I was told that my inner ear problem that has been causing me dizzy like symptoms is apparantly Meniere's Disease. Can somebody give me some info on this? Is it something that lasts forever? How can you take care of it? A few things I was told to do were eat a low salt diet, drink cranberry juice and undergo vestibular rehab.Also, certain weather conditions may have an effect in making you feel worse. How helpful is it when you go by a low salt diet and drinking cranberry juice? Thanks!

Hiya

There is lots of info on menieres disease on the internet. Just 'google' it and it should come up with heaps of info.

But just a few things first - what are your symptoms? How did they diagnose? Have they done tests? If so what? Who diagnosed, was it an experienced inner ear disorders specialist ie neuro-otologist?

From what I know, menieres is a lifelong disorder, however you may only get dizzy attacks every couple of years. You will have some hearing loss and tinnitus.

The reason that they tell you to limit sodium is that menieres is affected by water levels in the ear which is affected by salt. I suppose the cranberry juice must help to regulate it.

I am no expert, but there is heaps of info about. Don't worry too much though, if you have menieres disease, I know a few people who have it and it doesnt affect there life too much.

Goodluck!

Basically I have this dizzy/light headed like feeling 24/7. Its very hard to describe it. I don't have the thing where it feels like the world is spinning all around me. Its more like a feeling that it feels like it may happen. I have this imbalanced type of feeling even though I walk just fine. I feel like things may be shaky even though they are not, along with this pressure like feeling. This all comes from the back of my head. A lot of times it seems to come from certain type of head movements or positions. I Get more relief when sitting or laying down. However, I have to be really still, it takes about a minute and I can still get the feeling when moving around. I can just feel the problem coming from the ear that's giving me problems. I'm also feeling pain in my ear and have had ringing in it for years. My dizzy symptoms and ear pain seem to be getting worse.

They found out I have a dysfunction with my inner ear as a result of an ENG test. My ENT doctor seems to believe I have Meniere's.

Hi Tallman,

Get a second opinion from a neurotologist - menieres is often the diagnosis of choice for ENT's - who often aren't that good when it comes to the inner ear.Obviously I'm not doc so can't tell you anything for sure, but your symptoms don't sound a match for menieres.

best,

hbep

I agree with hbep. Menieres is typically episodic, it is unusual to have it 24/7. Also the people I know who have it get seriously awful spinning. The spinning attacks nearly always accompanies vomiting because the spinning is so bad. One person told me that they didnt know which way was up and it took them 25 mins to make it to a telephone to call the ambulance. But a couple days later he was feeling fine again. He has an attack about every 2-3 years. In between attacks they usually feel normal.

Definately get a 2nd opinion. I have right vestibular damage caused probably from a virus and my symptoms sound similar to yours. 24/7 dizziness but not spinning, imbalance, feeling as though I am moving, jumpy vision etc

ENT's do tend to be quick to blame meniere's. Probably because they have heard more about menieres then the other vestibular disorders.

If you have vestibular dysfunction then vestibular rehab should help no matter what the cause.

I was told that my inner ear problem that has been causing me dizzy like symptoms is apparantly Meniere's Disease. ]

Tallman

Agree with hbep--also--from Govt NIH web site:

How common is Ménière's disease?

Studies have shown that Meniere's disease affects about 200 out of 100,000 people (or in other words, 2/1000). This is roughly the same prevalence as multiple sclerosis (MS).

The majority of people with Ménière's disease are over 40 years of age, with equal distribution between males and females.

Interestingly, the Framingham study found that 2/100 people believe they have Meniere's disease in the US, suggesting that there is considerable chance of misdiagnosis.

Repeat:

..."suggesting that there is considerable chance of misdiagnosis.".....

How true!!

:cool:

Hi,

I'm not a doctor but I agree, your symptoms don't seem to be Meniere's. Are you experiencing hearing loss? People with Meniere usually have some hearing loss.

Go for a 2nd opinion and for some people here it even took a 3rd and a 4th etc. :rolleyes:

Agree, dont think you have menieres...Vestibular rehab also is not valid for menieres so this specialist does not sound v clued up to be honest...Def seek another opinion from a neurotologist...keep us informed xxx

I'll concure with everyone else. It really doesn't sound like menieres.

ENTs are taught in medschool that vertigo from viral/bacterial infection will go away after a few weeks/months (because a lot of the time it does). If it carries on longer than that they jump to the conclusion that it must be menieres, when in reality they haven't got a clue. There is no test for menieres the dianosis is made purely from symptoms (even though it is often accompanied by hearing loss at a certain frequency, that alone is not proof).

Menieres is actually defined as "endolymphatic hydrops of unknown etology". Endolymphatic Hydrops is the process where endolyphatic sac (fluid reservoir) overfills and bursts leaking endolymph (innerear fluid), so by it's nature it is episodic, and can be caused by lots of reasons (secondary to infections, part of autoimmune disorder etc) but if the reason is not known then it's classed as menieres - in the future the diagnosis of menieres won't exist, because as the different causes are discovered then technically they can't be classed as menieres. Sometimes after an innerear infection it is not uncommon to develop EH as a secondary symptom.

There seems to be some sort of fluid retention component to it's cause - hence the low salt diet.

Typically, an attack of EH (aka menieres) comes on suddenly, and is preceeded by tinnitus, an attack consists of decreased hearing and intense vertigo (throw you on the floor vertigo) as the fluid leaks out and lasts minutes to hours. Once, the attack subsides it may take several hours to feel normal. It is usual to go for months/years between attacks. Each attack can cause the hair cells (both in the cochlea and labyrinth) to become damaged, which reduces function a very small amount, over a long period and large number of attacks damage accumulates to cause hearing/vestibular weakness.

If an attack is severe enough then a single attack can cause vestibular weakness which needs to be compensated for. Even in severe cases of menieres this often only takes a few weeks. VRT can help speed up this process.

People with menieres usually have distinct episodes but rarely they can have more ongoing consistant symptoms. This can be because either they are having attacks very frquently (ie everyday) and would spend the majority of their time with extreme vertigo, or very rarely they are having some kind of consistant slow burning attack. Both of which would be much more likely to effect the hearing than balance.

Hi there,

One of the key red flags about Meniere's is a gradual loss of hearing. If you suspect Meniere's, get your hearing check regularly to determine if there is decreasing hearing loss.

If you DO in fact have Meniere's, you may want to think about staying on a diuretic and avoiding sodium. Also, Nicotinic Acid, which is part of the B-Complex vitamins - also called Nyacin - has been suggested as a way to help alleviate symptoms caused by this condition. FYI that Nicotinic Acid comes in two forms, "flushable" and "non-flushable" - one form causes your face to turn red (flushed) because of how it reacts on blood flow.

I would suggest seeing a neurologist. I was seen by more than a few ENTs for my disequilibrium issues, as well as seen by a neuro-opthalmologist and a neuro-otologist. Neurologists also deal in disequilibrium issues, and they look at them from a 'different angle', so you may find that helpful.

Many dizzy/woozy conditions mimic each other, so it could be possibility that you have received a misdiagnosis. That does happen, especially with benign symptoms like dizziness/wooziness.

I would contact your primary care doctor and ask to have another opinion. Depending on what insurance you have, many insurances do provide coverage for second opinions. I've had many second and third opinions.

Wishing you a good day.

A few questions if anybody has this. How likely is it for people in their 20's to have Meniere's? How long does it take to feel better from this when doing what you have to do to treat this? Does having this dizziness/light headed feeling indicate that its meniere's if symptoms feel worse? Do you feel all the likely symptoms at once or do this start with one thing with more poping up later? Is this something that can basically disable you?

Tallman,

As I said in my last post, it's unlikely you have menieres.

But to answer.

Menieres disease can start at any time in life. In the earlier stages of the disease it usually only effects hearing and the attacks are minor.

As I said in my post before, menieres disease consists of ATTACKS (occuring anywhere between once a week to once every few years), attacks usually last for a few hours and inbetween attacks most people are symptom free (or have residual minor symptoms). The treatment (low salt diet, diuretic) aims to reduce the attacks, and from the outset can reduce the attacks in severity and frequency (so if your having an attack once a week, the low salt diet may reduce it to once a year).

Feelings of lightheadedness are not classic symptoms of menieres. An attack of menieres consists of tinnitus, hearing drop, severe vertigo (throw you to the floor spining) and lasts for a few hours, after which the symptoms go (ocassionally leaving mild imbalance which improves over a few days), until the next attack. You don't have to suffer all 3 symptoms (in the early part of the disease it's sometimes only the hearing thats effected) but the vast majority do, but it will always be episodic and start with an attack followed by recovery over a few days.

I would definatly agree on getting a 2nd opinion. I am 31 years old and have had the disease since I was 26. I usually have 2-5 "major" (throwing up, too dizzy to move, etc...)attacks a year. I have tinnitus pretty much all of the time but it gets worse at the onset of a major or minor attack. The best way that I have found to battle meniere's disease is to stay on the low sodium diet and to work out. At times this is hard but I know if I don't do it I will likely suffer the consequences. I work with a minor league baseball team as a bullpen catcher so I have to make sure I stay healthy because I don't like catching curveballs and 90+ mph fastballs when I am dizzy. Luckily I have had only 1 major attack while I was catching. It happened so fast that I had to get help from a couple of guys to carry me back to the clubhouse so I could lay on the floor and throw-up for a while. Good Luck!!

Some other questions that I have. Is it possible to have both Meniere's and BPPV at the same time? Also, does BPPV go away after the first physical therapy treatment?

I agree, I think you should get a second opinion. My sister has Meniere's Disease, and she is not dizzy all the time. When she has an episode of dizziness, though, it does feel like the room is spinning and it is accompanied by nausea and usually vomiting. Laying down doesn't help stop the spinning; the only thing that seems to help is sleeping it off.

She has found that cutting out caffeine also helps reduce the number of episodes she has. Also, she gets sick EVERY time she drinks, so she doesn't do that anymore either.

There are surgical options to try to get rid of Meniere's, but they are not always successful. My sister had the bones in her ears removed and replaced with tubes to help drain the inner ear fluid. This surgery was painful and she had some complications, and it has not helped at all. She still gets sick a couple of times a week. There is another, more severe surgery (I'm not sure, maybe they cut nerves in the ear?), which also has no guarantee of helping and can cause permanent hearing loss.

Every case is different, though, and you may not even have Meniere's at all, so like I said, get a second opinion. My sister spent years thinking she was hypoglacemic, not eating any sugar (which didn't help BTW) before she finally got correctly diagnosed with Meniere's! If it sounds wrong to you, maybe it is...if there is one thing we've learned in the last 15 years since my sister has been sick, it's that doctors can be wrong (and they don't like to admit it)!

Good luck!