Your situation sounds like what I went through exactly! I am 46 years old and at the age of 42 I started losing my hearing very rapidly - at one point I had two hearing aids (BTE) but my hearing loss was so quick (I went from 30% hearing to 5% in a matter of months) the aids just did helps at all! I eventually lost all of my hearing during the night - the doctors have no explanation for it, no other reported cases for it, I didn't have a stroke, my nerves were fine, bones were fine, just completely deaf. After five months of insurance denials, I was FINALLY approved for bilateral CI's. In the meantime, I applied for disability and was rush approved because I lost all income and NO one wanted to hire me - NO ONE! I had paid into it for 25 years, loved my career and in a motter of months my career was ripped out from under me (as well as my self-esteem). I was told as long as I was 80% deaf or more I was automatically approved. I have looked for work in the meantime but I still cannot hear very well. The left implant does not work at all (constant noise), the right implant does not provide noise cancellation so I hear EVERYTHING. Implants were not the way to go. I get headaches, I'm constantly depressed, I'm a recluse, I have stinging, sharp pain, I can't hear, I rely very heavily on a notepad. I went through surgery for something that didn't work very well.