Ménière's disease is a disorder of the inner ear that causes severe dizziness (vertigo), ringing in the ears (tinnitus), hearing loss, and a feeling of fullness or congestion in the ear. Ménière's disease usually affects only one ear.
Treatment during an attack. During an attack of Ménière's disease, you may be prescribed medication to treat the symptoms of vertigo, nausea and vomiting. This is usually prochlorperazine or an antihistamine. If these work, you may be given a supply to keep, so you can take them quickly during an attack.
Some people with Ménière's disease find that certain events and situations, sometimes called triggers, can set off attacks. These triggers include stress, overwork, fatigue, emotional distress, additional illnesses, pressure changes, certain foods, and too much salt in the diet.
Ménière's disease isn't a life-threatening illness, but it can affect quality of life. People who have this disorder may struggle with symptoms that happen without warning, come back time and again, and may disrupt their daily lives.
Ménière's disease can develop at any age, but it is more likely to happen to adults between 40 and 60 years of age.
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.
Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMP) testing.
This test uses sound to make parts of the inner ear active. It records how well muscles react to that sound. It may show common changes in the affected ears of people with Meniere's disease.
Unfortunately, Meniere's is a chronic, incurable disorder of the inner ear. However, there are a range of medical interventions that can help manage the condition.
Meniere's is a progressive disease, which means it gets worse over time. It may start slowly with occasional hearing loss. Vertigo may develop later.
Drink lots of water – This may sound counterproductive as Meniere's is the result of too much fluid in the inner ear. However, if the cause of Meniere's has to do with a virus, a pathogen, or a bacteria, drinking lots of water can flush these things out of the body.
The results indicated that the patients with Ménière's disease developed all-cause dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and vascular dementia more frequently than those in the comparison group during the 11-year follow-up period.
The Sequence of Meniere's Disease Symptoms
Meniere's disease has phases: an aura, the early stage, attack stage, and in-between. There is also the late-stage of Meniere's disease.
Certain stresses and emotional disturbances can trigger episodes of Ménière's symptoms, including working for too long, underlying health conditions, and tiredness. Salt in the diet is another trigger.
Attacks can last from 10 minutes to several hours. After an attack, the person may experience mild deafness and feel unsure of their footing. As the disease progresses, the episodes of vertigo become less frequent and the deafness becomes more severe.
There is no cure but treatment can help to ease and prevent symptoms. If you are a driver, you must stop driving if Ménière's disease is diagnosed.
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.
The last stage of Meniere's Disease comes with significant hearing loss as vertigo begins to subside. It's common to experience discomfort with specific sounds or general loudness. Some sounds may also sound distorted. As hearing becomes more difficult, your balance will continue to grow worse.
An ENT specialist can conduct an examination to diagnose Meniere's disease, which assesses the level of hearing loss, function of the inner ear, and balance. A diagnosis of the disease requires: Two episodes of vertigo that each last 20 minutes or longer but do not exceed 12 hours. Tinnitus/fullness in the ears.
Low Salt Diet Low salt diet is very commonly used as the first line treatment for Meniere's disease. It's thought to lower the pressure in the inner ear.
Though vertigo is a symptom of Meniere's disease, the chronic condition can have multiple other side effects and tends to get progressively worse. On the other hand, vertigo does not necessarily link with a more severe condition, such as Meniere's disease.
Many people with Meniere's disease feel better if they do vigorous aerobic exercise on a regular basis (e.g. bike, rowing machine, etc.). Don't over-extend yourself – if you can't physically manage vigorous aerobic exercise do something more low impact, like yoga or walking.
SPI-1005 is given orally and is the only drug demonstrated to improve both hearing loss and tinnitus in Meniere's Disease (MD) patients following 3 to 4 weeks of treatment in two prior randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trials (RCT) involving over 165 patients.
A common inner ear disorder that causes vertigo and imbalance is Ménière's disease: “glaucoma of the inner ear.” Most patients understand that increased pressure in the eye causes glaucoma and blindness.