Hey everyone, I'm new here. I was diagnosed with MM 3 years ago and it's been dormant since. Three weeks ago I started getting tinnitus for the first time in 3 years and my right ear felt plugged up. About 4 days after that I woke up with vertigo. Since then I've had one more vertigo attack (at night also) and a general feeling of unbalance and feeling weird in the head. The strange thing is that two days ago my ear started itching deep inside like crazy and felt like it was draining into throat and clearing. I could hear better and the tinnitus quieted down. But I'm still feeling weird and dizzy, and there's a feeling like the ear is still plugged, but the "clog" has moved deeper toward my throat. I keep a heating pad on it and doing massages, but it has not improved. Is this normal with Meniere's? Before this experience, I only had a Meniere's attack once three years ago. Did not experience the draining sensation. Any tips would be much appreciated.
WelcomePaloma32. I have a similar problem with my right ear. Last summer I had ten full blown vertigo attacks. The episodes ended with the fall rains (Oregon). This spring my right ear became plugged and I also noticed that the tonsil on the same side was swollen. Had fluctuating hearing loss and tinnitus. I knew what was coming so I went to my doctor and was tested for allergies. Tested negative for all seasonal allergies. Diagnosed as nonallergic rhinitis. The treatment protocol was twice daily nasal flush with saline, fluticasone and azelastine nasal sprays. The treatment aim was to reduce the inflammation in my sinus and eustation tube. It took about a month for my ear to unplug and my hearing to return. Inflammation is not entirely gone yet but at least I can hear and the tinnitus is less severe. With MM I think it's important to avoid inflammation especially in the head area. I don't know if this will help,but hope you find some relief.There is a lot of good information and directions to go on this site.
Also I wanted to mention that I did have the itchy feeling in the ear and finally the drainage when it unplugged.
Thanks for your reply! Good to know I'm not the only one. In my Google research I couldn't find anything that connected Meniere's and inner drainage---it seems like symptoms of an ear infection, but I've never had vertigo and three weeks of dizziness with an ear infection. Glad you mentioned the weather. I've often wondered if this affects it. We've been getting a lot of thunderstorms here lately and humidity/barometric pressure keeps fluctuating like crazy. Today the tinnitus is still there, but the ear feels mostly unplugged. Still little hints of dizziness and just a strange "dreamy" feeling in the head now and then, but so far so good. I'm hoping this episode is on its way out. Good luck to you, too! Thanks again.
It is possible to get vertigo from an ear infection. This is why Meniere's is so hard to diagnose. It's symptoms can be caused by so many other things.
I know what you mean. I've always had trouble with my eustachian tubes ever since I was little and now I'm 33. I'm not sure if what's going on is a conflation of Meniere's and some mechanical drainage probs or what. Three years ago when I was diagnosed with MM I did have a vertigo attack after consuming two cans of V8 and eating some olives (basically a salt bomb). Then I had tinnitus and poor hearing for about five months until it gradually went away. I had a cold this past December and my ears hurt, but no tinnitus and no dizziness. Ears are mysterious.
If the doctor suspects it is a pressure problem related to blocked eustachian tubes they can perform a myringotomy to see if that balances things out. In some cases people with Meniere's have had the procedure done and it's cleared things up for them. As someone already mentioned, inner ear disorders are a hodgepodge of causes and symptoms. You could have a pressure imbalance, SCD, MM, MAV ... and probably a host of other issues that present with the same set of subset of symptoms. That to me is one of the hardest parts to deal with as there isn't a test you can get that points to a specific issue. Also, one of the reasons most doctors are all over the map.
Hmmm, that gets me to thinking. Could a ruptured ear drum have anything to do with the Meniere's? Mine ruptured suddenly last weekend and it feels full and like it's full of water. It initially felt like it immediately filled with fluid, which it did because I then had blood running out my ear. Meniere's realated?