Not sure what BPPV is? Yes my Menier's comes on fast with the phase out or sleeping for a week..then the other symptoms follow..total deafness in both ears, vertigo, nausea. For me this can be up to two months for all the symptoms to do their "job" and by that time if you survive it, the depression has already set in.

Hi Lindsay47,
My God, thats horrific! I won't say I'm so sorry, because it is frustrating to hear that all the time. But I have deep sympathy because it seems that even though we all have it of varying degrees, we all know vertigo and nausea, ect.
Hey, I have a friend in Germany who wrote to tell me of her friend who was diagnosed with meneires this past summer. In Germany they have a clinic just for meneires patients. This is all they do and they are very successful in treating it. If you live in the U.S. you have probably already discovered you will not be helped. But I guess this girl has not had another episode and is doing great. They have a website www.meniereclinic.com. Check this out it is very state of the art. And I don't know about you, but I would travel to the ends of the earth to find help! I hope all with meneires read this post just so they can have this info. In fact, I might make another post with just this. And thank you for sharing your story.
Tina

Bless you Tina! All info is so welcome..Clueless doctors LOL..so true.. It's also quite "amusing" when you e-mail a friend and say you've finally got a diagnosis.. One reply was..Oh great, now you can get treated and should be ok ;o)) Ohhh that it was that simple!!

Hugs Lyndsay

I worked for an ent clinic for seven years. BPPV is benign positional vertigo which usually is diagnosed when the dizziness is worse when you turn more on one side. I'm a little confused by the hearing loss because it usually is not associated with bppv as it is with meniere's There is no medicine for BPPV . Antivert and such may make you feel better but it will not cure it. There is something called brandt daroff exercises we used where I worked. BPPV can make you feel off.

Hi Sambod,
Can the ringing and occasional hearing loss be associated with plugged ears from allergies? I experience this in both ears and so does my daughter and father who also both have allergies as severe as I do. I wish for once the Dr.s would at least investigate the possibilities of allergies playing a role in inner ear disorders because SO many people suffer with allergies who also suffer with inner ear problems. I read in the Harvard Medical School book of symptoms that a person can experience ringing, temporary hearing loss and even pain as a result of blocked eustachian tubes. Have you heard of this as well?

ringing or tinnitis and hearing loss can be due to a number of things, ear wax buildup, family hx of hearing loss and yes even allergies. Severe allergies can cause eustation tube dysfunction which is where the eustation tubes can fill up with fluid which causes pressure and can cause ringing and hearing loss. where i worked, a simple combination of antihistamine and decongestants can help. they can do a test at the ent known as a tympanogram that can measure any negative pressure in the ears such as fluid . Many ent's can do tubes in the ears in the office to relieve the pressure . The tubes help the fluid to drain off by keeping the eustation tubes open.

Thank you for that info. I'm going to ask my ENT about that test for my eustachian tubes. I mentioned to him that I feel some of my symptoms are coming from there and he said, "Yep, they probably are, use your flonase". Just like that! No, lets find out for sure and treat it, just, use your flonase! Which is good because sometimes flonase works and other times it really doesn't depending on how full my sinuses are that day. My dad has the issue of tinnitus and fullness in his ears when he gets vertigo too, but this isn't consistant (like me) and his vertigo is always positional as well. And he has had it 20 years and no permanent hearing loss. What would you make of that? Menieres or BPPV? Or BPPV with allergie symptoms that can mimick menieres? Sorry to throw all these questions at you, but we need people like you posting with us!! Thank you!

Your symptoms are so much like mine! Especially the laying back or on the bad side, I thought I was the only one with that. Yes its what menieres patients experience, everything you described, I see Dr Chen, a top specialist in this field and he said all the things I experience he has heard from menieres patients.

I thought menieres patients did not get positional vertigo. My doctor said it is never positional. I don't know who is right. How long have you had it and how is your hearing? What has it been like for you?

I am not here to dispute anyone's claims.All I can tell you is that I have had this for 12 years.I see the top neuroligist in the country who specializes in balance disorders and he did the first ever cochlear implant.They put me through ENG testing to diagnose me. I have menieres disease,you can view my treatments on my profile.And I can tell you for certain that I do get postional vertigo with this diease.Never had vertigo problems until I got menieres, used to ride amusement park rides, lay flat and look up. Now looking up or laying on my back or left side brings on vertigo almost always. There have been occassions when I can tolerate those positions, but not many. I had menieres before vertigo, because I had the fullness in the ear, ringing, roaring, and lost about 50% of my hearing. When I listen to someone with that ear I cant make out what they are saying, sounds like jibberish.Unfortunately I am a text book case of menieres and I hope God heals me someday. So yes, positional vertigo is likely with this disease. But if you are hoping that you dont have menieres and just BPPV then you might not want to believe me. I just know what I have been through and what my Dr says. I saw a number of ENT's who did nothing for me but load me up in meclizine, which didnt help much. It wasnt until I went to the ER that they tried valium and it worked.Also the maxide helps a lot. Good luck to you, I hope you only have BPPV because I hear they can fix that. So far menieres is like a jail sentence.

Hi Sambod,
You could be right. I haven't ruled anything out yet. I'm still trying to gather info and I'm scheduled for am MRI soon. I had one in 2003 when my first bad attack came on and they never diagnosed menieres then. But who knows? Do your attacks come on suddenly? My dad has had what I have for 20 years but he never lost his hearing. Is it possible to have menieres and never lose your hearing? I am curious because every doctor seems to have a different answer. Are your vertigo attacks less frequent? Also I've heard that menieres can cause BPPV. It's very confusing.

why an mri? It won't diagnose the meniere's. You need the test called ENG. It basically hooking up your head to electrodes and watching different pattern of lights and then the fun part of cold and warm water balloons to check for dizziness.

bppv is when the crystals in your inner ear become dislodged and not where they are suppose to be. One side is usually worse and sparks the vertigo. There is no medicine to help bppv only exercises such as brandt daroff.

The MRI was ordered by my GP because of my (very strong)family history of aneurysms. Also, we have some rare tumors in my family. He is just being cautious and I appreciate that.
I did have my ENG today. I will know more friday morning when I meet with my ENT Dr. to discuss all the tests. The ENG was a real treat, lol!!!

yeah, I bet it was.lol
I hope everything turns out good.
julie

I so agree with desertsand! Thanks for validating what I"ve been thru too. I went to a "specialist" tho later learned he was a NECK doctor who still hasnt' replied to my questions...You just cope as best as you can and ginger has helped me immensely with the vertigo, as well as low salt diet, etc. I still haven't found anything to fix the tinnitus tho:(