New ear problem for the past month; Menieres or something else?

The exercises- both kinds- are empowering because you can do them yourself at home!

My friend went to a balance center. She not having vertigo but just sometimes her sense of place in space is off. They did all kinds of things.

I do tai chi for balance. Hope your testing is helpful!

Thank you!

It's not been two months since my problem started. It's changed in that time, but it still persists. The dizziness while I sleep has gone away, but I still hear a low buzz in my right ear (or on the right side of my head?) usually starting at around 9 or 10 in the evening, that goes all night and stops in the morning. Sometimes it's soft, sometimes it's louder. When it's louder, it seems to radiate across the base of my skull. The ENT did not really know what to tell me. He hypothesized that there could be an accumulation of fluid in the inner ear, but he had doubts. He told me to just try not to worry about it and go about my business and see what happens. Obviously I just want this to go away but with every week that passes, I get more doubtful. I also visited with a neurosurgeon who examined my MRI in detail and said there was no accumulation of fluid evident on the MRI. My hearing seems to be OK. For the past 4 weeks, I have been on a strict low salt/low sugar diet with no caffeine or alcohol that does not seem to be having any effect at all. They gave me betahistine and a light diuretic that do not seem to be doing anything. My endocrinologist said there is no connection with my Hashimoto's problem. My dentist (as you can see, I've been to every doctor imaginable!) did say that I have an extremely tight jaw, and she is making a mouthguard for me right now. I also did a preliminary sleep test, which may have shown some sleep apnea, but a pneumologist was dubious about the result.
Any ideas at all of what I should do, or if you have experience like this?

I have ringing in my ears- tinnitus- and have told that although it can accompany hearing loss, the tinnitus itself comes from the brain. The brain sort of fills the void with the ringing, buzzing sound. There is no actual cure, I was told, but the brain gets accustomed to it.

There is a forum for tinnitus online that is helpful but a lot of people seem pretty desperate with this. Mine started in 2015 and I got used to it quickly but I foolishly went to a music performance that was in a circle around the listeners and very loud. My tinnitus got a lot louder and I did indeed feel desperate for a few weeks. After a few months it either got softer or my brain adapted. I didn't notice it until I saw this thread!

Some people mask it with ambient noise overnight but that gave me severe vertigo. I prefer silence. The key is to work on accepting it or at the very least, letting your brain adapt, much like the eye adapts to floaters I think.

For the last two years I have suffered from vertigo with a floating sensation for months afterwards. My first episode happened March 5, 2022 where I had spinning vertigo for 3-4 days they once the vertigo subsided I had a constant floating sensation for three months.I went back to 100 percent normal and on April 13, 2023 I had the same situation happen but with two weeks of tinnitus and ear full us which hasn’t come back. The floating feeling is still happening and won’t subside like last year.My MRI and CT scan are normal. My Eng/vng showed lesions in my left ear.Any help or anyone experiencing the same symptoms I would like to hear your story.

Hi--

I saw your post and just wanted to reach out to you because I have been experiencing very similar symptoms for 14 months now (since 7/29/22). I also experienced a major vertigo event (spinning for an entire day, worst day of my life) out of nowhere and have since dealt with a constant "floating" feeling. It also kind of feels like I'm in an elevator. Many days it's in the background, but it's really difficult to operate normally in the world when this feeling comes more into the foreground. From what I've been reading about Meniere's sufferers, it seems like the feeling comes and goes. You're one of the first to mention this constant feeling of floating, so I knew I had to reach out. I also suffer from tinnitus and the feeling of fullness in my ears.

I have a lot of information about what I've tried/learned over the last 14 months and I'd love to hear what you've tried/learned. I'm still relatively early in the process because my doctor believed this was BPPV and that it would subside, but it hasn't.

I'm interested in your ENG/VNG test (I haven't had one). What does a lesion in the ear mean? And have they figured out a plan for treatment accordingly?

The next step for me is another MRI (the first one was healthy) to check blood flow at the base of my brain and also betahistine, which is what they often prescribe for Meniere's in the UK/EU. Results are mixed, but it's a very low risk drug.

Anyway, happy to share information. And sorry to hear you're suffering like me through this. I don't have to tell you...it's not fun.

Sound like were experiencing very similar things. My first major spinning even lasted 3-4 days and I floated for 3 months then subsided. I’m going on five months of goatee currently. I’m unsecured about the less ion in my left year except that’s my issue and I guess ruled out BPPV. Due to my ear fullness and tinnitus (only two weeks) makes them think Ménières. In the last 14 months have you felt normal at all? With Ménières I was under the impression once the sac in the ear heals you go back to normal. I have no clue and it appears the doctors don’t have many answers as well.

My doctor has no clue either. And there hasn't been a single day in 14 months that I haven't felt the floating. Most days it's mild...and I can do most things.

Here's what I've noticed seems to make it worse: when I'm fighting off a cold/sickness, weather fronts.

Here's what hasn't worked at all: Dramamine, Meclizine, Acetazolamide (high altitude sickness drug), Diuretic (water pill), Epley Maneuver.

In general, the last 5-6 weeks I've had mostly good days, and over that span I have made some changes. First, I've started following a Meniere's diet: lots of hydration (over 100 ounces), lower salt, minimal alcohol, and slightly smaller dose of caffeine (I have a cup of coffee in the morning and a small one in the early afternoon).

One of the surprising things that has really helped clear my head is regular cardio activity. I do a rowing machine for about 20 mins and then run up and down our hill for about 10 mins. Getting my heart rate up (something I hadn't done much in the last two years) has really improved my headspace. This is something I now do every day.

Next step for me is Betahistine and an MRA. I'll keep you posted on whether those do anything.

I have had ménière's disease since 2008.
This the first time anyone has talk about floating (little tear). It is so hard to explain how is feels, I compare it to my heads catching up to my body,lol.
My first episode was at my mums 90th birthday. I start throwing up like I had food poisoning.
It took months of room spinning, going to hospital to have injection to stop being sick. Sleeping for days cause room spun, walking like i was a thunderbird. Then after 3-4 yrs I was told I had ménière's with Vertigo, this is the worst thing. Stress is the biggest tick to start Vertigo but the biggest thing is there is nothing they can do to fix it. I started to have drop attacks, scaring the bejuese out of me 3 in two weeks. But I did know what to fix it 14 months ago, I quit my job, 1 Stress gone. After 1 month off work with lots of sleep and no stress the Vertigo got less and less and stress is what triggers the floating. I also found if I focused on something there less floates feeling.
Now I don't work, I feel better and the attacks still happen but I can control them better. Most doctors don't know much about ménière's even ent don't know what to do for it. But there may be hope on the horizon.
Sorry it's nice to know it's just not me......

I have had hearing aid 6 months as left ear is deaf. It helps with balance and can hear on my left side. See my post.