Greetings, I had what I knew was my first episode of vertigo about 6 weeks ago. Then 2 weeks later I walked outside to look at the stars, had sudden hearing loss a fullness in my right ear and crashed to the ground. I cut my forehead open and separated my left shoulder. That was when I realized I had a huge problem. Four weeks later on a low sodium diet I've had no further episodes and I hope to keep things that way. I'm glad to have found this forum and hope to learn a lot.
Have you officially been diagnosed with Meniere's? (After MRI, ENG testing, etc to rule out everything else?) If you have, I would recommend that you don't just talk to you doctor but aggressively push your dr to prescribe full anti viral regimen. it has helped a lot of people and the sooner it gets started it has a higher success rate of working and preventing permanent damage to your hearing. Can't stress anti virals enough!! I am sorry what you went through and hope you feel better soon.
I too would press your doctor for anti virals. Unfortunately I never got to try them because of the stubborn doctors and partly because I think it was too late anyway. I have ended up completely deaf in my left ear. Not complaining but you have a limited time to try and stop the deterioration.
Hi, I am new to the forum and I am writing on behalf of my mum. My mum was diagnosed with MD in July this year after suffering from absolutely awful attacks. She has been on betahistine 16mg for 10 weeks now and buccastem for 10 weeks. For 3 weeks during this period, she was symptom free and we thought, the tabs are working but since the 3rd of Sep, the attacks have returned again as violent as they were before. Has anyone had any success with betahistine as I have done tons of research and most of it shows that it doesn't work so if it isn't working on MD sufferers than surely the doctors should consider other medication. I have heard ACYCLOVIR which is a medication for herpes has helped 90% of sufferers but in the UK, the doc won't prescribe it as it is a licensed product and if something has due to it, they could get struck off. Has anyone tried anything that has given them some relief? Thanks for your help! Nadia
I'm sorry to hear about your Mom. It's great that she has you to support and research for her. One thing I can say for sure is that one treatment to relieve symptoms may work for some and not at all for others and there is no cure. The important thing is to try some things early on to avoid hearing loss. I've tried many things, all non-invasive and to this point the Acyclovir has worked best for me. It took months but I had heard that and was patient. Now, I live a normal life but there are still things that will set me off but with the antivirals they are usually very mild attacks and don't last long. When my stress is at a high level is when most of my problems occur. During no to low stress times I am a normal, happy person. If your Dr will not prescribe Acyclovir, read some threads about dosages and try to get a reputable company that will ship them to you. This advice is given based my experiences. I'm sure others will come in and add to it. You may want to keep a pad and pen nearby! Good Luck and I applaud your efforts to help your Mom.
Looking for a way. Try this approach, tell your mom's doctor to test her for HSV, its a simple blood test. Most of the population will test positive even if they don't have MM or any cold sores or symptoms for any HSV. If she does come back positive, which is a good chance she will, then her Dr has a reason to prescribe an antiviral. Have her show her doctor, Dr Gaceks study which is in the forums database on page 104 it lists the doses for Meniere's, for acyclovir and valcylcovir (the latter is the preferred antiviral atm) As for SERC (betahistine) high doses of it show in studies it suppresses Meniere's symptoms, you can find that study by searching the forums.
Thanks Bumblebea and vicky for your advice. I will defo be looking into it. Have any of you tried the John of olio regime?
I use anti virals and the JOH. I after taking Acyclovir for almost a year I was still having quite a lot of dizziness though very few violent attacks and they didn't last nearly as long as before. In April I started adding the JOH supplements starting with 3000 mg Lysine. I added the others a little at a time. Again, I still have have days when I'm a little loopy but am much better than I was a year ago. I'm driving again and doing volunteer work, things I thought were over for me. I'm 67 and so fortunate that I didn't get hit hard with mm until I was retired and had raised my family. Although I experience periodic vertigo and dizziness and was diagnosed with Meniere's 30 years ago the worst didn't hit me until 2 years ago. This is a wonderful group of people on this site and I have learned so much from them.
Did you have the typical Meniere's symptoms before these two attacks, or was this the start of your symptoms?
I have tried John regime and it does help me alot! I really would be afraid to go off of it. It is a little costly but I would rather find a way to pay for it than to be down all the time
I was on 16 mg. of betahistine per day for about five weeks. I then went up to 24 mg. per day, about ten days ago. So far, this has been working for me. Your mom may want to speak with her doctor about increasing her dosage. I have read posts from other people on this site that they take as much as 48 mg. per day. Everyone is different, of course, but 16 or 24 mg. appears to be a fairly low dose. Increasing the dosage may help -- she should consult her doctor. I hope to stay with 24 mg. per day, but if things get bad I won't hesitate to go back to my doctor and ask about increasing the daily dosage.