Stress , anxiety, adrenaline making symptoms worse...

Rgv-I almost didn’t respond, but had a second thought and thought I can’t just leave this alone. First, let me tell you that I have had an anxiety disorder almost my entire life...about the last 45 years. I got diagnosed with Ménière’s about a month ago and my go to was “oh crap! This is horrible...my life is over and I quit”. Then I came to my senses and thought-you know what, I’ve been fighting those anxious feelings most of my life...why are you letting this get the better of you!!! I’m going to ask that same question of you. You can’t let this setback allow you to quit life. You have to push past all of this crap and keep searching for what is going to help make you feel better. I wonder if anxiety kicked in and made you feel dizzy and it had nothing to do with MD at all. I know when I have felt anxious, I get all kinds of feelings...dizziness included. You have to keep moving forward...keep fighting those anxious feelings.

 

Stress definitely makes my symptoms worse, especially work related stress. Specifically, my tinnitus gets louder whenever things get stressful.

 

Personal stress makes my symptoms worse. Professional stress (I am in a highly stressful occupation) can do the same thing. But there is a difference for me with adrenaline. If I'm "in the flow" say in a state of competition (coaching a game, playing a game, in negotiations or in court) then it's like my symptoms go away for a time, and they stay gone for a little bit thereafter before they settle back in. This excludes the potential that pre-game jitters could help exacerbate symptoms (they do), or maybe even trigger an attack (though I've never noticed that happening).

If the JOH regimen and identifying your diet/lifestyle triggers (think migraine related approach) begins to get the interim dizziness and brain fog knocked down, then maybe you can resume.

I'm of the general opinion that doing everything you would've done before and fighting through as much as possible is the right approach, but I understand there are times when this thing can make it literally impossible (especially in the case of a full-on rock your world vertigo attack).

 

RGV i agree with Joney do not let this disease stop you from living your life. Your anxiety towards what might happen will cause you to withdraw from everything that makes life beautiful. You don’t want to find yourself someday sitting in a room afraid to leave because you might have an episode or start feeling bad. I had to come to grips with it myself when I was first diagnosed with MM. I had to force myself to say f**k it, let what happens happen I’ll get through it and tomorrow will be a new day. Don’t try to manage the what if’s manage what you can control and give the rest to the almighty. I take Valium to control my episodes which has worked well for me and I NEVER leave home without it for reassurance. I also use it when I feel the wheels starting to come loose to calm me so my stress doesn’t push me over the edge. Your ENT can prescribe it for you I only use 1mg on my tongue and it helps a lot. Don’t give up, fight the battle, you are stronger than you think. ✌️

 

Stress is often behind flare-ups. It makes sense -- in that, stress releases the hormone cortisol, which causes many parts of the body to be more susceptible to disease or injury. The wicked part of meniere's is that the stress begets symptoms, which begets more stress in an auguring down sort of way.

The main thing is to accept that for some of us meniere's is exacerbated by stress, so our lives need to adjust to accommodate it more comfortably. The brain fog you mentioned is partly from the extra work your brain is doing to keep you in balance and sorting out what you're hearing. There's only so much bandwidth between the neurons, and the stuff related to survival takes priority over cognitive skills. Brain fog is also partly a byproduct of anxiety and distractability.

Social isolation is a real meniere's thing, too. It's harder to understand and converse with people, and the excessive visual and aural stimulation can overwhelm an already taxed brain. Try to arrange social situations that work better for you -- quiet restaurants at off-hours, fewer large gatherings in favor of the enjoyment in seeing friends just one or two at a time.

Grocery shopping is notorious for provoking nausea and dizziness among menerians. Similarly, the visual stimulation of walking on certain patterned floors (like the airport walkways) can poke at the vestibular system too. Once I had to fly during a time when symptoms were flared and, on the suggestion of my vestibular therapist, I requested a wheelchair to get from ticketing to gate, then closed my eyes during the trek.

It seems we generally get along better with Meniere's if we understand its symptoms, accept them, see what makes it better, and adjust our lives to work with it. It means doing things differently, but doesn't mean parts of life have to go away. Get through the flares; enjoy the remissions. Draw support here, and give it when you can.