u/shortifiable

My son has severe eczema and has been diagnosed since before his first birthday. He’s almost 24 and has been on every prescription cream, ointment, and oil that was deemed safe by his specialist. He was approved for a tire 3, last resort; very expensive med and it worked well for a while.

His formulary changed in July and so did the qualifying condition; it’s no longer covered for eczema, only plaque psoriasis. While he does have some plaques, he’s never been formally evaluated for psoriasis because there’s just so much crossover in treatment.

Cut to now and nothing’s helping. He uses CeraVe bar soap and/or Bioderma body wash. Unscented, no added dyes. He tried Sympathy for the Skin but it’s not quite cutting it. Vaseline is a sensory nightmare and everything else just doesn’t even come close to tackling this and now the areas are spreading while the doctor fights insurance. I know we tried Dream Cream before but his tolerance for the texture and scent was much lower so he never got to reap the benefits.

In a last ditch effort, I grabbed the giant tub of Dream Cream a fellow sub member sent to me and slathered it on his neck and a bad patch on his leg. After the Vaseline, this was much more tolerable. It looked a little better the next day so I applied it again. He’s special needs so getting information from him without leading him to the answers can be tricky so I simply asked how he feels and he says less itchy and prickly, which is a HUGE improvement; itching means scratching and scratching just prolongs the cycle. I credit the cooling/soothing properties for that.

Today it’s probably down 75-80% in redness and scaling. I’m going to apply it twice a day and see whether that increases the helpfulness or whether this is the limit of the cream. Either way, this is a fantastic improvement!

His prescription cream was going to be $1800+ per month out of pocket but a tub of Dream Cream is $30, a significant savings. Everyone please cross your fingers that this continues to work and maybe works even better with time. I’m happy to make the trek to our closest store (Atlanta, almost 2 hours away) if it works.

I’ve had an awesome ENT for about 7 years and he retired a few months ago. At my last appointment with him, he set me up with another doctor in the practice, the son of a former colleague. His reasoning is that the new doc seemed amenable to maintaining status quo if it was working and I wouldn’t have to wait as long as others who would be booked up and out. Okay, I trust my doctor so I’m willing to give it a go.

Cut to today and the new doctor walks into the room and immediately starts questions my meds. For the record, it took YEARS to find a daily combo that halted the attacks (Dyazide and Valium) and then tweak it with a supplement to prevent additional hearing loss (magnesium oxide). I have been on this combination for 5 years now with no issues. I take 1mg of Valium at night and it helps prevent the morning dizziness/unsteadiness I was experiencing daily. I also take the magnesium supplement at night. I take the Dyazide in the morning which helps keep fluid off my endolymphatic sac/eustachian tubes without keeping me up at night from having to use the restroom.

All of that being said, I know there are other methods of treatment, this is just what works for me. I’ve missed a few days of medication in the past and by day 2.5, I would experience a drop attack. I tried going without the Valium and it also didn’t take long for the morning spins to come back. So, here we are. All of my labs are great, this combination works like a charm, and everything’s cheap and readily available. I did tell him I would be willing to discuss and consider other medications if/when the current combo stops working. Hell, I’ll even journal how I feel daily and color code symptoms so that it can be tracked in real time and we can stay ahead of it.

As it stands, I do have other conditions and take meds for those so it wouldn’t be as easy as spinning the wheel of current Meniere’s treatments (calcium channel blockers, betahistine, SSRI’s), which makes me wonder exactly why this doctor wants to make changes? In his words, “there are better options out there.” For who, exactly? Because this works for me. New doesn’t automatically mean better. “You might be able to enjoy the things you’ve had to cut out.” Reduced sodium and caffeine keep my heart healthy. Not drinking alcohol is good for my liver. Not smoking is great for my lungs and just overall health. So what exactly would be better about having those things back and why would I risk drop attacks or worse by messing with meds when I have something that works? “Well, I don’t have anyone else who is on daily benzodiazepines as a treatment, that’s really just for rescue.” I’m not anyone else, I’m me. I’m on half of the lowest dose on the market, making the risk of addiction very low. I would be prescribed higher doses at more frequent intervals if I took it for my anxiety, but I raw dog my anxiety, ADHD, and chronic pain in order to avoid addiction. Then he hits me with “it’s just outdated”. Yeah, okay, but outdated doesn’t automatically mean ineffective. I have a proven track record of this working safely and effectively. Why in the world would we switch things up??

To make matters worse, I start a new job next week. I have been volunteering in my community for years because holding a regular job was iffy at best with Meniere’s being so unpredictable. Now I’ve been stable for years with no symptoms besides occasional dizziness if I eat poorly but that’s very manageable. I applied for a healthcare job and was hired very quickly, went through the drug testing and federal background check and I’m getting excited to start but now I’m anxious as hell that this doctor’s goal is to use me as a guinea pig in 6 months for no other reason than his personal bias against old-school methods or fear of the DEA doing routine checks for my 1mg/day Valium use.

My only saving grace is that my PCM will prescribe me the meds if I need them. We discussed the possibility when I told her who I had been moved to. She’s well aware that my previous ENT retired so I know that I can explain all of this to her and she’ll maintain the status quo. Any changes or increases would need to happen with a specialist, which I’m fine with, I just hate that a routine visit started with an immediate jump to changing something that doesn’t need to be changed.

Got the email this morning that my box shipped! Hopefully everyone else got the same email or it comes soon.

Just bought my husband a 2023 Nissan Rogue SV with less than 13k miles to replace his 2012 Jeep Compass Sport that has 280k miles.

First, we care for our vehicles very well. The tipping point to buy newer vs repair older was an estimated repair bill of about $3500 for the Jeep that put us over what we were comfortable spending considering the age and timing of the service since we just did some major repairs 16 months ago.

I’m aware of the additional maintenance that the Rogue’s CVT will require as well as ensuring that he is the only one who drives it (barring urgency/emergency situations), specifically because we have VASTLY different driving styles. First order of business is a PPI next week. It’s still within warranty so anything it needs would have to be handled ASAP.

Other than the obvious CVT and infotainment gremlins, is there anything we should be watching for that isn’t common knowledge or has been an issue for the rest of you? The plan is for this to be his daily driver as well as potentially a long haul vehicle if his work contract pulls him into a neighboring state (the reason we had the Jeep inspected) so any tips to keep her in tiptop shape is appreciated.

How often does everyone change theirs? 10k? 15k? 30k?

I bought my ‘23 SV at 32k miles and it indicated it had just had an oil change and 30k maintenance done. I assumed that would include engine and cabin filters since they’re part of the routine 30k maintenance. Nope, both still had the OG Nissan filters which were absolutely filthy.

Thank goodness I plan ahead and had purchased some when I bought the vehicle so I just swapped them out. The cabin air filter is easy but that engine air filter is a pain with all the things the filter hood is attached to! I managed to get it done and hopefully now I’ll notice an increase in engine intake and cabin air quality (it smelled stale and almost sour before). Definitely going to stay on top of these, no need to choke the engine or myself over $10-15 air filters.

To start, my Meniere’s has been very well controlled for quite some time now. I know my triggers and avoid them, I stay fairly active, and I’m always up front with my doctors.

I had a hysterectomy in 2016 but retained my ovaries. Unfortunately they’ve never been super healthy due to PCOS so we knew it was a matter of time before perimenopause and menopause reared their ugly heads.

I’m now a few years into that journey and HRT has been a lifesaver, but my libido is in the toilet. Unfortunately the two libido medications that are approved for women come with significant risks for anyone who has syncope, meaning they’re off the table for myself and any other woman with Meniere’s, yet a lot of doctors aren’t aware of this. Heck, some aren’t educated about Meniere’s itself nor aware that these medications exist (a rant for a different sub), let alone that they shouldn’t be prescribed to someone with this dx.

I’m not posting this for any reason other than to warn other ladies to be very careful. If your doctor brings up a libido injection or pill, remind them about the symptoms of Meniere’s. It may save you or other patients from a really nasty flare.