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hearing loss

M

mzlinda

Newbie
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Type 2
I have experienced severe hearing loss in one ear in last few months and my ear nose throat doctor cant seem to find any reason for it so now I am starting to wonder if this is diabetes related and if there is any treatment for it to fix it or will it be a permanent problem has anyone else had any issues like this this and found any help for it other then getting a hearing aid. I really don't want to wear a hearing aid..
 
May I ask why you wouldn't want to use a hearing aid? Hopefully it won't come to that.
 
Getting on for 15 years ago, I experienced a sudden pop sound in one ear, no reason for it, I was sat reading the paper at the time, but that was it, most of my hearing in that ear gone. To cut a long story short the ENT consultant said that sudden hearing loss does happen from time to time, with no known reason, and, apart from going immediately on to intravenous steroids, which may or may not help, there was little chance of improvement. I was offered a hearing aid but declined.
The positive side of my hearing loss is that I can turn away from things I don't want to hear, the negative is that I have lost the stereo effect, so don't know where sounds are coming from. There's worse things that can happen. I'm not diabetic (my husband is) and have no other conditions, so just one of those things.
Hopefully, @mzlinda , yours will be a temporary inconvenience.
Sally
 
thanks for input sally,
I have been through 2 oral steroid treatments to no avail then the doctor cut a hole in my drum to look for fluid and found none so he is at a loss as to what has caused my hearing loss. I have been suffering from uncontrolled very high blood sugar levels sometimes as high as 400's so I am now wondering if that could have caused nerve/ blood vessel damage in my ear causing the loss but i'm confused as why it would be so sudden and just in one ear.
 
Last week I gave blood and lots of information to the DARE study which is research project to find connections between genetics and diabetes. The research nurse asked questions about relatives including: has anyone suffered sudden unexplained deafness? She said it was a rare genetic condition that might be associated with diabetes. As my answer was no I didn't find out any more about it.
 
To begin with I think that we all lose hearing progressively as we get older so it may/may not be the result of diabetes.

Some years ago I fell over. It was when I stood up and the world just rotated around me and I was lying on my side suddenly. I got it investigated and they said I would get used to it. I did. I also think this may have been the start of diabetic damage of the ear. Just my opinion since no one else explained it.

Slowly since then the hearing has adopted odd characteristics. I was in an office. I could not hear what the two people next to me were saying but I could hear the little radio that was 15ft away. When I watch films the "incidental" music drowns everything else out. American films are the worst. They have music and laughter tracks everywhere. I sometimes use subtitles.

So is it diabetes or just age. They are probably one and the same thing where hearing is concerned.
 

There's a condition called MIDD - Matenally Inherited Diabetes and Deafness. There are other kinds of diabetes that have a connection to deafness too, I believe.

Note to OP - the above is a rare condition. It's very possible your hearing problems aren't related to your diabetes.
 
I thank so very much for donating your blood and time for such a cause I lost my mom due to diabetes at a early age so it definitely needs a cure not just a band aid I have done a little research and see they are looking into the fact that ear nerves can also be damaged but I fear as with the legs and other limbs there will be no remedy to solve the issue other then a hearing aid at least it isn't as painful as the other nerve damage though as I do have that to. I try lyrica but doesn't seem to help.
 
Guzzler said:
May I ask why you wouldn't want to use a hearing aid? Hopefully it won't come to that.
Click to expand...
I have hearing loss in my other ear from an infection I had as a child and they had to rebuild my drum twice and I was fitted with a hearing aid and I hated using it because of the feed back and when I would take it out I really noticed just how bad the loss was and it was more difficult to hear so I just stopped wearing it and adjusted to the loss but now my good ear has way less hearing in it over 75 % loss in the last 4 months drop it was sudden and doctor cut a hole in the drum found no fluid in the tube so I’m very worried and scared ..
 
You could try yoga to help mitigate the effects of your severe hearing loss. It won't cure it, but it will certainly help - and help with your diabetes too!
 
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