What is Meniere's Disease?

The honest answer to this question is that nobody knows for sure what Meniere's Disease is. They definitely don't know the cause, but I'll talk about that later. I'm not going to quote the medical books and sites on the definition of the disease, but rather paraphrase them by saying that Meniere's Disease is probably an imbalance in the fluids of the inner ear, which affects the mechanisms for hearing and balance. This is not to be confused with ear infections, which typically involve the middle ear and do not directly touch the hearing and balance mechanisms.

The main symptoms of Meniere's Disease are dizziness, hearing problems, and tinnitus (a perceived ringing or buzzing sound). All of these symptoms vary in intensity and duration over time, with the early stages characterized by "attacks" of limited duration but high intensity, and later a stabilization followed by possible improvement of some symptoms (usually the dizziness) and gradual increase in others (usually hearing loss and tinnitus). I stress again that this pattern will certainly not apply to every sufferer. Apparently some have only a few attacks throughout their lives and are otherwise not bothered, whereas others are severely compromised for long periods of time. This wide range of experience and lack of observable cause have led some to call Meniere's a syndrome rather than a disease. The diagnosis is more about what you clearly DO NOT have than what you do. You don't have a brain tumor, you aren't on drugs, you don't have a concussion, you don't have an infection...

One medical article I read said that the most important thing to remember about Meniere's Disease is that it lasts the entire lifetime. I disagree. I don't actually see the benefit of remembering this AT ALL. Unless of course you want to feel worse. I would say that the most important thing to remember is that Meniere's Disease is not the end of the world and that it's possible if not likely that you'll get through it just fine.

I had about 4 months of relatively severe attacks that varied in friequency and duration followed by a 2 to 3 month period of on-going but moderately severe symptoms followed by a stabilization, which I am currently experiencing. Currently (one year after my first attack) I have a moderate hearing loss, aggravating tinnitus, and some dizziness. But none of these are preventing me from functioning normally. I will discuss this in more detail later.

Cause(s)?

This is a mystery. The only thing that my doctor has ever said regarding cause is that Meniere's may be likely to follow an upper respiratory infection. I will admit that mine started in the spring following a rough winter in which I was sick often and seemed to have a cold and especially a dry cough for months. But then again, who hasn't experienced something like this before?

As you may have already discovered for yourself, two useful tips about living with Meniere's are to avoid speculation about the cause and to avoid reading too much medical literature about it. These will only make you feel worse.