6 weeks on Betahistine

Thank you for the update. Are you taking or doing anything else for treatment, or just the Serc?

 

It took me six months on betahistine until the dizziness stopped. Now I have not taken it for three weeks and luckily I have not worsened, but I do notice small dizziness of a few seconds sometimes.

 

Diazepam is very mild and takes time to work when there is a vertigo attack. Ask your doctor for something stronger, I always have a box of sulpiride with me, if the vertigo comes back I take 100mg and go to sleep.

Of course, Sulpiride can only be taken for vertigo or very very strong dizziness, not for mild dizziness. There is a risk of creating resistance to sulpiride and later when you need it for a strong attack it will not work for you.

I have taken antivirals for the last four weeks, the first two weeks with 3g / day I felt very well, my tinnitus went down and I was able to talk on my mobile using my sick ear, understanding everything. Now I am on 1g / day and I have mild dizziness for a few seconds at times, but I feel fine and lead a normal life.

 

Valtrex. I got two prescriptions for the first two weeks, now I'm getting it without a prescription, but pharmacies don't want to sell it to me very easily.

However, I followed the advice of a user on this forum: When at the pharmacy they ask you what you want the antiviral for, tell them for herpes. They are going to imagine that it is genital and nobody wants to see that directly.

And it worked, the only question he asked me after I told him that was if I had already taken them before and I said yes. So just pretend you have genital herpes and don't always buy from the same pharmacy as they won't sell you antivirals for months for genital herpes either.

 

LOL - good stuff IvanA! When I was taking AVs before, I took the 3 a day dosage for several months before I decreased the dosage. I think repair of the inner ear takes a very long time. At one time, there was a concern about kidneys when taking AVs for a long period but I read an article recently that stated that that was not a concern anymore. In North America, AVs are prescription only. You must be where, Spain?

 

I am taking Betahistine 16 mg 3 times a day. Since I started it no vertigo. My doctor said to try eliminating one dose, but within 4 days I started having vertigo so 3 it is. I just got a 3 month supply here in NC for $ 150.00.

 

Does anyone know how to get a script from Canada? I have mine compounded at a local pharmacy for $60 a script..getting ready to retire and need cheaper living LOL...Betahistine has worked wonderfully for me for a year now, it was almost like a miracle pill after starting it.

 

Here they are also prescribed, but a single box is sold to you without problem if you say it is for herpes. That is why it is important to go shopping in different pharmacies. Other users bought antivirals online in other countries like India, Turkey or Mexico, but I don't know how to do it.

 

What kind of antiviral OTC I can buy?

 

I don't know what OTC means, the antivirals that exist are: Valaciclovir, aciclovir or famciclovir. In this forum there are people who have reported improvement with any of the three. I use Valtrex brand valacyclovir, but a generic will do as long as it's not from the Mylan lab (quite a few users reported that it didn't work for them).

You should check the database here: Database | Meniere's Talk forums

 

Lysine, an amino acid, in the US, is over the counter (OTC). No prescription needed. When properly taken (at least 20 minutes before food, or at least 2.5 hrs after a meal), at sufficient doses, preferably spread throughout the day, it gets absorbed by both the body and by herpes viruses within the body. In herpes viruses, lysine then substitutes for arginine, and that disrupts the viral replication chemistry. With some time (variable) the virus is than unable to replicate fully, the infection is suppressed.

Details are found in the PDF that can be downloaded from this site:
JOH (John of Ohio) Regimen for Meniere's Disease details

--John of Ohio

 

LOL - that should be good for a laugh. I'd bet the farm that John of Ohio knows 10 times more about MD than your Doc and 90% of all docs.

 

No, most well-trained, degreed doctors already know everything useful or applicable about Meniere's. Simply, first, in most cases, it's "idiopathic," having no known or discoverable cause open to therapy. Therapies, therefore, are targeted at the symptoms, not the cause (which, the med textbooks, say is unknown).

Asking most physicians about the efficacy of either prescription antiherpetics (the herpes virus drugs) or over the counter lysine or other supplements (as in my regimen) will evoke a quick, "Those can't work; no evidence whatsoever; we have to be safe and stay with what we know."

The good doctor knows, if he's treated Meniere's patients before, that his treatments may produce some moderate but short-lived symptomatic relief only. That's why they all say, "Come back and see me in (a certain time period)."

The good doctor knows, that in the vast majority of cases, very severe measures will eventually be needed to offer relief. Those, of course, will all involve all sorts of surgical or chemical destructions of inner ear tissues.

Wanna get the blood pressure up on your ENT? When he prescribes or mandates some new (or, old) Meniere's treatment, ask him, "But Doctor, please tell me how well this has worked in your previous patients. On that basis, what are the chances I'll get profound relief?"

If he doesn't get angry and say, "Next patient, please," he will simply state that Meniere's is a very difficult disease to treat with few good, lasting results. What he's prescribing is "the best medical science has to offer. Learn to live with it."

Unless, of course, he's read the reports of physicians actually prescribing antiherpetics (properly).

In my case, with my regimen of over the counter products to successfully stop Meniere's (about 80% attain this, in time), only a handful of physicians know of or support the use of the regimen. So be it. I have over 200 reported cases of success from regimen users --- and I've stopped counting many years ago. For myself, after losing hearing in my left ear from the disease, I've continued now for about 15 years being completely symptom-free. Dare I say that the regimen I devised and adhered to for a good number of years (no more, no need), actually (HOLD ON) cured my Meniere's?

For anyone interested, download and scrutinize the PDF on this webpage:
JOH (John of Ohio) Regimen for Meniere's Disease details

My best to everyone whose lives have been turned upside down by this disease.

--John of Ohio