side.  My parents took me to an ENT, he ran a hearing test and told my parents that "I was lying" about not hearing!  Of course, my parents got a second opinion, but the second opinion Dr. said that I had "virus", so nothing was done, but prescribing some meds.  Can't remember the exact details because it was over 40 years ago.  Finally, when I had another hearing test, of course I couldn't hear a thing on that side.  The next symptoms were headaches, seeing spots, dizzyness and finally I was correctly diagnosed with the acoustic neuroma.  Actually the first doctor that saw it was the Opthamologist.  I was losing peripheral vision on the AN side and he actually saw the tumor through my eye.  I had surgery to remove the tumor within 2 weeks of that diagnosis.  The doctors said that it may have growing in my head since I was 6 years old.  They don't really know - so much about these tumors were unknown at that time. 

Jan D

[Nancy Drew]

Jan,

OMG.  That must have been terrible having a doctor say you were lying.  I am so sorry for all you went through.  I hope you are doing OK now.  My heart goes out to you. 

Nancy

[lori67]

Jan D -

Wow!  That is amazing!  I can't believe your eye doctor actually saw the tumor through your eye!  I hope all those other doctors who misdiagnosed you felt bad after that!  So, you've been dealing with all these things for a long time.  I guess after a year of the eye and face issues I have no right to complain.  Puts things in perspective.

And welcome - by the way.  Let's hope the others don't confuse you with that "other" Jan.  She's trouble!  

Lori

[LADavid]

Sudden on both sides.  On the AN side I woke up one morning to tinnitus.  I had been flying on a business trip with a terrible cold in an unpreasurized plane the day before.  I noticed the tinnitus at first.  I thought it was the noise that was blocking my hearing.  I didn't realize that the hearing had also gone -- for the most part.  Over the past 23 years the rest of my hearing loss on the AN was gradual.  On my "good" there had been somewhat of a loss -- then all of a sudden a major loss -- like from 95% hearing to about 50%.  I couldn't survive without a hearing aid.  As I mention in my post, it's sort of quiet around here -- with the exception of my incredibly loud neighbors.

[nancyann]

My hearing loss came on gradually, I also had tinnitus for a very long time.

I guess I just adapted to it all, until my coworkers got tired of me saying 'what' & speaking louder & louder.

Then I went for a hearing test with about 80% hearing loss, got an MRI, etc., etc.....

[oHIo]

Lori...I also had "sudden" hearing loss as the result of surgery.  I went in with 100% hearing discrimintation and came out deaf.  No surprise since I had a translab.  

I had noted some changes in my hearing.  Music over the telephone sounded different in each ear.  It went from being about a half step different, to eventually sounding like they were playing two different songs with the same words.  My hearing scores were great with only a mild SNHL on the right.  

I continued to use my AN ear to talk on the telephone up until surgery.  I still find myself holding the phone to my right ear and saying hello multiple times before I realize I'm the one who is not all there  

[Nancy Drew]

Sometimes I feel like I have Morris Code going on in my ear.  As stupid as this might sound, sometimes with all of the ringing and dinging in the ear it is like changing channels of the TV and tuning into something new.  No offense to those who have lost their hearing.  I can't imagine not having any hearing at all.  Hopefully I'll get to keep some.  Nancy Drew

[solecleansing]

I didn't notice any hearing loss until I dialing a number on my cell phone and put the phone up to my ear.  I couldn't hear anything but a muffling sound.  I thought the phone was not working but I put it up to my right ear.  And there was clear sound.  I made an appointment with an ENT and she sent me for an MRI which showed the Acoustic Neuroma.

Leading up to my hearing loss I had several ear and sinus infections.  Also, the last couple years flying was a nightmare because of the pressure and pain afterwards. I also was becoming what I thought was clumsy.

[leapyrtwins]

And welcome - by the way.  Let's hope the others don't confuse you with that "other" Jan.  She's trouble!  

Geez, Lori -

do you realize that 5 people posted after you did and not one of them defended me?    Maybe it's time to ditch the forum and take that high paid position at the garage.  And all this time I thought I was being helpful to others    LOL

Jan D -

I've always heard that eye doctors could see brain tumors by looking into a patient's eyes, but never quite believed it.  Guess you are living proof of that. 

It's amazing to me that you had your AN treated over 40 years ago.  You are a true AN pioneer.  Thanks for joining the forum;  I'm sure you have a lot of experiences to share that none of us have had.

In order to avoid confusion, fellow forumites, you can either call me Jan B, the droll Jan, BAHA Benjamin, Tattoo Jan, or Jan the troublemaker - your pick 

And BTW, Lori - thanks for the vote of confidence 

[Nicole222]

The young lady I met who had a 4+ cm AN was discovered at a routine eye exam.  She had no other symptoms, except she started drooling out of the an side one day.

And unbelievably, my eye doctor saw what she called a "freckle" back there about 5 years ago.  She seemed a bit concerned, took a picture of it, and told me to follow up in a year.  Obviously, I never did so. I have "kicked" myself over that countless times.

[Tumbleweed]

I wonder about the accuracy of those hearing tests.  Anyone here feel the same way? 

The problem I have with the audiograms (hearing tests) is that the noise floor of every place you get tested (and their equipment settings) are different. For the sake of consistency (valid results), I try to get tested in the same place and by the same audiologist each time. But another bigger problem is that the cables are so microphonic that they pick up my breathing sounds and the sound of the cables lightly brushing against my shirt when I breathe. If it weren't for those noises, I might be able to hear tones and spoken words that are lower in level than the microphonic noises that mask them.

The condition of your ear canals and eardrums also can cause fluctuating and invalid results. I flew in a small plane just a couple hours before my last audiogram (a mistake) and was a little plugged up from the changes in barometric pressure. That makes my last test results a bit suspect.

Tumbleweed

[rosalie]

Mine was gradual. I first noticed I couldn't hear on the phone or through headphones.  When I was tired it seemed like eveyone was talking a different language. I could hear them talking but the words didn't make sense. 

I went to the doctor because I thought I had a wax build up in my ear that was causing problems with my hearing. The doctor checked and said he didn't see anything wrong. He thought it was just "old age" and I should just live with it. I made an appointment with an ENT and gave up after waiting 2 hours in the waiting room. Last year we moved to Kansas City and I decided to try again. I wasn't prepared for the diagnosis. I thought I just needed hearing aids. That's the nice thing about a big city, they have doctors who know what they're doing!
Rosalie

[Kaybo]

Jan~

I like LEPER!!!

K

[lori67]

oHIo -

I'm 16 months post op- and still put the phone up to my deaf ear and say "Hello?" a few times before I realize there's nothing wrong with the phone!  Old habits die hard.

Jan, I'm so surprised that no one would have defended you... perhaps I was right???  

Lori