This medication may irritate the stomach, and should be taken with food. It is best to avoid coffee, spicy food or alcohol.
Is there any food or drink I need to avoid? You can eat and drink normally while taking betahistine. However, some people say their Ménière's disease symptoms improve by eating a low-salt diet and avoiding caffeine (found in chocolate and drinks like tea, coffee, cola and energy drinks).
Aggravating Factors for Dizziness or Vertigo
For people with true Meniere's disease, caffeine can trigger a vertigo attack. People who are diagnosed with Meniere's disease usually cut down on salt and caffeine to reduce attacks. For some people with vestibular migraines, caffeine can be a migraine trigger.
Avoid things like coffee, tea, soda, energy drinks, chocolate, and diet pills. Caffeine will stimulate the nervous system and make migraines and tinnitus worse. Eat a low sodium diet. Sodium causes fluid retention and can make your symptoms worse in your inner ear.
If you follow your doctor's instructions, SERC should start working within a few days, although in some cases it may take a few weeks. The length of time that you should take SERC tablets varies from patient to patient. Some patients respond rapidly to treatment and others may take some time.
Common side effects (at least 1 in 100 and less than 1 in 10 patients): Nausea, indigestion, headaches. Itching, rash, hives, mild gastric complaints such as vomiting, stomach pain and bloating. Taking Serc with food can help reduce any stomach problems.
Caffeine and alcohol intake can result in constriction of blood vessels (vasoconstriction) and could result in a reduction in the blood supply to the inner ear, which may make patients' symptoms worse.
The few clinical studies have shown that abstention from caffeine has little effect in patients with Meniere's disease, both in relation to vertigo, tinnitus and hearing loss.
Caffeine. Caffeine (often found in coffee, tea, soda, energy drinks and supplements) can raise blood pressure which can trigger tinnitus. If you have tinnitus and consume caffeine, cut back on it to see if your tinnitus symptoms decrease.
Additionally, extra caffeine doses can affect fluid and electrolyte balance due to the diuretic nature of the substance. This leads to inner ear instability that can set off spontaneous vertigo attacks.
avoid extending your neck – for example, while reaching up to a high shelf. move your head carefully and slowly during daily activities. do exercises that trigger your vertigo, so your brain gets used to it and reduces the symptoms (do these only after making sure you won't fall, and have support if needed)
Dosage and strength
Betahistine comes as 8mg or 16mg tablets. The usual starting dose is 16mg, taken 3 times a day. Leave 6 to 8 hours between doses. When your symptoms are under control, your doctor may reduce your dose to 8mg, taken 3 times a day.
You'll usually take betahistine 3 times a day, leaving 6 to 8 hours between doses. When you start taking betahistine it may take a couple of weeks before you notice any improvements.
It could be that caffeine improves transmission in the auditory and vestibular systems' central pathways. Importantly, the effects of caffeine seem to be dose-dependent.
Alcohol and caffeine, in high concentrations, can both result in vasoconstriction and a reduction in the blood supply to the inner ear, which can exacerbate the symptoms of sufferers.
Avoid caffeine and alcohol, which may make symptoms worse. If you smoke, quit. Quitting may help reduce symptoms. Some people find that managing allergy symptoms and avoiding allergy triggers helps decrease Meniere disease symptoms.
Drink adequate amounts of fluid daily.
This should include water, milk and low-sugar fruit juices (for example, cranberry or cranapple). Try to anticipate fluid loss which will occur with exercise or heat, and replace these fluids before they are lost.
The exact cause of Ménière's disease is unknown, but it's associated with a problem with pressure deep inside the ear. Factors that are thought to increase your risk include: poor fluid drainage in your ear. an immune system disorder.
Be careful driving or operating machinery until you know how Serc affects you. This medicine may cause dizziness, and tiredness in some people. If you have any of these symptoms, do not drive, operate machinery or do anything else that could be dangerous.
Betahistine may be associated with weight loss.
The reason is that centrally acting antihistamines seem to cause weight gain (Hampton, 2007), and by the same token, histamine agonists may cause weight loss.
Tablet: Round, biconvex, scored, white to almost white tablets imprinted '267' on one face of the tablet. Vertigo, tinnitus and hearing loss associated with Ménière's syndrome. Adults (including the elderly): initially 16mg three times daily taken preferably with meals.