Chronic subjective dizziness

Hi @trishanna,
I'm tagging @johnl1 who wrote a while back about Meniere's disease. I hope he'll rejoin the conversation.
Trish, how frustrating it must be to deal with Meniere's after a 40 year absence. Do you know what caused this episode? How are you managing it?

Several members have written about dealing with tinnitus. Here are a few discussions you may wish to check out:

- Hearing repeated sounds and echo in my ear http://mayocl.in/2loSK10
- Pulsatile Tinnitus and Carotid Fibromuscular Dysplasia (FMD) http://mayocl.in/2lAEeW9
- Live Q&A: Hearing Wellness: Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment http://mayocl.in/2lACpbN

I encourage you to continue the discussion here or perhaps start a new discussion dedicated to Meniere's and tinnitus.

Thanks for responding.  It appears that some of the linked sites are down for whatever reason, but I'll check back.  Hope someone responds because it seems that Meniere's affects a relatively small number of people.  It's recommended that one join a support group - not easy to do.  My original diagnosis was that an allergy to oats, corn or wheat was causing my symptoms, and yet I can find almost nothing on the subject.  Just wondered if any progress has been made other than controlling symptoms.  While recovering from an illness, I leaned heavily on prepared foods which are extremely high in sodium content, thus causing this flair up, so I've tightened up on salt intake and am doing better.  I also believe there is linkage between Meniere's and tinnitus, but can find nothing on that, either.  <br>

I have both regular (high-pitched) tinnitus and pulsatile tinnitus. I feel and hear my heartbeat much of the time, but it's louder when I wake up, after meals, and whenever I exercise or move around a lot. I can feel the throbbing, sometimes in my head, sometimes in my chest or the back of my neck. I have had a treadmill test, an MRI of my head with MRa dye) around my ears, and carotid artery doppler ultrasound. All were okay. But although I have a hard time with MRIs, I wish doctors would also do an MRI/MRA of my upper neck, which has never been checked. My worry is something like an aneurysm, although it may not be anything like that. I just wish , that since pulsatile tinnitus is usually a vascular problem, They'd also check my upper neck at the base of my skull. They don't feel it's necessary. Does anyone here have anything like this? I'm not worried about the ringing tinnitus, but the heart-pounding kind every day is a little scary, even though I've had it for 6 years and nothing bad has happened. Your thoughs or comments?

@trishanna, the links are working for me. Can you please try again?
I will search for others talking about Meniere's. No promises, but I do what we can. 🙂

In the meantime, I hope you have seen @suzanne321's message above. She just joined the community and would like to about tinnitus with you.

Wish I could offer some advice, but pulsatile tinnitus - at least based on my research - is a special catagory of tinnitus that's beyond me. I have my own thoughts on tinnitus in general, and I will make one suggestion: have you seen an allergist especially relative to oats, wheat or corn allergies, and are you on a reduced sodium diet? Hope you find relief soon.

Thanks, Colleen, I'll try links again.

The high pitched ringing started after a serious virus that attacked my nervous system and inner ears. I also experienced some hearing loss. I haven't been able to pinpoint any certain foods that make the ringing worse. I'm not on a reduced sodium diet, because my blood pressure is usually rather low. I've habituated to the ringing and often am not aware of it at all, The pulsatile type, though is a tougher thing to live with. It's bad enough to have heart palps each day, but having to hear the beats like a drumming in my head....that is difficult.

Hello @trishanna and @suzanne321, Thank you for posting to our Mayo Clinic Connect community site! Here you will meet others that are looking to talk with someone who is potentially experiencing a similar situation. Please know that we do not give medical advice, however we encourage you to share your story so we can all learn from each other.

I'm sorry to hear both of you are troubled by such symptoms. That must be tough to deal with on a daily basis.
@trishanna, Have you looked into VEDA (Vestibular Disorders Association) https://vestibular.ong/#? They are a major support group run by a nurse practitioner that you may be interested in. They have a significant amount of literature, most of which has been vetted through a scientific advisory committee. You could check to see if they have information on Chronic subjective dizziness (now called Persistent Postural-Perceptual Dizziness).
@suzanne321, Welcome to our community! Suzanne,you said that you have been living with this for 6 years. Are there days or weeks that seem to be better than others? Does the time of year affect your tinnitus?

I would like to introduce you both to @kariulrich, one of our Mentors on Connect, who has recently discussed the topic tinnitus. We will be sure to continue to connect you with other members who come here to discuss tinnitus, dizziness and or Menieres.

If you are interested in more information or obtaining an appointment at Mayo Clinic, please click here- http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63. I do know that Mayo Clinic ENT in Rochester has literature on Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness. You would be able to request that information through our appointment line.

Thanks for the new link - it's very interesting.

I do apologise for not making my remarks clearer. With regard to my allergy question, I don't think you would have an awareness of a possible allergy, since it affects the inner ear. In other words, the allergy would cause your symptoms, but only over a period of time. And my other comment, too, about sodium was meant to suggest a low-sodium diet might help ease your symptoms.