Reply to onewhoknows: You are correct about the preventative measures you need to take to avoid Covid! It's stunning to read/see that many places do not require everyone to wear a mask!

Your friend who thought she had Meniere's: Roughly 80% of people diagnosed with Meniere's actually have some other inner ear disease. Your friend had BPPV (Benign Positional Paroxysmal Vertigo), which is very common, esp. among older folks whose inner ears aren't as young as they once were. The "benign" part of the name is a flat lie, as some people are totally compromised with BPPV, while others only have fleeting moments of intense vertigo, brought on by a sudden head movement...and variations between the two extremes. Many of us with real, honest-to-God Meniere's also have BPPV. Antivert works for some people with Meniere's but does nothing for others...(usually not for BPPV). Judy is seeking an appt. with a vestibular therapist, which is a good way to find a way to live a more normal life. From her descriptions of her symptoms, it's unlikely that BPPV is her main problem. However, there are several other inner ear diseases that have symptoms similar to those of Meniere's; two of them can be totally relieved with treatment. So, it's important to see someone who can sort through her symptoms, evaluate her, and, hopefully, determine the root disease. Judy can help the process by keeping a diary or calendar that indicates the kind of day she had AND even the slightest deviations from what's normal for her in terms of just about everything: diet, stress, possible allergens, weather...you name it. By doing that, she should be able to pinpoint the things that trigger bad days and work to eliminate them or deal with them.

In Oregon, we've been required to wear masks for almost a year. Stores don't allow anyone to enter without a mask worn correctly. Because everyone has been good about wearing masks in our small town, we've had almost no Covid (9 cases for over 8,000 residents), in spite of the fact that this is a town that relies 100% on tourism and our population increases to 50,000 on weekends with good weather and for much of the summer! For me, Meniere's went bilateral well over a year ago, and the true hell of this damned disease was so godawful that I didn't fear Covid as I was in daily hell already, both in terms of deafness and near-constant vertigo with V&V (vertigo and vomiting) crises every day for hours. I knew that my "trigger" is low hormone levels, but it took me almost a year to find a local doc willing to prescribe large doses of hormones to someone my age. Once I did, hearing in my one functioning ear returned to the level it had been prior to going bilateral, and the V&V crises stopped. I've had to step up daily vestibular exercises to offset the new damage to my "good" ear's vestibular function. I am out and about here almost every day, working to feed both those jobless due to Covid (tourism workers) plus those homeless following a local forest fire. I have had the first shot and will soon have the second...and, yes, I know that a shot does not mean immediate immunity, not even the second shot.