Does Meniere’s disease lead to other health problems?

Have you ever thought that having Meniere’s disease has been the cause of you having other health problems? The first thing that comes to mind is hearing loss. While my hearing wasn’t that good before I was diagnosed with Meniere’s it is really bad now especially in my “Meniere’s” ear. Although I think that I lost a lot of the hearing after my last gent injection (I can’t say for sure) As for other health issues it seems that MD has also made them worse.


What made me think about all this was a comment that I read about acid reflux, which I have had for years. It doesn’t seem like there would be any connection between it and Meniere’s but who knows there might be.

Another problem that I know quite a few people have difficulty with is depression and with meniere’s it isn’t hard to see the connection between the two. Dealing with the thought that you may have an attack at any moment during the day is enough to make anyone depressed. In my own case I found that going to a counselor helped quite a bit in handling the stress and depression that it puts you under.

Something that I am going to try to do in 2012 is to live a healthier lifestyle. Hopefully by eating a healthy diet and exercising I will be able to feel better and have more energy. (I hope that I stick to it!)

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No spinning and Meniere’s disease

I didn’t think that I was going to be able to write my blog post this Sunday because of my computer problems. On Thursday I tried to turn on the computer and I couldn’t get windows to come up. After trying everything in the book I decided to reinstall windows which of course wiped out some of my stuff (not all of it because I did have a backup, thankfully) the reinstall worked but put me a little behind schedule.


I received an email this week from someone who described having a type of motion sickness for many months but not the kind that has spinning…

Here's the comment
Does anyone have chronic, non-stop, all day motion sickness? Not spinning vertigo but that heavy head, unstable feeling? Does this sound like Meniere's? I've had it since October in addition to tinnitus and high pitch hearing loss in one ear. Am so miserable and sad. Any thoughts

It does sound terrible especially to have it as long as he has. The best suggestion that I have for him is to go to an ENT who specializes in the inner ear to find out what his options are. This reminds me of a guy I worked with a few years ago. He also had a similar problem with his balance and hearing loss. I’m not positive but I believe he had surgery to help with the problem. I think it was the laby surgery but I’m not quite sure.

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Labyrinthectomy, Vestibular Neuritis and Meniere’s disease

I receive a lot of comments from folks about whether they in fact have Meniere’s disease or not. Their doctor may have diagnosed them with it but then again they still aren’t sure. And that makes sense because meniere’s is a strange disorder that is hard to make sense of. I received a comment the other day regarding meniere’s and Vestibular Neuritis.


Anonymous’ wife after years of living with Meniere’s disease had the laby surgery. It went well and with therapy and exercise she had a good recovery. After a year of no meniere’s she started to have attacks again.

Here is the rest of the comment…

“We know it is not positional vertigo and it's not Meniere's in her good ear, but we are stumped trying to figure out what is going on. The doctor first thought perhaps she had Vestibular Neuritis, but that should have resolved by now. Now his is thinking she may be among the <1% of people that develop a vestibular neuroma on the nerve stump following labyrinthectomy, but that is very rare and there is no way to test for it. I know we will get her through this and will be back to feeling great again someday, but it's been hard for her to deal with after knowing what it's like to feel good again. Does anyone out there know of someone with a similar experience?”

I would have hated to go through that type of surgery and then a year later start to have the attacks again. But you never know with meniere’s. It is also kind of scary that she might have developed a vestibular neuroma after having the laby surgery and not be able to find out for sure.



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Meniere’s disease New Year resolution

Happy New Year’s from my life and meniere’s disease! Let’s all hope that 2012 is much better than 2011 not only from a meniere’s perspective but in all things In your life. It was a rocky year for me with plenty of ups and downs but I made it and I’m glad that you did to. Now let’s think positive about what is coming up in the New Year.


I usually don’t make New Year’s resolutions but I think I will make a few this year. The first one is to start eating right and hopefully see some of my excess weight come off. Over the years I have lost weight but I haven’t been able to keep it off for a long period of time. This year I will definitely try harder to watch what I eat and avoid the foods that aren’t good for me (unfortunately the foods that aren’t good for me are the ones that I love, like cake, ice cream, junk food, red meat…)

I am going to also try to begin exercising by walking a few times a week. I’m a little scared about this one because the park that I used to walk in isn’t as safe as it once was and I am also fearful about having a meniere’s attack or possibly a fall. But I need to try because walking is a great way to strengthen the heart and also help with my balance.

I also hope that I have a resolution on my social security disability claim in 2012 but there isn’t much I can do about that one.

Anybody else have any resolutions for 2012?

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Merry Christmas from my life and Meniere’s disease

I thought that since today is Christmas I would just write a short note  wishing everyone a merry, non-dizzy holiday! I know that meniere’s can be a real burden during the holidays due to the stress of the season and possibly eating the wrong food (too much salt, too much caffeine, too much alcohol) but try to enjoy the company of friends and relatives during this festive season.


Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

David

Bad week with Meniere’s disease

Last week on Monday I was starting to prepare dinner when my head started to feel light and the familiar spinning of a meniere’s attack started. It was strange because it wasn’t spinning as quickly as it usually does when I have an attack and in few minutes it stopped. It really didn’t have much impact on me or the rest of the day. Unfortunately what happened on Wednesday wasn’t quite as simple as the previous episode. It was in the evening and I was sitting on the couch not really doing anything when an attack came out of the blue. It felt like something had slammed into the side of my head causing my vision to become blurred and my sense of control to become lost. I rolled onto the floor and yelled for my wife who knew what was happening.

The whole attack lasted only a few minutes but it was brutal, one of the worst sudden attacks that I have ever experienced. Why did it happen now? I’m not sure but I can certainly speculate about what could have brought it on. Over the past few months I’ve had problems with in congestion, ear aches and headaches. I have taken a lot of over the counter stuff and I can only wonder if that played a part in the attack.

Of course other reasons may be the stress of the holiday season and the ongoing tension of getting on social security disability (I haven’t heard anything in while). As usual it is a guessing game as to what causes Meniere’s disease to flare up.

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Sense of smell and Meniere’s disease

I have had Meniere’s disease for about 8 years and there are still so much about it that I don’t understand. But then again, meniere’s is a disorder that doesn’t have a cure and there isn’t a clear cut reason why it comes about, so I’m not the only person who has a hard time with it. The thing that amazes me is all the different things that can set off an attack. Too much salt in the system is one of the biggest reasons, at least for some folks but for other it could their eyes playing tricks on them that trigger an attack.  For me it seems that my attacks can come from anywhere but could they come from something that I smell.

I know that it seems like a stretch to think that a smell can give you an attack of meniere’s with full blown vertigo to boot, but it is something to consider. If you look at each of your senses such as hearing, seeing, tasting and feeling there are things there that can be connected to meniere’s. Seeing and hearing can certainly set off an attack and if feeling has to do with balance it may cause problems.

What made me thing about this was the other day I was cooking and I combined quite a spices together to cook a roast. While I was putting the spices together the strong smell of the spices was powerful and I got a good whiff of them. It probably wasn’t more than 10 minutes before I had to sit down, then lay down because the room was spinning.

I can’t say for sure whether a smell can cause you to start spinning but it certainly seemed to in my case.

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