When I looked for what I had done wrong that could have caused my Meniere over the last few years, taking into account that I eat more or less healthy, low in salt, lots of water and zero soft drinks, I don't smoke and I hardly drank alcohol. I only found three things: -Sedentary lifestyle and zero exercise. -Lots of caffeine (three cups a day) -Minoxidil. I used Minoxidil from mid-2016 to February 2020. In December 2016 I had my first mild dizziness, nothing bothersome, but without much balance, at this time I associated it with having flown by plane since it was two days later. For a few years I was trying things that my doctor told me (inhalers and antibiotics), in December 2020 my tinnitus began and on February 15, 2020 vertigo followed by many months of dizziness, severe headaches, etc. I can't say it was the cause obviously, but just in case I stopped using it. In general, I have left everything that can be toxic even if it is not safe, for example I have changed my shampoos and soaps, now I use natural bars of soap or natural gel without detergents (it barely foams and is transparent, but clean and smells clean the same ). It has worked? Well, I can't say that my improvement is from doing these things, but I have improved my condition. I get dizzy much less and much milder, there are days when tinnitus is very low and although I have lost half my hearing, from February to May I had many days in which I was completely deaf from my sick ear. So I don't know whether to say that I lost half my hearing or that I regained half my hearing. About minoxidil I can say that it works for hair loss, I stopped hair loss and recovered a lot of hair, but it takes two years to notice the effect, it requires using it twice a day and it produces dandruff, itchy scalp, pimples, etc. It honestly does not compensate, besides the lysine that JOH recommends for Meniere is used for hair loss so I would opt for it.
I have been using minoxidil for over 10 years and just got diagnosed with Meniere's in June. After a miserable summer I finally got put on Dyazide and generic acyclovir 800mg/day (tapered down from 3x/day for 3 weeks, the 2x/day for 3 weeks). Around the time I started the antiviral I had seen information about vitamins B5 and B6 and added them as well. I have been relatively symptom free since around Thanksgiving (knock on wood). I've had a few instances of tinnitus in my bad / left ear, however, I have recovered 90% of my hearing in that ear. I am getting the Moderna vacccine Saturday for 1st dose so we'll see what happens. I was fortunate to find a young, board certified ENT who did a fellowship at Vanderbilt. He follows closely what the Balance Center people in Tampa do, especially with anti-virals. He also added Valium and meclazine, in case I feel an attack coming. Bottom line, through all of this, I have been using topical minoxidil once a day with no ill effect on my Meniere's. Good luck!