How do you cope?

You say you have young children. I wonder how much time you have for you? If you can find a time when you can exercise I think you might notice a difference. Get outdoors by yourself if possible. Walk/Run or bike or swim. Maybe yoga a couple times a week. Something that will clear your mind. Meditation. Find some time for you.

 

Give yourself a hug and be kind and loving to yourself.

I love the idea of a bike ride.

Red said it perfectly.

 

You speak of a "before and after" for you -and you feel that your life has lost flavor.
I have had this miserable disease for over 5 yrs. now and yes - my life has lost that flavor too - but I have found that it helps to make up for the hearing I have lost - by concentrating more on the senses that I still have - I try to focus on visual things and look for the beauty that is all around me - a baby's smile or cloud patterns when you are outside or - in my case - watching the antics of all the wild animals that come through my yard - there is beauty all around us if we will but see it - and for me - this takes my mind off of that awful roaring and ringing and makes a sort of music of my own in my head.
Also - some times - not always - when the roaring gets almost beyond bearing - I put a soft foam ear plug in the worst ear. I also have been on the John of Ohio regimen for about 5 yrs. and for me - it works! It's not an over night cure - but then John doesn't say that it is - but it is worth a try for someone in as much distress as you are.
Something else that works for me is Benadryl. One day - I was having a bad allergic reaction to something at the same time the roaring really took off and about a half hour after I took the Benadryl the roaring eased off a lot and became bearable.
I don't know if this makes a lot of sense to you - but I hope it helps.

 

My sudden hearing loss came in 2004. Since then my hearing has fluctuated a lot both good and bad.
I have been blessed like you to have a good ear for which I am so grateful
Over the years my symptoms have gotten better and I now wear a hearing aid which I like a lot.

It's normal to grieve a loss which is what you are doing. Every one has their own time table with this, and it's easy to let despair be your main thing but try not to let that happen.
I relish doing things that involve my other senses like taking a walk and looking at nature, I bead a lot and create nice jewelry. One of the best things of all is exercise-- it even helps my ear stay clearer provides a good challenge for my balance.
try to balance your family's needs with your own. When I had vertigo more often and now with the struggles with my hearing, the depress ion that accompanied it was much worse.
Do what you can to avoid going there. You can do this - so many of us have. God bless and hang in there!

Carol

 

Vaita

I'm so sorry you are going through this now.
And having children to take care of makes us feel worse about the symptoms that come with this disease. You feel like you're not enjoying as much as before and wre struggling to just get by day to day.
I'm on antivirals and that has given me back my life. It has also helped with my hearing loss.
There are many here who have been successful with that treatment.

As far as symptoms go, the tinnitus and pressure were the least of the symptoms for me. It was the vertigo and hearing loss. Maybe it was a mind over matter thing for me.
Enjoying my children and grandchildren were foremost in my mind when combating this disease.

You got some good advice here. I'll give you my two cents worth.
Take a walk. It doesn't have to be long. Sit on your porch and in the backyard with the kids.
Do what you can to keep your mind off the symptoms.
Sit and draw with them. Using your other senses does help.
Fresh air and enjoying what's outside, the beauty if and where you find it helps. We're all here for you.

Good luck to you and feel free to reach out to me if you need more help.

 

I will say that when I finally broke down and got a hearing aid for my bad ear it made a huge difference for me. Not just to be able to hear again (obviously!) but for some reason even though I could hear more...the loud sounds hurt less. Also seemed to help with the ringing too - perhaps because I could hear other things from that ear?

If you don't have one already, I would investigate a hearing aid. While they can be pricey, I was able to go with an "entry level" aid that works fine for me. Doesn't have all of the bells and whistles (remote control, bluetooth, etc..) but for what I need it works fine. I can still tell the fluctuation days of course when I don't have as good of hearing but with the HA I can still hear and things seem to stay more "balanced".