Meniere’s disease and gluten

I have read various theories on what causes or agitates Meniere’s disease. The hydrops theory and the viral theory are usually the most popular reasons for meniere’s. As for agitating meniere’s or bringing on an attack, diet, mostly one high in salt is at the top of list. Smoking and alcohol are also bad. Another theory that I have read about lately is gluten.

What is gluten?

Gluten is a type of protein that is found in grains such as wheat, barley and rye. Gluten is also an important source of protein for much of the world’s population. Gluten is the substance in bread that allows it to rise before baking. It also gives bread its chewy taste.

Unfortunately gluten is also responsible for celiac disease which can be fatal. The gluten causes damage to your small intestine and also limits your ability to digest certain nutrients. Without those nutrients your body’s organs and functions can be severely affected. So with celiac disease wheat products are to be avoided.

The connection between meniere’s and gluten

I have read that some meniere’s patients have found that reduced intake of gluten can help lessen meniere’s attacks. It could also have something to do with wheat allergies agitating meniere’s because allergies have also been considered as something that provokes meniere’s. It seems reasonable especially if vertigo can be a side effect of gluten.

As usual there isn’t any concrete proof that gluten and meniere’s have a connection but I wouldn’t rule it out either.

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Meniere’s disease and doctor visits

After my last trip to the doctor, I don’t know when I will be going back, if at all. As I wrote on this blog I wasn’t very satisfied with the visit. I know that I am not alone in this regard. For some reason it seems difficult to find a doctor who truly understands the emotional aspect of this disorder.

Of course very few ENTs have Meniere’s disease so they don’t really have a grasp on how debilitating and frustrating this is. One of the first ENTs that I saw told me to live with it, like how some people live with fallen arches. Yes, it compared meniere’s to fallen arches, which is ridiculous, considering all the procedures and medications that you should try before throwing in the towel.

I do know that I need to occasionally go back to the doctor at least to have prescriptions filled but other than that what is the use. I certainly don’t want to have another gent injection because I had four done in 2008 and I don’t think that another would help. I have little doubt that there isn’t any balance left in my bad ear so another shot wouldn’t make sense, at least to me.

One thing is for sure I will continue to research the internet on Meniere’s disease. The web has been a godsend for information about everything and it is very important to continue to learn as much as possible about inner ear problems, tinnitus, vertigo and meniere’s. The feedback that I have received from this site and from social media sites has helped me tremendously not to get discouraged about my situation.

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Meniere’s disease and droperidol

I am always curious about what medications are given to Meniere’s disease patients. Most of the time patients are prescribed Antivert (Meclizine) or valium and if you live anywhere, except America, Serc. I received a comment from a post that I had done on fatigue last year.  The comment referred to a drug called Droperidol.
Anonymous said...


My doc did an ENG and gave me Droperidol drops to take 3+ times a day for a month afterwards. My nausea and headaches have been less severe however it has not helped the spin factor. My vertigo is mild by comparison but is constant and consistent. Meclizine didn't work. Currently I'm on clarinex in the morning and Valium and Elavil at night. Any suggestions on getting back to baseline would be appreciated


What is droperidol?

It seems that droperidol is a rather potent and serious medication. According to the MayoClinic.com this medicine is used to reduce nausea and vomiting after surgery. It can also be used to combat extreme agitation and combativeness as well as to make you sleepy before a procedure. The website also lists about a page of medications that shouldn’t be taken with droperidol.

I also found out that droperidol has a connection with histamine, that is often mentioned with Meniere’s disease. It seems to make sense that it is used for Meniere’s disease especially if it reduces nausea and vomiting. As far as reducing the spinning one reader found that it didn’t help.

Unfortunately the drug doesn’t seem to be easy to get according to this comment that I received.


Anonymous said...


My doc recently gave me a script for the droperidol. Am glad to hear it is effective for you. It has been very difficult to find a pharmacy that could compound it due to low demand but I finally did in Houston near the Texas Medical Center. Was told it is often easier near a large medical center because they are used to working with docs who ask for the not everyday. It is not covered by my insurance. However if it is helpful the $65 cost is well worth it.

But like serc, if you think that is going to be effective and you can get a prescription and an okay from a doctor you are going to do whatever it takes to fight this miserable disorder.

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Gentamicin Injection questions and answers

If there is one thing that seems to get more comments on my blog than anything it is questions about the gentamicin injections. I had the procedure done in the summer of 2008. I had 4 injections and severe balance issues for about 2 months afterward. A week ago when I saw my doctor he asked if I wanted another injection. I am not ready at this time for another one, but I can certainly say that the original shots were helpful.


The first question that a lot of people have about the gent injections is how they will feel after the procedure is done. I felt okay right after the shot were admininistered it took a few weeks, I think, before my balance went haywire. And remember that everyone reacts differently, but I have read about others who have had similar experiences.

Here is an email from Justin who was enquiring about how his balance would be after the injections.



Anonymous said...


well, my balance is awful as is, i doubt anything cud really make it worse.... can i ask how the first few days after the first injection were for you? were you laid up? was it different than what u experienced a few weeks later? (and i will discuss with the doc, but he hasnt had the injection after all, =)
thanks for your time david,
Justin


Another question is how is my hearing going to be affected. After a year and a half my hearing has gotten a little worse, especially my ability to comprehend what is being said to me. The way I feel is that my hearing in my bad ear is probably going to get worse anyway whether I had the injections or not. As for the tinnitus, that isn’t a big problem for me, but for others it is constant misery. I don’t think that the tinnitus I helped by the shots. If you have any information or experiences with gent injections and tinnitus let me know. Here is an email from someone who has had the tinnitus for 8 years and is currently going through the gent injections.


Bry writes...
I am currently going thru gent injections, and so far had 5, and will continue each week. I have really bad vertigo, so bad that I couldnt get out of bed for falling over, MD is a terrible disease, but I am starting to feel better, and not had any vertigo attacks for 3 weeks. Only thing is that I am currently disorientated as soon as I move, but this is normal as my balance is re-learning again.
For all those out there with questions, I have been 80% deaf in my left ear for 3 years, the gent injections have not changed this (yet) and am having hearing tests every week to make sure that it doesnt get worse.
Gent will never get rid of Tinnitus, I have had that for 8 years, and is 100% constant, it never goes, gets louder at times and is a pain, but to be honest, if you can get rid of the vertigo, the deafness and tinnutus dont matter, you will get used to it, as much as you think you wont, I guarantee you will. If you have bad vertigo the go with Gent, if you have vertigo which is just now and then, I would think twice, as yeah it could make it worse, but I only went with gent as my life was ruined and I couldnt do anything at all.
I am starting to get stronger and do a lot more things since about 3 weeks ago.
I had a saccus decompression op last year which was useless, was only out of hospital two weeks and the vertogo started again.
I have lived the last 3 years in a horrendous state, but now I feel I am on the mend.
Good luck to all of you out there suffering with this, believe me there is light at the end of the tunnel, and whatever you do, dont give up on hope.!
bry



Another question is how painful are the injections, well for me they were very painful. Maybe it is just me, I don’t know but they hurt. But you have to do what you have to do to ease the discomfort of meniere’s.

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Meniere’s disease and eyes playing tricks

The past three months haven’t been too good for me. I have had problems at work and health issues pertaining to meniere’s and health issues not pertaining to meniere’s. But something happened the other day that really scared me. It isn’t uncommon for your eyes to play tricks on you when you have balance problems, but this episode was particularly frightening.

My wife and I went to see my eight year old son play basketball on Saturday afternoon. I felt pretty good but I took an Antivert just to be careful. This was his 7th game this season that I went to. I was a little reluctant to go at first because watching basketball requires turning your head from side to side continuously. But the first 6 games I didn’t have any dizziness issues or meniere’s attacks.

Since this was the last game of the year, I took my camcorder to film him playing. I kept up with the game as well as I could, filming him going up and down the court. Luckily the games aren’t that long, so I didn’t become dizzy.
After the game we walked back to the car. I got in first and looked over at my wife opening the door on the passenger side. At this point the car in the space on my wife’s side started to back out. Suddenly I had the sensation of drifting backward. I slammed on the brake and held on for dear life. Which was ridiculous, because I hadn’t even started the car and the car was in park so we weren’t drifting at all.

Finally when the car pulled away I got my senses back. What a very strange sensation. This all felt very real. Needless to say my wife drove us back home. I don’t know what brought this on, I suppose the basketball game, I just don’t know.

This is another wonderful example of what Meniere’s disease can do to you.
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Meniere’s disease and heredity

Those who have studied the causes of Meniere’s disease seem to have it narrowed down to two things, either it is due to Hydrops or some type of virus. This may be true but what about considering another cause for meniere’s like heredity.

What made me think about the connection was a comment on a post that I received a few weeks ago.



Anonymous said...

My mother was diagnosed at 68 & she went through all the horrible vertigo vomiting etc. for about 5 years till she went totally deaf. Then it all stopped.( the above )

I at 50 have just been diagnosed. .Ugh


I can’t say for sure but I believe that there have been other comments that tell of more than one family member getting meniere’s. I did a little research and found that one in three patients have a relative with meniere’s that is according to Dr. Hain excellent website.

There was also a study about a Belgian family where meniere’s was found in close to half of the 60 family members who participated. Here is the link; it’s a little technical but still pretty interesting.

Even with all that said there still seems to be a lot of people that don’t think that meniere’s can be inherited. But it certainly sounds convincing to me.

If you have a family member with meniere’s or you think that it can be passed down through families let me know.

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My last appointment with my Meniere’s disease doctor

I had an appointment with my otolaryngologist today. The last time that I saw him was in August (I think). I had very low expectations going into the office visit and strangely enough I was still disappointed.

The reason for the visit was I needed a refill on one of my medications. When I called last month to get it refilled his office told me that I had to make an appointment before they would give me a prescription. I didn’t really mind because he always gave me 12 refills enough to last for an entire year. And anyway I wanted to talk about a few things with him, mainly that the past few months haven’t been too good. I have been eating the Antivert and Phenergan almost on a daily basis. As you know both these drugs are sedatives and makes you very tired. So I have been walking around like a zombie on most days.

I also wanted to talk about getting a prescription for Serc. I have read so many encouraging things about it that I thought that I would like to give it a try. I didn’t think it would hurt to try.

Well, my appointment was at 2:00, they gave me a hearing test first that lasted about 10 minutes. My hearing, as I expected, had gotten worse especially in my bad ear. Where I had really gotten bad was distinguishing words that I heard, that dropped by 20 %.

At that point I was told to go back out to the waiting room and the doctor would see me shortly. Of course that didn’t happen. I waited for over an hour and a half before I actually got to see the doctor. The first thing that I asked him was about the Serc. It dismissed it out of hand and said that it didn’t work and he saw no value in it. I then mentioned that it was used for Meniere’s disease in Europe but he still didn’t think it worked.

I then told him about my recent problems and he suggested another gent injections. I reminded him that I had a very difficult time after the last gent injections and I didn’t want to do that at this time.

All in the entire office visit lasted about 5 minutes and needless to say I was very disappointed. Now I believe it is time for me to look for another ENT!

It was a very frustrating day.

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