Caloric Test
Posted , 4 users are following.
I have been diagnosed 2 months ago, after confirming hearing loss through my audio gram report, ENT wants me to have a caloric test. It is quite expensive test.
Has anybody got experience of what information this test can give us? Is this test is just to conform MD or any thing else?
I don't get vertigo attacks now after taking betahistine and diet change but I do got balance issues or may be dizziness (I don't know what is the difference between dizziness and balance problem). I will loose my balance if I quickly turn around 360 degrees, is this dizziness or balance issue?
0 likes, 10 replies
arax19947 Ali_is_my_name
Posted
I have never heard of this test....none the less, balance issue and dizziness to me seem like the same thing. That is my opinion...
I hope some others will reply to your post. I got this from Healthline:
"Caloric stimulation is a procedure used to find damage to nerves in the ear. Although people commonly associate the term calorie with food, a calorie is fundamentally a unit of heat. During caloric stimulation, cold and warm water are placed into your ear canals and your reaction is monitored."
I definitely would not try this test because I will most definitely will experience vertigo, dizziness, nausea, and severe discomfort, just saying!
Good luck
tanney Ali_is_my_name
Posted
Hi Ali. Caloric test is usually given as part of a full vestibular test (VT) by a neurotologist to diagnose the cause of your vertigo. A VT is the only way to be 100% sure about which vestibular problem the patient has. There are at least a dozen inner/middle ear diseases that can cause vertigo....to pinpoint accurately which one you have the full VT including caloric testing is vital. I had this test when I had the vestibular test several months ago. The doctor or one of their team members will insert a balloon into both ears (one at a time) and then inflate the balloon with first warm water and then cool water while you are wearing high tech goggles that measure your eye movements. The type and degree of eye movement is what tells the doctor which illness you have. The VT takes about 2 hours in total and consists of about 6 different tests...one of which is the caloric test. The full VT is rather benign. You will likely get dizzy from some of the tests....that's the whole point of the tests...it's the type of dizziness that diagnoses your illness....but you are in a very secure situation and the dizziness is very temporary and not nearly as bad as a full meniere's vertigo attack. I highly recommend and encourage all of us who have not undergone these tests to do so. In many cases, those who think they have meniere's disease find out they have something different which can then be treated more efficiently by the neurotologist. Don't fear the VT....it can make your life so much better knowing for sure what your problem really is. Go for it!
If anyone desires more info I'll be glad to reply to you via a personal message....just let me know.
tanney Ali_is_my_name
Posted
Ali....one more comment. Regarding your balance difficulty....it's quite likely that the neurotologist who administers the Vestibular Test will recommend Vestibular (balance) rehab to improve your balance function. I completed the rehab a few weeks ago and it too is benign. I highly encourage all of us who have balance problems from meniere's disease or any other inner/middle ear disease to go through the rehab process. It's quite easy and is very beneficial. If you want more info on this let me know.
judy2018 tanney
Posted
judy2018 Ali_is_my_name
Posted
I never heard of that test, what is it? I had a vertigo episode that lasted two weeks my ent just put me on prednisone and it really is helping . My hearing is really bad in the MD right ear. Praying I never get MD in my other ear 🙏🏻 Do you take the betahistine everyday? I have to ask about that.
Ali_is_my_name judy2018
Posted
Caloric Test and MRI were asked by the doctor in first appointment, I had my hearing test report in my hand and he clearly said "yes I can see hearing loss". I am taking betahistine 3 times a day, first week was very bad, I got recovered from vertigo but had nausea and stomach issues but second week was awesome, even no dizziness/balance issues, but then I reduced my tablet in take to 2 tabs/day as per ENT recommendation. First 2 days were good but 3rd and 4th day I started feeling that symptoms are coming back, so I went back to 3 tabs a day and today it is almost a month, I had 1 vertigo episode caused by a loud noise in front of my office (I have purchased ear plugs now, I use them when I feel danger
) but dizziness/balance is the issue I feel every day. I also had full blood test and allergy test and everything is fine.
I have an appointment with ENT on Monday and he most probably ask for the caloric test which I have not done. There is one month waiting queue for the test as well.
Ali_is_my_name judy2018
Posted
I am also trying to figure out how much sodium I can afford a day. Diet is also helping me, almost zero salt these days and now I am thinking to increase salt intake little bit to see what difference it makes. In breakfast I used to eat 4 slices of bread (approx 500 to 600 mg sodium) with butter (200 mg maybe) and a cup of tea and I had trouble almost every day but I get signals, my body gets hot and I start sweating. I have completely changed by breakfast and just a strawberry milk shake and one boild egg, so far so good.
My tinitus also increases when I am hungry (weird), so I have divided my lunch into 3 parts,
breakfast at 8ish
Banana at 11ish
lunch(meat mince and cucumber) at 2ish
Apple at 4ish
and dinner at 6ish.
I am also having pain in my neck and shoulder, it could be due to sitting in front of computer for long time (but I don't sit continuously) or may be bad posture, I am also going to a therapist for these things.
Yesterday I started some menthol type of feeling in my eyes for whole day but today is much better, don't know what was that.
judy2018 Ali_is_my_name
Posted
arax19947 Ali_is_my_name
Posted
Ali, I would look into the menthol type feeling in your eyes. I once went into emergency because of that same thing but I also had it around my mouth. They checked me for stroke
of course it came as negative but it's always good to check if something new presents itself.
Ali_is_my_name arax19947
Posted