2. Documented improvement in hearing by audiogram after 30 days of treatment with high dose prednisone 40-60 mg/d. Improvement is defined by 10 dB improvement in pure tone average (500-3000 dB) or an improvement in word identification score of at least 12% in either ear (both relative to baseline). Prednisone could be started at screening but patients may have received prednisone prior to screening and the pre prednisone audiogram will be used as the screening audiogram for this study. It is expected the majority of these patients will screen for the study in this fashion as they are referred from otoloaryngology after initial treatment.