Yes, allergies do affect my hearing.

About ten days ago, my hearing changed. It sounded like Darth Vader was on my left shoulder and if I was somewhere with background noise, like a grocery store, it sounded like there was a train passing very near by. After posting what I was experiencing here on Hearing Journey, I took Kim and Evelyn's advise and made an appointment with my audiologist which I had yesterday.

There is some history leading up to this change and it answers some questions about why this had not come up before. I got my second implant a year ago on 10/10/2007 and was hooked-up on 10/17/2007, so I have had regular mappings this past year. Also, last fall, I decided I wanted to make some healthy changes and getting off of the allergy medication that I was taking every day was one of them along with some dietary changes. I managed to stop taking Claritin every day and did not use allergy medication for the rest of the winter, spring and this recent summer. About two weeks ago, I began having allergy symptoms and I was in need of relief, so I started taking Claritin again to get through this season. About four days after I started taking the medication, my hearing changed dramatically to what I described above. I continued to take the Claritin and I saw Dr. Gifford yesterday. When I gave her my allergy history and the changes I was experiencing, she said that normally this would have confused her, but she had just come back from a seminar where this was one of the subjects that was discussed. She said there have been cases of people with cochlear implants complaining of their hearing changing - enough to complain about it - when they have colds or allergies or are taking medications that treat colds or allergies. When you bypass most of what makes a person hear, you wonder how can this be? It has to do with the proximity of the electrode to our cochlea and the cochlea membranes can fluctuate when we have allergies, colds or take medication to relieve symptoms from these conditions.

We went ahead and went through the mapping process. We made some changes, but nothing really big. It was hard to get rid of all of the echoing sound. Also, my audiologist was concerned that when I get through this allergy season, I might not like these current maps, but if that is the case, we will adjust them again.

This morning, I again took Claritin and because my face was still hurting I also took Sudafed and Ibuprofen. With the added decongestant, things were sounding a bit better. I decided to keep a journal about the medication I'm taking and how things sound.

I'm not exactly sure what I'm allergic to. I live in Southern Minnesota and when we go to our cabin which is about 250 miles north, I usually feel better. Whatever it is, it comes out in the fall.

I am frustrated and I hope I will be able to get my hearing back to where it was before this started.

Changes or Allergies?

For about a week now, my hearing has been different. I suffer from seasonal allergies and they really flared up about ten days ago and I had to start taking medication for some relief. A few days after I started taking the allergy medicine, my hearing started to sort of echo, mostly in the lower tones. Sometimes it is so bad that is sounds like I have Darth Vader talking behind me and if I'm in a store or a place where there is a lot of background noise, it sounds like there is a train rumbling through.

I have an appointment for a mapping coming up this week. I'm looking forward to seeing my audiologist. I don't know if the allergies have anything to do with how I'm hearing or if I just need a new map. It is one year this week since I got my second implant, so it could very well be my hearing is still changing and adjusting. I kind of hope it is not the allergies, because if my reactions can change my hearing this much, it might be challenging to figure out how to adjust for that much fluctuation. But, if necessary, adjust I will because that is what we do!