Having dizziness, balance problems & ear pressure

P

Pine

New Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Hi, I am new to here, deaf from birth. I am profound.

I am not well and really want to get better. I am a mother of 2 hearing girls ages 3 and 6 and of moderate deaf boy aged 11 mths. My husband is hearing.

I haven't been well since before Christmas, I started to feel dizzy with reduced hearing then after Christmas more symptoms occured balance problems, ear pressure and tinniutis in both ears. I also feel extremely tired at time, and at one point the pressure popped in my ear and I felt pain and soreness afterwards and normal hearing for just 1/2 hour. These problems are still there I am on bethahistine tablets, these do help.

My little boy is going through genetic tests for deaf syndromes and so far he has been tested 95% negative for non syndromic deafness. I am being seen by ENT in April and being referred to another hospital for genetic testing too. I also have bad reflux problem and thyroid problem these are being seen to too.

I decided not to wear my hearing aid (only wear one) for a few days to see if it makes any difference. Yes, I think it does I do feel a bit better but it terrible difficult managing without it although I am profoundly deaf anyway (nil in high frequencies) the aid provides clues to lipreading. I had to wear my aid today for an appointment and I truely wished I didn't, my tinnitis is now louder and I am more dizzy. Is there some kind of electronic communication device to help with communication rather than pen and paper for with hearing people, my speech is very good but I have trouble lipreading outside people of my family.

I am now learning sign language to make things easier in the home and it's working. Any advice? Pretty desperate here! Is my hearing aid wearing life over for me? I am also worried about losing hearing friends cos of this?
 
Wish I could help.

I wouldn't worry about your friends. True friends will adapt to your needs. Depending on the cause of your dizziness, I would think you will be able to wear your aids again.
 
:hug: sorry to hear you're having all these problems, i dont have a clue wats going on but its very good u are getting it seen...
Having a balance problem must be hard to cope with eventually if it gets worse and worse u wont be able to drive or do normal things like u do now, i know that for sure. it will even effect your walking (u'll look like a drunk)
let us know what is happening with your condition. it could be a benign tumour somewhere. dont be scared and all stress out now.... as u dont know what is happening yet,
dont worry too much about your friends. to be honest, i think u will loose some but the ones that remains with u are the ones that u need and can count on. Thats what friends are for isnt it...
all the best to you. :)
 
Hi Pine, :hug:

I am sorry you are going through such emotional and physical pains :( I can tell you that it will help seeing your ENT. A year and a half ago I was diagnosed with Menieres Disease which is an inner ear disorder. A lot of what I go through sounds like what you are going through. I had gone through many many tests. MRI's to exclude tumors and such. I havent been deaf my whole life but with this disease I have had a severe drop in hearing in both ears. I get dizzy, have vertigo, balance issues, head aches, nausea and the part that triggered me to get tested was the horrible tinnitus, so bad some nights I cry and cannot sleep.
Do not be frustrated when you see an ENT. It really sucks when you have these symptoms and they do not find anything wrong. Its because they are not present all of the time. Make sure they do all extensive testing. I had went through soooo much and finally got a diagnosis that can put me at ease. My days sometimes really suck because this disease can take a toll on your life sometimes. But with the proper meds, diet and diagnosis I am able to live my life the way I need and want to.
I wish you the best hun, its not fun. We are here for ya :hug:
 
Is there a deaf center in your area? Since you're learning ASL you could make friends at the deaf center or ASL socials. I use email and Facebook to keep in touch with hearing friends. The people who are truly your friends are not going to reject you. You'll also make new friends along the way. Good luck with your ENT appointment and testing. Hope that it helps.
 
I can relate with you about the emotional feelings; it can be rough at times.

Have you considered seeing a doctor about tinnitus?

A suggestion for you; keep a food diary. There are certain foods that do trigger the tinnitus for me. I kept a diary and found out that pickled food, high sodium food and chocolate triggers my tinnitus. Stress and little sleep triggers my tinnitus as well. Caffeine is a major no-no for me.

I hope this helps because you do have three wee ones as well as a husband. Hang in there and this site is a great sounding board for other tinnitus and Meniere's sufferers too as well.

Sending you positive healing thoughts.
 
Thanks for your thoughts and advice, sorry I hadn't replied my stomach reflux been playing up and I was sick all day, this made me missed my bethahistine tablets twice in the day and already my ear pressure is back and tinnitus is louder.

I admit I have noticed that my medication is prescribed for meienere diease, but I was born deaf? I don't understand that, also when I was a child growing up I have had migraines with altered vision,vertigo, sickness, for short periods but nothing like the dizziness, unbalance I got now. In the last few years my migraines attacks have suddenly stopped and I have seemed to have switched over to something else! I've noticed that whenever I board a plane I am dizzy for a week or twoo with hearing drops, ear pressure yes it certainly ruins my holiday! I have believed myself that my hearing has worsen in high frequenices over time. I used to remember be able to hear fire, burglar alarms and birds singing as a child. I have read up on meinere's diease, yes it does sound very very similar!:shock: Strange.

I worn my hearing aid the other day, because I had to take my DD2 for a speech therpy assesment. It wasn't too bad after all, I was afraid. The sounds do I hear from my aid are like uncomfortable echos like I am under water. Spoken to my doctor again he said ring the audiology dept and get my aid altered now to help me through to April, so I have made an appointment for next Tues to do this.

Hopefully I won't need to run my life on note pads and pens! :hmm: Thank you for helping. I like this community, people understand what I am going through.

I have already cut out caffeine, not approved anything. I will watch the food. There is no deaf community in my area it's in the next town and I don't drive. I do have some deaf friends from school days I talk to now and again.
 
There are profoundly Deaf people that suffer from Meniere's and some of them can be bed-ridden for several days because the effects are very bad.

A family friend has had Meniere's and the summers are the worst for her because of the temperature drops, if it is very humid; she has to stay indoor with the A/C cranked up high. When there is a severe drop in humidity ie a bad storm, she will throw up a lot. The rapid shift in temperature and humidity throws the inner ear balance off, it is not only hard for the sufferer but also hard for the whole family.

The whole family suffers together because as a parent, she is not able to provide meals or care for her children. Meniere's affects everyone. Tinnitus affects everyone, when I have a really bad day with tinnitus; this affects my husband as much as it affects me. My husband will be emotionally affected because he tries so hard to help me with my pain; he will make sure the room is very dark, provide me water and medication when I'm very moody or in between throwing up. My husband is my lifesaver.

I do not do well on airplanes too as well; I prefer the train or the car over airplanes.

If possible; do long term planning when it involves your holidays. You are supposed to enjoy your own holidays with your family too as well. If you are able to take the train or the bus or have the family drive together to your destination. Try having a van; a traveller bus/van. This will help you; a nuisance to others but this will help you and your headaches.

I learned the hard way and learned that advanced planning really helps me with my migraines when it comes to holidays.

You are right, this community is very supportive; people do understand and do not worry if you take your time to reply. If you are not well; take your time. Reply when you are well. Hang in there and take care, please.
 
:iobarf: Ugh.... I'm so sorry you're going through that. At this time, I'm soooo sick from my vertigo attacks. I keep getting attacks back-to-back for the last 2 weeks. It's horrible. When I started having them over 2 years ago, I went to an ENT, who gave me balance tests. He found my tests results quite bizarre and found that my brain is causing me have vertigo attacks, not my ears. :barf:

I'm seeing my neurologist on Tuesday. I hope I can make it. I don't want to go back to the E.R. The E.R. in my city is a joke because they keep giving me meds that I've tried before and don't work. Ugh. I feel really horrible. It makes my eyeballs hurt. :iobarf:
 
Ugh.. I feel for everyone who does not have a diagnosis that makes sense. I remember how many tests and doctors I saw till I finally got the meds I needed and we found out what was happening. Some days are so unbarable with Menieres. My worst attack lasted nearly 2 weeks of up and down, up and downs. You can still have Menieres even though you were born deaf. I do hope they find what it is when you go in. Also I see a Tinnitus expert at our University maybe they can set you up with an appointment if they have one there??

I feel for you all so much because I have been put out in bed medicated sometimes just to get past attacks... :( Hope you start to feel better... Also, with your diet try to stay away from sodium... it helps a lot.
 
Boy, I've learned a lot from this thread!...I, too have dizziness, balance problems and ear pressure.....infections a lot! Migraine headaches, painful eyes (I wear sunglasses outside, very dark ones).

My doctor (the last one I went to), told me the reason that I've had so many surgeries, that I needed to have my ears cleaned/drained every 4-6 months.....(due to wax build-up...whenever there is trauma to the ear(s), the wax does not expel naturally). I had it done 3 months ago, and the pressure subsided! I felt so much better. And will go again this Friday (26th) to have them cleaned/drained again. I'm already experiencing pressure, headaches and some drainage.
 
Could be Menieres or migraine associated vertigo (MAV). There is loads of info on both at Meniere's .org I would highly recommend going there and checking out the Living Room.

Bob
 
Back
Top