Since the first of the year I haven’t had any attacks. There were a few close calls but nothing like the attacks that I had last fall after the gentamicin injections. I truly believed that the Meniere’s disease was basically over for me. I took the diazide, valium and the supplement every day and that would ward off any attacks.
But that came to an end today.
I guess I should have seen it coming. I was on vacation this week and I took a plane trip to see my mother in Pittsburgh. I haven’t been on a plane in two years and I was worried about how it would affect me. The takeoff was very rough, I put my hands over my ears but that didn’t stop the pounding of the elevated air pressure in my inner ears. My ears seemed to get adjusted to the pressure as the flight continued. When the plane landed everything seemed to be normal.
My mother lives in a small town in Pennsylvania on the border of West Virginia. As is most of Pennsylvania the area is particularly hilly, so most of the four day stay I was driving up and down hills and mountains. One day we drove into West Virginia over winding roads that cut over and through the Appalachian Mountains, this made me sick. I took an Antivert when the ride was over and that seemed to help.
The plane flight home was worse than the flight to Pittsburgh. There was quite a bit of turbulence in the air enough to make anyone sick and the landing wasn’t that great either. Well, I thought now that the round trip flight was over everything would be back to normal.
Of course I was wrong.
I had relaxed most of the day and even took my son swimming for a few hours in the afternoon. Right after dinner I lay down in the bedroom and watched the news. As I lay there, my head started to become light and the TV picture appeared to be shifting slightly to the right. That’s when I though I better turn the TV off. Before I could reach for the remote my head jerked to the right and the room turned upside down! I let out a yell and my wife immediately came into the bedroom. She got me an Antivert and I lay perfectly still. But the strange part about it all was that the room didn’t continue to spin and I wasn’t nauseated. In the past, I would have spinning for an hour and throwing up everything I had eaten in a week!
It was all very strange. Was it the plane flight that brought it on? Or was it something else? I don’t know but I hope to God that it was only a blip in my recovery.
Friday, June 19, 2009
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7 comments:
I know where you're coming from. With my first cluster I was violently sick each time, whereas now (third cluster) I can handle the vertigo so that things can spin without me being nauseous. Moving still isn't a good idea! However, I've found a recovery position (head between the legs) where things don't spin, and I find that after I stay in that for a while I can gradually move and look more around the room without the vertigo coming on. After an hour or two I can get up and walk around and quickly return to normal, although feeling a bit drained.
In my experience the attacks often come after a stressful experience; I think all the air pressure changes you went through probably contributed, but your adrenaline probably kept you going during the visit and it was only when you came home that you completely relaxed.
thanks for the comment Jeff. Right after I posted on the blog I got sick again. So I am not sure what is going on now.
Sorry to hear that. I often get attacks two or three in succession (over 3-4 days), and then a bit of a break. I try not to get too wound up over it; I know I'll feel better at some point and the less stressed and tired I am the sooner that will be. Easier said than done, but like me you already know you're capable of several months of feeling good.
My ENT actually suggested taking a nose spray about 30 minutes before your flight leaves..something comparable to Afrin..3 squirts in each nose..I used to have multiple attacks after flying before I started doing the nose spray..just an idea for next time!
That makes sense I might try that next time
thanks!
hello,i suffered from meniere's very bad in my second pregnancy.a very frightening few months.i now have episodes of it,definetly comes and goes,actually swimming pool water ,swimming in general made it worse.i have to just sit very still when ihave an episode,not easy with 2 young children!
Hi,
I hate to hear that you had meniere's during your pregnancy. what an ordeal that must have been!
Swimming can be a real problem for me too. I have to be awfully careful.
I would love to feature your story on an upcoming post about having meniere's and being pregnant. If you could write about your experience I think it would something worth sharing with my readers.
let me know
David Stillwagon
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