I just want to see how long others suffered before actually finding some sort of relief. What did you do that brought on your relief?
I suffered for 20 years before i found antivirals. That has been the only thing that worked for me. Check out the link in my sig for details.
I found relief from some of the JOH regimen about six months after my dizzy spells started. I waited before taking the plunge, but felt the effects of the JOH regimen within two weeks. I knew it was working because my daily dizzy spells, which happened around the same time every day, suddenly stopped. Then two years later, when the JOH regimen seemed to fade, I found relief from valacyclovir, as prescribed by Dr. Gacek. That took about three months to work. I stayed on the JOH regimen. A lot of other things didn't work for me: low-salt diet, diuretics, several supplements, acupuncture, chiropractor. I have concluded from experimentation that in my case Meniere's is caused by a virus, probably some kind of herpes, which runs rampant when my immune system gets run down because of my decades-long problem with chronic insomnia. The antivirals seem to suppress the virus. But I still have to get enough sleep for the antivirals and supplements to work.
I also found relief from the JOH vitamin regimen and it took about 3 months. After 26 years with this disease it seems to have transitioned into a different phase where I rarely get severe vertigo but I have constant disequilibrium. I am fighting that with both JOH and antivirals and after 3 months I am having a string of good days that I hope stays with me but I do know it may take longer. Best of luck.
I'm still plodding along, 5.5 years into MM. I tried JOH and antivirals and they didn't work for me. I feel like in the past year or so, things have finally stabilized. I don't know if that's due to a natural plateau or burn-out... or if we finally hit on the right balance of low-sodium, diuretic, and Betahistine. I still have lots of icky days but bad vertigo has been at bay for... 18 months? at least. My hearing in my bad ear has stayed steady at a deficit of 40-50db for at least a year.
From diagnosis, which takes some time, I think that it takes a further period to work out what you are dealing with, the need to keep a diary and to monitor yourself, and then start to research options that have worked for others. Include your doctor in your research. Those with an open mind will work with you. If you want to try AVs for example, production of Gacek’s reports from this website should enable you to start a trial. JOH works for many. Some get by with a LSD (low salt diet) and diuretics. Serc is another medication that works for many. There may be other things at work alongside Meniere’s such as MAV (migraine associated vertigo) and BPPV (Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo). There is a ladder of treatments and you want to get your feet on the right rung as soon as possible. The higher rungs start to get more invasive and surgical. Look after you immune system. Get plenty of gentle exercise, proper rest and try to keep stress to a minimum (easier said than done!). There will be false dawns and false hopes based on enthusiastic recommendations from others. You may be lucky and strike gold early. We are all different and no two sets of Meniere’s are exactly alike. And so the answer is “it depends”. Good luck with your self-analysis and research.