food and drink and symptoms - Inner Ear Disorders Message Board

lib · 11-30-2003, 06:30 PM

hi,
has any one had any connection with symptoms and food or drink,does salt or caffine seem to make it worse? also does any one drink beer or wine and find this bothers them later. i have no diagnosis yet,just a inner ear disturbance , but was told to watch the salt and caffine.
was any one else told this? thank you! libby

dizzyblonde1 · 12-01-2003, 04:57 AM

Hi Lib, this will vary enormously depending on peoples diagnosis. As you have not yet been diagnosed these are just sensible precautions to be taking.

Salt can affect the fluid volume in the inner ear. In some conditions such as meniere's, excess fluid here can be the cause of your symptoms and so sufferers are advised to maintain a low salt diet. I have also been told by one doctor that fluid can accumulate in the inner ear during the pre-menstual period in the same way that fluid retention occurs elsewhere in the body during this time. I have a vestibular neuronitis diagnosis but was also advised to avoid salt at this time.

Caffeine is a nervous system stimulant. In practice I have never found it to exacerbate my symptoms, however considering that medications given to reduce dizzy symptoms initially are vestibular depressants (dampen the signals sent from the inner ear to the brain), it would'nt be surprising to find that in some people caffeine may worsen their symptoms.

As for alcohol, lots of people have posted at times to say that drinking has had unpleasant consequences. I do not drink currently due to medication I am taking, but prior to this had started having a couple of glasses of wine when I wanted to and this did not adversely affect me.

Overall, I think you need to find what affects you. I certainly would'nt advise getting drunk, but if prior to being given this dietary advice you would have a couple of drinks without experiencing increased symptoms then I would continue doing this if I wanted to.

Best of luck with this and with getting your diagnosis, xx

lib · 12-01-2003, 07:38 AM

hi,
just got off the phone with the p.a. at the ents office, she explaines the the dr. recommends this to all patients with an inner ear disturbance. she also said because all my tests came back normal they cannot pinpoint the cause.....frustrated! again i woke up with a mild sensation of weirdness a few times last night. she said e.t.d could not cause these symptoms, i have a hard time with that, as some say it can.
so now we wait for the ct of the sinuses and i pray that is the cause. thank you so much for your help. libby
oh....she also said because my tests came back normal it is highly unlikley to be meineres or hydrops.....any one with an opinion on that? and again this ent does not believe that lab or vn can start and stop or last three months, i have a hard time with that one as well. how were you diagnosed and how long have you had this? thank you again!

Miza03 · 12-01-2003, 11:13 AM

Alcohal was a definite no no when I was feeling my worst. I would wake up the next day and feel like I drank 10 bottles when I only had one drink.