Meniere's Disease anyone?

[~*Niadalla*~]

Hi there,
recently a close family member has been diagnosed with Meniere's disease.
It's basically a disease in her inner ear, that causes extreme vertigo, Nausea, vommitting during an attack, and after a severe attack, the sufferer needs to sleep for hours on end...
It's really taken a toll on them and come out of nowhere. Unfortunately, there is no cure, and no real reason as to why they are suffering it.

I was wondering is anyone else had dealt with meniere's before? I have a few questions.

This has really struck my family member down. It's come out of nowhere. It's horrible to watch. Any help or adivce would be greatly appreciated

[~Kim~]

Niadla, I have a firend who suffered from it. The cause is widley researched but very little is known about it.
My friend now sufferes from permanent hearing loss and needs a hearing aid, but the other attacks have stopped.
Prof Bill Gibson is a specialist here in Sydney. I have worked with him in the past (he pioneerd cochlear implants), and know his clinic in Sydney are more than happy to give out adivse and put you in contact with people who can help.

[~*Niadalla*~]

Any info you could give me would be fantastic!
Thanks heaps

[Olive]

i was diagnosed with this at the age of 16! mine however has improved with age! and runs through both sides of my family

[~Kim~]

If you google mennieres support group victoria, they have a fantastic website with heaps of info, and also google Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre at Gladesville. That is where he is and they are great.

[~*Niadalla*~]

i read that it 'may' be genetic, and now u have me worried, a few months back, i suffered pretty horrid vertigo for a good 12 weeks, it has gotten better but smoetimes i still feel a littl funny.... fingers crossed.

AJP, what has worked for you? it's actually my mum (44) who has been diagnosed. I have read about lowering salt intake, taking serc tabs.....

[~*Niadalla*~]

thanks kim. The vic support group i have contacted, i will google the other.
You're a gem xxoo

[Olive]

did the serc thing, never found it much help, i remenber though that the side effects where as bad as the sypmtoms, was originally on a powder called urea, foul stuff!! l
imiting salt, caffine and alcohol! apart from that i lived with it, it still have the ocasional problem if i have takeaway but i know its becasue of the salt

i believe its also ment to be more commonin males, but in both sied of my family its women who suffer, some quiet bad!

[Bathsheba]

My step-mum has it. It came on during her late 40's I think. She has had to stop driving and riding her horses . I've never seen her during an attack. She is a pretty private person but I have been reading a bit about it. I hope you can find some supprt. Keep us updated... I'm very interested too.

[Olive]

does she take stemitel for the nausea? another thing i was on, (while at school mind you) was fluid tablets! horrible disease

[~*Niadalla*~]

Hi there everyone.
Just wanted to let you know how my mum was going.
She's been 'salt free' ( that's basically how I see it, lol), for a couple of weeks, and it really does seem to have worked. She has had 2 very small attacks since changing her diet. She's still working full time, driving and doing everything she was doing before, which is great. She's just getting over the 'novelty' of her new diet. She joined the VIC menieres support group and the info she has been sent has helped her immensely.
So, just thought I'd let you all kow howshe's going, and thank you all for your help

[Olive]

great to hear!! the salt thing really is the best thing to avoid!

[Bathsheba]

Hmm, my step mum doesn't seem to avoid salt.... although I only see her a few times a year as we live interstate... last time I saw her she seemed ok about joining us in eating a very salty Chinese meal... but maybe that was a special treat for her? Thanks for the info girls

[Olive]

interesting bath, for me salt was and still is on occasions the trigger for dizziness! i still read the sodium contents in packaged foods!!