Hello folks. Yours truly was recently diagnosed with Meniere's. However, reading through a lot of forum postings, doctor web sites, etc. my case seems to be a little odd. If anyone has experienced or heard similar stories please let me know. (Doc said it wasn't that odd but ...) --- A few years ago I noticed a low frequency hearing loss and a clogged feeling in my left ear. It would come and go over time but it would usually take days to get back to normal. (In one case I remember a pop that seemed to clear things.) I chalked this up to allergies or my sinuses acting up. Last August I had my first dizzy spell. Not vertigo but an extreme light headedness that exhibited when I moved around. Went to sleep and it was gone though the next morning but I decided to see the doc. He thought it was a clogged Eustachian tube. Took some pseudoephedrine and all seemed to be ok but a few months later the aural fullness came back and a much louder tinnitus than I have had before seemed to rush in. (Had a small amount of tinnitus for years.) Saw the doc again, prednisone, did the ENT shuffle, more prednisone, saw an otologist and now I have Meniere's. I've had the same low-frequency loss and aural fullness for months now. It comes and goes in that it gets a little better or worse, but I've never had the dizziness/vertigo attacks outside of one time in August which seems rather mild compared to what I've read. Some weeks I'll have a few days where I'm a little dizzy - Stand up quickly and a little light headed - but that's about it. For the last few days I've only had an hour or two where I noticed any dizziness at all and it seemed to clear very quickly. The hearing loss, aural fullness, and tinnitus are still there - They ebb and flow a bit as well - but unless I'm missing it the dizziness isn't around as much as other people discuss and certainly not a debilitating attack. All that stated - It's seems like I'm having an extremely mild attack that ebbs and flows a bit but never ends or turns into anything major. Has anyone else seen or experienced this? I'm looking at various treatments - Which I won't name because apparently that's verboten - but am trying to figure out if I might have something else that's looks like Meniere's. I'm going in to get some blood work in a couple of days to try and rule out B12 deficiency, fungal infection, celiac, and allergies. Thanks. Hope everyone has a great week.
You are correct usually Meniere's causes vertigo, not really light headedness. Getting the blood work for B12 deficiency, fungal infection, celiac, and allergies is a good idea. Have you had your blood pressure and blood sugar tested? although those would not cause the hearing loss/aural fullness. Have you been tested to rule out other illnesses MRI's, balance testing, hearing tests etc? TMJ? Do you have any neck or shoulder pain? If so might be a misalignment causing your symptoms.
Thanks for writing back Vicki MRI was clean. Blood pressure has been ok the last few times I saw the doctor. Hearing tests showed, and continue to show the low frequency loss. A simple pink noise test on headphones is pretty obvious too. I'd have thought the ENTs would have tested for TMJ though I haven't had any clicking or noticeable issues. Balance tests were done by the otologist and my GP awhile back. They didn't mention anything there. I sit and type all day and my left arm - Same side the Meniere's is on - can get a little numb. I attribute it to sitting incorrectly and it goes away after a force myself into proper posture and stop looking at the phone while lying down in bed. Neck and shoulders are ok. They can get a little sore but there is not outstanding pain that I can refer to. As for the chiropractor and misalignment I've heard some good stories there and some bad ones as well. Trying to avoid that one as it seems a little fraught with peril.
glad all else has been ruled out. the getting light headed from standing up from sitting sounds like a drop in bp to me. Any meds or new meds you are taking that could be affecting your bp? numbness in you arm sounds like a nerve is getting compressed to me I understand your hesitancy about chiropractors I fee the same way.
you might wanna look into getting an xray or mri of your neck, shoulder, back etc though since they get you sore and you get numbness in your arm on your MM side. Could be the cause of your symptoms, hearing loss, light headedness etc. Just a guess and a suggestion
TMJD doesn't always present as jaw pain. ENTs won't test for TMJD. If you're up for x Rays , maybe go for a 360 degree jaw x Ray with a TMJD specialist. If you're open to alternative methods of care, consider going for a NUCCa or upper cervical care work up.
Thanks for the suggestions folks. I'll take a closer look at the chiro and the TMJ. After working on sitting correctly today by arm that was a little numb is back to normal but perhaps it's related. I've had a head MRI and the otologist didn't say anything about it but I can double-check. Went in for blood work and the doc seemed a bit confused about why I was asking. Didn't get the fungal test as she wanted me to go back to my specialist but they are checking for B12, Lyme, Syphilis(!), and some thyroid issues as well. Apparently, whatever it was that popped up on their chart but it's a start. As I mentioned before if anyone has heard/seen of my, for lack of better words, "low-grade Meniere's" please let me know.