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Hi there. First post written. My husband is suffering since dec with ringing in ears. He is deaf in left ear and was diagnosed with meniers in 2010 which when he has had attacks they would come and go. Where this one has stayed and he is not able to work , drive his hearing in his rt ear is affected and can barely hear. He has tons of pressure in head , ringing, weak in legs, dizzy at times nystagma, cant focus ,nausea . We have been to several 2 ents 1 kidney specialist and now see a neurologist this next week. Anyone else with these issues that has found any relief? It is horrible watching your loved one like this. He says it is like Charlie brown's mom on phone. He has been on serc , prednisone, lasix, and more and absolutely no relief.
Replies to "Hi there. First post written. My husband is suffering since dec with ringing in ears. He..."
Could well be Meniere's--although 80% of those so diagnosed have some other inner ear disease. ENTs do not have training to correctly diagnose, let alone deal with, Meniere's. Best bet is a neurotologist as they have additional training. That said, tinnitus is his own system attempting to provide something to replace missing hearing. It can be terribly annoying, but you can learn to live with it, be able to ignore it most of the time. The dizziness, nausea, etc. may well be caused because, since his primary inner ear balance system no longer works correctly, he is attempting to use his second balance system: vision. This is bad because every movement of his head or body changes his focal point, leading to disorientation, nausea, dizziness. In order to function, he needs to work hard at vestibular rehab (VRT) to learn to use his third balance system: proprioception, the information from his feet, knees, hips about where he is in space. Basically, it's learning to pay attention to what you feet can tell you about the surface you're standing or walking on. A mere 15 minutes a day will begin to make a real difference in just a couple of weeks, but you need to practice VRT every day. I've done so for over 30 years and didn't have any major balance/nausea/dizziness issues during my current Meniere's flare up. I don't have an answer to the hearing distortion...I'm hoping to set myself up with an Android tablet and a new (still in beta) app called Live Transcribe. I believe that I'll soon have an appt. with a Portland, OR doc that specializes in both Meniere's and CIs, although a CI might not be an option due to the recruitment and distortion caused by Meniere's.
Hi @kimhal. I've have hearing issues since my early thirties, was diagnosed with Meniere's at 40 and wear bi-cross hearing aids. I am deaf in my right ear and the hearing aid acts as a transmitter to a receiver/hearing aid in my left ear , which has a moderate to severe hearing lass. I have had several major episodes of vertigo along with crawling to the bathroom to regurgitate for an hour and then to bed for nearly 24 hours in order to recalibrate and rebalance my body. I have had to feel along walls to make it to a bathroom and I had to have a neighbor walk me into my house so I wouldn't fall over. I had to pull off of Lake Shore Drive, crossing over several lanes, nearly running into other cars. The fire department had to take me to the hospital. It got to the point that I could sense when an episode was nearing and I would count the minutes until I could arrive home. Anti-nausea meds and valium did nothing to help the episodes and I didn't enjoy taking any drugs. I gave up caffeine, went on a low-sodium diet - sodium is everywhere -and reduced my sugar. As the years went by, this occurred less and less and I haven't had an episode in over 10 years. At the same time, I was working full time - inconvenienced but not incapacitated. When I first began to lose my hearing, doctors thought I might have systemic lupus, the only disease they think can cause hearing loss. I did not. It ends up that I was later diagnosed with sarcoidosis, another auto-immune disease which eventually led to my heart transplant at Mayo. The sarcoid went to my lungs, my eyes, and I believe my ears as well, and my heart. My heart transplant doctor at Mayo still has me on prednisone to protect my heart and the rest of my body from any recurrence of the sarcoid. I do have the tinnitus and tried LipoFlavonoid, didn't perceive a difference until I stopped taking it. My ENT says it can help in perhaps 1/3 of patients with ringing in the ears. Wearing my hearing aid definitely distracts. I hope this helps on some way. We are all so unique, have other issues and medicine is still evolving. Wishing you and your husband positive steps in resolving this for him.
Hi, @kimhal - just wanted to say hello and see how your husband has been doing lately?
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I been suffering of the same exact symptoms for over 30 years. When they injected the gentimicin in my left ear the vertigo and attacks stopped for almost 20 years. Now they are back....Menieres it's an autoimmune disease. Neurologists don't do anything for it.
If you are near Long Island NY, the best at this is Dr. Vambutas at LIJMC in Long Island, she is the only one in the country that can prescribe injections you give your self everyday to suppress the immune system.
Good luck!