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Dr. Google leads me to believe I have MD

Posted , 7 users are following.

nina75421
nina75421

I woke up a week ago, and upon standing fell right back into bed.  The room was spinning like crazy...not just horizontally, but vertically as well.  It would not stop!  I managed to reach my phone, and called 911 for ambulance, and my son.  I could not lift my head at all.  When help came, they managed to sit me up, and I started vomitting...and did all the way to the hospital in the ambulance.  I knew that I was having a severe vertigo attack  (I had had small ones about 6 months ago, and that was cured by the Epley maneuver).  I underwent blood tests, X-rays, CT scan at the hospital, but was unable to sit or stand all day.  By evening, I DID at least manage to sit for a while.  The next morning, I felt better, although a bit wobbly, and was released.  I was given a prescription for Serc, and have an MRI scheduled for this Friday.  On Thursday, and most of Friday I felt quite well, but then had a vertigo attack on Friday night...not as bad as the first, and completely lost hearing in my right ear.  I have suffered from tinnitus for a year or so.  Saturday morning, hearing had returned.  Since then, I have been "functioning"...very slowly and carefully...I feel very unsteady on my feet.  While sitting, I feel perfectly fine.  I have called my doctor, but he prefers to wait for my MRI results before seeing me.  Meanwhile, I have had a lot of visits with Dr. Google...I think it is Meniere's or a tumor....happy to have found this site.  Reading posts is helping me pass the time until I go for my MRI...there is not much else that I can comfortably do.  Thanks for "listening"...

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • Bluesmann
    Bluesmann nina75421

    Posted

    Hang in there as my ent told me we are all different try things and see what works best for you and read read read
    • nina75421
      nina75421 Bluesmann

      Posted

      It has been 11 weeks since that severe vertigo attack, and with taking betahistine, I have managed better and better.  Still have slight imbalance, but doing ok.  MRI ruled out acoustic neuroma.  Today, visited ENT for first time....and got a diagnosis just like that!  What I have is vestibular neuritis, and that should pass with some exercises, and immediately stopping the betahistine, as they interfere with my vestibular nerve from recalibrating.....glad I "hung in" as you suggested.  And happy I do not have meniere's, so I shall be leaving this forum.  I am glad to have had access to it, for it helped me feel not so alone.

  • wen06862
    wen06862 nina75421

    Posted

    It sounds like you've got MD (I've had it since 1999) But, if the Epley manoever worked it could be BPPV at the same time. You can have both at the same time.

    My partner has MD (we met through the society) He has classic MD like me but when we went to see the specialist who has been injecting steroids through his eardrum to calm the vertigo, the specialist said that crystals were causing the problems at that time too & performed the Epley manoever, after a couple of nights sleeping propped up in bed, head upright, the dizziness went off.

    Either way, the only "permanent cure" for MD is to destroy the inner ear with surgery or gentamicin (like I had) The down side is that I have no balance or hearing in my left ear & need a stick to walk with.

    My dad had MD & his burnt out in his right ear by his early fifty's, but he had vertigo attacks in his left ear until the day before he died at 78.

    Take care

  • peter16657
    peter16657 nina75421

    Posted

    Hi Nina, sure sounds like menniers, did your eyes feel like they were darting from side to side? if you tried to focus on  one thing like the standby button on a telly was it moving , the problem with menniers is it affects all of us differently and the medical profession dont understand it like they do most other illneses so a forum like this is just as helpfull in some ways, only yesterday i was with an audiologist as its destroyed my hearing in my right side, she was saying every menniers sufferer has a journey to tell about, dont despair mine started with usually 3 attacks within a short period of each other and then maybe a year went by before it came on again and eventually you know most days are normal and you recover, and of course people loose it but rarely come on this forum to say thier free of it, understandably, it wont kill you but yes its awfull beyond words when you have an attack, good luke and keep on here it helps
  • eleftherio33095
    eleftherio33095 nina75421

    Posted

    The MRI is important in this case.

    Eleftherios S. Papathanasiou, PhD, FEAN

    Clinical Neurophysiologist

    Fellow of the European Academy of Neurology

  • louise0703
    louise0703 nina75421

    Posted

    I've found the definitive diagnosis to come from hearing test -+ MRI (to exclude acoustic neuroma) and symptoms. If you have a clear MRI, hearing test that shows sensorineural hearing loss in one ear, plus tinnitus, fullness, sensitivity to loud noise and vertigo, it's probably Menieres. I'm having a lot of trouble coming to terms with the fact that I have it. It's a very scary and debilitating illness, made worse if you have a full time job and kids like me (and single parent no family in the country) 😩

  • jackie72283
    jackie72283 nina75421

    Posted

    There can be so many reasons for vertigo attacks. Not necessarily menieres.
  • mistibluey
    mistibluey nina75421

    Posted

    Nina

    It's so wonderful to read some good news here. I'm so glad that you have vestibular neuritis and not MD.

    All the best to you.

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