I don’t know if it’s just a coincidence, but since i’ve been taking it for my back, my ear pressure feels slightly lower. I’m not quite sure if it’s an anti-inflammatory medication (the website says that it is and it isn’t). I figure that I’ll stop taking it once my back feels better. However if my ear starts to feel “fuller” again, I wonder if I should maybe take a pill a day. Any thoughts?
I used to think the same thing for Aleve. It's difficult to know when something is working when symptoms are cyclical like mine. I find I need to stick to a routine for 90 days to know for sure. With Aleve, I tried it when I was flaring-up to confirm if it had a positive affect. For me, it did not.
I log my symptoms daily now so I can look for patterns. I think we are desperate for relief. I would analyze any day I was feeling better to see what I had done that was different. With time I better understood my cycle of flares, the symptoms, the panic. Once you understand when a flare-up is coming, one can try basic anti inflamatory meds like aleve. JOH kept my symptoms suppressed for over a year. Eventually, the disease/disorder (whatever) overcame JOH. Now I am being treated for MAV (go figure). So far, no vertigo for at least 3 weeks .
Possibly. I still feel pressure, just not as much as normal. My initial thought was that perhaps something was inflamed in there and the Aleve lessened it, and allowed built up fluid to get out. This goes against what my doctor described to me. He said that there is no fluid build up, and the feeling of “pressure” is actually the nerve endings dying in my ear. However, he told me this on my initial visit when I told him that I thought that I had eustachian tube disorder (months before the Ménière’s diagnosis).
At the end of each severe flare-up, I get a headache and feeling of water leaking in my ear. Kinda strange. It's that sensation that told me I was headed in a good direction for a spell.
I did that for many years. The only thing I ever came up with was that drastic weather/barometric pressure changes or prolonged stress could bring on symptoms or exacerbate existing ones. Allergies or being overly tired will exacerbate existing symptoms but won't bring them on if I'm not already having them. Sometimes the symptoms will come on or worsen with no apparent reason. I don't believe there are any answers. I've taken ibuprofen for hip pain on and off for a while now. It helps the hip pain but I never noticed it did anything at all for the Meniere's symptoms.
I've had that feeling of water leaking in my ear. Sometimes I can hear a sound of water gurgling in my ear. When I hear this it generally means that things are either going to get better or worse.
When I had the shunt surgeries, I was told that this would help relieve the fluid build-up. It seems like what we hear depends on who we talk to. Personally, I don't think the doctors know any more about this than we do. I have no faith in them whatsoever.
CS, "Personally, I don't think the doctors know any more about this than we do. I have no faith in them whatsoever." I'm on my third ENT and finally feel like I am dealing with someone who gives a rats a##. I have 3 diagnosis for Menieres. Current doc started testing to prepare for a laby. Then my VNG test came back normal. So now I am being treated for MAV. Not sure how all this plays out, but all my vertigo and now dizziness has subsided. Until my current doc, I felt like the others could only read the standard script. Very frustrating for sure.
I had this very argument with my specialists for a long time. Surely what i experienced was middle ear, it just felt like it to me and i thought there were other symptoms that pointed to middle ear. Specialist after specialist showed me tests etc which showed it was inner ear and menieres/hydrops. In the end, allergy treatment helped, antivirals helped even more, i have normal hearing now and none of that fullness and pain. Go figure. I cant explain it but the treatment worked. But i know what you mean.
I'm glad you were able to find someone who has helped you. Most of them have tunnel vision and won't suggest anything other than the same old-same old, which doesn't work and they won't even listen to me when I tell them that.
That’s actually so great though. In the end to find someone who gives a shit and to have some relief!!!!
Whether it works out to be MAV or just another point on my cycle will take time to tell. The point is we all need to keep at it and not give-up.