Night time Menieres

High There,

Night attacks can be really frightening ..i have an anxiety disorder

as well as meneires and both disorders go hand in hand..

at night i have reacurring dreams that are always about spinning

and being lost..the last attack i had at night was about a the fair

ride that goes up and down and round and round but at the end

of the ride there was a series of doors to exit not marked and every

one leads back to the start of the ride arfter two or three times round

i just fall to the floor and wake with the room spinning and as you say

heart raceing and of course the strong urge to vomit ..when i realize

its a menieres attack i firstly try to control my breathing with my eyes

closed and lying perfectly still then i slowly reach for my buccastem

tablets and slip one under my lip i also talk my self through it so as

to control the fear i tell my self its a menieres attack and it will pass

and focus on my breathing until the buccastem kicks in and the symptoms

pass..i dont believe iv done anything different like eaten eaten something that

i shouldnt have..i believe its more about stress and anxiety plus the symptoms

dont turn off just because im asleep..i try not to spend to much time thinking

what caused it as this could push you into changing paterns then you dont no where

you are..i do take notice of the things like salt intake and anything thatretains water

i.e. sugar...for me its more about the how i can control the symptoms which involves

meds and and dealing with the fear...try not to dwell on it to much as this can make

anxious and start a circle of fearing going to bed thinking it may happen all the time..

ive sufferd M.D. for 17yrs and its only happend a handfull of times...stay well and take

care..your not alone....  

 Oh Janice, I know exactly how you feel. I have only had Ménière’s for nine months and I had one night time attack just like yours. Every time I have an attack my heart beat so fast because I am scared. I feel like I will pass out and perhaps die.  I keep my meclizine and water right beside my bed because now I am so fearful of those nighttime attacks happening.  My doctor told me I should take a meclizine at bedtime to help ward off nighttime attacks. Bless your heart, this is so scary. I now take an anti-anxiety med and I keep a stronger medication on hand if I begin to have a panic attack.  I do the same thing you mentioned… I just pray and try to talk myself through it. I hate being alone for fear I will have an attack. I have a person I can call just to have someone on the phone with me during an attack. It makes me feel that I’m not alone and I can get help if I pass out. We understand how you feel. 

high there

It seems worth pionting out..

Its the momentum and force the attack comes in

that sends us in a panic forcing the heart to race..

I also suffer panic attacks and was reasured by my doctor

who told me it is people with low blood pressure that may faint or blackout

and it is very unlikely to happen to me also panic attacks are none life

threathning as is menieresbut may effect people with heart disease...

people like me who have long term anxiety (have died a 1000 times

but never died at all)...the mind is a strange hotel to stay at...and anxiety

will book you in a lot......has much as you Hate M.D. you just dont want

an anxiety condition with it ...if you feel over anxious talk to your doctor...

the sooner they can recognize it the easyier it is to overcome..i hope

this helps anybody who suffers these horrid conditions...

Hello Janice,

Yes l get rapid heart beat, palpitations feeling of faintness and l also sleep on a beach towl when l think l have an attack coming on, before l was diagnosed l did not no what it was but it has what a poker player would call "tells" , mine always come at night about 330 - 430 and my tinnitus gets very bad just before bed and l get cluster headaches on my right side, when this happens the beach towl comes out as l know l will wake dripping in a cold sweat, that's when someone opens the trapdoor and the free fall starts. I hope the acupuncture works.

Regards

Justin

I'm so sorry Janice It's such a horrible thing to go thru and scarier at night. I've had a couple nighttime attacks similar to yours, years ago, complete with vomiting and all. I thought it had something to do with my positional vertigo cuz I get dizzy just lying flat. So now I sleep in my recliner or with 2 wedge pillows to keep me in a semi-sitting position. I have no idea if it's actually working for me or if I've just been lucky not to have a night attack since lol but I'm not taking any chances and have been sleeping this way for over 10 yrs now. Let us know if the acupuncture helps you! All the best ~Mary

Hi Janice, in my years of MD I think I only had 1 night time attack, so it happens, if you figure out what triggered it, let us all know! cos thats the biggest question with Menieres, when i had mine I was in a hotel and had been in the steam room the previous evening so I thought it must be that, as far as im concerned no diet or giving up certain foods etc will prevent an attack if its coming, it comes,everyone on this forum has an opinion but as yet i have not read of a definitve prevention, sadly, but at least we all live to tell the story, and Im beginning to think ( foolishly probably) that it kind of burns out over time, so dont get to hung up on analysing an attack

I went through a really rough spell two years ago with similar spinning, much vomiting & the hot dripping sweat followed by a freezing cold body with teeth chattering. This was rounded off by my heart jumping out of my chest. Thankfully it settled & I know I can't take the under the tongue tablet as there are blood clots in my family. I do take 20mg Amitriptyline at bed time & go out like a light, it also stops pain in the nerve endings. I sleep in the same position every night on my left hand side in a straight line with my head straight & level. I can actually move in bed now but still avoid random movements.  I try not to panic or rush around like I used to but it is difficult.

Sorry it's 10mg of Amitriptyline at bed time 😀

I have had this - terrifying! No one can imagine it until they have it. For me the thing that worked was physiotherapy. I tried acupuncture and the diets tablets etc - nothing worked until I went for physio on my neck. I think there are lots of different causes.