Connect
← Return to Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: What has helped you?
Discussion
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: What has helped you?
Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) | Last Active: May 23, 2023 | Replies (58)Comment receiving replies
Hello, I realize this post was a few years ago however it was so informative and I thank you for that! I experienced Sudden sensory hearing loss 6 weeks ago. ( I knew exactly what it was as I experienced it 9 years ago, first and only time until now.) I was treated immediately with steroid injection from a Ent in Florida while I was on vacation there, it was reversed. When this happened recently I knew I needed help, I now live in the state of Delaware and called the ENT’s office who refused to see me for 3 months on their schedule… I went to the emergency room at the hospital who agreed it was SSHL, and my discharge papers said I was to see Dr. E. (the local and only ENT here) within 1 to 2 days. They still refused to see me. I persisted and finally was seen by the audiologist 2 weeks later and tested. She swore to me it was just declining hearing due to age,I’m 68 years young and extremely active. I disagreed with her and persisted on. Another week later I finally saw the Doctor who gave me a injection of steroid. No improvement. He told me that my SSHL is idiopathic, however in my chart termed me as having meniere’s disease!!! I never had and still do not have menieres. How was your diagnosis confirmed for meniers? So frustrated I was label with a diagnosis I do not have. Can you enlighten me? Thank you for all you can offer.
Replies to "Hello, I realize this post was a few years ago however it was so informative and..."
Connect
It's my understanding that Meniere's Disease has a nice, handy number code that docs can use to get paid by insurance, so they use it, whether or not it fits. FWIW, ordinary ENTs don't have the training required to begin to differentiate between the various hard-to-diagnose inner ear disorders.
I was diagnosed by the doc who set up the first real vestibular lab, at Holladay Park Hospital in Portland, OR. He worked with NASA to test astronauts before and after space flights, was especially interested in John Glenn, who was the oldest person to live in a weightless environment for any length of time. He designed the machines used to test for various vestibular diseases/problems. By the time I saw him in 1985 or 86, the lab had been moved to what is now Legacy Good Samaritan in NW Portland; it's still there. After I went bilateral May 24, 2019, 6:45 p.m., I went back to the lab to see if there was anything new in VRT. I learned that age has made the nerves in my lower legs less functional, so I need to work harder every day on VRT. Although the exercises I had been doing since the mid-80s were still correct and useful, I've had to add some new ones, spend more time on VRT ever since.
Like many post-menopausal women, the trigger for bad days for me is low hormone levels. A year after I went bilateral, a local OB/Gyn agreed to prescribe higher amounts of hormones for a brief period, and I regained quite a bit of hearing, quit having V&V crises, and was able to resume the active life I live. However, she feared that I might have a stroke, so has kept cutting back the meds until I have no idea where I am in space, in spite of daily VRT. I now live in a constant state of panic, not ever being confident of exactly where I am or where anything else is. I'm back to reaching for things on my desk with my fingers spread out so that I'll bump into the pen or whatever eventually. I suffer lots of cuts and burns in the kitchen. My days of being able to drive are limited, which means I'll be in a terrible place...but the doc is so afraid of a possible stroke that she flat refuses to increase the hormones temporarily so that I can live normally. (A couple of weeks of quadrupled amounts followed by a gradual tapering down to what I'm currently taking would do the trick, but no dice with this doc.)