At the beginning of last year - that 2010 - I started to blurred vision in my left eye. It wasn't constant but persistant enough to drive me nuts due to the fact that I relied on my vision to compensate for my hearing loss. I naturally went to the doctors who referred me to the eye specialist who came to the conclusion that all test were inconclusive and I was sent away without treatment.
Not being satisfied with this I went in search for a treatment myself and in the end came to the conclusion the most likely cause was pressure on my optic nerve and subsquently found out that the treatment for this was steriods. After looking online I went to http://www.goldphama.com/ were I could purchase Prednisolon easily enough.
While first taking the steriods this unexpectedly also caused my hearing to improve! I came to the conclusion - due to the fact that I was also suffering from cold like symptoms (stuffed up nose, feeling run down etc) - that there was swelling, also, in my inner ear, caused by food in some way. The steriods also helped to reduce various aches and pains I'd been feeling for a long time, in my neck, back and sides - which had previously been put down to a whiplash injury I'd incurred during a road traffic accident some years previously.
Adding up other symptoms - mostly those associated the diabeties - accessive tiredness, lathary, needing the loo all the time feeling constantly thirsty I came to the conclusion that I was 'perhaps' suffering' some form of slow moving form of diabeties that wasn't yet recognised by the doctors. I'd been tested for diabeties but test result proved to be negative. Not satisfied with this I bought myself a blood sugar monitor and found out that my blood sugar level tended to stay higher than they should (between 5.8 and 8) and never returned to normal (if we regard absolute normal as 5). This is a British measurement and will vary according to which type of monitor you buy and where you live so you might have to do your own research into the relevant equivant to this.
I decided to treat myself with insulin to make my blood sugar levels come down to between 4.5 and 5.4 two hours after I'd eaten. Please read the comments left by the UK Hearing Research Team and those of Long Island CA as they already understood that there is some kind of connection between diabeties, raised blood sugar levels and inner ear hearing loss.
It took me many months of self experimention to get the measurements right and I would warn anyone who wishes to use insulin to reduce their blood sugar levels to do so with caution. I found injecting between 12 and 14 units was enough depending on what you eat. Different types of food would cause my blood sugar levels to raise and stay there so keeping a food diary could help to understand which foods do this to you also.
I managed to maintain a slow but steady hearing gain during last year but being an impatient person I felt that the gain wasn't happening fast enough and also (which the insulin was reducing my blood sugar levels) I was still suffering from the effects.
In November I decided to try the offical diabetic diet of only eating foods that contained 2g of sugar or less. Again this produced a short term hearing gain but didn't significantly reduce the shortness of breath and tiredness I felt after eating. By this time I realised that while I felt better in the mornings I would start to feel bad again within 30-45 minutes after eating and by lunchtime (after eating) I was ready to go back to bed again).
In December I decided to cut all synthetic sugar out of my diet (that's the cane and beat variety) and started to feel much better. My blood sugar levels dropped like a stone and I found I didn't need to use the insulin anymore. Totally convinced now that this type of sugar was the cause of all my misery I swore myself off it and stopped monitoring my blood sugar levels.
I returned to have my hearing testing in February 2011 and much to my surprise and disappointment I found out that my hearing had stopped gaining and even got worse in some levels.
Totally dumpfounded for a while I wondered what else I could possibly do? I religiously tried to eat only 'whole' foods and stick to the absolute Recommended Daily Amounts doctors tell us we need to be healthy. After three months I started to feel ill again with my hearing regressing!
Finally I'd realised that everytime I'd radically altered my diet I'd got a short term hearing gain but wasn't able to maintain it. I have also receive comments from those of you who have read my post on various site that this is also the cause with many of you.
So what is there to do next? It was time to take a plunge!
With nothing to loose I pigged out on a load of sugary food, monitoring my sugar levels all the time and treating myself with insulin if my levels didn't return to normal after to hours. Much to my surprise this caused my hearing to improve again.
After giving this some thought I put myself on diet that included sugar (the cane and beat variety) with each meal. By doing this I've found I can control my blood sugar levels and keep them within 4.5 and 5.5 (British measurements) two hours after eating. Please see my Food and Diet page for more details. I'm hoping the hearing gain will follow!
I have kept a detailed diary of all the medications, methods and reasons for trying what I've tried over the last eighteen months which I will continue with. If you would like a copy of this diary (for whatever reason) please make a donation at www.paypal.com using my e-mail address dawnshearingnow@googlemail.com and I'll send you a copy :-)
