Meniere's Disease Symptoms

Meniere's Disease is commonly known as Meniere's Syndrome and was named for Prosper Meniere who first classified the series of symptoms that have become known as Meniere's Disease. Because of the tendency of this disease to affect those that do fine detailed work it was also referred to as Watchmakers Disease. It is generally accepted that the cause is increased fluid in the inner ear and this fluid in the endolymphatic sac causes the structure to expand and put pressure on the other inner ear structures that affect hearing and balance.

It is common for people suffering from the symptoms of Meniere's Disease to only have symptoms in one ear although some experience the symptoms in both ears. It has not been concluded the exact cause of the excess fluid in the ears. Many traditional treatments for Meniere's disease revolve around limiting salt intake and taking diuretics. Patients with Meniere's Disease may find that they have food based triggers that prompt symptoms, while others may find that environmental allergies and even stress can bring on the symptoms of an attack of Meniere's Disease.

I was diagnosed with Meniere's Disease in December of 2007 after a long running problem with balance including two attacks of vertigo. The office visit during which I was diagnosed included an audio test as well as several balance screenings. I have good stretches and bad stretches. The year prior to my diagnosis I was almost constantly having hearing problems and balance problems stemming from my right ear. Possibly connected is the fact that I had a severe inflammation and infection of the right ear in High School. (Some 15 years or so before the other symptoms have appeared.)

Meniere's Disease is classically diagnosed as comprising of four symptoms.

The first common symptom of Meniere's Disease is a feeling or sense of pressure or fullness in one (or both) ears. This is reminiscent of when traveling by plane and your ears need to pop, or if you are traveling by car in the mountains and the elevation changes quickly. Basically, it feels the same, however as I recall when I was diagnosed my symptoms were acting up, I felt a sense of pressure, but there were no visible indications that was the case. This sense of pressure is not necessarily constant, but can come and go. For me it has come for days (even a week or two) at a time before going away.

The second common symptom of Meniere's Disease is Tinnitus. This is a roaring or ringing sound in the ear and for me it usually accompanies the sense of pressure. Many times the tinnitis will follow the pressurized feeling. The type of tinnitus can vary in frequency and volume. It may get louder, or softer and for me is usually a roaring sound. Tinnitus associated with Meniere's Disease also comes and goes as the attacks of Meniere's come and go. From my experience, the pressurized feeling comes first, followed after a day with the tinnitus or roaring. If that continues for approximately three days I then experience vertigo.

The third common symptom of Meniere's Disease is hearing loss. It's typically characterized by low end hearing loss. This loss can come and go as the other symptoms but eventually will be permanent. This low end hearing loss is markedly different from the typical hearing loss associated with exposure to loud music. Loud noise exposure typically starts affecting the high end of the audio spectrum first. Many physicians use the hearing loss signature to verify a Meniere's Disease diagnosis.

The fourth common symptom of Meniere's Disease is attacks of rotational vertigo. For me this is the culmination of an attack that may cover several days starting with the sense of fullness in the ear, progressing to the roaring of the tinnitus. After the roaring subsides I have noticed my hearing is perhaps diminished and usually when I realize that the roaring has stopped it's usually the day I have an attack of rotational vertigo. This symptom as all others is intermittent or episodic and comes and goes.  If I understand correctly, this sense of the tinnitus and hearing improving temporarily at the time of an acute attack is referred to as Lermoyez syndrome.

These are all of the symptoms that are recognized as being caused by Meniere's Disease.

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Even though there are only four official symptoms of Meniere's Disease, there are other effects that I consider secondary symptoms of the disease.

The first of these secondary symptoms is fatigue. In the aftermath of a full attack with vertigo I am usually very tired for several days. It can take a week or two before I feel like my energy level is back to normal.

The second of these secondary symptoms is a feeling of being off balance after the attack is over. I suspect this is due to the brain needing to re-interpret the signals it receives from the inner ear after damage is done by the increased fluid in the ear. Pressure from the fluid pushes against other structures changing the balance information that your ear passes along to the brain and the brain simply has to relearn. That at least is my theory on the matter.

A third of the secondary symptoms is depression. Long term deprivation of one of your senses with the capriciousness of possibly not knowing when an attack will end or when the next might begin as well as the long term diagnosis of permanent hearing loss can certainly affect the mood of a patient with Meniere's Disease.

Other problems are nausea and vomiting (due to vertigo), sensitivity to sound (recruitment and hyperacusis), anxiety, headache and "brain fog". This last one I have always suspected because the brain is too busy trying to relearn about balance which it usually is able to do without effort. This is a high energy process and other things seem to get lost in the shuffle. I have spent weeks feeling like I was living in the fog.