Stopping a Menieres attack when one is coming

You calling me a liar, Pupper?

I can only relay my experience. In my 20 years of mm I never had a “mild” attack. I don’t even know what that means.

As I said in an earlier posts my vertigo episodes were always violent and long lasting.

I was prescribed Ativan. The episodes started out the same as always; after taking Ativan the vertigo lasted 20 to 30 minutes and then I was able to get up and function.

I can only assume that after 10 years or so of violent 12 hour bouts of spinning and puking with no relief but to wait it out, that once I started using Ativan at the onset my and vertigo lasted 30 minutes, that maybe just maybe the Ativan was stopping the vertigo.

 

I used to do this with Valium, although I was never given the option of a sublingual. I’d actually chew the Valium if I was in public, hoping to make it work faster. I did it in conjunction with relaxation breathing, and sometimes it worked really well. If I was really headed south, however, nothing stopped it. Even now, when I feel the beginning of the ear fullness/worsening of the tinnitus, if I practice this method it usually helps.

 

Mel. Such a random disease. I guess I was speaking generally. I don't doubt your experience.

 

Pupper has the most accurate reply. So.... I keep in my pocket a couple of tabs of 1mg xanax that dissolves under my tongue (kind of a mint flavor...your doc can RX...they come ind wrapped in foil) . As soon as an attack hits I pop it in. Key now is to not barf until it has time to get in my bloodstream. Sometimes I pop in two. So that would be 2 mg. To slow down the onset of barfing I immediately lay down wherever I am....right on the spot. I put my finger tips on my eyelids to feel the eyes jerking. The room is not spinning as we all know....the eyes are just jerking uncontrollably in the direction of the offending ear. If the Xanax gets in before I barf....I will feel the eye jerk slowly turn into a twitch. You can feel it change over. Then less. Then less. Once I can no longer feel the eye movement I am safe to open up my eyes and get to a softer spot. Then sleep for some hours. I wear a "road id" with my medical info on it. So first responders will leave me alone and call my wife. They just put in the code on my id and all of my info comes up for them explaining what is going on. it has saved me many times. Now having said all of this....sometimes....when the big green monster hits its so powerful and violent I barf so fast the xanax can't get it the system fast enough to dumb down the vestibular misinformation to the brain. And then if the barfs start....you are in it for the duration. Often many hours, sweats, wishing you would die. But even then. ....this too shall pass. Life is good. Use the tools out there to fit your needs. But this is the system that by far works best for me.

 

And to add....Pupper may not be a doc but he knows his MM. Early stage MM is for sure by far the worst. I was a newbie then and did not know to attempt the xanax trick. And doubt they would have worked due to the violent nature of those first dozen attacks. By the way anything that dumbs down the vestibular system will work. I just think it needs to be powerful enough to shut it down. And this one I can get that mint flavor since otherwise its pretty bitter to bite and chew and get it under your tongue. Good luck to all.

 

Interesting you would ask about getting cold during mm symptoms because I definitely do. Almost like the opposite of hot flashes these cold flashes. Generally I like it more on the chilly side but when enduring a mm attack I look for an extra sweatshirt and blanket. But on another note, if a room is too warm, like at my school where sometimes it is stuck on 80 this can increase my mm symptoms.

Haven't mastered preventing an attack, but if I can lie down as soon as possible I feel the attack may not be as long or severe. But I have had six hour vertigo attacks at home too.

 

Walgreens carries a chewable form of Meclizine (20mg) that with dissolvable Ondansetron ....putting both under the tongue early into attack has reduced attacks and vomiting for me.

 

After years of using valium under-the-tongu, I discovered meclizine utt, and it became my go-to. It's quicker and more effective than valium.

 

A pill fob around your neck! Brilliant! Where do I get one?

 

Yes I also get the hot-cold stuff.

To actually stop an attack - hard to say. I’ve learned to listen - AM still learning to listen to my body. If I’m buzzing around the kitchen, or my necks in a bad position, or I’ve been on the computer too long... if I’m smart I stop, get still, rest.

If I feel precarious I’ll take Ativan or clonazepam, gravol and get my space ready. Ice bag on my neck feels good. Propped up on 2-3 pillows. Rubbing alcohol on cotton balls to prevent vomiting my meds.

But yeah the big bad sudden ones ... no stopping that tsunami. All the measures above help numb them, maybe shorten them.

 

Hi I don't suffer with Menieres anymore but when I did have it between 2005 and 2008 I would use Buccastem
which can be bought in the UK at Boots for about £8. Buccastem is the brand name. Buccastem is stematil. It would either stop the attack before it started or reduce its duration considerably. I haven't been on the forum for about two and a half years but nice to visit again.

 

picamilon works pretty good for me. not available in the us anymore. niacin bonded to Gaba so its a smaller molecule. wont kill the episode but if you hit it early just like valium it definitely lessens it.

 

Some there is no stopping as said by many above, but the slower starting ones I find staring straight ahead, focusing on something maybe 10 ft away and most importantly controlled BREATHING, nice full breaths in through the noise exhale through the mouth. The panic adds, so remain calm and breathe. I also will pop.meclizine and that seems to shorten hownlong I'm effected once I slow it down.

 

Would you rather never have an attack and thus don't need anything in the hope it will stay down before you start barfing?

Menieres only stops when the affected ear is totally destroyed and you lose the balance in that ear. The solution is to stop the attacks from ever happening.

Look for my post: The Cure For Menieres Attacks, just below this one, that I posted a week ago. I was at Stage II Menieres with full blown attacks several times a month. Two vitamins taken every day and I am now into my ninth year without a single attack. It's two common vitamins. You will feel the difference in 7-10 days. What do you have to lose except Menieres?

 

I didn't realize that menieres has stages? How many stages are there?

 

According to the Menieres Forum I attended in 2010, I learnt the following:
Stage I: Dizziness, unsteady when getting up or turning quickly. Tinnitus, which can be ringing or buzzing in the ear.
Stage II: full blown attacks with head rotation in direction of affected ear. For example if left ear, rotation is anticlockwise. Dizziness severe enough to cause nausea and vomiting. Unable to stand without falling.
Stage III: Menieres has destroyed the affected ear. Total deafness and loss of balance in the affected ear. Menieres Attacks completely end as the ear balance mechanism is totally destroyed.

After nearly nine years of taking 125mg vitamin B5 and 100mg vitamin B6 at breakfast each day, I have not had a Menieres attack since 2010.
Read my post The Cure for Menieres Attacks in this Forum and read the posts of others who have tried them and found success.

 

Something strange has been happening when I get an attack. I can stop it. I was on AV's for 16 mos and just relapsed I had no vertigo that whole time but ringing persisted but a much lower level. Once before starting AV's I was in a restaurant and a attack hit I locked on to a light fixture and tried to focus with what I can describe as a laser beam from my eye and suddenly everything popped back into normal. Fast forward to my current relapse I remembered being able do it and It worked twice now when an attack hit. When the attack hits i pick a stationary object and lock on to it, grit my teeth and bear down on it with one eye until the object snaps back still. I have side to side vertigo when it comes not so much a rotational spin items seem to jump back and forth quickly I don't know if that is why I am able to sometimes control it. Weird.