Well, after seeing my ENT again post-testing, he said that there is no way I have either BPPV or Menieres because my balance test was normal. I have all the symptoms--pressure in ear, tinnitus, vertigo attacks, intermittent hearing loss. He basically said it's not an ear problem because my balance is normal. Given that my symptoms only began a few months ago, is it possible to have a normal balance early on? Or is he right that a normal balance test means my issues aren't related to my ears--even though all my symptoms are ear-related!??
I am very new to this. About the same as you. That said, my ear PT (who is a Dr) says that balance can be fine between episodes. Your PT is saying something along the lines of "you don't get sick walking a straight line so therefor you don't get car sick".
I'm not a doctor, but here's my understanding. The vestibular (balance) system is partly located in the labyrinth of the inner ear, partly linked to your vision, partly tied to muscle movements especially in your feet and ankles, and all brought together in the brain to make sense of how to keep you upright. Meniere's affects balance by killing off the hair cells in the labyrinth and messing up the signals sent from there to your brain, which in turn gives you vertigo. When the vertigo gets very debilitating in later stages of Menieres, some of us use surgery (labyrinthectomy) or chemical (gentamicin) methods to completely take out the faulty hair cells so the brain cannot receive any more inconsistent signals from the bad ear. Afterward, the brain is retrained to interpret balance from the remaining functioning parts of the vestibular system. In the early stages of Meniere's, the hair cells get knocked out and then get back up for another go before getting knocked down again. This is why there is fluctuating hearing and random vertigo attacks, and why the disease gets progressively worse. It sounds like there is a communication shortfall between you and your doctor. Did he refer you to a neurologist or neurotologist to help further investigate your symptoms, or is he trying to say you don't have the symptoms you describe, or that it's not his problem to deal with. In any case, it would be wise to get a second opinion -- preferably from a neurotologist who specializes in Menieres and vestibular disorders. It's good to get the diagnosis figured out sooner rather than later. There is some evidence that the Meniere's symptoms may be instigated by illness such as virus, fungus/yeast, migraines, immune disorder or allergies. Treating the underlying illness early on with antivirals, antifungals, and betahistine has helped many people keep their symptoms from progressing. Others of us haven't found an underlying illness for the symptoms, or perhaps the meniere's is an inherited trait. If the doctor suspects meniere's, he/she will order an MRI to rule out other conditions that present with similar symptoms but require different treatment -- tumor, MS, etc. I hope you find the right doctor soon to help you get your symptoms addressed. Good luck.
Your doctor is dead wrong!!! You have all the classic symptoms of Meniere’s. In fact this is exactly how things start. If you don’t aggressively treat this now, it will advance into a much more serious form of the disease and you will eventually develop chronic imbalance, regular vertigo, worse tinnitus, and continued hearing loss. You need a doctor right away to get you on antivirals as discussed in many other threads. Search for DR. Gacek studies. Also would recommend John of Ohio regime immediately. You need to understand that this is most likely a viral infection of the inner ear. The medical community is way behind on this. Take source material with you. You can find everything you need on this forum. Any doctor that doesn’t want to help you with antivirals and advocate for your treatment should be replaced.
Thanks--this is my impression too, that the doctor is wrong. I will try to get my GP to refer me to another doctor, but it will take months, and when I suggested a second opinion to my ENT he said there was no way another doctor would take me based on my normal test results. From all I've read it wouldn't be unusual to have a normal balance test between attacks, particularly at the start of the disease. But this doc was adamant that there's no way that I would have a normal balance test if there was an inner ear problem. My MRI was also normal. I'm doing John of Ohio on my own until I can get into my GP again.
Balance function will be normal in between attacks until you become chronically imbalanced, which is what you are trying to avoid. MRI’s will not show anything either unless a specialty MRI is used that is specialized for smaller structures such as the inner ear. Also a radiologist reading this type of study would also need special training. My wife is a radiologist and we have discussed this already. Maybe you could present some data to your GP and he or she could prescribe you Valacyclovir while waiting to get into see another specialist. And by the way you would be best to not see another ENT, but rather a Nuerotologist. This type of doctor is specialized only to diseases of the ear. Even a Neurotologist will need some convincing before supporting a treatment plan using antivirals. One more argument you can use is that antivirals have almost no side effects. The potential benefits way outweigh the risks. By not treating, things will only progressively get worse. Play musical doctors, if necessary, until you find one who is willing to think outside the box. Good luck!!
Thanks Pakrat--that's what I intend to do when I can get into my GP next (he's on vacation). My ENT is a neurotologist. I will try a different one though, because my ears are far too important to me to trust someone who dismissed me in 5 minutes after months of waiting.