Steroid blast

It's been a week on the prednisone and I think there is some improvement. However slight and subjective. Tinnitus is slightly better (something I noticed is a fluctuation in the frequency of the ring-that's new). Vertigo has been controlled. Audio appt tomorrow and see the new doc in two days. I went on the new doc website, there was a contact us button and sent an email to my new Dr explaining my acute change. He wrote back the same day and got my initial appt moved up three weeks. Appreciate that.

Dr Hegarty

Desperate and scared that I am suffering more permanent damage to my hearing, I took a chance and called my old doc in CO. Surprisingly, he called me back personally. He was concerned that I might need a steroid injection in the ear but he agreed to fax an rx for prednisone. My own, unmeasured assessment of the hearing in my left ear is that it is at its worst. Constant, loud tinnitus and when I plug my right ear, I cannot hear any high freq. I'm really worried.

Instability

I've been following my diet well and drinking plenty of water and yet, I'm still having problems. I have had some brief episodes of motion sensitivity the last few weeks; mostly just a fleeting feeling of dizziness when I would change position. I always recovered in an instant. My tinnitus has been worse recently too; loud and high pitched. Today, I had a sudden onset of dizziness after turning my head. It lasted more than an instant and in fact, progressed to nausea. I sat at my desk for a few minutes but it wasn't passing so I took some meclizine. The med knocked me out for 30 minutes. My first ENT appt isn't for another two weeks. I hope I'm not losing ground w my hearing and vertigo.

Another Vertigo

I had some bad diet choices at work last week.  Pizza & baked treats.  It was a party at work and I skipped my home made salad for the goodies.  The next day, there was an open forum and the hospital provided more pizza.  By Thursday, I was spinning.  Standing next to someones desk and all of a sudden, the room shifted left, then right.  I had some prodromal symptoms of low energy and no appetite.  Thought I was getting a bug.  Didn't put those symptoms together until I had the vertigo.  
I had to sit down and conclude the meeting in a chair.   Limped back to my desk and popped the Meclizine. I was tired the rest of the day.    Flushing out with water and diuretics.
I was hoping to back off on the diuretics some but it doesn't seem like I will be able to.  My insurance is active now and I have an appt with my PCP next week, then I will get a referral to ENT.

Managing symptoms

Another trip, another exercise in diet control.   Flew out to NM to see Adam graduate from college.  Requested that the party food include something unsalted for me.  I think I did pretty well and made good choices.  Still, Sunday I was feeling a little dizziness, not anything disabling but more like I was starting to get a bug.  Decided to use the Meclizine.  I still had some trip to go and didn't want the symptoms to progress any further.  Monday & Tuesday, I noticed my hearing wasn't up to par.   Flushed out with lots of water, as usual.
Still have a couple of weeks before the insurance kicks in.  It will be weeks after that when I will be able to get into an ENT for my first visit here in SLO.     Hanging on.    Drinking a couple of liters a day to keep the Na always flushing out.

Dizziness

Had some intervals of vertigo yesterday. They only lasted a few seconds but came & went all day. No nausea, just a quick spin and then I was able to get it under control. Drank a lot of extra water and flushed. Improved by the end of the day and no symptoms today.

California

Relocated to the Central Coast this week. Traveling required some creative eating out. Tried to make good choices but the first breakfast, the omelet bar was dished out of a bowl of egg mix. It was probably out of a carton and high in sodium. We had a Bentu box for lunch. It was curry on rice. Thought I was ok. Next day, driving out of Vegas on the 15, I had a sudden attack of vertigo, just once. Driving a 20 ft truck at freeway speed and all of a sudden, the world shifts sideways and back again. Whoa! Pulled over quickly and drank a liter of water down. Took a meclizine. Not a whiff of symptoms since. Taking my double doses of diuretic and lots of h2o.
Arriving in Los Osos, Mom is in her social mode. Wants to put out Hor devours and have happy hour. She doesn't understand that I can't eat pickled asparagus, crackers and cheese. Annie is being a pain by telling everyone about my dietary restrictions. I'm hoping that when I start work and get into a routine, then my dietary habits won't be a topic for conversation.