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

Not Lyme disease

Posted , 4 users are following.

patvj
patvj

Since last summer when I was totally incapacitated with dizziness and total fatigue, I thought it was Lyme .  In fact, after an emergency visit to a local hopital, I was told that I did have Lyme Disease.  My hearing over the last few years has gotten worse but I attributed that to old age and bad genes.  Since then I have had some dizziness but no real vertigo until two weeks ago.  Now every morning when I get up, I have momentary vertigo but it seems to settle if I remain still.  Recently I have been seeing a doctor at Penn Medicine in Radnor.  After another blood test, he said that I do not have Lyme Disease and he confirmed that it was Menieres.  

Two positive things that I learned from this visit was that it was a mild form and would most likely lessen as one grows older.  Also  you don't have to avoid caffeine, just salt.

If you are in driving distance of Radnor, I would highly reccommend Dr.  Ruckenstein with Penn Medicine.  I have seen several doctors since my sickness last summer but he is the first to claim expertise in the field of Meniere's Disease.  I was very impressed with his knowledge of this mystery disease.

 

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • tanney
    tanney patvj

    Posted

    wow....there are some comments you made that are questionable.  Is this doctor an ENT (ear/nose/throat) doctor)?  You did not indicate.  Did he administer an audiogram (hearing test)?  What were the results?  Did the hearing test indicate that you have hearing loss in LOW decible range?  If not, it is very unlikely you have MD.  Also, vertigo lasts at least 20 minutes with MD.  You indicate it comes and goes very quickly. Did your doctor put you on any meds for MD, such as a diuretic to pull fluid from the inner ear?

    I am hoping that you do NOT have MD....my recommendation is that you get a second opinion from an ENT who specializes in inner ear diseases to confirm diagnosis.  Good luck.

  • patvj
    patvj

    Posted

    Dr. Ruckenstein is an ENT doctor and yes I did have a hearing test which indicated a rsther severe hesring loss in my left ear.  I think that symptons can vary from one person to another.  This is the third ENT doctor that I have been to in the last year and they all suggested Meniere's but Dr. Ruckenstein confirmed it.  On this forum, we all know that Meniere's cannot be proven with absolute certainty but everything else has been ruled out.  I try to look at this diagnosis as "a glass half full".  I just need to be more careful about my salt intake and hopefully as I grow older, it will go away. 

    • tanney
      tanney patvj

      Posted

      It seems like you have done the right things and have seen the right doctors.  Since the diagnosis is MD, If your symptoms continue even after eliminating salt from your diet, you may want to ask your doctor to prescribe a diuretic...that's the initial step in the conservative protocol for MD.  There are additional things you can do if symptoms do not improve and we would be glad to share our experiences with you on this forum.   Good luck and please let us know how you progress.   

  • lana56327
    lana56327 patvj

    Posted

    Interesting that they thought you had lyme disease.  I have had MD for 8/9 years and after starting on a diuretic I did not have vertigo attacks again until about two years ago.  My ENT gave me an order for an 'otic blood panel' at that time, and of the bazillion things it tested, only lyme disease came back positive.  They did the Western Blot test to confirm it and I was treated.  Nobody believes the lyme caused my vertigo attacks to come back, but who knows?  I then got a series of steroid injections and have had only a couple of mild vertigo attacks since.  I got MD at 57 and am now 66.  I'm not sure it really goes away with age, but maybe it gets less severe.  Good luck, and be glad you don't have lyme disease.  The strong antibiotics that treat it are hard on the stomach!  (And you are never sure that you are cured.)

Back to top

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.