r/Menieres

Hi, I’m a 36 year old female, and I’ve struggled with nausea / dizziness / vertigo as long as I can remember. I had an episode that was horrible and that triggered me to finally seek help. I was diagnosed today. I started physical therapy, and have Zoloft and 50mg meclizine. I’m just so used to getting sick all of the time but I feel a lot better having a diagnosis.
How do you get through this? I want it to get better. I’m a single mother of 3 kids and I just want our lives to not be so affected by my illness. Any tips would be so appreciated!
My worst is bedtime, I doze off and wake up with a roller coaster sensation I have to wait to pass and suffer the rest of the night. Some nights I wake up and have to go throw up. Other nights, I’m just spinning and have to hope it gets better.
I didn’t realize until therapy today that I suffer from fullness feeling in my ear(s) and tinnitus. I just never realized until I was asked that I suffer from that, instead thinking it’s just normal.
I get really dizzy from having my eyes closed, obviously motion sickness from motion around me like at traffic lights, entertainment where the camera is moving / bouncing / spinning, etc. travel is a nightmare.
Have you found relief with physical therapy? Stronger medications?

Diagnosed menieres - and hating it - betahistine has helped early with frequency of attacks - and about to move onto diuretics and then injections after that. It’s torture - I’ve worked out a couple of my triggers - salt, alcohol. But still get an attack a week, and it’s disabling 3 plus hours unable to walk far, lots of vomiting and I just hate it.

I’m literally sitting on the toilet floor after throwing up typing this - tell me this gets better ? I’m starting to develop anxiety around attacks and considering what my TPD and income protection might cover. This is horrific.

It all started with episodes of BPPV that were quickly solved with Eppley's. Out of nowhere I started getting this weird vertigo whenever I moved in specific ways (shifting sides on the bed at night, looking up at the sky, down at my knees, tilting my head to the sides, being upside down for whatever reason). It lasts a few seconds, then it's gone until I move one of these ways again. After a few tests, I was diagnosed with Menière's by three different doctors, who prescribed a low sodium diet and betahistine. As long as I don't forget to take it, I have no issues (but two days without it are enough to screw me up).

My confusion mostly comes from the fact that this is pretty much my only symptom, along with rare moments of my hearing fading for a few seconds, then coming back. Since I started following this sub, I felt "lucky" for having such little problems compared to many people here, to the extent of feeling confused and unsure about my diagnosis.

Does anyone feel the exact same problem I do? Does this disease really have a variety of symptoms that change from a person to another?

Thank you!

What was your process for identifying what triggered your Menieres? How long after coming into contact with your triggers would you have an episode?
I was diagnosed with Menieres Cochlear Hydrops last year, started on diuretics and had steroid injection in my affected ear. For about a year I didn’t have any more symptoms or significant changes in hearing. Now, I can’t seem to feel normal again no matter what I do and I’m not sure what is triggering it.
I just joined Reddit and I have found it helpful reading about everyone’s individual experiences. So, what was your experience in figuring out what worked for you?

For people who have tried diuretics: how long did you try, before deciding whether they worked for you?

I’ve had ear fullness and tinnitus problems for many years, on and off. Last summer, those problems became permanent and I started having monthly vertigo attacks, two of which landed me in the ER. The vertigo stopped last fall, but the ear fullness remained, and I was diagnosed with Ménière’s.

My ENT first put me on HCTZ 25 mg for 90 days. I saw inconsistent improvement. She upped me to 50 mg, and I feel like I’m seeing more improvement (less ear fullness), but again, it’s not consistent enough to call it a win.

How long should I give this until I quit / try something else / get a different ENT? Any advice appreciated.

My ENT referred me to a neurologist to investigate possible vestibular migraine. I have a history of hyperacusis, as loud environments seem to be one of my main triggers and it really hurts my ear.

The neurologist prescribed atogepant, and I've been taking it for about 2 months now, but honestly I haven't noticed any difference so far.

I've also been taking betahistine for more than a year. To be honest, I don't think it's doing anything either at this point. I mostly keep taking it because ..why not ?

At my last ENT visit, the only change was that my hearing loss in the affected ear had increased, after being stable for more than a year.

For those who have taken atogepant for vestibular migraine, did it work for you? How long did it take before you noticed an improvement?

And if it didn't work, did you try another CGRP medication?

Thank you !

Hoy me hicieron una timpanometria en los oídos, en el oído con buena audición la timpanometria salió bien pero cuando intentaron hacerla en el oído con hipoacusia daba error y no fueron capaces de hacer la timpanometria, me preguntaron si estaba operado del oído al cual dije que no y por más veces que lo intentaron no pudieron a que es debido, puede ser fallo de mi oído medio

My husband was diagnosed with Meniere's disease in late 2021. It has been very well controlled with a low sodium diet, medication, and vestibular therapy. No drop attacks in 1-2 years. He still has tinnitus all the time and feels more tired and blah on bad weather days, but he goes through periods where he seems to be significantly more tired than usual. He works 40 hrs a week, hybrid home and office and somedays he will be working from home, come out of his office and fall asleep in the chair. Other days he will sleep in, take a 2-3 hour nap, and still go to bed at 9:30/10. Other days, though, he is completely fine. He will get off work and go play pool for 4-5 hours, or video games. He almost never misses work, but will lay down for 10 minutes on a break or on his lunch hour. He seems to have energy for the things he wants to, and not for anything else. He does very little to help around the house or with our toddler, and I work part-time, also. I'm becoming really frustrated, but I'm trying to understand if this is more of a true Meniere's fatigue thing, or if it's "laziness" for lack of a better word.

I should add he had a car accident in 2023 that resulted in post-concussion syndrome and he still has headaches/migraines sometimes.

I'm 74 male diagnosed with Meniers 12 years ago. At the beginning the vertigo attacks where once or twice a year. Sometimes two or three years would go by with no attacks. Tinnitus was present but tolerable and not much of a nuisance. The affected ear was something ells deafness creep in to the point of almost total shutdown. Three months ago I started getting more frequent attacks. These attacks where not as violent as the ones I had before, although I still had to lie down for one to two hours till the spinning stopped. I can tell you that I can count the number of attacks in those 12 years, 5. In the las three months I've had 21 attacks, went to my ENT, had the Dexamethasone injections in both ears, although I can still hear pretty good in the unaffected ear and they where not successful in stopping the attacks. I had one week with six straight days with attacks.

Does anybody has any clue what's goin on? My ENT says, "Its Maniers and this desease has a mind of its own" Years with sporadic attacks and now having them more almost daily.

Hello everyone.

I am currently awaiting my ENT referral and my GPs highly suspect meniers disease. I am on betahistine 16mg three times daily.

However, I have noticed that occasionally my hearing drops out on the right side?

I can be in the middle of a conversation with someone, or tilting my head to the side when at work to see something better, or even just doing my vestibular rehab exercises and it's like someone has found the volume knob and twisted it down,so my hearing just sort of vanishes for a few seconds....I usually get ear fullness at the same time,but sometimes not?

I am generally very good at taking my meds, but occasionally I can be late due to my job (vet surgeon) and I've noticed the incidence increases with this.

Does this happen to anyone else?

Thanks guys ☺️

And I am feeling exhausted. It has been leaving me with a foggy mind and an almost dissociative level of tiredness. I can still function; work, drive, blah blah blah. But I feel like a zombie and pretty reluctant to be social. I just want to nap the day away.

I’m on 16mg 3x a day for context.

Can anybody relate?

Thanks in advance.

Hey all, I just got my prescription for my betahistine and it surprised me to see the directions say to open the capsules and mix them into a nasal rinse. Has anybody seen this before? Im kind of pissed about it. Oral is so much easier.

Hey,

Am hoping someone might have some experience that could be relevant:

I have had CH for nearly a year - typical pattern with loss at ~40db for 250 and 500hz, with diplacusis, pressure and tinnitus.

I had a flare up to 50db loss at 1khz at Christmas - took some steroids (which may or may not have made a difference) and it resolved.

Apart from that I have been close to 0db loss at 1khz and stable since Jan. At one stage through April/ May looked like it was getting better/ recovering across all frequencies.

In the past couple of weeks I have seen a couple of flare ups from 0db loss to about 40db at 1khz and 20 at 2khz. I waited to see what would happen last week and it resolved fully. I met with my ENT and she was relaxed about it - said that the recoverability was encouraging.

This morning it is back up again at the 40 and extending into 20db.

It is not bothering me - it just sounds like the usual tinnitus, but my hearing is definitely worse.

I am not sure whether the steroids made any difference previously and don't want to be the guy running into the ENT department every time my hearing takes a dip. If I couldn't measure this I would just be getting on with things.

Interested in whether others are seeing these types of swings with CH, and any opinions on whether intervention is warranted.

Does this just come with the condition? As I understand it this is a different mechanism to SSHL so I am not sure whether steroids would make a difference and don't want to spend my life on them either..

All measurements done on Apple Airpods but these have always approximated Clinical audiograms so I am confident they are reasonably accurate.

This is very niche, but has anybody experienced a higher level of heat intolerance after starting on triamterene? I’m talking fairly extreme differences for me personally.

As background, I’m a runner and currently otherwise in very good fitness. Recently I restarted this med on the advice of my GP, and starting it coincided with a nasty heat wave in my area. I’m used to reduced paces and curtailing the distances I run outside during this type of weather. But what I’m currently experiencing is a severe intolerance to heat and humidity that is drastically impacting my abilities to even finish workouts. Today we had some better weather, but it’s still summer (more “sticky” than “oppressive”), so I set out for what I was planning to be a longer run and still had to take a couple of short breaks that I never would have had to do previously with my current level of fitness, unless it was part of a planned workout.

Running indoors I have no issues whatsoever. All my other health metrics as tracked by my watch are better than they’ve been in a couple of years. I did start a couple of other supplements around this time but I don’t think I can attribute this issue to them (iron and B12).

I stay very hydrated, which I know is key while on triamterene. I probably drink 80 oz. of water PLUS an electrolyte drink every day and on The Texas Football scale I’m usually in the upper tier lol.

Google doesn’t tell me much. I’m at a loss here. Anybody here have a similar experience?

Hi everyone,

I am 41 years old and have been experiencing recurrent episodes affecting only my left ear for almost ten years. I am posting here because despite several ENT consultations and investigations, no clear cause has ever been found.

Edit:
Relevant medical history: I was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL/AML M3) in 2001, when I was a teenager. I was successfully treated with chemotherapy and cranial irradiation and have fortunately remained healthy since then, with no recurrence of the leukemia. More than two decades have now passed since the treatment, and I have three healthy children. Given my history, however, I have sometimes wondered whether the recurrent problems in my left ear could represent a very late effect of the chemotherapy and/or cranial radiotherapy, for example through damage or increased vulnerability of the inner ear, auditory nerve, microvasculature, or surrounding tissues. I do not know whether there is any plausible connection, particularly since the hearing problems did not begin until many years after treatment and have been episodic and fully reversible rather than steadily progressive. I would therefore be particularly interested to hear from anyone with a similar history of childhood/adolescent cancer treatment or from anyone familiar with late ototoxic effects of chemotherapy or cranial irradiation.

The basic pattern has been remarkably similar each time.

I develop a sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in my left ear, apparently affecting a similar frequency range during the different episodes. It is often accompanied by a low-pitched humming/roaring or droning sensation. This does not feel like the high-pitched tinnitus I would associate with noise exposure. Sometimes I also experience strange sensations inside/around the ear, including occasional sharp, stabbing pain and an itching or tingling sensation. I have never experienced any vertigo, maybe a slight dizziness (but I'm not sure about that).

What is particularly striking is that every episode so far has eventually resolved completely. The episodes can last for several weeks, but my hearing has always returned to normal.

The recovery can be surprisingly sudden. On several occasions I noticed a very pleasant rushing/"white noise" sensation in the affected ear shortly before or during recovery – almost like the sensation of a numb limb "waking up" again. After that, my hearing improved dramatically, sometimes within a very short period.

On one occasion I was lying in an unusual position with my neck considerably extended when I suddenly heard/felt a distinct "crack". Immediately afterwards the ear felt different and more relaxed. Within about an hour, accompanied by the rushing sensation, my hearing returned to normal.

During another episode several years ago, I had severe low-frequency roaring for approximately three weeks while on holiday. During the journey home I already felt that something was changing, and by the following morning my hearing was essentially normal again.

There are several recurring circumstances that I have noticed over the years:

1. Respiratory infections:
The episodes have repeatedly occurred roughly 2–3 weeks after a cold/upper respiratory infection. During the current episode I again have mild cold-like symptoms involving my nose and throat.

2. Nasal/allergic symptoms:
I have allergies, including a strong grass/ryegrass allergy. In every single episodes one of the main leading symptoms was unusually thick, clear to whitish mucus, draining into my throat from time to time troughout the day. The current episode again coincides with considerable thick mucus. My episodes also tend to occur between early and late summer, which made me wonder whether allergies could be a contributing factor.

3. Heavy lifting/straining:
Looking back, heavy physical straining seems to have preceded several episodes. In 2025, for example, I had been carrying heavy bags of concrete. Before the current episode I had to lift and move a very heavy cabinet, and the hearing loss became more noticeable afterwards. I do not know whether this is relevant or coincidental.

4. Psychological stress:
This is another striking pattern. Previous episodes occurred during periods of considerable psychological stress. I have even experienced occasions during intense emotional stress when my left ear seemed to change/"close up" almost immediately.

The present episode intensified at approximately the same time as a major stressful event at work. Interestingly, this episode seems milder than previous ones: I can hear better than during earlier attacks and the droning/roaring is less intense.

I previously had a significant vitamin D deficiency (25-OH vitamin D was 13.5 ng/mL in early 2025). I have supplemented vitamin D since then and my current level is 37.22 ng/mL. I therefore wonder whether correcting the deficiency might have reduced the severity of the current episode, although obviously this is only speculation.

I have previously been treated with oral corticosteroids during some attacks, particularly the earlier ones. As far as I could tell, steroids made little or no difference. More recent episodes resolved spontaneously without steroid treatment.

An MRI was performed after one of the earlier episodes to rule out a cerebellopontine-angle tumour/acoustic neuroma (vestibular schwannoma), and it was negative.

What puzzles me most is the recurrent pattern:

same ear (left) → similar sensorineural hearing loss (1000-2000 Hz) → often following infection/allergy, major stress and/or physical strain → weeks of symptoms → almost always very sudden improvement → complete recovery of hearing.

After almost ten years of episodes every single year, I would really like to understand what mechanism could produce this.

Has anyone experienced a similar pattern of recurrent unilateral SNHL with complete recovery between episodes, particularly involving mid- to low-frequency hearing loss/roaring? Have conditions such as cochlear/endolymphatic hydrops, migraine-related inner-ear disorders, inflammatory or post-viral inner-ear disease, allergy, pressure-related mechanisms or stress/autonomic factors been considered in your case?

I know to see a doctor. That's the plan, but there are month long waitlists everywhere near me lol.

That being said: how likely are my symptoms to be Meniere's vs other ear dysfunction-related diseases?

23f with:

1.) intense vertigo almost every day now that can last for minutes or hours, moving my head typically makes it worse or starts vertigo, but other times, the vertigo just manifests out of thin air with no known trigger

2.) hearing loss - although this could be occupational related due to working in very loud warehouses and ebiking 30mph with the wind rushing in my ears

3.) fullness in (usually) my right ear - oh my god, it just doesn't go away most of the time and I have to do a reverse Valsalva maneuver - I have to SUCK air in instead of blowing out to help it.

4.) Certain loud noises, especially lately, just fucking hurt like hell to hear.

5.) These weird, almost explosive, bouts of what I assume to be tinnitus? Like my ear will have a "popping sensation" and then an extremely painful high pitched almost ringing (not exactly ringing, hard to describe?) sound like I got flashbanged of something. Those are NOT fun.

I do sleep like shit. I do drink a lot of caffeine. I do take adderall for my ADHD. And I have a tremendous amount of daily stress. I don't know what my blood pressure looks like, but I could foresee that being a possible culprit as well.

I’ve posted in here before asking a similar question. I honestly cannot picture caring for a child with this illness, but my husband and I want to start a family so bad. We’re both 31. I’ve been dealing with MD for about 10 years, have been able to maintain being a paralegal for the last 5 years. My only limitations that I put in myself are driving. I try to avoid it as much as possible when I have a flare up When I feel and episode coming, I stop whatever I’m doing and try to find a place to sit or lay until it passes. I’ve recently started experiencing hydrops the last year or so. I’ve fallen a couple times, thankfully never injured myself. We own a home in Houston, and both of our parents are about a 20 mins drive from us.

Has anyone gone from no kids to kids with this disease? It’s difficult to picture life with a child when we’ve never experienced the responsibility that comes with them.