Meniere's disease and life challenges

Often I receive comments from folks that have had difficulties with Meniere’s disease and challenges in their lives at the same time. Denis is one of those people. He had to endure personal tragedy from deaths in his family only to now fight Meniere’s disease and all the vicious side effects that it produces.


Denis said...

Coping with Meniere’s is challenging. It does turn our world upside down. Life as we once knew it is no longer the same. I am not used to my new role. For years I enjoyed good health and my role was that of the caregiver both at home and at work.



I worked many years with chronic lung disease patients in pulmonary rehabilitation, telling them that they could learn to control their disease and not let it control them. Now the “shoe is on the other foot,” and I am attempting to practice what I preached. It is not easy by any means. Coping with vertigo, hearing loss, tinnitus, fatigue, “brain fog,” anxiety, depression, etc. is an entirely new adventure without the benefit of my usual maps. My Meniere’s associated regimens are continuously on trial, judged for their legitimacy or efficiency or both - the initial trust of my physician; control of my symptoms or the disease or both; symptom relief versus side effects, etc..



A cluster of recent, spontaneous, violent vertigo attacks have prompted me double down on my regimens, especially the low salt diet. I am working my way through the No-Salt, Lowest Sodium Cookbook by Donald Gazzaniga. As the author says, “The down and dirty truth is if you really want to lower your sodium intake (and you acknowledge that it is necessary and important to do so), you’re going to have to adapt your tastes and food desires to new flavors and textures.” I have not yet adapted and it is a struggle. Also, shopping for low-sodium or no-sodium food is an adventure in itself.



I do exercise by walking. I was never a runner or a swimmer. I have enjoyed hiking for years. There are multiple wooded trails along creeks nearby, where I can walk for miles without any awareness of the surrounding metropolitan area. The problem I now face, with spring and warmer weather approaching, is the fear of an attack on the trail away from home. I am hoping that I will stabilize so that I can go back to the trails. I recently bought a treadmill so that I can walk at home. Lately, there have been days when I just could not exercise. And days when I had to force myself to walk on the treadmill and felt better afterwards. I usually wear MBT “rockers” when walking, but when I am feeling wobbly on “off” days, they tend to exacerbate my balance problems.



I now have my hearing aid and am so pleased with it. What a difference it has made in my quality of life.



There have been a few discouraging times when I wondered if life is worth all the trouble that comes with Meniere’s. But I always remember my wife and son and what they went through with their illnesses. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.” I draw upon their courage in the face of adversity in my adventure with Meniere’s.



Thanks again Denis, I appreciate your comment and your courage dealing with Meniere’s disease.

David