Jon, sorry that you're a member of this somewhat exclusive club of Menierians! I've probably had Meniere's most of my life. First classic M crisis was over 50 years ago, when I'd gone off birth control pills in order to get pregnant. I had no idea it was Meniere's, resumed the pills in order to stop excessive bleeding. Second classic crisis was in my late 30s, newly divorced...so my then primary doc said, "oh, since you're divorced, you don't need to take birth control pills any more." Found that an interesting comment. <g> Resumed pills again to halt excessive bleeding. During my mid 40s, I was considered too old for pills, and every month for eight months, I had increasingly severe crises each month, within a day of the onset of a period. My primary doc put me on a 3-month test course of birth control pills, and all symptoms disappeared--I could hear and had balance again. Then we began a search for safe but effective types of HRT; spent four years of godawful crisis after crisis, each 12-15 hours, as often as 3X/week. Fished occasionally with an OB/Gyn from Houston, TX (I'm in OR), and he was part of a huge practice that had five women with serious cases of Meniere's; all had benefitted greatly from properly-balance HRT and none had had cancer as a result. He talked to my primary and me, explained the correct ratio of estrogen to progesterone, and I began taking large doses of HRT. After a couple of weeks, no more crises!!! I immediately started doing vestibular rehab (which I've continued for over 30 years) and over time tapered down to a mini dose. Six years ago, camping at high elevation, my good ear began having symptoms; a two-week increase in HRT put the Monster back in the closet.

Not quite a year ago, I went bilateral in a really big way. Initially, it resulted in almost total deafness on bad days, siren-loud T...all hearing issues. Christmas Day, I had the first vertigo crisis...projectile vomiting and loss of bladder and bowel control for a few hours. By a few weeks ago, the crises were happening far more frequently. Two really bad trips, two hours each way, to load bread donated to our local Backpack program, have no made me afraid to drive any distance. I've had to quit my long-standing weekly drives for Backpack and beg off instream surveys that I've done for a project I started almost 30 years--the single most complete set of data anywhere about wild winter steelhead. The slightest head movement brings on a moment of severe vertigo. My current primary doc, survivor of a recent battle with serious breast cancer, gave me a small Rx for 90 days but will not renew it, certainly will not increase it enough to banish the Monster. I only have two weeks left before I need to go cold turkey. The last remission lasted for nearly 30 years and I'm almost 78, so a remission and tapering back down to a mini dose should take care of the rest of my life...but my doc says, "no way."