My husband was at an ENT meeting recently and ended up in a talk given by a Harvard doctor who was positing Meniere's having inflammation as an underlying factor. I'll try to track down his papers, but in the meantime... linking Meniere's with inflammation isn't novel -- I know I've read it before. Inflammation is a symptom of underlying issues, after all. It got me thinking though. I'm in my early 40s and in the last 5-6 years have had a constellation of medical issues crop up that all seem to have inflammation as a common theme. Meniere's is by far the hardest I'm dealing with, but I've also got dry eye syndrome, a kidney issue (which might stem from some Meniere's meds I was on in the first couple years), and for a year or so I also had an acute GI issue, microscopic colitis, which thankfully has resolved (or gone into a very long remission). The doc who was speaking was suggesting Omega-3 supplements as a way to tackle the Meniere's/inflammation link. I'm going to give it a try. It's one of those "it can't hurt" type of things. Anyone else have any luck with Omega-3 supplements? Meantime, I need to talk to my kidney doc, but I also want to try Magnesium, as suggested by my own ENT, to see if that helps the possible MAV angle. There are warnings about Mg supplements and kidneys though, so I need to get that one cleared first.
Hi Pleaze, I have kidney issues too. The MAV meds I was on effected them, but not horribly. We caught it early. My creatinine was off a bit. I did not the magnesium for that reason also. They switched my med from Topomax (affects the kidneys) to Divolproex (affects the liver). Can't win. But for the most part the MAV meds work pretty well, but not perfect. Topomax was better, but I do feel better than i have in years, just not 100%. I don't think fish oil could hurt. Depending on what studies you read they either are effective or worthless. Good luck.
I take FishOil - Can't remember the brand off-hand - and magnesium twice a day. The ... ahem ... not so fun part about magnesium is that it isn't absorbed very well and a too much can cause diarrhea. Make sure you eat your greens.
Did i hear that fish oil has a blood thinning effect and if you already take any blood thinners including aspirin it might be an issue? I would disclose them to any dr who is prescribing stuff anyway. My thought is that inflammation is more a sign of a problem than a cause. When there is illness and disease, there is usually inflammation so treating inflammation might be just symptomatic relief (which is a good thing) but not necessarily getting to the root of the problem.