Hi I have recently been told I have Meniere's. This diagnosis came after 4 years of periodic dizziness and more recent bouts of tinnitus and hearing loss. "knock Wood" my last spell of vertigo was over a year ago, however this past thanksgiving i started having attacks on my hearing. These attacks (not daily) lead me in and out of 4 different ENT offices without any success. Even though I have evidently been suffering from the effects of Meniere's for 5 years, it is only now after the 5th ENT I feel like I have an answer that only leads to many more questions. Most of the postings on this forum seem to be about the dizziness associated with Meniere's, i would like to know more about the loss of hearing. Any one care to educate me on what may be my path forward with respect to hearing loss, (is it permanent, will my hearing completely go away, are there any know treatments?) please do.....I am all ears!!
Hearing loss is one of the classic signs of menieres syndrome. It can occur with the vertigo called menieres or wirhout vertigo called cochlear hydrops. It is the same thing just in a slightly different part of the ear. But it does becomepermanent over time. The good news is for a good number of people, myself included, this can be reversed with antiviral medications. One thing i wondered was you said you had just been told. By whom? What doctors have you consulted, what tests have been done.
The last ENT I saw the first week of February was the doctor who said it is Meniere's. He ran some other tests I did not have done and he also took the time to listen to my history, compare the audiograms I had and indicate all roads point to Meniere's. I have only seen ENTs in my search for an answer. If there are other types of specialists I should consult please let me know. He did not prescribe any other medicine other then Flonase to help open my congestion.
Sorry about not listing the tests he ran, he scoped my sinuses, did another audio test, and also ran a CT.
Go to a Neurotologist nota regular ENT. Search this site for antivirals many people have great success with that treatment. good luck.
I did have an MRI completed. The ENT said the report was normal. This was not the ENT that said it is Meniere's. He actually indicated he thought it was age (I am 55 with no hearing loss within my family, I have an engineering job) which I dismissed since it comes and goes. Originally when I saw the first ENT 5 years ago (when I had my first bout of dizziness) he gave me a hearing test and said everything looked normal for a 50 year old. Since thanksgiving 2017 when the onslaught of locomotives idling in my head came on I have seen 2 more ENTs and 1 hearing aid dealer. All three of these gave me hearing tests and only the final ENT when comparing his test to the one less then a month earlier determined it is Meniere's. If they work for me, will antivirals work on both issues, hearing loss and locomotives? I am in the process of seeing a neurologist, my first visit there he said the MRI did not cover all of the areas he would have ordered.
Antivirals worked great for me on the locamotives/jet engines etc. The hearing came back slowly over years. During that time i also took allergy shots. Also believe the antivirals stopped the progression which was beginning towards vertigo. I had hints of it in the beginn8ng but after antivirals that went away, thank goodness. The antivirals were spectacular for me for the roaring tinnitus and also the autophony which were my most life-spoiling symptoms. It does not haopen over night though. It took weeks for the first improvement and months for more complete improvement.mbut so worth it. That was ten years ago now and i am still normal range hearing etc.