Hello all, It has been quite some time since I visited the board after being diagnosed with Meniere's Disease in January 2014. Many changes have occurred: most importantly moving across the country (US) and switching professions. One thing that has not changed is my 24/7 tinnitus. I (knock on wood) have not suffered from vertigo very often, but fullness and fluctuating hearing have been another big part of the problem. The tinnitus has given me the most problems, and I frequent the Tinnitus Talk forums when it's particularly bad. I did want to address something to this forum that was not an issue in 2014. I picked up smoking after 11 years of abstinence and wasn't fully aware of the contributing factors this may cause with this condition, since it was not an issue when speaking with doctors (and I saw a lot) those first two years. I'm currently abstaining again, but for the past 10 months I've been smoking on and off. I had mostly habituated to the tinnitus and the fullness in my ears hadn't been an issue for awhile, but these last 5-6 months the tinnitus has spiked considerably and I've returned to psychiatric medications as a result (for panic). While I know all of the other health dangers of smoking, it's been very difficult to quit a second time. When I do stop for a few weeks, the tinnitus seems to settle down a bit, but I'm wondering if any other members have had experience with smoking, panic and tinnitus. It seems so strange after 11 years to struggle with smoking again as it was such a distant memory but, well, here I am. As I've now paid attention to the correlation between smoking and Meniere's intensity, it's frightening and I wonder how much I've opened myself up to worsening conditions. Thanks for reading this and any support, advice you may give.
Have you given up caffeine? Even though i love it, there is no doubt it really exacerbates symtoms for me. Also just note whether some meals seem to bring out the tinnitus more than others. High sodium meals sometimes will. Noticing these correlations can give some control.
Smoking is not good for your Meniere’s, let alone your general health and wellbeing, and it impacts on blood circulation. Strange that your Doctors didn’t mention it, mine certainly did. The first steps in Meniere’s management are often a low salt diet and cessation of caffeine and the nicotine drug addiction. You already seem to have all of the evidence that you need to inform your decision whether to quit again. Good luck. I found the book Allen Carr’s Easy Way To Stop Smoking very helpful.
@yellow As I said, when I was diagnosed in 2014 it had been 8 years behind me, he may of mentioned something in passing like "good" when asking if I smoked. I appreciate the advice with the book, I have a few days behind and really feel compelled to put this 8 months of smoking behind me. It's unbelievable how hard it's been this time around. @June I was off of caffeine the first year after my diagnosis. I feel like I may have to revisit that as well.