Say WHAT?!!!!!!

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Captainkirk

Captainkirk

Old School Mopar Warrior
Joined
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Northern IL
...umm, yeah. That's right. 'Cuz I can't hear you....
A week ago Friday, right smack-dab in the middle of the day at work, the hearing in my left ear went "poof" and all I got now is white noise and ringing/squealing/shrieking....i.e. tinnitus. Been to the ER, did nothing, been to an ENT specialist who started me on prednisone. They think possible viral infection. But bottom line is, can't hear a freakin' thing out of that ear.
Scares the hell outta me......
A little internet research shows sudden hearing loss (SHL) can occur for a variety of reasons, but chances of recovery, even with steroids (such as prednisone) are only about 60%, typically. Not makin' me a happy camper, folks.
Anyone else ever have this happen, and what were the results?
 
Sorry to hear about this. If there's an infection involved around your head (brain), don't mess around with it. Just got my wife out of a week stay in the hospital. Simple sinus infection that found its way to the eye socket. Doctors freaked out. If your issue is caused by an infection,(and I'd have them run some blood tests to find out) don't take it lightly. I hope everything works out for you and your hearing returns to normal. Would be a shame not to hear a 340 in stereo.
 
I could write a book about it. I have very severe tinnitus.....and every single other symptom that goes along with it. Was involved in an explosion that was a practical joke.
 
Damn buddy, sorry about that. Hope you get it taken care of!!
 
Ben Drinkin said:
Sorry to hear about this. If there's an infection involved around your head (brain), don't mess around with it. Just got my wife out of a week stay in the hospital. Simple sinus infection that found its way to the eye socket. Doctors freaked out. If your issue is caused by an infection,(and I'd have them run some blood tests to find out) don't take it lightly. I hope everything works out for you and your hearing returns to normal. Would be a shame not to hear a 340 in stereo.
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Sorry to hear about your wife...hopefully she's making a full recover?
The ER ran a CBC (complete blood count) and a CT scan, everything normal. ENT specialist wants to run an MRI if the prednisone doesn't help.


Louie70Dart said:
Damn buddy, sorry about that. Hope you get it taken care of!!
Click to expand...
Time will tell. Have to wait a week or so to see if the steroids do their thing.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I could write a book about it. I have very severe tinnitus.....and every single other symptom that goes along with it. Was involved in an explosion that was a practical joke.
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Tell me a little bit about it?

Frankie said:
!!!!!! Geez! Sorry, man!
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Thanks, Frankie. Hope you are dealing with all the issues with your sister OK. You will get through it, but it will never be the same. Stay strong.
 
Captainkirk said:
Tell me a little bit about it?



Thanks, Frankie. Hope you are dealing with all the issues with your sister OK. You will get through it, but it will never be the same. Stay strong.
Click to expand...

It was very stupid.

Guy in the stall at the last place I worked for was a big comedian. Always doin stuff to people. His biggest prank was to catch someone in the bathroom. It was REAL small. Only room enough to stand in front of the toilet or sit and there was a sink. NO room for anything else.

He would take a can of the very flammable brake cleaner and spray fire under the crack of the door. Whoever was on the toilet would get a face full of fire.

Last time he did it they "threatened" to fire him.

Well, we were slow and being a commissioned mechanic, I always stuck my nose in a book.....tech manual and the like catchin up on the latest stuff.

Unbeknownst to me, he was working on an air bomb to scare me. He made it out of an empty anti freeze jug. Drilled a hole in the lid and screwed an air fitting in it and put a dead air hose on it and slid it about 3 or so feet away from my right ear.

He turned the air on and Lemmie tell you. If you've never heard one go off, it will shake an entire building. Sounds like a truck tire explosion. You'd never expect such a noise.

My right ear was instantly deaf and ringing and I got up and hit the floor because the whole shop was spinning.

I have been bounced back and forth to every major ENT specialist in 6 southeast states and they cannot do anything.

My tinnitus was measured then (although subjective) at 8K hertz and 200 decibels. Much like a jet engine on takeoff. I have that in my right ear 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Now it is also involving my left ear as well.

I have associated memory loss, balance function issues, bouts of confusion, constant headaches and on and on and on. Even had unsuccessful surgery on my inner ear.

I have been diagnosed with a damaged fistula, nerve damage between my inner ear and brain and even mild brain damage from it. It basically ruined the life I had before the incident.

The best I feel is like I am on an inner tube on water. But every now and then I fall for no reason. I have even fallen out of the dining room chair right on the floor, so I always try to sit in a chair with arms.

I cannot stay on my feet long. The hot summer aggravates everything. Kitty can be sitting next to me on the loveseat so close that our legs touch and I am still constantly asking her to repeat herself.

I had a "noise cancelling" hearing aid that I used that masked it by picking up the sounds in that range I was missing, but through the years it has progressively gotten so much worse, that the hearing aid no longer helps.

And people around here wonder why I am grumpy. You go back and reread all those symptoms. You'd be grumpy too.

I hope yours goes away. Sometimes it does, but it's very rare and there is no cure or really any treatment. Good luck and God bless.
 
Damn Rusty, I hope you sued the guy, or at least punched him the face.

That really sucks, some dumbass playing jokes on people and ruining peoples lives. Guy should have been fired, and maybe thrown in jail for a spell.
I have no tolerance for a-holes that play that kinda crap at work, or anywhere else.

I wish you the best, but I know that has so suck.
 
March 20th 2000.....that's the day I lost 77% of the hearing in my left ear, probably from the Pattys day gig 3 days before! Replaced by a constant ringing!!! At first, everything was amplified, and not in a good way! Whenever I entered a room with people talking and other noises present, I had an overwhelming feeling of sound compounded by ringing that made me have to leave the room!! Yes, they did the prednisone thing with me, which completely messed me up, it played havoc on my entire nervous system, and constipated me to no end! I'm not one to take any medication, and the prednisone was like a flood of medication to my system that completely messed me up, and did no good to boot!!

It's been 15 years now, and the ringing hasn't diminished a bit, but I've gotten so used to it now that I hardly notice it! Every now and again it will change pitch, and aggravate me like biting down on tinfoil with fillings in your teeth, but most of the time I don't even notice anymore!! Hope you fare better than I have, being a musician, it really makes it hard to hear all of the other members of the group individually, sort of all blends together!! Geof
 
MileHighDart said:
Damn Rusty, I hope you sued the guy, or at least punched him the face.

That really sucks, some dumbass playing jokes on people and ruining peoples lives. Guy should have been fired, and maybe thrown in jail for a spell.
I have no tolerance for a-holes that play that kinda crap at work, or anywhere else.

I wish you the best, but I know that has so suck.
Click to expand...


I got nothing from him or the company. In fact, they kept sending me a bill for the 12 months after the injury I was out of work, that they had to continue insurance coverage on me.

Also, they fired the guy, but hired him right back at a different location. But now, he has a big time job at the local air force base while I can basically do nothing that I could before. People wonder why I am jaded. There you go.
 
Sorry CaptainKirk. I didn't mean to make this about me. But there's a LOT to the story.......and you did ask.
 
When we are young we think that there is a big S on are chest. I did a lot of dove hunting in my youth with out hearing protection. I also did a lot of boating and water skiing in lakes in S Fla that had a bunch of bad stuff in the water. I always battled ear infection in my left ear and have about 50% hearing loss and terrible ring in that ear. A few years ago I yawned and felt like someone stabbed me in right ear with an ice pick and could not hear **** out of that ear. Went to MD and she said I blew a hole in my ear drum. Hurt like hell for a few weeks and healed up and I got hearing back in my right ear. I don''t know how old you are but protect your ears because when you get old like me it sucks to have hearing loss and balance issues. I hope pred works and you get full hearing back. As said don't take this lightly as stuff around your brain can get serious in a hurry. I will keep you in my prayers
 
Thanks for the kind words and prayers, fellers. Rusty...I had no idea. That guy at least deserves to be wearing dentures for the rest of his life. Have you considered filing civil suit charges against him? Just because you didn't end his miserable rat-**** life when you should have doesn't give him the right to walk away scot-free as if he'd done nothing. Crap like that really pisses me off. He should be paying your mortgage and bills out of a court-ordered award.
I'm serious. Getest ye a damn good attorney and rock his world like he did yours. Getting fired and re-hired is not enough. People need to be held accountable.
As far as me...well, I'll just ride this one out and see what happens. Not lookin' too good at the moment. And, yes I'm a musician too, so this double-sucks.
 
Thanks. But, first off, I am not a litigious person. Secondly, we were friends before that happened. Pretty good friends. He was not lookin to hurt anyone, only make me soil my pants. There was no malice on his part whatsoever. So, I cannot hate him or wish him any ill will. That's not who I am.

Kitty, on the other hand is not forgiving in the matter. She made the trip the following week to tell him that he better hope to God almighty that she never ran into him in any situation without witnesses, and she's not kidding. She would blow his brains out. She's seen all that I have been through and go through on a regular basis, day in and day out.

Besides my wonderful forgiving spirit, it's been too long for any of that. Statute of limitations has long run out. Besides, he has a nice wife and a beautiful family. I could not live with myself if I ruined any of that for him, like he did for me. Again, regardless of my rough around the edges persona, it's just not who I am.

I figure in the end, God will have vengeance. He tells us he will.
 
Captainkirk said:
Thanks for the kind words and prayers, fellers. Rusty...I had no idea. That guy at least deserves to be wearing dentures for the rest of his life. Have you considered filing civil suit charges against him? Just because you didn't end his miserable rat-**** life when you should have doesn't give him the right to walk away scot-free as if he'd done nothing. Crap like that really pisses me off. He should be paying your mortgage and bills out of a court-ordered award.
I'm serious. Getest ye a damn good attorney and rock his world like he did yours. Getting fired and re-hired is not enough. People need to be held accountable.
As far as me...well, I'll just ride this one out and see what happens. Not lookin' too good at the moment. And, yes I'm a musician too, so this double-sucks.
Click to expand...

I didn't realize you were a musician as well. So am I. I have to say that except for playing around the house now, this has ruined any chance I ever had of playing with anyone in any band. I have tried with the neighbor across the street several times. I cannot hear myself play, so I am done. I have tried headphones, but then I cannot hear others play. It's really sad. It was not like that at first, but over the years it has continually gotten worse to the point of where it is now.

I still write music though, so I guess that's something. I really hope you recover. Trust me when I say it's not something you want permanently.
 
Double damn! Yeah, you took it bad, Rusty.
I haven't played since it happened...probably could, but not in the mood, if ya know what I mean.
Sorry to hear about this guy being one of your friends. Makes it worse. But it doesn't excuse him from his responsibility of messing up your life. You run over a kid in the street, think the courts are gonna tell you to get on with your bid'ness? Not likely. If he was REALLY a friend, you would know it. And as far as the statutes...I doubt they apply in this sort of instance. But, well..I understand where you're coming from. My hat's off to you. You're a better man than he. I salute you for it.
 
RustyRatRod said:
It was very stupid.

Guy in the stall at the last place I worked for was a big comedian. Always doin stuff to people. His biggest prank was to catch someone in the bathroom. It was REAL small. Only room enough to stand in front of the toilet or sit and there was a sink. NO room for anything else.

He would take a can of the very flammable brake cleaner and spray fire under the crack of the door. Whoever was on the toilet would get a face full of fire.

Last time he did it they "threatened" to fire him.

Well, we were slow and being a commissioned mechanic, I always stuck my nose in a book.....tech manual and the like catchin up on the latest stuff.

Unbeknownst to me, he was working on an air bomb to scare me. He made it out of an empty anti freeze jug. Drilled a hole in the lid and screwed an air fitting in it and put a dead air hose on it and slid it about 3 or so feet away from my right ear.

He turned the air on and Lemmie tell you. If you've never heard one go off, it will shake an entire building. Sounds like a truck tire explosion. You'd never expect such a noise.

My right ear was instantly deaf and ringing and I got up and hit the floor because the whole shop was spinning.

I have been bounced back and forth to every major ENT specialist in 6 southeast states and they cannot do anything.

My tinnitus was measured then (although subjective) at 8K hertz and 200 decibels. Much like a jet engine on takeoff. I have that in my right ear 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Now it is also involving my left ear as well.

I have associated memory loss, balance function issues, bouts of confusion, constant headaches and on and on and on. Even had unsuccessful surgery on my inner ear.

I have been diagnosed with a damaged fistula, nerve damage between my inner ear and brain and even mild brain damage from it. It basically ruined the life I had before the incident.

The best I feel is like I am on an inner tube on water. But every now and then I fall for no reason. I have even fallen out of the dining room chair right on the floor, so I always try to sit in a chair with arms.

I cannot stay on my feet long. The hot summer aggravates everything. Kitty can be sitting next to me on the loveseat so close that our legs touch and I am still constantly asking her to repeat herself.

I had a "noise cancelling" hearing aid that I used that masked it by picking up the sounds in that range I was missing, but through the years it has progressively gotten so much worse, that the hearing aid no longer helps.

And people around here wonder why I am grumpy. You go back and reread all those symptoms. You'd be grumpy too.

I hope yours goes away. Sometimes it does, but it's very rare and there is no cure or really any treatment. Good luck and God bless.
Click to expand...

I worked with a guy that did that same shyt with an a/f jug, if you were working on a rocker or down low he would slide it under the car from the other side then turn the air back on at the wall and walk away, sound like gas tank exploding. He set one in motion just as the human resources girl entered the bay door. After she composed herself she fired him on the spot. Good riddance. We were all happy. Some don't know when to quit. Sorry to hear about you guys hearing issues.
 
Tinnitus is definitely a real drag. I hope yours improves or goes away. I've had it for 10 years or so, and I miss out on a lot. Constant ringing in both ears, sometime so loud I can't understand what people are saying. If I'm in a room with lots of people talking, and someone right next to me says something, I can't understand them.

The SHL, I've not experienced, so I can't help ya there, I hope I never do have to deal with it.
 
I developed tinnitus out of the blue about a year ago. Most of the time I can tune it out, but it's extremely annoying....:banghead: I'm able to get 1 day of relief after visiting an acupuncturist, but that doesn't justify the $$ spent, so I just live with it.

Captain, I hope yours is not permanent :prayer:

Rusty, that story of yours is absolutely appalling....Sorry to read :(
 
RustyRatRod said:
I have tried headphones, but then I cannot hear others play.
Click to expand...

Hey Rusty - if you mic everybody, you could mix up a 'monitor mix' (like when you're on stage) and pump that into the headphones - with some tweaking, maybe you can fix it so you can hear yourself and everybody else?
 
64DartGTinAZ said:
Hey Rusty - if you mic everybody, you could mix up a 'monitor mix' (like when you're on stage) and pump that into the headphones - with some tweaking, maybe you can fix it so you can hear yourself and everybody else?
Click to expand...

Sounds possible, but nobody I know has anything to make it happen.....and we cannot afford it.

Now in a totally unmiked acoustic session, it is a different story. I am ok.
 
Sorry to hear about all the loss of hearing, hope it gets better somehow. I once had a prankster bring a large bubble wrap bubble from behind me, right next to my ear drum and pop it. I turned around, not knowing who it was and landed one on his nose, just pure reaction. From the sounds of it I guess I should feel lucky because it was temporary pain/ringing. Getting out of the Navy I was asked a lot about ringing in the ears, figured it was because they knew I worked on the flight deck some...I didn't know how much this could mess a guy up. Again, good luck, hope it straightens out.
 
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