It seems like everything I am trying to do to keep from going deaf isn't working. My ear left ear is full and tinnitus very loud. Hearing in left ear is about a fourth of the right ear. How many have hearing aids? Do the Hearing aids make the fullness go away? Do they make the tinnitus go away or less?
Yes I like my hearing aid a lot and I would recommend one is the short answer. It tremendously helps my tinnitus during the day in an environment where the aid is picking up sound and my brain fastens on that instead of creating the jet engine tinnitus! It does not make my hearing normal but helps me feel more even with my hearing. I think my hearing is very normal in my non MM ear and my brain mostly relies on that especially for speech. It does not help with the fullness. I do modified JOH regimen and aerobic exercise, and I think that helps with fullness for me. I am 11 years out with MM and my hearing fluctuated greatly and was almost normal for 3 years before it tanked in 2011. Can you be sure your hearing is gone for good before you invest in an expensive aid??? Mine was $3000 and my audiologist who is with my otoneurologist fitted me--she has fitted many MM patients. Good Luck!!
Santa, I have a hearing aid for my bad/left ear. I find that it has helped with the tinnitus and definitely improved my hearing; no impact on the fullness aspect though. The anti virals have helped a lot with the ringing, pressure and vertigo for me. But the hearing aid has made it so the certain tones/noises don't hurt like they used to, the ringing is less noticeable. I definitely recommend getting a HA. I am sorry that I didn't do it sooner! For me, my bad ear is -65db; I only have one tone that I hear perfectly. My good ear though is very strong (they said like a kid's!).
Depends on if you suffera lot of distortion. If you do, the hearing aid might just amplify the distortion. If not, i think it may be more useful. Any seller should offer a free trial period. Make sure you know their policy and also whether there is a restocking fee if you decide not to buy it.
I am wondering if there is a recycling of hearing aids. When people die they don't need to have their hearing aids buried or cremated. Maybe like glasses they donate them to the lions club. Maybe they donate hearing aids also. Glasses and hearing aids might be a good thing to recycle. I'm definitely drawing the line at false teeth. ;D I'm still hoping JOH and the valacyclovir is going to be the answer for me. I've also upped the dose of Vitamin D3. I started a month ago. Found out my wife has been taking 6,000 iu's per day and she never gets sick. I'm also doing the Lysine, vinpocetine, sustained Vitamin C and lemon bio flavinoids. I also take 40 billion of probiotics every day. Two months ago I ordered the pine bark from vitacost and have been taking 200 mg per day. Tinnitus is just as bad if not worse. I just ordered the pycnogenol, ( maritime pine bark.) Kind of expensive. But, if it works it's worth it. Just like going bald, some people go deaf. So, I am wondering if I'm just going deaf. Yes, I was diagnosed as MM, and have had quite a few bouts with vertigo. But, I just don't know what people that have had good hearing and then go deaf experience. Maybe it's the same thing. Maybe. I am very tired of having this fullness and lack of hearing. I am a musician. I need to hear. I can't even tell where some noises are coming from. My wife has to walk on my right side or I can't hear her talk. I want to record music but it is so frustrating not being able to hear it. Most days I can't hear my fingers rubbing next to my ear and then there are days when any loud noises or noisy rooms create distortion and freaky sounds in my ear. I haven't had vertigo in a long time. Sometime I feel a little dizzy, but it doesn't last long and I can control it. I do sing in lots of nursing homes, memory care facilities and assisted living facilities and I see a lot of people that are worse off than me. Which sometimes makes me feel guilty about complaining about my problems. I try to complain mostly on this forum and keep my complaining to a minimum with friends and family. NIMGER- I hear all tones at the same level - which is one fourth of my good ear. You and annegina both say it doesn't do anything about the fullness. YIKES!! That has always been my biggest concern. To me the fullness is the roaring that makes it so I can't hear. The tinnitus is so high pitched that I can tune it out. Sort of. Annegina - I am not totally convinced that I am just going deaf. I still have hope that my ear is going to clear. ( besides I don't have $3,000 to spend on a hearing aid) Thank you for your responses!
The nature of your hearing loss, the audiogram etc will tell your ent a lot about whether your hearing loss is hydrops related or from another cause. Fluctuating hearing is a hallmark of hydrops. A loss that begins in the low frequencies and is followed by high frquencies loss so that your audiogram curve is high in the middle and low on both ends is classic for mm. Not knowing where sounds come from comes from one deaf ear and one good ear. Ask your ent what s/he thinks the origin of youe hearing loss is. Ask if s/he thinks your work a a musician is aggravating it. It is possible that you will get it back if you re having success with av's. It is also possible being around high decible music is causing dmage. Knowledge is power. Talkto the dr.
hello I have one fairly good ear the left but started having MM symptoms in my early 30s in this ear and do have decreased hearing in it but much better than my right ear in which I am almost deaf after two bad vertigo attacks last year. I have never had fluctuations in my hearing when the right ear went it has never returned. I do get fullness in my right ear that seems to correspond to the weather, rainy days mostly affect it and since I live in Oregon that happens frequently. I did get fitted for hearing aids and wear them in both ears. I am able to hear better but they have never decreased my tinnitus which I have in both ears and they have never stopped the fullness. They are so expensive but do allow me to hear better (not perfect) and allow me to continue working. I did get 3 months to trial them. I actually started out with only one in my bad ear but it did not make that much differene when I added one to the other ear it did help with hearing only none of the other symptoms like the tinnitus and fullness.
I purchased my aids at Costco two for 1800. They help with my fullness and tinnitus. I still have problems understanding but I catch most of conversations now.
Thank you for that concise explanation, June. I am still learning new things from you. I both have hearing loss in the pattern you describe, and it fluctuates. I did not realize that for some MM folks it does not fluctuate.
I have Meniere's and my hearing definitely still fluctuates in my bad ear. Initially it would go bad, I would have my attack periods and then it would slowly return (but never to the same level as before). Hearing still fluctuates today. And my doctors have all said that it would continue to fluctuate until/unless the ear gets permanently damaged.
Also, I do believe that the Lions club gets donations of hearing aids. But the audiologist is the key factor to the success of the hearing aid - from my experience. Hopefully the a/v will kick in and help with your fullness.
Thanks I think I will check with the local Lions Club. Maybe there will be one there that my audiologist can adjust to work for me!