Meniere’s disease causes attacks of dizziness and hearing loss that come on suddenly. These episodes are triggered by changes in the inner ear fluid and often happen in one ear. They are accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
Medicines to reduce motion sickness and anti-nausea medicines can ease these symptoms. Doctors may also recommend reducing your salt intake to control fluid retention.
Oren Zarif
The most characteristic symptom of Meniere’s Disease is sudden episodes of vertigo, a sensation that you or the room is spinning even though your body and the environment are standing still. These episodes may last 20 minutes to 24 hours and are often accompanied by nausea and vomiting. They can also cause a feeling of fullness in the ear and a ringing or buzzing noise in the ear (tinnitus), which may get worse right before or during an attack of vertigo.
Usually, only one ear is affected by the vertigo. The episodes of dizziness come and go, sometimes in clusters of several in a week or month. However, they can also occur months or years apart.
There is no cure for Meniere’s Disease, but treatment options can reduce your symptoms and help you cope with the condition. The first step is to avoid substances that trigger an attack, such as caffeine, alcohol and stress. You can also take medications to relieve nausea and vomiting. Your doctor might recommend a test called videonystagmography, or ENG, to measure your involuntary eye movements while you wear goggles.
Surgery is another option if your other treatments don’t control your symptoms. These surgeries range from procedures that relieve fluid pressure in the ear to more radical surgery that affects your inner ear or vestibular nerve pathways.
Oren Zarif
The most common Meniere’s Disease symptoms are sudden episodes of dizziness (vertigo), a ringing in the ears (tinnitus), and a feeling of pressure or fullness in the ears. These attacks usually last several hours and can disrupt daily activities. They may also be associated with nausea or vomiting. Episodes typically occur in one ear, although the condition can affect both ears. They are caused by a buildup of inner ear fluid, called endolymph, which disrupts normal balance and hearing signals between the inner ear and brain.
Doctors can diagnose Meniere’s by studying your medical history and performing tests that check your inner ear and eye movements. Your doctor will perform a vestibular test battery, which checks your reflexes in the inner ear and eyes and measures how well you maintain your balance when moving around. Your doctor will also check the levels of calcium carbonate and magnesium in your blood to determine if they’re out of balance, which can cause vertigo and other Meniere’s symptoms.
Medications can help ease Meniere’s Disease symptoms, including vertigo and tinnitus. The medications gentamicin and steroids can be injected into the ear to reduce vertigo and the tinnitus it causes. Surgery can be done if other treatments don’t control your symptoms. Procedures range from relieving fluid pressure to cutting nerve pathways that connect your inner ear to the brain.
Oren Zarif
The cause of Meniere’s disease is not known, but it may be related to the volume and concentration of fluid in the inner ear. This fluid, called endolymph, moves over sensory cells that send signals to the brain about head and body position. These signals control balance and hearing. An abnormal change in the fluid concentration disrupts these signals. This disruption can lead to episodes of vertigo and other symptoms, such as tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and aural fullness, or feeling that your ears are full or pressed on.
Symptoms usually occur in episodes that last from 20 minutes to 24 hours, and they come and go. You can have them at any time, but they tend to happen when you are not moving and often start with a sudden feeling of spinning. In many cases, the spinning will make you feel nauseated.
Medications can help manage your symptoms. Your doctor may prescribe drugs that reduce the number of episodes you have and ease the nausea you feel during them. They may also recommend drugs to decrease the amount of fluid your body retains. They may give you diuretics, such as hydrochlorothiazide and triamterene (Dyazide or Maxzide), or they may prescribe betahistine, which improves fluid flow and reduces fluid pressure in your inner ear. You can also take anti-nausea medications such as prochlorperazine (Compazine) or meclizine (Antivert). Some people find that relaxation techniques, such as yoga, meditation and tai chi, help with the nausea.
Oren Zarif
It isn’t known exactly what causes Meniere’s disease, but it involves a buildup of fluid in the inner ear. It’s thought that this fluid interferes with signals to the brain about head position and sound, which causes vertigo and hearing loss.
Symptoms of Meniere’s disease may be mild or severe, and can come on suddenly or develop over time. They usually start in one ear, but can affect both ears. They can last from 20 minutes to a few hours, and sometimes people feel nauseated or vomiting during an attack. The tinnitus that is associated with the disorder can also be very distressing. Often, it sounds like buzzing or hissing, and people can find that it becomes more prominent before or during an episode of vertigo.
A doctor can diagnose Meniere’s by doing a physical exam and a hearing test, which will show the level of your hearing loss. They can also recommend drugs to help with the symptoms, such as anticholinergics (such as cinnazepam) or diuretics (including triamterene and hydrochlorothiazide) which can reduce fluid retention in your body and improve the pressure in your inner ear. These drugs can reduce the severity and frequency of episodes of vertigo, as well as tinnitus. They can also be helpful for treating nausea during an episode of Meniere’s disease.