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Date: | Mon, 23 Sep 2002 15:20:10 EDT |
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<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
I asked if anyone had been diagnosed with "autoimmune ear disease". The ear
doctor is testing me for it since I have celiac and have been losing hearing
in my left ear over the last few years. I believe the ear problem started
before my celiac diagnosis 6 years ago.
I heard from several people with hearing problems.
Only a couple had been diagnosed with "autoimmune ear disease". One person
told me that if you have rapid hearing loss from this disease, it may be
reversed with immediate high dose steroids. Mine is gradual. (I am not
interested in taking steroids unless it is for a short time and has a decent
chance of improving my ear.)
One person with hearing loss was diagnosed with Otosclerosis. It's a
hardening of the 3 small bones in the middle ear. She had surgery to replace
the stapes bone with a prosthesis and her hearing returned! (I have a niece
with this condition who, I believe, may be gluten intolerant also.)
I will be asking my doctor if this is possibly my problem. My doctor already
told me that he will be sending me to an ear neurologist if the blood tests
point toward the "autoimmune ear disease." He also said they had thought
both ears would be affected by this disease until recently. Now, they
believe it can affect only one ear. I finally looked at a couple of web
sites to learn more. One was at (rarediseases.com). I am guessing that,
like celiac disease, this is not a rare condition.
It is upsetting to think that I might have avoided this problem had I known
about cd decades ago. I had suffered from dh for over 30 years before
diagnosis. Oh, well! Most of us are in that same boat.
I will report back as I learn more.
Barb in Springfield, OH
*Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the Celiac List*
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