Hello, I've been reading your forum a lot the last few weeks doing research on my husband's symptoms. We do not have a diagnosis yet but Meniere's has been mentioned to us. A few years ago he had 3 severe vertigo attacks, several months apart from each other. Each one lasted several hours and he was wiped out for the rest of the day. Right before this past Christmas he had another one and 3 more the first part of January. No other symptoms have been noticeable but since his last attack he has noticed pressure in his left ear and low humming and some lightheadedness. He doesn't necessarily feel bad but says he hasn't been at 100% since then. He saw an ENT 3 weeks ago and had a hearing test. We were told he had some nerve damage in his left ear. We looked at his records this week and noticed the hearing loss (which was minimal) was in the high frequency, starting at 3000 -4000 and going back up at 6 and 8. He was prescribed prednisone and seems to be feeling better the last few days. He also has a severely deviated septum and on going sinus issues (no infection though) We go this Friday for an MRI. Does this sound like Meniere's? Also we did realize that the last 2 attacks he had the night before each we had the same meal and both commented on how salty it was.
Welcome! (and sorry you're here) Here is my standard reply. MM is not a disease, per se, but a collection of symptoms, so it doesn't really matter that much if your hubby is 'officially' diagnosed with MM. MM can be multi-factoral. It can be linked to viral, fungal and/or bacterial infections in other parts of the body, and usually more than just one. I had all three at one time or another. Some folks here find relief with anti-viral medications, I'll let others speak on those mostly, but here is a scientific basis for viral causes: http://menieres.org/talk/index.php?topic=14.msg36#msg36 I have tons of viral antibodies from past massive CSV, HH6 infections, but no active infections. Anti-fungals have helped other folks, including me. I had very poor gut health and developed a long-term systemic fungal infection (which I'm still fighting). Here is a scientific basis for fungal infections: http://www.papadisc.com/MM_Nystatin.pdf The third part (for me) was discovered accidentally. I had a several 35 year old stealth dental infections from poor dental health as a youth, and subsequent botched root canals. To see if you might have a dental exposure, please check out this thread: http://menieres.org/talk/index.php?topic=2830.0 Good luck! PapaJoe
I'm sorry to hear about your husband. The fact is that there is no one here that could say with any kind of certainty if your husband has MM or not, it is usually a diagnosis of elimination, removing all other issues that can cause the type of vertigo that your husband is experiencing and then being left with nothing else. My experience with the vertigo caused by MM had a similar history to his, starting with varied vertigo attacks often months apart over the course of several years, and then building to much more often, however my experience also involved the feeling of water build up in the ear, pressure, and tinnitus. For me, those symptoms always accompanied the vertigo, oftentimes preceding it as an indicator. At this point in my MM, those symptoms are constant and the vertigo comes and goes at various levels of severity. I was diagnosed with "text book" MM a year or so ago, after several years of seeing various doctors and lots of tests. I know the desire to "put a name" to the problem is probably very strong for you two and at least having a diagnosis is something (I know it was for my wife and I) but at this point, based on the information you've presented it seems too early to know anything. I hope you're husband feels better and I wish you both all the luck in the world in finding an answer, until then be safe and stay well.
Yeah, getting the diagnosis was a big deal for me too (Look! I'm not crazy!), but later on it turned out not to be such a good deal, as getting the diagnosis sort of locks you in to standard treatments (low salt, diuretics, surgery), which were not helpful for me (didn't have the surgery). llmitch, You may be better off just getting him treated with anti-virals and/or anti-fungals, as those seem to help people with MM. I never took the JOH protocol, but that helps a lot of people here, so that's worth a look too. I'm assuming y'all have had a complete physical to rule out any thyroid or other known health issues? And good that you linked an attack to diet, but it may not be the salt. What else was in the meals? Wheat would trigger a big attack for me, white vinegar would send me to hell.
Regarding the hearing loss, my doctor told me that for people with Meniere's, it's more typical to have low frequency hearing loss which is true in my case.