Meniere's May Be Mold/Fungus Induced

I had someone with Ménière's ask that I post what I figured out in my case to this blog. I hope this helps others. So here goes.

I was able to figure out what the underlying cause of my Ménière's was, as I was able to find 4 patterns to my issues. Once I figured it out I went to a doctor who has a degree in Environmental Medicine and he confirmed my conclusion. I suspect that it maybe one of the primary causes of Ménière's. My Ménière's was caused by mold (also known as a fungus). Below are some additional links and information on why it is a likely cause of Ménière's in my opinion.

Before reading the rest please note that I am not a doctor.

First off, details on others who have had experiences with mold and vertigo.

• A former family member was diagnosed at the same time I was as having Ménière's. When I told them what was causing my issue, they looked for and found mold in their house that they did not know they had. Once they cleared out the mold their issues went away.
  
  
• Another family member worked in an office where there was mold, three of the office workers were experiencing severe vertigo. Shortly thereafter the family member started to experience vertigo, although they were no longer in the office with the mold.
  
  
• A neighbor I talked to the other day has been experiencing vertigo for many years. Once she talked to me about mold, she started tracking outside mold verse her vertigo. She found they were linked.

If your issue is also mold related, below is information that will help you solve your issue, with a little of my story as well and my commentary on web resources.

I was diagnosed with Ménière's a couple years ago and in January of 2014, it disabled me. I lost my ability to drive and was stuck in a chair most of the day. I could not do much, so I decided that maybe I could figure it out and started to play events in my mind and looking for patterns. I was lucky in that sometimes I went out of town on business trips. One of the things I realized was that when I went out of town I got better and when I stayed in town I got worse. So I knew that meant it was environmentally induced.

So I started researching what things environmentally that could affect the hearing. Two things keep popping up were toxins and fungus. As such I found some items on eHow and a paper by Dr Nelson's success using Nystatin that lead me to mold as the cause. I was then able to find I was being exposed to high levels of mold (mold is everywhere, it is the amount of mold that is important). Here are the main items that lead me to that conclusion along with my commentary:

Dr Nelson:

Dr Nelson stumbled on the fact that Nystatin put Ménière’s into remission for a larger percentage of his trial group. Nystatin is an antifungal (mold is a fungus). Dr Nelson's was on the right track, but I believe he retired before figuring out what was missed. The reason it did not help all his patients is Nystatin never leaves the digestive track. So you also so need an anti fungal that gets in the blood stream as well as the Nystatin. The person likely has an allergy to the mold and needs treated for the mold allergy. One also needs to find out where their mold exposure is and eliminate it. I also believe you need something to get the mycotoxins out of your system although the body will do so over time. Some doctors claim 5 years to get mold out of your system.

Dr Nelson’s paper is available at: fluctuating sensorineural hearing loss nystatin immune inner ear disease

Before reviewing eHow info, take a look at what their policy is for posting information at the bottom of their page.

From : http://www.ehow.com/about_5482023_black-mold-sickness-symptoms.html

According to Jay Portnoy, MD, of Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, there are several different strains of mold that cause black mold to grow and are dangerous to a person’s health. These strains include penicillium, aspergillum, cladosporium and stachybochrys.

According to Jay Portnoy, MD, common black mold sickness and symptoms include respiratory illness, including asthma, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headaches, fatigue and rashes. These symptoms are often caused by the chemicals that are being released by the black mold and disappear once a person leaves the building infested with black mold.

according to Dr. Portnoy, the most serious are for young infants, who may be subject to quick progression of the impact of the mold on their immune systems. This is of serious and considerable concern to parents. Other late symptoms can include cancer and stillbirths in infants as the molds attempt to kill any living creature that might be competition for space and for nutrients in the environment.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8333520_symptoms-signs-toxic-mold.html which says:

Aspergillus spp.

Aspergillus is the most common fungus within the environment and contains 16 out of 160 species that cause disease. Common symptoms of Aspergillus are skin rashes and hair loss. Aspergillus niger is a species that colonizes in the lungs and can cause hearing loss and tinnitus. Aspergillus versicolor is the most common species that inflicts severe abdominal pain, acid reflux and vomiting in the host.


Stachybotrys Chartarum

Stachybotrys is a greenish-black mold that grows on material containing high cellulose and low nitrogen. This mold produces mycotoxins that are dangerously toxic, possible carcinogen and immunosuppressive. Stachybotrys mycotoxin exposure can produce dermatitis, memory loss, balance issues, acid reflux, nose bleeds, flu-like symptoms, bleeding lungs, general malaise, internal lesions and seizures. The mycotoxins can also destroy the myelin sheath, leading to autoimmune disease in long term exposure cases.

Watch the video on the webpage, and how the father describes his son’s episodes, it matches the episodes I had when I was in the area where the mold was.

The Dangers of Toxic Mold Exposure

In a Power Point called "Recognizing and Treating Fungal Related Illness" on David Buscher, M.D. Northwest Center for Environmental Medicine (the power point has been removed) website I discovered there is a medical degree called Environmental Medicine.

And I need to mention John of Ohio Ménière's Regime, as it was part of finding the solution. An older version had a vitamin in it called "Beta 1,3 Glucans" which is a anti fungal. I bumped it up to four a day and it started bringing the vertigo to an end.

One doctor’s office I talked to only deals with mold and heavy metal removal said:

80% of the people they treat are for Vertigo and hearing loss. Most recover some of their hearing and the Vertigo is eliminated. If you do not eliminate the mold, they will not treat.

The ENT I was seeing at the time would not believe me, and did not know where to send me if he did. About that time I found the power point on mold, by a doctor with a Environmental Medicine degree, so I searched for a local doctor with a degree in Environmental Medicine. Luckily we had a local doctor and he is the one who confirmed my conclusion.


The good news is once you know the cause is fungal, there are FDA approved medications for it (if you happen to live in the USA).

The items below I found after I was being treated for mold/fungal.


The papers at the links below confirm Aspergillus causes hearing loss, vertigo, nausea and tinnitus.

Aspergillus Mastoiditis in a Patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Case Report

Intracranial Aspergillosis Involving the Internal Auditory Canal and Inner Ear in an Immunocompetent Patient

Antifungal Therapy of Aspergillus Invasive Otitis Externa: Efficacy of Voriconazole and Review

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijmicro/2014/636493/

Clean up page lists hearing loss for Stacky:
Killing Mold and Mildew Without Bleach - Grainger Industrial Supply

Thesis paper on mycotoxins causing hearing loss and vertigo:

https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/39433/59008133.pdf?sequence=1


In 1999 the Mayo clinic released a paper identifying that 96% of all Nasal Infections are caused by mold. The link to the paper is below

Chronic sinusitis - Symptoms and causes

The Mayo Clinic Article was originally found on:
http://www.ehow.com/facts_6028277_mold-dizziness.html


http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/01/recovery-from-toxic-mold-exposure.aspx

But is it really?

The steroid may temporarily decrease inflammation, which may make you feel a bit better for a short period of time. However, steroids suppress your immune response. If your immune response is compromised, then the infection is actually encouraged, which perpetuates the underlying problem.

It's like pouring gasoline on a fire…

The fact that steroids suppress your immune system is no secret. Just read the package insert or patient information sheet for any steroid medication—it will warn you that exposure to pathogens like chicken pox or measles while using the drug could result in serious complications, even death, due to immunosuppression.

http://www.library.ca.gov/crb/01/notes/v8n1.pdf

Which says:

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS): Although not attributed exclusively to molds, this is a term “used to describe situations in which building occupants experience acute health and comfort effects that appear to be linked to time spent in a building” because all other probable causes have been ruled out. 39 Symptoms include headaches; eye, nose, and throat irritation; dry cough; dry or itchy skin; dizziness and nausea; difficulty in concentrating; fatigue; and sensitivity to odors.

http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/eh/hlthhaz/pdf/mycotoxin.pdf

Indoor mold and building-related illnesses. The presence of indoor mold infestation is often implicated as the basis of disease in case studies of building-related illness(Hodgson, et al. 1998; Croft, et al. 1986; Apostolakos et al., 2001). There is little evidence that humans are exposed to airborne mycotoxins or to microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) at concentrations known to cause acute or irritating effects for single compounds, as established in animal studies (Burge, 1990; Pasanen, et al. 1999;

The Nat’l Acadamies, 2004). Nonetheless, there are many case studies of individuals reporting non-specific or allergy-related symptoms attributed to sick-building syndrome, such as chronic headache, dizziness, confusion, sinus

http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/wong/BOT135/Lect011.htm

Sick Building Syndrome

How many of you have had the following experience? You are employed in a large high rise or even just entered a high rise once, on business, that has central air conditioning, and one or more of the following symptoms occur:

· Headache

· Eye, nose, or throat irritation

· Dry cough

· Dry or itchy skin

· Dizziness and nausea

· Difficulty in concentrating

· Fatigue

· Sensitivity to odors.

After leaving the building the above symptoms would generally go away, but in some cases may persist for a short period of time.

http://www.m.webmd.com/allergies/features/mold-allergies-reduce-symptoms?page=3

Says

Martyny explains. "Some people recover when the mold source is removed. But if they've been exposed for a long time, they may never recover."

In winter months, indoor heat inside the house will pull air from the crawl space into the living space, says Martyny. That’s one reason a mold allergy may get worse in winter.

It may be hard to get a mold allergy correctly diagnosed. "Very often, the root of the problem isn't identified correctly," Martyny says. "People have these symptoms, but they don't realize they have a moisture and mold problem at home. If you get rid of the allergens -- the mold -- people get better, and they get better pretty fast."

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/03/molds-making-you-ill.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/01/recovery-from-toxic-mold-exposure.aspx

Suzanne Summers recently published a book of interviews with Doctors trained in Environmental Medicine after her family's run in with mold and toxins. It is called Tox-Sick.

We have known mold is an issue for thousands of years. See the bible: Leviticus 14: 33-48

Last comments...

1. One of the things I was told about Ménière's, was the only thing predicable about it was that it was unpredictable. So why is that, if mold is the cause? Turns out mold is not always in bloom. It is only in bloom when you take moisture away. One page (I lost the link) said that mold spores are at ground level at night and rise up to the ceiling during the heat of the day. So if you are not in the area of the mold when it is in your breathing zone, you likely will not be affected that day. Indoor mold is worse during the winter and outdoor mold is worse during the summer. All of these details makes it highly variable on how much and when your exposure is.

2. I suspect that ear wax. saliva and nose snot are our bodies primary defense against mold spores.

3. Do not use bleach unless you have a well ventilated area. Bleach and Mold combine to make VOC's and can be deadly. If you have a lot (over 10 sq feet) call a professional to deal with it.

4. I prefer to call mold the trigger mechanism. It is likely the trigger mechanism for many diseases we have to deal with (search for mycotoxins).

Jim