1. Community
  2. Ears, nose, throat and mouth
  3. Meniere's Disease

I may have Menieres, can you help...??

Posted , 11 users are following.

patrice56477
patrice56477

My GP and I think I may have Meniere's, but I'm still undergoing tests to verify. Can you good folks tell me if my symptoms sound familiar?

I've been experiencing short and infrequent dizzy spells for a few years now. If I'm driving, I stop to the side for a few mintutes until the spinning stops and I carry on. If I'm walking I drift to the left and struggle to keep from tripping, but the episodes are short. 

When it happens I tell myself I'll get checked out for tumours or something, but I return to normal and decide to not follow up on the checkup. 

In december an episode of vertigo brought me down to the washroom floor and I was unable to get up. Vomiting was part of this too. My wife called the EMTs who administered intravenous Gravol and took me to emerge. The emerge nurses asked me to rate my headache on a scale from 1 to 10, but I couldn't. Not because I was so disorientated I couldn't field questions, although I was very disorientated and didn't feel like fielding questions; but because it wasn't pain I was experiencing. It was sensation, a swelling, an I-don't-know-what.But it was accompanied by fear.

The worst, most awful part is the anxiety. Mild panic. I can't tell you which comes first, the dizzyness or the fear. It doesn't appear that the vertigo comes first and produce anxiety or that the anxiety causes the dizzyness. They seem to come on together and suddenly. I think the anxiety is a symptom as opposed to a byproduct.

 I've had tinnitus for several yrs but did nothing about it because nothing can be done about it anyways. But tomorrow I'm going for audio tests. I've had ECGs , bloodwork, ect. and am hoping to nail down whatever malady this is.

Does any of this sound familiar to anybody??

0 likes, 30 replies

30 Replies

Next
  • patrice56477
    patrice56477

    Posted

    Oh, and another odd symptom; the inability to concentrate. I understand that concentration is difficult when an episode is in progress, but do Menieres sufferers experience lack of concentration in the subsequent days after an event? 

    I had all intentions of studying a subject of interest to me in the down time I had set aside. My kindle was stocked with the appropriate ebooks. Paper books had arrived and I had registered to a British video classroom. But an episode had left me exhausted for several days. An odd sensation of coldness in the back of my head (a cold band from ear to ear) left me unable to either read a book or watch a monitor. I just sat in my chair and fretted about my condition the whole time. 

    Does this make any sense to someone?

    • angela84522
      angela84522 patrice56477

      Posted

      Yes I couldn't look at my cell phone when all of this started.  Well I would suggest to you to slow way down on your Salt intake, No Caffine, No Alcohol until you get some answers.  It can really make it all worse if you don't .  They will put you on a diuretic .. I take a natural one called Dandelion.  I also take a product called Pine Bark .. I am doing fantastic.  There will be alot of things they will suggest so you will have lot's of choices.  Breath and know you will be okay.  You will get a handle on it.  That inner ear is a tricky thing.  

    • miranda72220
      miranda72220 angela84522

      Posted

      Hey what is pine bark? What does it do? Do u take it with betahistine as well?
  • angela84522
    angela84522 patrice56477

    Posted

    Oh yes very familiar.  Do you have any feeling of fullness in your ear?    Sounds like my early stages of Meniere's  Disease.  The anxiety of having another attack is the worse.  There is hope.  Go have your tests and keep us posted.  If it is MD you will get a lot of answers on this group page.  Good Luck

    • patrice56477
      patrice56477 angela84522

      Posted

      Thnx guys. Miranda, Angela. 

      Fullness. Now there's a word I never used before, but it is a good descriptor for my sensation. 

      "Breathe and know that you will be ok" is probably what I needed to hear, thank you.

      With that said though, is Meniere's root in mental afflictions, such as depression and anxiety or in the physical machination of the ear? Do I have an ear problem or am I going crazy?

       

    • angela84522
      angela84522 patrice56477

      Posted

      It's inner ear Disease. There is not a definite reason on why one gets MD. I can tell you from experience that when your brain can't correct those signals from your inner ear you can get very anxious. My heart will race during an attack. Blood pressure goes up. Then of coarse you are feeling sick to your stomach because you can't stop the spinning .. I am vertigo free now. I on occasion might feel slight difference in the ringing in my ear and I take an extra diuretic pill. Watch out for anything that can change fluid levels in your body. Water retention can set it off. Good luck with your exams. CT scan , mri will rule out a tumor, or MS.. it also will give them a look at your inner ear. Best of Luck. You will be okay. You are catching it early. There are lots of options too.

    • Bluesmann
      Bluesmann angela84522

      Posted

      What have they done to get you vertigo free?..whatworked for you?
  • miranda72220
    miranda72220 patrice56477

    Posted

    Sorry but your symptoms soumds exactly like what i experience like word for word and i have been diagnosed with meniers. Esp the description u gave of the affter effects u have from a vertigo attack...it really does suck esp bc the on set of an attack can be so random...i take 48mg of betahistine twice a day and i never have vertigo attacks anymore sometimes feel off balance still and the tinnitus is still there (but i have a hearing aid to help that during the day) but it does help with the ear pressure and fullness hope this helps best of luck!
    • Bluesmann
      Bluesmann miranda72220

      Posted

      miranda does the hearing aid help your bad ear?...I can't hear much out of it example if i put my finger in good ear with tv on i an barely make out what they say just wondering but i am sentive to certain ferequencies as well

    • miranda72220
      miranda72220 Bluesmann

      Posted

      It helps so much! Im a teacher and half the time i couldnt hear my students speaking to me ...even tho my hearing was still at 60% the tinnitus was making it more difficult to hear i find the hearing aid drowns out the tinnitus...which helps wih my stress level bc the tinnitus would give me anxiety...hearing aids are very pricey though...
    • Bluesmann
      Bluesmann miranda72220

      Posted

      Yes I've heard call that. My audiologist has a 30 day trial offer Does yours gave the ability to adjust frequencies? If someone is to my left I cannot hear them

    • veronica20125
      veronica20125 miranda72220

      Posted

      How do you feel daily ? I had surgery and feel sick on a daily bases. I have the bethahistmine but haven't taken since December. A week I started it I got extremely sick

  • Bluesmann
    Bluesmann patrice56477

    Posted

    Mine started with noise on my ear then low frequency hearing loss dizziness didn't come until much later maybe a year had a vertigo that took me to the floor then my gave me fluids and dizzy medication walked home from hospital no more dizzy until maybe 6 more months we are all different so get check out MRI or catscan

Back to top
Next

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.