Pretty sure now
I have done a lot of reading (about both CAPD AND AN/AD) since I last posted to this thread. A local ENT diagnosed me with SNLH and (accompanying) tinnitus. I looked up the specific diagnostic code (for the SNHL) and (according to that system) CAPD is excluded. People with AN/AD almost always have trouble hearing (understanding) in background noise. People with CAPD may or may not, since there are different sub-types. (According to what I read, anyway.) Also, I have read (from several sources) that hearing aids DO NOT HELP with CAPD. However, hearing aids may or may not help someone with AN/AD. Mine DO help. Significantly. Also, I did some "digging" into the subject of "ototoxic" medications. I discovered that not one or two, but SEVERAL of the medications I have taken in the past can cause tinnitus and/or hearing loss in a small number of people. I have become much more "proactive" about knowing the possible "risks" of any and all medications I may choose to take (even OTCs). I pretty much know which (additional) tests I would need to "pinpoint" WHY I have SNHL, but I don't know if my insurance would pay for them.
A local audiolologist believes that my hearing is "stable," and recommended that I be rechecked in two years. Bearing all these things in mind, I have decided, what is done is done. There is no sense in agonizing over something that cannot be reversed. I have decided to focus on maximizing the use of what hearing I DO have, and getting on with my life. I have found a possible source of improving my understanding in background noise. It is a software program called LACE, sometimes used for "aural rehabilitation" by (first-time) hearing aid users. I may look into buying one of the "home" versions, when I find a good price on the net. I have found some very useful "communication strategies" in books from local libraries and a second-hand bookstore. I even occasionally laugh at the things I THINK I hear people saying. Keeping a sense of humor helps tremendously.
