My SSHL story so far.
This community helped me through what I believe has been one of the hardest times of my life so far, so I want to give back by sharing my story.
I’m a 33-year-old male, fairly active and healthy. Last week, I woke up completely deaf in my left ear, with constant tinnitus. In the days prior to this, I only had a mild cold, so it could be related.
After a few hours passed and my hearing didn’t return, I started googling and found this sub. I read a lot of stories, and that same day—about 12 hours after onset—I took my first dose of methylprednisolone (80 mg).
I managed to see an ENT the next day, and he confirmed it is indeed SSNHL. He prescribed the proper steroid course (5 days at 80 mg, 5 days at 40 mg, 5 days at 20 mg, and 5 days at 10 mg) and asked how I knew that was the correct treatment, so I referred to this sub.
This past week has been a nightmare: trouble sleeping, extreme anxiety, and an overwhelming fear of what my life might be like from now on.
Today marks 7 days since onset, and my ear feels the same. I don’t know if I should push for intratympanic injections—the doctor didn’t seem to consider them until 14 days have passed without improvement from oral steroids.
My next appointment is in one week. I’ll update once I’m back.
Thank you for reading. I hope we all get better. Any comment is welcome—I haven’t felt this lonely in a long time.