If you know anybody with meniere's disease

Jay Lock

Member
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1,037
Hi everyone

I have meniere's disease, and inner ear condition that causes, among other things, vertigo. This summer was tough, I was getting knocked down 3-4 times a week. When we returned to FL my doctor said, let's try this new machine. They had to put a tube in my eardrum like they do for kids with recurrent ear infections, that wasn't a major deal.

http://www.meniett.com/device.html

The bottom line is that it is working, I haven't had an attack since October 13th. Using it isn't hard, you put an ear piece in the affected ear that is attached to the unit by a piece of clear tubing. A treatment cycle takes about 5 min, I do it three times a day. (Often while reading FWW posts like I am doing now!)

It wasn't cheap, I could have bought a SawStop Cabinet saw with the money it cost me, but not having the world spin is priceless. (My insurance wouldn't cover it because it is individually underwritten and they excluded that condition when they signed me up :(

If you know anyone who suffers from this and would like me to share my experiences with them, please don't hesitate to contact me, I'd be glad to talk with them.

Jay
 
Glad you found something to get the problem licked. Sorry to hear the insurance wont cover it. If they're still running that Priceless (American Express?) competition, I think you have a winner:
Not falling and smacking your head on the concrete? - Priceless
 
Jay..........I started having vertigo attacks a little over 3 years ago. The diagnosis for mine is crystals forming in the fluid of the inner ear and blocking the fluid filled tubes. I can sympathize with anyone who has vertigo attacks. You can't predict them and when they strike, depending on their severity, they can be totally debillitating. My symptoms vary from staggering drunkenly, turning ashen gray or turning ashen gray, staggering drunkenly, and worshiping in front of the porcelain throne. I've been to the ER several times because the folks who were with me at the time thought I was having a heart attack. I'm glad you appear to have found some relief!
 
Ken

If you'll turn on PM capablity, or send me your email I would like to share a few things with you that I learned from my doctor.

Jay
 
Ken

I think I"m moving too fast today, and wiped out my PM inbox contents, don't know if you replied before I did that but if you did, please try again

Jay
 
I have been gettting dizzy/nausea/sweaty spells more and more the past few months and they really are getting frustrating to me. I went to my doctor when they started thinking it was a side effect for some meds he had put me on...but he says no. Mine seem to come late morning and if I eat something it ussually goes away...so I am thinking it is more blood sugar related, even though my blood sugar test was normal. I planned on calling him if they did not start getting less frequent...maybe ask him about Menieres. I do know my left ear always feels full and makes a fluid popping noise if I move just right. Not sure how this pertains to the topic...just a ramble I guess.:)
 
Tim

I certainly am not going to try to diagnose but I'll tell you that I had to have a series of tests to finally arrive at the diagnosis -- one of the things they don't tell you is that many of the symptoms of meniere's can also be those associated with a brain tumor -- not wanting to scare you, a doctor friend of mine told me that and encouraged me to see an ENT specialist who then referred me to another specialist to make the final determination.

My sympathies, the vertigo isn't a fun situation when it kicks in.

Jay
 
Jay,

When I had my first attack, I was admitted to a local regional medical center. I am a field engineer for a large company. I install and maintain x-ray equipments, MR and CT scanners. While in the hospital, I had a CT scan, MR angiography and x-rays. They diagnosed my problem IIRC as benign postional vertigo. Luckily for me, I had no brain tumor. Often with my job, I have to look at a patient exam to see an "artifact" on that exam. This is expecially true on MR scans. Artifacts are abnormalities in a diagnostic image that can be created by the machine...or by patient motion....heart motion....patient breathing...blood flow within the patient...various things. I've seen a few brain tumors in my 30 years of CT service and 20 years of MR service. When I first went deaf in my right ear....it happened over night.....I put off going to the doctor ....I was sure I had an acoustic neuroma.....I've seen a bunch of them......well....I didn't. Sorry I didn't have my PM set up.
 
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