Recently diagnosed with Meniere, but I'm still unsure if it's true.
Hi all. I work in audio, so I notice every small change in my hearing. Probably a curse right now.
This started in January. I've been slowly losing low frequencies in my left ear, and it's gotten a lot worse over the last few months. Constant tinnitus, constant fullness, and sounds are distorted, quiet sounds don’t reach that ear at all, and anything even moderately loud is already uncomfortable. There’s barely any range left in between. On that side music or anything actually is genuinely hard to listen to now, there’s a metallic ringing on top of it, like a resonance.
Here's the thing, though: I don't have vertigo. No spinning, no attacks. Just some mild unsteadiness. Every time I read about Ménière's here, vertigo is the main event, and I don't have it.
I've been through a lot of doctors. Most tests came back normal. Last month I finally got the 3T MRI hydrops scan, and the report confused me. It says "grade 0" changes but then concludes "findings suggestive of left hydrops." My doctor says it's positive. I'd already been on diuretics and steroids for weeks when they scanned me, which I've read can affect what shows up.
So far I've done acetazolamide, betahistine, a prednisone taper, and three steroid injections through the eardrum (which hurt a lot more than I expected). After the first injection, my doctor measured about 10% hearing improvement, so something did work, but honestly, after the last 2, nothing changed, and I don't feel any different. The fullness and tinnitus are exactly the same. Two hyperbaric oxygen sessions felt like what helped most. I did two sessions of 1:30 h after the first injection, and then my doctor told me to pause them. It makes me wonder whether the improvement came from the chamber, not the injections.
What makes me doubt the diagnosis: everything gets worse when I chew. After a meal, the pressure goes up, the tinnitus gets louder, and even changes pitch, and both ears feel blocked, not just the bad one. Same when I talk a lot. I also get headaches around my nose, head, and teeth. I have a crossbite and grind my teeth, plus chronic neck and shoulder problems on the left side.
One more thing I keep coming back to: in 2023 I was hit by a car while cycling. Head injury with a brief loss of consciousness and a hematoma on the left side of my head, same side as the bad ear. The neck and shoulder problems are documented as sequelae of that. I know it was over two years ago, but I've read hydrops can show up long after head trauma, and having everything on the left side is hard to ignore.
Has anyone here been diagnosed with hydrops without vertigo? Did anyone have a scan read as positive that looked borderline like mine? And has anyone with symptoms that flare from chewing or jaw tension found that treating that side of things actually helped?
This is hitting my career and my head pretty hard, so anything helps.
Thanks.