I just stumbled across this forum and forgive me if the questions I am asking have been asked and answered before. I was diagnosed with Meniere's disease about three years ago (I'm 37). Periodically through my twenties I would have fullness in the ear and hearing loss. I always assumed it was ear wax not realizing what it really was. Three years ago I had my first vertigo attack after having fullness in the ear for a couple of weeks. It was after this that I went to an ENT and was diagnosed with Meniere's. Since then I have been on a low-ish sodium diet, my strictness varies depending on how severe my symptoms are. I am very fortunate that I rarely have vertigo issues. In fact today was the first time I have had a vertigo attack since my original diagnosis three years ago. I do however have a lot of periodic fullness/hearing loss. Thankfully so far my hearing always bounces back. I have been on diuretics twice, but both times only stayed on for a week or two. The diuretic seemed to help my symptoms, but they give me headaches. My ENT has recommended taking immunotherapy (allergy shots). She said that a lot of her patience swear by them saying they help to reduce frequency and severity of meniere's. I have been allergy tested and based on the test I do have a lot of allergies. I am willing to do the shots, but it is a commitment of 3-5 years of weekly shots and a chunk of money. I have recently been taking an allergy pill in the evenings and I think it has been helping my symptoms. Has anyone gone through immunotherapy and what were your results? Did you see improvement? If you completed the prescribed allergy treatment and have since stopped have you seen a long term improvement of Meniere's? I have been researching other alternatives such as chiropractic, has anyone had success with this (In particular Upper Cervical Blair Care). I am looking forward to being a part of this community and finding others who are on a similar journey to getting better. Meniere's has been a lonely, depressing road for me. I miss eating salty foods!!!! Thanks!
Like you, I had difficult side effects from the traditional diuretics. My ENT switched me to Spironolactone and I haven't had any problems with it since. At one point I tried cutting the dose in half (from 50mg to 25mg/day) and had a vertigo flare. So I'm back at 50mg. Good luck.
Many here claim Meniere's is viral in origin due to success with A/Vs. This actually makes sense within the scope of other, independent research. Autoimmune with viral trigger. Meniere's is caused by the endolymphatic sac producing an abundance of fluid. It is also the ear's immune-organ. There are a couple other competing theories, but herpes within the nerve or another infection, be it fungal, viral, bacterial, leaky gut, whatever, provoking an immune-response within the ear, is *one* theory. There's a lot of evidence pointing toward autoimmune -- in that it is the immune system causing the damage or it is not handling another damaging factor effectively. I think this is why different things work for different people. Try everything as long as it isn't a danger to you. There is evidence, if you look for it, supporting immunotherapy. ... Australian evidence.