Meniere's Disease Support Group

Meniere's disease is a balance disorder of the inner ear. The symptoms of Meniere's are variable; not all sufferers experience the same symptoms. However, "classic Meniere's" is considered to comprise the following four symptoms: Periodic episodes of rotary vertigo, hearing loss, tinnitus, and a sensation of fullness or pressure in one or both ears.

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/ Meniere's Disease Support Group

How do you explain Meniere's?

dragonlover
dragonlover

I've had Meniere's for decades.  I realize that most people outside of the medical community have never heard of it and don't know what it is.  I understand that.  The problem is trying to explain to people what it is and does.  As much as I explain it, people just don't get it.  No matter how much I explain it, they continue to insist that it is an earache or ear infection, or that it is *just* tinnitus.  Headslap!  Anyone else here encounter this?  How do you deal with it and get your point across? 

Canuck99
Canuck99
To be honest, I haven't had too much trouble explaining it - tinnitus, vertigo are most people I know understand.

My falllback explanation to a severe attack is that is feels like I've drunk 20 beers, but without the fun few hours that you normally get before you feel like you're going to die and start swearing that you'll never drink again.
MrsMac
MrsMac
I like the 20 beers explanation. I tell folks it's like being on a spinning carnival ride for longer than you would ever want. Then when the ride is over, and you have to walk and function and you can't because you are so dizzy and worn out, that you just need to lay down, and die. Then I tell them that sometimes the ride makes me throw up, so I just want to lay down and die next to the commode.
TaleMasterTOV
TaleMasterTOV
I call it a neurological disorder. Sometimes it feels like I have brain damage (when my brain fogs up in the middle of a meeting at work, for instance), but it's not so much the brain as the perceptions that are fed to it. Kind of a Plato's Cave scenario, but in the middle of an earthquake and with somebody putting shadows on the wall that REALLY wants to mess with your mind.
Mshare
Mshare
I haven't had trouble explaining the vertigo and hearing problems so much as the utter exhaustion that often follows (but not always!) The fact that you have to hold very still for hours on end sounds "restful" to lots of folks.