will hearing come back?

[tschock]

I have a very nasty problem. My ENT no longer sees patients with Meniere's.
About 3 months ago I developed pneumonia...from there,of course,I developed a sinus infection...not a good thing when you have Meniere's Disease!!
I have flushed my sinuses to no end...they are mostly cleared out now...just traces remain.
On December 24th,with a full house of people,I suddenly went deaf in my right ear. There was a loud pop accompanied by the most severe ear pain I have ever felt,followed by emptiness and loss of hearing.
I have always known that I would go deaf some day because of the Meniere's,but I didn't know that it could happen this way. Like I mentioned above,my ENT no longer sees me. I always assumed that the hearing would go slowly...or something.
Of course I'm now sitting here popping Serc like it's going out of style...although I would rather not, I have no idea as to what else to do.
Both ears are filled,popping...nausea,vertigo...and I have a nine month old to take care of. The local doctors at the walk in clinic know nothing about this disease and I can't find a Meniere support group or ENT that will take me.
Has anyone else gone through this? Will the hearing come back?
Is there a way to drain my ears at home? They have been "filled" for the past 3 months...and because the local docs don't understand the disease they refuse to do anything about it. Ride it out is all they say.
Those of you with the disease...especially ones with young children,can understand my frustration I'm sure.
I'm at the point now where I just want to stick a pencil in my ear and burst the darn eardrum...no worries...I'm not ready to die..therefore I wouldn't do anything so rash...but you know what I mean.
I just want my life back.
I have heard of a technique where you sit on a bed and slam your head down (or something )to shift the "crystals" back into place. Anyone else know of this?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanx

[Tom1977]

Do you have allergies?  Have you ever tried allergy shots?

[Nancy T]

Sorry to hear about your problems. The canalith ("crystals") repositioning maneuver to which you are referring (a.k.a. the Epley manuever) only works for a specific type of vertigo called benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV).

It seems strange that you cannot find an ENT who will treat you. They cannot cure your disease, but you should have some expert who will follow you and deal with problems as best they can.

Look for specialists in your area at the Web sites of the American Neurotology Society and/or the Vestibular Disorders Association. It would probably be worth traveling a ways to see a real specialist. Clearly, you need an ENT who SPECIALIZES in the ear (an otologist or neuro-otologist, also spelled neurotologist).

Sudden hearing loss should be considered a medical emergency, although by now yours has been going on so long they might not consider it so. Find an otologist/neurotologist, call their office right away, and explain that you experienced a sudden hearing loss.

There is a very knowledgeable bunch of people on the Meniere's Discussion Group (MDG) at Yahoo Groups.

Best of luck!