Meniere's Disease

  A few years ago I had sudden and overwhelming bouts of dizziness.  After a panicked trip to the doctor, I was diagnosed with Vertigo.  Weird but not life threatening.  The symptoms came and went and I managed fairly well.  I was given some medicine (which made me sleepy) and told to come back if things worsened. 

  Here is where western medicine gets it wrong.  Treat the symptom rather than the underlying cause.  A friend asked if I had Meniere's syndrome and I stared blankly at her then went home and looked it up.  The first thing I noticed was that Katie Leclerc (from the show Switched at Birth) had it.  Interesting, that is my favorite show. 

  I began reading the symptoms and checking them all.  When I read that a typical symptom was a feeling of fullness in the ears, my mouth dropped open.  I had never mentioned it to anyone, I didn't really even know how to describe it, but that was exactly what I had.  Sometimes I would get a feeling in my ears that felt like all the sound was being pushed out.  It left me unable to hear for short periods of time.  My hearing always came back but it was one of those things that I assumed everyone has, like that weird ringing in your ears that we all get sometimes (tinnitus). 

  I called my doctor and asked if this Meniere's syndrome was what I had.  He corrected me that it was a disease and stated that it was possible that I had it, the symptoms did fit nicely with the diagnosis however it was not curable and the only medicine that managed symptoms effectively was one that would lower my blood pressure significantly.  Since I already have low blood pressure, putting me on this medicine would mean he would have to pull my drivers license since I could possibly faint at any time.  That was the end of the conversation for me.  It wouldn't kill me, it is not degenerative, except for potential hearing loss, which lets be honest, if I have it or if I don't, no medicine would change that fact. 

  So here I stand with undiagnosed Meniere's and random bouts of Vertigo and hearing loss.  Last Friday I was at work and leaned over to pick up something off the floor and when I stood the wall was not where it should have been.  I knew almost instantly it was going to be a bad attack of Vertigo.  I have learned to manage them with light attacks being treated with being still for at least 20 minutes.  Bad attacks have a distinct symptom, my vision is affected, do you remember the movie Jurassic Park.   When the T-Rex takes a step and the water glass registers its vibrations.  Well that is the best explanation. The outside corners of my vision shake.  It comes in toward the middle of my eyes at its worst causing me not to want to open my eyes due to the shaking.  It is a very unsettling feeling, I have a friend with Migranes who says she gets something similar but hers is accompanied with the massive head ache.

  That concludes my thoughts on Meniere's, we shall just have to wait and see how the hearing goes.

Quick update

 Here is a quick update on all that has transpired, more to come next week.

I turned 40 in spectacular fashion and had the best party ever.  Family and friends came in from Tennessee and stuck their toes in the California soil.

Our new kitten is an adventure, I have never owned a kitten and good gravy, they are a lot of work.

I am enjoying my summer, but not planning a vacation just yet.  Well the kids go to camp tomorrow so I guess that counts as a vacation of sorts.

I will do better on the next post.  This was just easing back into the water after being away for a while.  The picture of someone walking down the steps into a pool, comes to mind.  They step onto the first step and say "oh the water is wonderful"  They step down the next two steps quickly and when they reach mid thigh they re-think why they wanted to swim.  The last step puts them in around the waist and inevitably, hands go up and a whoosh of air comes out of their mouth.  Now the tippy toeing around the the water standing as tall as possible begins.  Arms are still up in the air as if keeping them out of the water will somehow make you warmer.  Finally summoning every ounce of courage, they take the plunge and begin to swim.

That is what I will be doing this week, tip-toeing my way back into this blog.