Meniere's Disease

My husband was diagnosed with that disease over 25 years ago, he is now 53. When the "attacks" come he gets so dizzy he cannot stand and has been prescribed motion sickness pills which help to some degree. Unfortunately he seems to lose a bit of his hearing with every onset. He has a continued buzz in his ears and has tried a hearing aid which only serves to magnify the buzzing. His doctors have basically said he will either get beter, worse, or stay the same.......
In 2001 it was discovered that he had a brain tumor (non cancerous) which necessitated surgery that has only served to make matters worse. It is hard to say if the two are connected in some way but it couldn't hurt for your mother to get an MRI to rule other things out. Diagnostic tests are much better now than they were then and they improve all the time. I wish your family well.

If your mother has been appropriately diagnosed by an ear specialist, a seond opinion from another one might allay your concern that there is something else causing her symptoms. There are both dietary and medicinal options to help control Meniere's that your mother should learn about and heed. The vertigo associated with Meniere's is debilitating and frightening but the syndrome shouldn't incapacitate her since there are generally periods of time between episodes.

My mother (now 60), was diagnosed with Meniere's over 10 years ago, after her dizzy spells and vertigo got so bad that she could not drive or do anything else for that matter, except lay in bed and moan. She couldn't even sleep she was so dizzy sometimes. Mom also has partial hearing loss in both ears, one worse than the other, which preceded the dizziness and diagnosis of Meniere's. After a basic root canal a YEAR later, the dentist drained an abscess over that tooth that rivaled anything he had ever seen. He said it must have started a very long time ago to have gotten that bad. He put her on antibiotics to finish off what might have been left of the infection, and I kid you not, she was CURED. The ENT never had seen such a turnaround with Meniere's and we actually thought she had been misdiagnosed. Mom still has the OCCASIONAL dizzy spell, more frequent and worse as she ages, but they are NOTHING what they were. I hope your Mom's case turns out as well as mine, but I understand how unlikely that is. That sums up my experience with this condition, I am sorry I could not have been more help. Good luck and God Bless you and yours, V.

Hi A....

Your mom defiantly should have a CT scan or MRI to rule out anything more serious, before a diagnosis of Meniere's syndrome is made. Call her Doctor to ask why he didn't do that, and explain your concerns. If you've done the research, you know that there are tumors that can grow around the nerve in the ear, they are mostly benign, but you really should know. Sometimes it's the sign of a brain tumor ( as in my sister-in-law's case) Sometimes vertigo is a sign of an atypical basilar migraine, ( that was what I had) and is treated differently than Meniere's. And of course, it can simply be caused by sinus problems.

Meniere's disease should be a diagnosis made only after everything else is excluded. If for no other reason than to calm your anxiety. If your MD refuses, ( which I can't imagine him doing after you have explained your concerns) go to another doctor, and explain your concern to him.

She was diagnosed with vertigo in the past?
They are similar? Did they just ASSUME it was a vertigo?
I'm curious because my boyfriends dad was diagnosed with Benign Proxysmal Positional Vertigo. He was a textbook case. Elderly with all the symptoms....but your mother is significantly younger than he was, so its not suspected unless there is a history of a head injury.

And now my mother has similar symptoms, but more resembling Meniers with the spinning feeling and not as positional. I can't get her to get seen because it is not as sensitive and triggered by positions and thinks it will just go away....

It is funny to see a request like this because I have been doing so much reading about inner ear disorders trying to convince my mother to get looked at.

They are both inner ear disorders....
Meniers is just for some reason fluid is leakiing from one area to another beacuse there is too much (it is unknown why it happens).
BPPV is when that fluid has crystalization.
But the similar symptoms could be researched more with an MRI or Ct Scan to determine what in the inner ear is abnormal.

I hope to read an update later to see how she is doing...
Good luck

Is menieres disease the one where you get very dizzy to the point where you throw up?

I agree with you. I too would want my Mom to have a Catscan,MRI and a 2nd opinion from a specialist. A doctor who specializes in what your mom is suffering with.

Time for you to take control of Mom's medical situation. Call this doctor office, or call your local hospitals or other doctors you may trust and ask them to recommend a specialist for a 2nd opinion. And once you have an appointment with a specialist, make sure all her records are faxed to them so that it's all there for the appointment.

Speak up, get agressive, insist, ask questions and make sure you get answers so you understand exactly what Mom is suffering from and what help, tests and treatments you can get for her. It's your right as her daughter to be part of medical decisions and treatments so that Mom is not alone with it all...... AND DON'T STOP UNTIL YOU ARE SURE MOM HAS THE BEST OF CARE.

Although I'm sure I don't have all the details....A sufferer of Vertigo and now Meniere...I'm surprised her doctor didn't send her for a Catscan first and then an MRI which is the order in which they give both tests.

Not all doctors know everything, although many think they do....and we all have to be careful of doctors who are to laid back.

My Son's Teacher was just telling n\me about her Dad and how here in the Buffalo area they do nothing about this and say they can not treat this. My Father also suffers from this. They took her Father to this Doc at the Hospital in Rochester that has a special device for the head that you use for treatments she told me after seeing this Doc her father is like a new Man! I will write you back on his name but he was at Strong Memorial Hospital if you want to call there. Said to him how come you are 60 min from Buffalo and here they tell you there is nothing they can do fro you!