Unilateral tinnitus, hearing loss and severe vertigo, I am really worried

[DecayingRelic]

Hi , anyone had these symptoms? I am scared, probably should not be googling, but I am suffering from these, I am waiting an ENT referral but had to attend Urgent Care the other day as I lost all my balance, I could not even sit up in bed, and when finally managed to get up, the room is moving and I have to hold onto the walls. I am at home now, taking Prochlorperazine until I see the ENT, not sure how long a wait that will be. I am able get up and about now so I am sure the medication is helping, but I cannot bend down, if I do I fall over.

I have had the one sided tinnitus for about a year I think, it is a constant hiss, so I had a hearing test and there is hearing loss in both ears but more on the tinnitus side, I am 54

Obviously Dr Google tells me it an acoustic neuroma! wonder what else it can be? Urgent Care did mention ?BPPV

Anyone got any ideas? Thanks

When I first got vertigo for the first time it came on very like yours. I also have tinnitus and hearing loss and a similar age.

The end result was that they thought it was an ear infection that I’d had that had damaged my ear but they never really knew the cause. I still get odd bouts of it now but they’re not as bad as the first time I got it. Just be careful with yourself until you can get your referral appointment. And try not to worry

Thank you

Its hard not to google and worry! I have not had any infections that I am aware of, not even had a cold for ages. I just hope the wait is not too long.

I had similar, so I sympathise - it is absolutely awful.

Mine turned out to be Menieres disease, the loss of hearing on one side was the big clue for the docs there, along with tinnitus and pressure in the ear. There is no specific treatment although rest (can't do much else!), anti nausea/sickness, and vertigo meds do help. I am absolutely fine now and although I get the odd period of wooziness, it is hardly noticeable after having the real deal.

Yours may not be Menieres, but I just thought I'd mention it anyway.

It could be many, many things so try not to take dr google as a diagnosis just yet. ENT will likely order an MRI as symptoms are one sided so try not to worry if this happens. You could try the Epley manoeuvre exercises to help ease the impact of the vertigo but make sure you’re in a safe space as it will instigate dizziness.
As an aside, if it is an AN they are slow growing and usually prescribed a watch and wait approach so try not to panic about this possibility!

Sounds like Menieres, my aunt had this quite badly and went through the same symptoms you describe

yes, I have read about Menieres, but don't think that I have pressure in ears, not sure what that would feel like, but if I had it, I suppose that I would know. There is no wax or anything in there, they have been checked.

Far too scared to try any exercises on my own, might make it worse, I somehow bent over the other day and it took me 4 hours to be able to get up off the bed and regain some equilibrium, the bloody walls were bouncing all over the place, hideous

Could be Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss. Please go to A&E today to get checked OP, ideally you need to see an ENT to rule this out. If not treated within the first 3 days (but ideally sooner) the chances of the hearing loss and tinnitus becoming permanent are very high. A course of oral steroids ASAP is the only known treatment. DD (20) had it back in May - my regret is listening to GPs/audiologists (who all said Menieres, which was wrong!) and being fobbed off for 5 days until I finally made a private ENT appointment for her. She likely would have had a much better outcome if we hadn’t have waited.

This has happened to my husband just this week. 111 sent him to a&e, final diagnosis BPPV. He's had no colds or infections for months. He had been given the Epley exercises to do aswell by a&e so maybe consider them. Hope it clears up soon for you.

How are you now @DecayingRelic ?

I have Ménière's disease. The pressure you get in your ears with menieres is like when your ears need to pop when on a plane/high up. But you can't get them to pop. You'd know if you have increased pressure.

Definitely try to do the epley manoeuvre as it may just be crystals in your ears which have dislodged. The tinnitus may be a red herring.

Hope you don't have a long wait for ENT, as a pp says they will probably request an mri to discount things. The waiting list is 24 weeks at my local hospital.

Good luck.

Mine was diagnosed as a vestibular injury and vestibular migraine. I think hormones play a part too. Staying hydrated really helps. I thought I probably had an acoustic neuroma but an mri said not. My ENT was disinterested. I hope yours is better. Two years on I am not right but a lot better.

I have Meniere’s as well. Sounds very much like it to me, even if you don’t have the pressure (yet). I’ve had it for 23 years, it started with hearing loss only (one sided) and the vertigo didn’t actually start until 20 years later. I still don’t really get tinnitus, at least not badly. My point being: not every case is textbook. If I were you I’d see an ENT (better even a neurotologist (not neurologist!)), and potentially a balance/vestibular specialist too. Good luck!

I suspect I have VM as well, in addition to Meniere’s. May I ask if your hearing was affected at all?

Has anyone mentioned Menieres to you? Vertigo, tinitus and hearing loss are the main symptoms.
I've had it for 10 years + but with long periods of remission from the vertigo. I do have constant tinnitus and sometimes it flares up more as well as some hearing loss (although this has been stable for ages).
I have been signed off from ENT for now, but I am to contact them if it gets worse again and my consultant will see me without a referral from the GP. Not on any meds now but I was on betahistine for a few years and it did help initially. I stopped about a year ago and havent' had an attack of vertigo since.

BPPPV is very different from Menieres as it's to do with crystals in your and the Epley disloges them. It's brought on by movement but Menieres isn't - it's fluid in the inner ear.

When I had this it was a vestibular migraine. They last about 5 days each time.

@naliny my hearing is muffled in one ear and I have trouble distinguishing words. The odd thing is my hearing tests are always fine. My ENT consultant said it is a form of tinnitus not hearing loss so that’s why he doesn’t think it’s menieres.

Could it be labyrinthitis?

DH's Menieres took 2 years to be diagnosed and he was unable to work for most of that time. As soon as he had a diagnosis and a prescription it was very easily controlled and managed. Please consider going private with these symptoms. The NHS was terrible.

My money’s on Meniere’s. Not everyone gets sensation if pressure/fullness. Only an ENT can advise though, but if I were you I’d be getting a referral to an ENT who sub-specialises in Meniere’s, all know about it but some are way more familiar with it and other vestibular disorders and their treatments than others.

Thanks everyone,

I am much the same, although the medication is helping and I can get up and about, cannot bend over or turn quickly.

I am not sure about Menieres, from what I have read it is hearing loss in low to medium frequencies, mine is the high frequencies more on the left, left sided tinnitus, no nausea or ear fullness/pressure. and Menieres attack can last up to 24 hours according to Dr Google, I have been like this continuously for one week today.

BUT, I am not a doc so I need to just keep taking the meds and wait for my appointment and try not to worry! easier said than done😬

If you have a wait to the appointment and you have had migraines before, you could try your migraine medication or get sumatriptan over the counter if you don’t have any.

The epley manoeuvre can fix the vertigo. If you read up on it, it's possible to do it yourself at home.

The vertigo I have with menieres lasts about six hours but the feeling of general dizziness and visual lag can last up to a week after an attack. Like you, I have hearing loss in only the high frequencies, but it can take many years of having menieres before low frequency hearing loss is evident.

My dh suffers with regular bppv, his first response is to do the epley manoeuvre. It sometimes can stop a vertigo attack in its tracks. It's all to do with the crystals floating about in your ear.

bit of an update

Managed to reduce the Prochlorperazine to 2 tablet per day, not too bad when up and about but tend to fall over/into the toilet when I get up😁

Got an MRI booked for January
had some assessment tests done, (think that I failed some of them, standing with eyes closed/marching on the spot with eye shut)

just waiting on result/report now I guess🤔