Meniere's Disease Support Group

Normally extreme vertigo accompanied by tinnitis and or hearing loss. In my case the vertigo is so severe I am sick to my stomach and also with the runs. The vertigo is so debilitating normally one can't get out of bed. If it's bad enough and long enough some require hospitalization for iv fluids and medications.

Hi, I have had bilateral Meniere's for over 20 years, and one thing I have learned is that everyone basically has most of the same symptoms. First you feel a 'fullness' in your ears, sometimes a little painful, but usually just uncomfortable. This is a sign that pressure inside your ear is changing. I usually get about a five minute warning that an attack is imminent. I'll turn my head and all of a sudden a wave of dizziness hits. The attack can last from minutes to days [roller coaster attacks] During an attack I have to stay almost completely still. When it first hits I can't move at all, even opening my eyes to look at something isn't good, because I quite often get nystagmus [fluttering eyes] along with the dizziness which just makes it worse. Most of my attacks come on during the night. If the weather is changing and I am up and about, I quite often will only experience mild to moderate symptoms, BUT if the weather changes during the night [either good or bad doesn't seem to matter] you can bet that I will be down for the day. Most times by noon, I can get out of bed [finally to get to a bathroom] and then I just lay quietly on the couch for the rest of the day. This disease, is crappy and horrible to deal with, but for the most part,you are fine, it's only during an attack that the symptoms are debillitating. BUT, it's not cancer, Lou Gehrig's, MS or any of the other diseases that will kill you. So keep on smiling and when it hits you, take a quiet day and reflect on how lucky you are you only have to deal with Meniere's. :)

Hi, I've had it since 2001. My first noticeable symptom was hearing loss on my right side accompanied by a feeling of fullness in that ear - so that I went to the doctor insisting there was something in there. There wasn't. The hearing loss was confirmed and was worse in the low frequencies - whereas hearing loss due to noise is typically high frequency. Months later I started the vertigo attacks, ranging from a few seconds of feeling like I was spinning to a day of not being able to get out of bed, with nausea and vomiting. I have had a little bit of the tinnitus (ringing) but not as prominently as some get. Those are the 4 classic symptoms, hearing loss, fullness in the ear, vertigo attacks, and tinnitus.

The serverity of the vertigo attacks can vary from person to person. My vertigo is controlled now by a mild diuretic, dyazide. So I am living OK with the Meniere's, although it can be debilitating to some.

The classic set is; periodic episodes of vertigo or dizziness, fluctuating, progressive, unilateral (in one ear 50% to 75% of the cases its in one ear usually starts that way) or bilateral (in both ears 15% to 50% of the cases) hearing loss. Unilateral or bilateral tinnitus (which is usually the first symptom to arrive and the last to stay after others have faded or have been cured) A sensation of fullness or pressure in one or both ears. Ménière's often begins with one symptom, and gradually progresses (in my case the ringing and hearing loss started 7 years before the first vertigo attack). However, not all symptoms must be present for a doctor to make a diagnosis of the disease (as per above in my case). Several symptoms at once is more conclusive than different symptoms at separate times. As there are many possible causes each could show different symptoms (in my case the cause is the Herpes virus which can be torment in your ear nerve for years until your immune system is weak and then attack)