I was diagnosed with Menieres in 1994, bilateral two years ago. I am very fortunate as far as the vertigo attacks go. Once I got them under control with dyazide, low sodium and valium, they are few and far between although extreme when I do have an attack. I have only suffered through three this year. I am off balance and a little "dizzy" on a daily basis but have learned to live with that. What is driving me to the point of insanity is my hearing. I have less than 10% in my right ear. It has been gone for years. My left ear, however, was fine until I had an inner ear perfusion two years ago. I had to get a hearing aid for my left ear. While it is usually fine with the aid, I have had a lot of trouble in the last six months or so with my hearing fluctuating. Up and down, up and down. My days will start out fine and by the end everyone is screaming at me so I can hear. It is greatly affecting my job which consists of answering the phone and doing dictation all day while wearing headphones. Today my ears have felt especially full and I have been holding my nose and "popping" my eustachian tubes open every five minutes. While this helps awhile, they won't stay open and I soon cannot hear again. Sometimes it is not so much volume as it is clarity. It sounds as if everyone is mumbling to me. Does anyone else have this particular problem? This has happened in the past and my doctor would give me Prednisone and it would clear up for a month or more. I just finished a 6 day pack of them yesterday and they didn't help. Does anyone else ever take Prednisone and if so, have they ever not helped? One more thing, my doctor is wanting me to have allergy tests done. I have an appt. for the end of October. Do any of you suffer from allergies and if so, do the things I am describing sound as if they could be allergy connected? Thanks in advance for all replies.
I think mine has a tad to do with allergies so i use Flonase daily and a new spray, Astelin. I go on and off for a few weeks then take breaks. But seems fullness is more prevelant when damp out or real windy so i will use he sprays for 2 weeks when i feel it coming. Seems to help. My allergist said i have non allergic and allergic rhinitis. I also take the HCTZ 25mg a day, and Valium for vertigo.
I also have fluctuating hearing loss in one ear. The other ear is totally deaf. The good ear is usually severely impaired. The hearing loss is worst when my head feels full. I tried nasal sprays on the advice of my ENT for years but they did little good. The nasal sprays are only good for middle ear trouble. My problem is (and always has been) with the inner ear. My ENT finally sent me to an otolaryngologist who diagnosed the meniere's.
Hi blessed and welcome - Your hearing situation sounds very similar to mine. I do not have allergies. My hearing loss and clarity difficulty stem directly from the Meniere's. I wear hearing aids and use this machine to help me at work: http://www.axistive.com/17078/speech-adjust-a-tone-hga-htp.html There is a lot of technology out there to help us. Keep looking until you find what will work for you.
At one point I investigated allergies as the cause of my MM - but found no relief in focusing on treatment of just the allergies. However, last week when the mold pollen was high in my area I was dizzy, having short drop attacks, and my hearing was really bad. What I've come to realize is that - for me - there are many factors which contribute to my MM - - or help my MM - - so I go for the total body experience in trying to take care of myself and balancing things out. In the past when I wasn't doing this my MM this time of year was horrible which I felt the allergens aggravated. Kinda seems to work for me - - but who knows what tomorrow will bring. Hope you have good days ahead. :-*
When my ears have had that full feeling, no amount of snorting with clamped nose would affect the feeling. It really sounds like you are having an inflmmation that is, at least, partially in your middle ear. Of course the inflammation could be on the other side of the tube or even in the tube. I think your doctor's recommendation for allergy testing is a good one, especially if you have had relief from prednisone. In the meant time why don't you ask your doctor or pharmacist to recommend some over the counter medicine that reduces inflammation of tissues in that region of the body? Even if you only took it for a few days, you could quickly see if you get any relief. Joe
