Meniere's Disease

NB - Meniere's Disease is known as Morbus Meniere in Germany, Canada and USA.

My Meniere's Disease started in 2003 and the onset was terrifying. I was, for about 3 months, housebound. I had vertiginous attacks every two or three days where I would hang onto the floor for dear life. Now, with the passage of time and with the help of daily drugs, the attacks come about every 6 to 8 weeks and they are not as ferocious. However, between attacks, I have poor balance caused by one ear not functioning correctly. It is a complex matter and not easy to understand, but if you wish to read some facts, try this link Balance System

Just about everyone with this illness, has it differently from anyone else. For example, vomiting is experienced by the majority when the vertiginous attacks happen, but some, me included, do not. In fact I have never vomited in my life, which probably means that I do not have that reflex. That may be a good thing with Meniere's, but not useful if you have food poisoning for example.

Others, suffer from Drop Attacks, which literally are just that, you fall to the ground when the attack starts. I haven't had one of those yet, but who knows for the future. My attacks give me plenty of warning, at least two hours, and when they hit I feel as though I am somersaulting through space, normally forward and to the left. The attacks last for about three hours, during which period, I have no sense of time.

It normally takes about 2 days for me to recuperate from an attack, and with each attack, a little more hearing disappears. For me, normal is having some dizziness at all times. This background dizziness can be provoked by a sensory overload, since the brain is getting two conflicting signals from either ear.

Another symptom of Meniere's Disease is instant fatigue. It is thought that it is caused by your brain having to work very hard in maintaining your balance and in doing so, just depletes your body of energy and so fatigue sets in. I have gone from fully rested to major fatigue, unable to keep my eyes open, in about 10 minutes.

The four elements that go to make up Meniere's Disease are, vertiginous attacks, aural fullness, tinnitus and deafness (eventual). It's very rare for all four to start at the same time, so often people have Atypical Meniere's before getting the classic (typical) symptoms, for that reason it is very difficult to diagnose. Many clinicians agree that Meniere's is a form of endolymphatic hydrops.

I know I am not alone in this symptom, and I am confident that it is something to do with Meniere's, but ever since having this damned illness, I have to be very careful about deodorants and perfumes. Most antiperspirants and deodorants burn me within perhaps two minutes of applying, the skin goes very red and it burns like flames licking your flesh. The perfume thing is very weird. I do not use aftershave lotions anymore, mind you, I do have a beard, a very grey beard in fact, but my wife cannot wear perfumes because they make me nauseous. It's not all perfumes, but just certain ingredients that I now appear to be allergic to. I think it has something to do with your brain being put into "survival mode" by major defects like balance and hearing being affected; as a result your body reacts to anything that might not be good for survival.

Some of my Menerian friends have launched their website called Meniere's Resources, Inc This is a purely voluntary web site to help victims come to terms with this illness. I wish them every success.