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Turmeric and Menieres

Posted , 10 users are following.

fliss
fliss

Ive had Menieres since the age of 19 in one ear, I believe it began after I started taking the contraceptive pill and after a month I was told to stop them.

When I was 26 I had surgery to decompress a sac and this worked well for a number of years. Then because of a very stressful time it gradually deteriorated again until at the age of 49 i was having frequent debilating attacks lasting many hours with spinning and vomiting ..being admitted to hospital and stabilised, then drop attacks started and I was unable to even leave my home.

I  had a Labrinthectomy and it really was the best thing I could have done ..I wish I had had it done years ago.   

What I was wondering now is if Turmeric is safe to take, as I have been warned that I am predisposed to menieres and that it could be triggered in my good ear, for instance my consultant has told me not to fly as the pressure could cause problems.

I have quite a lot of pain with oesteoarthritis, degenerative discs and I have a lot of sinus congestion and sinus headaches. I believe that Turmeric with piperine can help all of this, but as I have read that anything that could increase bloodflow to the inner ear could upset the balance there and Turmeric thins the blood I wonder if this supplement would be safe to take or even help.

Has anyone else tried this supplement ?

​Thank you

0 likes, 22 replies

22 Replies

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  • david4242
    david4242 fliss

    Posted

    Hi Fliss,

     I want to share whats been working for me the last 6 weeks.  It's called the ReliefBand.  It was designed to help people with motion sickness.  I called the company to explain that I have Menieres and asked if they had any clients who used their product who had Menieres.  The lady said she knew of two.  I read reviews on Amazon an there were a couple who had Menieres and claimed it helped.  I ordered mine and have been using it for almost 6 weeks without incident.  You wear it on your wrist just like a watch.  Any time I feel the slight bit dizzy I activate it immediately.  It gives you a mild electrical shock which stimulates the median nerve.  There are 5 settings.  I start with 2 then move it up to 3 if necessary and only one time I used 4.  The 4 and 5 setting are much more than stimulating but I'm willing to do what's necessary. 

    Look into it if you feel it it may help and good luck.

    Dave

    • fliss
      fliss david4242

      Posted

      Thank you David Im glad you have found something that works for you.I could have done with something like that many years ago. 

      I had a labrinthectomy back in 1999  so I do not get the vertigo and vomiting now.

      I am looking for something to help with pain relief and just wanted to be sure that Turmeric wouldnt trigger the menieres in my good ear and if anyone else had tried Turmeric. Thanks again 

    • miranda72220
      miranda72220 fliss

      Posted

      Hey question, what is a  labrinthectomy? what does it do? is there any side effects? Ill be 26 this month and i take betahistine (serc) 48mg twice a day and for the most part it has helped...but i still consistently feel foggy and off balance and because Im a teacher and I have a 2 year old..it can still be quite difficult to handle and my ENT doctor said there is nothing else he can do.... I live in Toronto, Canada if that makes a difference 
    • fliss
      fliss miranda72220

      Posted

      Hi Miranda Im in UK and a labrinthectomy is major surgery it destroys the inner ear by going in behind the ear and mastoid bone .

      I was already deaf from many attacks by the time I had it done and they probably wont do it if you have some hearing left.

      Mine started at 19 and once it was diagnosed properly I was put on Stemetil and this worked for me for a while.  I had a 2 1/2 year old at 26 when the attacks came back, I was then on Stemetil and Serc I had surgery at that time to decompress a sac in my inner ear and this helped a great deal for many years.  

      When it returned with severe vomiting and vertigo, and drop attacks I was 49 and then had The Labrinthectomy.. I was in hospital for two weeks at that time 1999 and had to learn to walk properly after as your brain has to adjust to just having balance on one side but when I was having really severe attacks and in and out of hospital my quality of life was so poor that the operation was such a relief.

      Hope that helps .. Try Googling Labrinthectomy for any more details or the surgery for decompression of Endolymphatic sac (Hope I spelled that right) I hope you can get some relief soon x 

    • JMJ
      JMJ miranda72220

      Posted

      Hi Miranda,

      Back in 1999, surgical destruction of the inner ear was the "court of last resort" for MD patients.  They hadn't developed the alternatives yet.  These days, if you fail conservative treatment (or are still not quite symptom free) you have the option of a series of steroid injections into your inner ear.  With these injections, you do not sacrifice any remaining hearing, and there are no issues with loss of balance.  It wouldn't be appropriate to jump from meds to a labyrinthectomy.  That said, if I had developed MD back then, and it was my only option, I probably would have taken it.  To me, there is nothing worse than that continual vertigo and vomiting...it's not "living".  However, I've had good luck with the steroids, and I feel obligated to share that with people.  It requires patience, as it typically takes a few months (1 injection every 4 weeks) to see a significant reduction in frequency and intensity of symptoms, but then things progress more quickly until one day you realize you've been symptom-free for a while.....No vertigo, no dizziness/nausea, no fatique, no fog-brain....it's kind of amazing, really.

      An ENT or Otolaryngologist should be able to discuss this option with you.  I'm in the US and have my treatments at Loyola University in IL.  I can't imagine that they're not available in Canada?

      Wishing you all the best,

      J-

    • fliss
      fliss JMJ

      Posted

      I agree with you JMJ there are many more options now .... although I didnt jump from meds to a Labrinthectomy .. At 26 (the same age as Miranda)  I had an operation to decompress the sac in the inner ear first, a more conservative op. This worked great for a number of years.along with Stemetil ..it was only when the attacks returned with greater severity, my hearing had completely gone and the medication of serc, stemitil and a diruetic were having no effect that I went down the Labrinthectomy route.
    • JMJ
      JMJ fliss

      Posted

      Hi Fliss!  I was just reading about sac decompression surgery when I received notification of this post!  I have read many posts where people list "shunts" in their treatment history, but it always seemed that they were suggesting that the tubes exited the eardrum.  So, this is the surgical insertion of an internal shunt that drains the endolymph?  Wow!  How wonderful that you had  such good  results for such a long period of time! I was never offered the sac decompression option.  I have hung all my hopes on steroid injections, as it was my understanding that chemical ablation with gentamycin, or a labyrinthectomy were my next and final options.  I still have a little hearing left in that ear, and want to be able to wear a hearing aid, so I will stick with this option for as long as I can. However, if my hearing loss was complete in that ear, and my symptoms were still progressing, I could see myself opting for the labyrinthectomy and being done with it.  I admire anyone who has gone through that many years with MD, and not lost her spirit! And I can understand your extreme caution about anything that might impact your other ear. 

      I responded to your query about turmeric, but my post is being moderated.  I think I might have have mentioned the brand name....that's the only reason I can think of, that it would have been selected for moderation.  Anyway, I'll wait a while and see if it's allowed back in. 

      Thank you for sharing your story.  I wish you all the best!

      J-

    • fliss
      fliss JMJ

      Posted

      Hi JMJ No I did not have an internal shunt, in those days they took part of the mastoid bone away and decompressed the sac which meant more room and less fluid build up as I understand it...

      Oh trust me when I was in and out of hospital over a five week period with no let up in the vertigo and vomiiting and having drop attacks I was very low.. on one occasion I had been vomiting from midday and all night the doctor had come out and given me an injection which did nothing, then called an ambulance ..my daughter was with me and I vaguely remember the paramedics asking her how long has she been bringing up blood ..with that I was rushed in to hospital and she was told all my vital signs were low, I thought I was sleeping and waking but I was spinning and slipping in and out of consciousness.  Thats when they performed the labrinthectomy and why now I have a great spirit ..Yes Im deaf in one ear but I can live a normal life.. Now I just want to sort my aches and pains out without compromising my good ear . Good luck in your journey  JMJ

  • alison_00357
    alison_00357 fliss

    Posted

    I wish I could help you,but I am certainly going to look into it flies,good luck.
    • fliss
      fliss alison_00357

      Posted

      Thank you Alison, Turmeric with piperine has lots of good reviews, but I just get so worried about affecting my good ear when I try anything new. 

      Good luck to you too  

  • donna16710
    donna16710 fliss

    Posted

    I haven't tried Turmeric but it would seem that something that increased blood flow to the inner ear would not cause an issue since Betahist, which is developed for menieres, works by doing the same thing. I also can fly without any problems since that affects the middle ear so that statement confuses me. Turmeric is said to interect with some medication and if you are on any kind of antiinflammatory already, you could see a potentiating effect, so you are correct to show caution. The general rule  here would be to consult your physician and go over all of your medication to avoid interactions. Pinebark, which is also used to help menieres also works by increasing blood flow so if there is an issue with menieres and turmeric, it would not be by it increasing blood flow. Start with a smaller test dose, if you want to try it and see how you do. If you develop any GI upset, you should stop as it can make GERD worse.

    • fliss
      fliss donna16710

      Posted

      Thank you Donna I will certainly look into it more. My Consultant was the one that said after I had my Labrintectomy that he advised me not to fly as he said I was predisposed to Menieres and he could not guarantee that it would not trigger it to start up in my good ear.

      I am on a NSAID already but the pain in my degenerative discs is getting worse and I did not want to take any stronger painkillers as most of them my GP has tried me on and the side effects are unpleasant. So I was looking for an alternative and came across Turmeric.

    • alison_00357
      alison_00357 fliss

      Posted

      I was on a plane in the nineties when a lady had a really bad time but only on taking off and landing,she had developed some ear infection on holiday the steward's put cups over her ears.so I have been wondering about flying myself as even pressure change on the ground affects my condition fliss.

    • fliss
      fliss alison_00357

      Posted

      With the docs advice I have choosen not to risk flying . Its limited me to holidaying only here in the uk but I cant put my one good ear to risk. Good luck for the future Alison
  • barry61472
    barry61472 fliss

    Posted

    My story is similar to yours. I have had 5 degenerative disc surgeries; I've had injections in my ear of both steroids and antibiotics; I had debilitating vertigo for years, sometimes lasting days. I finally had a Labyrinthectomy in December. Best thing I ever did. Was not told not to fly and I take turmeric daily with no problems. Of course, it might be too early to tell. Blessings to you.

    • fliss
      fliss barry61472

      Posted

      Thank you Barry .  I hope things now continue to improve for you. Much appreciated
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