Shingles inside my left ear.

erniejade

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ramsay-hunt-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20351783


Thursday i had a lot of ear pain and then by mid day, my left side of my face started to go numb. . I went to urgent care and they sent me to the ER to make sure i was not having a stroke. It baffled both ER doctors and they called a specialist. They diagnosed me with Ramsey Hunt. I nor the ER doctors have ever heard of it. After a few days of Valtrex and high doses of steroids I am feeling better but, bass is almost non existent and the left ear i am having a hard time hearing out of. I still DJ a American Cancer Society gig Saturday afternoon and i actually had to ask folks if it sounds ok. Even behind 2 18" sub bins, i couldn't hear bass. I could feel it but couldn't hear it.

The docs did say there is a chance of permanent hearing dammage. Monday i see a specialist to hopefully prevent this from happening.

This was a crazy painful experience. It felt like a stabbing in my ear. I have seen Shingles before on the body and i understand what it is and how folks get it but never have heard or seen it inside the ear.

kharp1

I've never heard this before. I hope it clears up with no lingering issues.

erniejade

Thanks. Me as well. Since i am an audio nut, hearing loss would not be a good thing. Even when i DJ i usually put in custom molds ear plugs to protect my heating.

mhardy6647

oh, that sounds terrible!
My sincere condolences and sympathy; hope it clears reasonably swiftly and, as @kharp1 mentioned, without long-term consequences.

Emlyn

Just curious if you had the shingles vaccine? I have not, but I am getting to the age where I should think of getting it.

Good luck with your ears! Shingles is strange. I have friends who had just a little rash on their foreheads and barely noticed it but in the worst case a guy could not stand to put a shirt on for several weeks because it was all over his torso.

Come to think of it, Ramsey Hunt sounds like cockney rhyming slang for something.

GlennDog

That blows . . . Best of luck tomorrow, Brian.
I hope the specialist can help preserve your hearing. Prayers sent

VR3

That sounds awful man, hope they can bring everything back to normal

dolbyd

Wow that is truly awful. I sure hope it all heals.

I had a severe case of bells palsy on my left side 18 months ago. The nerves it affected go right through the ear from the brain.
I had muffled hearing and tinnitus from it. I can totally relate to your state of mind right now.
Those steroids are a trip. They sure caused me to have a short fuse with people. The DR. called it Roid Rage.

I am 90% better but it has taken some time. I still have some tinnitus but I can live with it.
Good luck with everything tomorrow.

steveinaz

Keep your fingers away from your eyes. Just sayin. My son nearly lost an eye, and has some permanent damage due to shingles migrating to the corner of his eye.

erniejade

Thanks all. My mom told me to see about the vaccine as well even though it says its for 60 and up. I am 51. At least it wasn't a stroke and because i have something called RRMS, they have many scans of my brain on file to rule the stoke easily.

So far no roid rage but, I am very warm and lets say more frisky then normal ( not a bad thing lol ) i wish i could have a longer dose of them actually!!

Life sometimes throws a few curveballs at us. Some crazy weird stuff that's for sure. At least i can say I stumped 2 ER doctors.


On Friday, my wife was shopping at a place called Shop N Save in Downers Grove and ran across this advertising inside the store. Blow up this picture. Besides the sale signs saying cheese shingles, the yellow sticker on the actual shelf says it also!

erniejade

indyhawg

I hope you recover fully soon. I have to admit I have never heard of Ramsey Hunt until reading your post. That sounds like a really terrible thing to have.

Mikey081057

Get well soon... hope your hearing is restored ASAP

Tony M

I'm also sorry to hear this.

I hope the specialist tomorrow gives you good news and hope.

I LIKE bass and to not be able to hear it would be a bad thing. But I listen to an old table radio in the bathroom almost every night and enjoy it.

But to have employment revolving around your hearing, that's kind-of a serious matter.

I wish you well!

dromunds

Get well soon, bro. I had the first shingles vaccine last summer at my annual physical and when I was due for the second shot a couple months later they said there was a nationwide shortage. I didn’t get it until like Feb. They had got one dose and I was first on the waiting list. They said it would still be effective. The vaccine was extremely hard to get all of a sudden. Check to see if that’s improved.

cfrizz

Sending best wishes in your direction.

DaveHo

Wow, that's a strange one. Hopefully no permanent damage. I can't imagine how concerned you must be.

Clipdat

Hey Brian, really sorry to hear about this. I was just thinking about you the other day and wondering if you were still loving those new big boy towers that you got.

I hope the specialist appointment tomorrow can help shed some light on the situation, and also next steps for treatment and recovery.

Hope you're able to keep your spirits up in this difficult time. Keep us updated and know that we are all here for you!

mrloren

Man that sucks. Hope you get better quick.

I had Shingles, was not fun almost lost my right eye. Yellow eye drops 5 times a day and a big bottle of pain meds.

Milito

Shingles is a terrible issue to have, good luck on your hearing and hopefully to a full and quick recovery.

The latest Shingles vaccine is now given in two shots. I have a very high drug tolerance and had no after effects with the first shot, but with the second I felt like I had the flu for a few days.

pitdogg2

Thank gowd it wasn't antibiotic resistant gonorrhea....

gmcman

Man...scary stuff...hope you recover fully from this. I just got over the shingles around the holidays....daggone..couldn't imagine that in my ear....yikes.

Praying you don't go through any pain and all things clear up with no long-term effects.

afterburnt

Man, that totally sucks! get better

erniejade

pitdogg2 wrote: »

Thank gowd it wasn't antibiotic resistant gonorrhea....

This is very true but, at least one is more fun to get.

Thanks everyone. Lets see what this doc has to say today.

lightman1

The Mighty B gave you cooties, Brian.

Jimbo18

Sorry to hear that. Sounds painful. And scary. Good luck.

mrbiron

I had a run in with shingles a couple years ago on my face, above left eye, and into my hairline over my left ear. Thought it was poison ivy until the pain was unbearable. Like stabbing forks into face bad. Was forced to make a trip the Dr’s to find out at 32yo that I had shingles.

All stress related. Don’t know what you have going on in your life, but you may want to take the time to re-evaluate. Good luck and let’s hope this is the only occurrence.

machone

I have thinking about your situation since yesterday. Wish I had more to add.
Just hang there.

verb

Take care Brian! Sorry to hear about this! The Mrs and I are thinking and praying for you! Speedy recovery brother! Amen!

mrloren

mrbiron wrote: »

I had a run in with shingles a couple years ago on my face, above left eye, and into my hairline over my left ear. Thought it was poison ivy until the pain was unbearable. Like stabbing forks into face bad. Was forced to make a trip the Dr’s to find out at 32yo that I had shingles.

All stress related. Don’t know what you have going on in your life, but you may want to take the time to re-evaluate. Good luck and let’s hope this is the only occurrence.

My ordeal with the shingles was in 02. started just under my right eye went over the top of my head to the back of my neck. The pain was very bad. First time I saw the doc he told me I have shingles "you'll get over it" 3 days later I was in ER. I told them how bad the pain was and I couldn't see out of my right eye. The pumped an IV in me with some pain killer keeping me for a few days. Started the yellow eye drops which with the pain meds was kind of groovy. Left the hospital after a stay with this huge bottle of Darvocet and a small bottle of something else. I only took one of the small bottle then tossed it.

In the end took a month to get over most of it. pain was on and off for 6 months after.

The docs said it was from too much stress. I was working between 60 to 72 hours a week (5:30pm to 5:30am) going to school taking 9 to 12 units and trying to be a dad to two small kids. Yeah I think I had a tad of stress.

I still have scars on my forehead and my right eye blurs at times. Maybe once every few months I'll get the knife stab headache, a few alive and it's gone.

Only good thing to come of it was I went from 250lb to 190lb in 4 months.

Hope you get better soon.

Joey_V

Heard of it and took care of patients with Ramsay Hunt. A subset of shingles.

In time, hopefully you make a full recovery.