Meniere's Disease: Onset and First Few Days

Onset

On the morning of May 2, 2007 I awoke at 5:00 with a splitting headache. I went downstairs, took some ibuprofen, and sat on the couch. Suddenly I was slammed by a tornado inside my head - a whooshing, screaming, buzzing torrent, as if I'd stuck my head out the window of a 747 at 30,000 feet. I was so dizzy I couldn't stand up. This lasted about 10 miserably long seconds, after which I fell back on the couch, heart racing and terrified. What the hell was THAT and when the hell is it going to happen again? Maybe it won't. It did. And this time it didn't go away. I tried to walk but couldn't. I thought I was having a stroke or something similar. I don't remember exactly how things transpired after that, but I know that I crawled up the stairs to the bathroom where I had heard my wife go earlier. I knocked on the door and told her something was wrong and I was so dizzy that I couldn't stand up. She helped me lie down on the couch and then called an ambulance.

Very shortly thereafter several paramedics arrived and my wife explained the situation to them. Their main objective was to make sure that I wasn't about to die, so they hooked me up to a portable EKG and monitored my vitals. I remember that they had to help me up on the stretcher and that the short trip from my living room to the back on the ambulance on the stretcher was almost intolerable. The only thing I remember about the ambulance ride is that I felt I had to sit forward with my head down. I also remember that facing the back of the ambulance while it was moving was just horrible. I asked them if they could turn me around but they said they couldn't. I told them that facing backwards made it really difficult and they told me that it was therefore going to be a long and unpleasant ride to the hospital. Thanks a lot.

I spent about three hours in the ER, during which time they did a CAT scan to rule out a brain problem, a blood test to make sure I wasn't on drugs, and a whole lot of nothing else. Mostly I just sat on a bed and waited and tried not to vomit or go insane. I couldn't lie back or relax or even close my eyes for very long because it made me feel too dizzy. I had to focus my eyes on something, which was difficult because the something kept moving.

At last the doctor came in and told me that she thought that I had "positional vertigo", didn't really know why, and told me to see an ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat doctor) as soon as possible. I think they also gave me some dramamine. My wife was able to get me an appointment with an ENT for the following day. She wheeled me to the car in a wheelchair because I couldn't walk, and we limped home. I'm pretty sure I spent the rest of that day and night on the couch, finally able to sleep because the drowsiness from the medication had trumped the vertigo, mostly. I also remember feeling that I couldn't hear very well out of my left ear and that it was ringing loudly.

I have to point out that even though I most likely realized after my ordeal at the hospital that I wasn't necessarily about to die, this whole thing was nevertheless terrifying. I don't want to be too dramatic here, but questions like "will I ever be able to stand up and walk again?", "is this permanent?", "am I going deaf?", "will I be able to chase my children around the house again?" were never far from my mind.

First Visit to ENT

ENTs apparently specialize on particular aspects of ears, noses, and throats, and I was lucky enough to have found one whose specialty was hearing and balance problems. I honestly don't remember much about the visit except that I was able to make it from the waiting room to the exam room myself, but had to hold onto the wall while walking. I also remember that the doctor did a few "field sobriety" type tests, all of which I failed miserably. He also had me take a hearing test, which showed that my hearing in the left ear was poor, particularly in the upper range. When he told me this I immediately asked if it would come back. He seemed annoyed and said "I don't know."

He was very non-committal, of course, and I don't think he even mentioned Meniere's Disease as a possibility. It was just too early to tell. He did, however, say that he thought it could be viral and that he wanted me to take anti-viral and steroid medication. He said if it was viral and it was in an early stage, this combination of drugs may be able to help curtail some of the damage.

He also told me that I could continue taking dramamine to try and alleviate the dizziness, and that I should schedule an appointment at the nearby "Hearing and Balance Center" for a battery of more extensive tests.

First few days

I don't remember many specific details of the first few days with Meniere's Disease. Of course, at this time I didn't know that I had Meniere's Disease. I know I was frightened, concerned for the future, very sleepy all the time, and unbalanced. You see the word "vertigo" often associated with inner ear disorders such as Meniere's Disease. I view vertigo as a spinning of the world around you, much like the feeling of going to bed too drunk. The bedspins. I did not have this type of vertigo, fortunately. When I was not moving around, particularly moving my head, I was not dizzy. I was only dizzy when I moved my head or tried to walk. Thankfully this made sleep possible.

Noticeable hearing loss and tinnitus have been present since the start of Meniere's Disease for me. I do not recall that these symptoms fluctuated in severity but I do recall that they were strong enough to always be noticeable.

By this point I had started taking the anti-viral and steriod medications (prednisone), about which I had some degree of optimism.

I don't recall things improving noticeably over the next several days, but at some point I decided that I needed to get up and try to move myself around and maybe even get back to some semblance of a normal life. Walking was difficult. Mostly I walked slowly, stumbled frequently, and used the wall or my wife for support.

MRI

My ENT also prescribed an MRI to rule out any brain issues such as tumor or vascular problems. I am not particularly claustrophic as a rule so this was not too uncomfortable. You are placed on your back and slid into a large metal tube which administers the test. My MRI was on my head only, so I was only in the tube from the shoulders up. I would imagine that a full body MRI would be much more uncomfortable.

My doctor said that the radiologist noted what appeared to be a small shadow in one reagion of the MRI. He said that this was likely an artifact and did not represent something real. He said that the only way to confirm this would be to get another MRI. I was not concerned so I did not request another.