What is Menier's Disease?
Welcome! You are here because you or someone you love has Ménière’s Disease. Ménière’s is a chronic disorder of the inner ear that affects balance and hearing. The cause isn't fully understood, but contributing factors may include genetics, autoimmune responses, viral infections, or trauma to the inner ear. It's characterized by a collection of symptoms that occur together in episodes or "attacks" with the following symptoms:
The most important thing to know about Ménière’s is that recurrent attacks cause progressive damage to the affected ear and result in progressive deafness. Avoiding attacks and working hard to resolve them when they occur is the best way to slow down the long-term impact of this disease.
Since doctors are unsure what causes Ménière’s, how it functions, or how to effectively treat it, those of us who have it rely on each other for management protocols. Here's what works for me when I have an attack (I am not a medical doctor and everyone's protocol will be different):
- Vertigo – episodes of spinning dizziness that can minutes, hours, or days
- Hearing loss that fluctuates, especially early on in the disease; typically affects one ear
- Tinnitus – ringing, buzzing, or roaring sounds in the ear
- A feeling of fullness or pressure in the affected ear
- Brain fog from auditory imbalance and hearing fatigue
The most important thing to know about Ménière’s is that recurrent attacks cause progressive damage to the affected ear and result in progressive deafness. Avoiding attacks and working hard to resolve them when they occur is the best way to slow down the long-term impact of this disease.
Since doctors are unsure what causes Ménière’s, how it functions, or how to effectively treat it, those of us who have it rely on each other for management protocols. Here's what works for me when I have an attack (I am not a medical doctor and everyone's protocol will be different):
- Visit a chiropractor. Explain that you have Ménière’s disease so they can target treatment toward releasing pressure on your Eustachian tube.
- Take a water pill that has potassium. I use Water Away.
- Start flushing system with water (I aim for three 32 oz bottles of water over a period of 3-4 hours).
- Start Prednisone (steroid) immediately (23 day tapering regimen). Have your ENT on call and ready to fill this when needed.
- Steam face with a nebulizer.
- Run a warm steam humidifier at night, infused with organic eucalyptus and tea tree oil.
- Apply red light therapy 3x/day
- A visit to a hyperbaric chamber will offer relief for an hour while in the chamber, but whether it actually improves the attack is unclear. It is expensive and not covered by insurance.
- Relationship game changer: I wear a non-bluetooth noise cancelling headset (with adaptor for iPhone) around the house to manage the noise sensitivity and signal to my family that I'm having an attack and am too uncomfortable to interact.
Treatment
There’s no cure for Ménière’s disease, but symptoms can often be managed by identifying and avoiding triggers, and implementing healthy routines that keep the body balanced and avoid inflammation, including:
- Avoiding alcohol. This is pretty much unanimous amongst those with Ménière’s. Red wine is a particular trigger because of the histamine. Some people can tolerate it when using a sulfite/histamine remover.
- Avoiding caffeine. Certain types seem to have different impacts, for me it's coffee, specifically. I replaced my coffee habit with Teeccino, and I'm surviving (somehow).
- Staying hydrated
- Keeping blood sugar levels consistent, avoiding hunger
- Cardio exercise (ALWAYS improves my symptoms by pumping blood through the body).
- Consistent quality sleep (Duh!)
- Low sodium diet (while this is the most common advice from doctors, sodium intake is not a trigger for me).
- Avoiding sugar (also not a trigger for me, but seems to be for some folks).
- Finding your other triggers. Some people report citrus, MSG, gluten, etc.
- AirPods and any other bluetooth headsets make my symptoms worse. I only use wired headsets without bluetooth now.
- Anything that dries out the air makes my symptoms worse, including AC, de-humidifiers, and heaters.
- Changes in seasons and weather are widely reported as triggers. My attacks often occur April-July.
Resources
Click the above image to download the daily symptom tracker I created.
This is the best way to figure out your triggers and control the disease!
This is the best way to figure out your triggers and control the disease!
Ménière’s Muse Podcast. Available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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Vestibular Disorder Association (VEDA) for resources.
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Ménière’s forums on Reddit. This is just one, search for others.
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