Coleroad- I`d still be glad it`s not being caused by strokes or a tumor. Wonder what the course of action will be.
My wife`s inner ear issues where similar, but not Meniere`s (hers got sorted out just fine), but you sound pretty certain about what`s going on.
IME Medical Doctors aren`t all that much better than all the [incompetent individuals] in other professions. Back in the `70s I was being prepped for surgery before somebody realized it wasn`t what they thought at all (just an infection), haven`t assumed MD competence since then.I dont one understand how dr`s at the hospital could not recognize this.
yes it was pretty textbook looking too me. First she was ok for a few days. Then yesterday she said it`s starting again. She said her left ear felt really full again. Then talking to her I could see she was having rather profound hearing loss. Then a few minutes later she started sweating like it was a 100 with dew point in the 80`s. Then the nystagmus started and was severe. This went on for almost an hour. During that time not even able to sit up with assistance.afterwards still had the loss of hearing for the rest of the day, and wiped out. Like after someone has had a seizure.
course of action I don`t know. It`s not something that is well understood. There seems to be multiple triggers for it. My hope is it`s from allergies, or infection. Those causes seem to have the best outcome.
Coleroad- I hope they get an effective treatment regimen going nice and soon. It does sound like you`ve nailed the diagnosis.
Both my mother and I have episodes similar to Meniers’s Disease. My grandmother probably had it too based on how my mother describes her symptoms. A chiropractor may be able to help when the symptoms occur. It seems there are actual crystals in our inner ear that can move around causing severe dizziness. A trained chiropractor can twist a persons head and get the crystals back into the correct position. I’ve never tried this. I was told about the procedure by my EENT doctor. Normally you are so sick you don’t want to move or get into a car.
I was hospitalized twice with it before I figured out what it was and now just wait it out. It sucks big time as you can’t move your head without vomiting. I’ve learned to focus my eyes on a stationary object to stop the spinning when I have minor episodes. You never know when it is going to pop up or go away. After you have had it once you live in fear that you will get it again.
Does your wife also suffer from motion sickness from riding in the back seat of a car or in a boat? I get sick just sitting on a dock.
If the back surgeries were on the lower back one may look at her. If it was the upper back/neck area I wouldn’t even try it. I usually do not suggest going to a chiropractor for anything as I have gone twice and left in more pain than I started with. The only treatment I have ever heard of for Minier’s Disease is the chiropractor. My apologies to people that have had good results from chiropractors.
That`s what my wife had. She got it sorted out just fine the two times it happened and it hasn`t recurred for years now. Manipulating the "crystals" worked like a miracle-cure. Her Internist gave her a script for a place that specializes in stuff like this; it wasn`t her usual EENT Doc.
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Gee, I don`t know if I can! I just asked her about it, and she didn`t have all that much to say.
Exact same symptoms that your wife experienced, but Accumulatorette realized it was some kind of Inner Ear issue. After DIY Earwax-type products didn`t fix it, she went to her usual Doc, who referred her to a specific person at an ENT Specialty Practice. That guy, who`s basically all about this specific issue, "rearranged" those crystals- problem solved...for a while.
Whatever the "treatment" was, it was easy-peasy from the Patient`s perspective, out-patient procedure with zero drama, must`ve been covered by Medicare or her Supplemental, since I don`t remember any bill (and I probably would ).
Recurrence prompted another trip to the same guy, second treatment also worked, and/but the problem hasn`t recurred since and it`s been a few years now.
Apparently, it`s common enough that there are Specialists for it, just gotta find one.
Sorry, wish I could tell you more. Seems like the big thing was that my wife`s Internist knew somebody to consult, might`ve just been one of those lucky things that keep falling into place whenever my wife or I have a problem.
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A couple of different things being discussed here. BPPV (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo) and Ménière’s disease are not the same thing though there are some similarities and aren’t treated the same way with the exception of some of the motion sickness meds given. The symptoms seem to be much the same while the event is happening. I happen to have BPPV which can be helped dramatically by crystal manipulations and you can feel better almost immediately. First time I experienced it I was sure I was having a stroke. Once you learn the pattern to manipulate the crystals you can do it to yourself. Mine usually come on from a sudden movement of the head particularly when I’m lying on my back under a car and try to look back over my head. It’s horrible. My vision looks like picture frames going by slowly, you really can see the lines from frame to frame. I literally can’t walk until the crystals are back in place. Trying to walk when I have this is akin to watching someone who has too much to drink and is walking while they lean heavily to the back or one side, staggering the whole way.
Ménière’s disease is not such an easy animal to work with. My wife just so happens to have it, we’ve seen many specialists and found nothing that improves the condition. Her spells come out of the blue sometimes every 6 months or so and sometimes as long as 2 years in between spells. They include nausea (Oh so much vomiting) and all the other dizzy things associated with it. She literally can’t get out of bed without assistance for a week at a time. We’ve found nothing to help her except the passage of time, sometimes these spells hang on for up to a couple of weeks. Wish I could give you an easy fix.
@Coleroad, I did actually wonder after hearing your description and the speed at which she seemed to recover if she might not have BPPV. You can search the net, there are schematics of what it is involved in realigning the crystals. The procedure to re-align is a mirror image depending on which ear has the crystals out of alignment.
This likely won’t help her if the diagnosis is Ménière’s but if by some wild chance she has BPPV these may be of interest.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-pro...t/pac-20393315
https://youtu.be/9SLm76jQg3g
It did take me a couple of times to get the hang of it. It’s not quite the same as someone cradling your head in their hands and I’ve found waiting the full 45 seconds in each position is a must. You can do the procedure for both sides of your head if you aren’t sure which ear is the problem. My father had this issue too and couldn’t perform the procedure by himself, I used to need to help him. He had many occurances over 2 or 3 years and then they just stopped. Ironically I had forgotten all about those days the first time I had the problem and it never crossed my mind that the same thing was going on.
One thing I know for sure about myself is that laying on a creeper under a vehicle and tilting my head back to see something behind me is nothing more than an invitation for disaster.
A society willing to trade liberty for temporary security deserves neither and will lose both
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