Nicole,

Yup, could be Meniere's (MD), although 80% of those so diagnosed have something else--MD has a code that allows docs to bill ins. so it's overused. I've had MD most of my life, over 60 years, but it didn't become a problem until I quit taking birth control pills in my early 40s. Even though my primary doc and I knew that the MD was related to low hormone levels, it took us four miserable years to find what was considered both safe and effective. At that point, I quit having vertigo/vomiting crisis 3x/week and started VRT (vestibular rehab therapy). I did VRT every day to offset the damage to my right side, was able to lead a normal life, except for the hearing loss on the right side, which ended by active amateur musical participation. As I aged, I reduced the amount of hormones to almost nothing. The remission lasted over 30 years, until a little over a year ago, when I suddenly lost most hearing on the left side--I had gone bilateral. For months, it was mostly hearing, with some increased imbalance, but Christmas Day I had the first total vertigo/vomiting crisis of several hours. As that became more frequent I looked for a local doc willing to prescribe HRT (hormones) for someone in their late 70s. Once I finally found a willing doc, the vertigo totally ceased, and, amazingly, much of the lost hearing returned.

Note that an unusually large percentage of those with MD are late 30s/early 40s women. Like diabetics whose bodies don't make enough insulin, some women's bodies don't make enough hormones, esp. as they age and/or quit taking birth control pills (hormones). Many docs fear prescribing hormones for women past 35 or 40, due to the risk of cancer, esp. breast cancer. However, properly balance amounts of estrogen and progesterone are perfectly safe: 1 part estrogen balanced by 2.5 parts progesterone.

Even if this isn't a large part of your problem, try maintaining a calendar that shows the kind of day you've had and even the SLIGHTEST difference from whatever's normal for you in anything: diet, exercise, sleep, stress, weather, etc., etc. I used a color to fill in the day to indicate whether it had been good (blue), so-so (pink), or bad (yellow). You may find a pattern that will show what your trigger to bad days is: MD is most often triggered by something in your life. All docs will say to reduce salt, which is healthy, but may or may not help you. If your hormone levels are abnormally low, you won't have enough hormones to react to salt. I've known people who have specific triggers, often allergies, that can be treated or avoided.

Once you figure out what your trigger or triggers are and deal with it/them, start a vestibular rehab (VRT) program. Even though your primary inner ear balance function is compromised, you probably have quite a bit of residual balance function, and you can learn to use it. Once I got the crises under control and started VRT, I was able to maintain a very active lifestyle, including doing data collection in a wild little river for the past 30 years, where hiking and wading both offer challenges to the most fit, let alone me! Now that I've gotten my new bilateral left ear problem under control with hormones, I've just started VRT to learn how to make my former good side work again. I've been impressed with how much balance I have on what was my bad side--i.e., how much good all that daily VRT has done! I'm now working hard on new VRT to teach my left side to utilize every bit of residual function it has and am confident that I'll remain as active as I've been. I'll be 78 in a few days, routinely drive two hours each way to load donated bread (roughly 750 pounds of it) every week, continue to collect data in the wilderness river, maintain a acre of our forested acreage in mowed area and flowers. I'm far more active than most people my age...and intend to remain that way.

As for hearing, much of your problem is probably distortion and recruitment, neither of which is helped with aids. However, getting the MD under control can eliminate both of those problems. I have been wearing an aid in my former good ear due to age-related deafness; I bought it at Costco for $1,400, total return policy, free return appts. for adjustments forever--can't find a better deal. The same aid from an audiologist would have cost over $3,000 and there'd be a charge for every adjustment, like a doc appt. But, again, you may learn that your problem is far more distortion/recruitment than actual loss of hearing.

Message me privately if you have questions about MD. I ran an online discussion group for over 30 years, until Facebook replaced it, so have learned a great deal about this cursed disease!