I'm very scared at this point - - I've been completely deaf since last night. (1 Viewer)

[McPaul]

gosh, scary stuff Brian... I seriously hope the improvements you've experienced today will be permanent. How long do you need to take the steroid for?

music is a world deserves to be appreciated, and I hope you can fully enjoy that world again soon.

 

[Erik.Ha]

Thank God!!!

 

[Max Leung]

OMG, the drama is even more gripping than that Teller thread!

(Good to hear you're doing better!)

 

[Brian Harnish]

Julian wrote:


LMAO! Thanks Max!

Thanks again for the support, everyone! I can't wait to finally have my semi-normal hearing back again.

 

[Jeffrey Noel]

Prednisone...now there's a drug with horrible effects. My mom was on it for 18, yes EIGHTEEN, years due to her asthma. It was the only thing keeping her alive, but it made her gain 80 pounds and she nearly lost her legs below the knees. She's never been the same. :frowning:

But when she finally quit taking it she lost 20-30 pounds in a week!

 

[Brian Harnish]

Jeff- Wow! How is your mom doing since she's been off the steroids?

Anyway,

I'm happy to report that my hearing has improved and is at least 65% back to normal. Clarity and volume have returned and there's only a minor echo and distortion now. Some frequencies have yet to return but I have no doubt that the rest of them will return in time. Oh, my goodness, I'm so relieved! These past few days have been incredibly stressful and tiring.

For the first time in the past few days, I've been able to enjoy music and movies again. What I can't believe is how much I took those pleasures for granted. I love my home theater!! I'll never look at music and movies the same way again. Another thing I was so scared of was not being able to hear the voice of that special girl (she's only a friend at this point and I have yet to reveal to her how special she really is ) I haven't talked to for awhile. It'll be a great treat for me when I call her today. And yes, I will keep cool, gentlemen.

This has been my biggest fear for as long as I've been hearing impaired: losing the rest of my hearing. Now that I've lost the rest of it and I've been through it, I'm no longer afraid of many things I was afraid of (which lead to procrastination on a lot of things) before. It's put a lot of my fears into perspective and has given me a lot of courage to face several issues which I've been putting off for awhile now. Though I never want to go through this again, I do thank and respect this experience for what it's taught me.

By no means have I recovered fully, but I'm so happy to have the degree of recovery that I've experienced so far. Now let's hope that it continues!!

 

[ThomasC]

Great to hear it (no pun intended), Brian!

 

[Brian Harnish]

Well, I am glad to report that since yesterday, my hearing has come back and it's at around 75-80% of normal! Keep in mind that that's normal hearing *function,* not that I've regained the rest of my hearing (although I'd love to have that happen). So, hopefully it will keep improving! What a scare! I hope I never have to go through that again.

Of course, I am going to be going in for some updated testing and find out if there's anything they can do for my current situation. Last time I had testing done was around 20 years ago, so I think it's wise for me to follow my doctor's recommendations to get a bloodwork and MRI done.

Finally on the mend (significantly, too). What a relief!

 

[Brian Harnish]

Well, I am happy to report that my hearing has returned to its normal function! I have to go to the audiologist to get my digital hearing aid adjusted as she had turned it down last Wednesday (despite my request earlier to have it adjusted where it is). But, it's so good to hear everything again, though!

I'm going to be heading to the House Ear Institute for a complete evaluation of my overall hearing condition (and to find out what caused last week's condition). There's a possibility that I have some sort of severe food allergy and I want to find out what it is. If not, at least I'll know where I officially stand on my hearing loss at our current level of technology (which, luckily, is significantly better than my last complete evaluation around 19 years ago).

 

[Malcolm R]

Very good news!