Tag: Vertigo

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Meniere's Disease Triggers & Causes General Information on Meniere's Disease / Syndrome

Meniere’s Disease and Vestibular Migraine

Meniere’s Disease? Vestibular Migraine? Or is it the same thing?

Meniere's Disease and Vestibular Migraine - image of brain activity representing vestibular migraine

Many people who have been diagnosed with Meniere’s disease often complain of suffering from migraine headaches yet many do not.

It is true that the severity of symptoms can vary from person to person and the absence of one or more symptoms is common. We are all different and can have different environments, lifestyles, eating habits, fitness levels, additional health problems, stress levels, triggers and root causes.

“ENT doctors know that many patients with inner ear problems have headaches, and neurologists know that many patients with migraine have inner ear problems,” according to Jason D. Rosenberg, MD, assistant professor of neurology and director of the Johns Hopkins Headache Center. Many experts think that BPPV, Meniere’s disease, migraines, and vertigo are all related conditions on the same spectrum.

Study suggests an overlap with vestibular migraine and Meniere’s disease

A study published in Frontiers of Neurology in 2014 looked at the overlap of Meniere’s disease and vestibular migraine, the two most common causes of spontaneous recurrent vertigo. In 268 patients with either disorder, it was found that a subset of patients with Meniere’s experienced migraine headaches, and some vestibular migraine patients complained of auditory symptoms like tinnitus and hearing loss, as seen in Meniere’s.

“Meniere’s disease is a common confounder. An audiogram is a simple test that can be helpful. Patients with Meniere’s will usually have a unilateral, significant sensorineural hearing loss. Patients with vestibular migraine may have a milder, bilateral hearing loss,” says Jonathan H. Smith, MD, assistant professor of neurology at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine..

In addition to otologic causes of vertigo, other disorders in the differential diagnosis include acoustic neuroma, brainstem lesions, post-traumatic headache or vertigo, and vascular abnormalities. “Throw in MS, stroke, and infection. Neurologic findings that are red flags include ataxia, skew, diplopia, cranial nerve abnormalities, visual field loss, and static imbalance,” says Rosenberg.

Meniere’s Disease or Vestibular Migraine?

From the NIH this article (Meniere’s Disease and Vestibular Migraine: Updates and Review of the Literature), it states: “The diagnosis of Meniere’s disease (MD) and vestibular migraine (VM) is primarily based on clinical criteria and their differentiation is often difficult. Currently, there are no known definitive diagnostic tests that can reliably distinguish the two conditions. Patients with MD and patients with VM are treated differently, therefore improving the diagnosis of these two pathologies should avoid errors in management.”

“Among other differences, MD showed later age of onset, more hearing loss, tinnitus, aural fullness, abnormal nystagmus, abnormal caloric testing results, abnormal vestibular evoked myogenic potential and endolymphatic hydrops. VM showed more headaches, photophobia, vomiting and aura.”

A closer look at Meniere’s will show you that like many conditions, it is merely a set of symptoms lumped together under one label. It is an idiopathic condition, meaning a set of symptoms that has no definitive known cause. Yet the root cause or causes can be found. Once you have identified your cause or causes (there may be more than one contributing to your condition) by the very definition of idiopathic, you can no longer class yourself as having Meniere’s. Herein lies the problem. It is a problem of perception.

The bottom line is that you can find your individual cause and eliminate it from your life and as a result eliminate Meniere’s or rather all your symptoms from your life and regain your health.

What are your experiences with Meniere’s and Migraines. Have you been able to free yourself of your symptoms?

If you found this article and site useful Click here to support Meniere’s Help paypal.me/menieres

Related articles:

Can Meniere’s Disease be caused by Autoimmunity?
Can Chiropractics cure Meniere’s disease?
Dealing with Tinnitus

Help other sufferers:

Tell us about your experiences and thoughts on the article above in the comments box below or email Mike at meniereshelp@gmail.com

References/Further reading:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28811849/

Categories
General Information on Meniere's Disease / Syndrome

OTO 104 for Meniere’s

OTO 104 for Meniere’s disease – a miracle drug or just another steroid?

The Mirror Newspaper reported in November 2015 about the case of an individual named Colin Breeze from the UK who was suffering from Meniere’s Disease. Colin received an experimental series of steroid injections with new a drug called OTO-104.  OTO 104 is a continual-exposure formulation of the steroid dexamethasone.

After 3 injections over several months, Colin went from vomiting for up to seven hours a day and not being able to lift his head to now being able to enjoy life again vertigo free.

Although the Mirror ‘tabloid’ typically used the sensational headlines “Vertigo sufferers offered OTO-104 ‘miracle drug’ hope as patients notice instant improvement”, the treating doctors at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital were more cautious, saying “We can’t really say it’s a miracle cure at the moment because we haven’t finished the stage three of the trial so we do not know if Colin’s recovery was just by chance or whether it was down to the drug but the results are very encouraging.”

The thick steroid substance is injected into the ear and slowly dissolves over a period of months, helping alleviate the disease’s symptoms. Oddly the report also stated that the drug had not been tested on people suffering from dizziness which of course all Meniere’s sufferers experience daily.

Colin said, “It’s the most debilitating thing I’ve ever experienced in my life, the feeling was horrendous.

“After each attack I was exhausted and had to have two to three days off work to recuperate.

“I thought this is it, I’m going to lose my job and life. I’d adjusted myself to accept that the rest of my life was going to be a misery.”

If you suffer from the symptoms of “Meniere’s Disease” then you will know exactly what Colin means.

Anything that stops the debilitating symptom of vertigo must be a good thing. Although this is perhaps an exciting prospect for Meniere’s sufferers, as we repeat ad nauseam on Menieres-Help.Com, to rid yourself of Meniere’s and get your life back permanently you need to get to your root cause and eliminate it from your life.

This can be done, has been done by countless sufferers and is being done all the time. We know because we have experienced both the horrors this condition has to offer and that feeling of being reborn after getting our life back through dietary adjustments supported by quality supplements then finding and dealing with our individual root causes and eliminating them from our life. Thousands of emails from sufferers are also testament to this truth.

Without taking anything away from Colin’s wonderful news, we feel at Menieres Help that drugs, steroids and surgery are not always the best choice when you can overcome Meniere’s naturally and not only get your life back but live very healthily as a result.

OTO 104 for Meniere’s and other steroids

Steroids  and other destructive procedures such as Ototoxic Antibiotics like Gentamicin and Streptomycin have been used for years with mixed results. Often there is success at first, only for the symptoms to return at a later date and in the meantime destroying nerves within the inner ear and possibly having nasty side effects.

Ototoxic literally means toxic to the ear.

As of November 2015 Colin had gone 200 days symptoms free in terms of vertigo. It remains to be seen as to whether this drug will be a major success but it is another option for sufferers to consider.

The vast majority of people who take the natural routes talked about on Menieres-Help.Com and in Managing Meniere’s Disease not only live symptom free in terms of vertigo, dizziness and tinnitus but many actually regain their hearing. This is something that is usually thought impossible by ENT doctors and audiologist.

A very noteworthy point about the steroid dexamethasone is that it is used primarily to ‘treat’ inflammation in conditions such as allergies, skin conditions, ulcerative colitis, arthritis and breathing disorders.

The main focus of Menieres Help for over a decade has been supporting our immune system so it is healthy enough to deal with inflammation within the ear (in more recent years the focus has been on eliminating the root cause of that inflammation).

We have often experienced negativity from some quarters regarding the insistence that inflammation needs to be dealt with despite the thousands that now live symptom free as a result, yet in recent times this seems to also be the focus of other clinical drug trials for Meniere’s including SPI-1005.

According to Drugs.Com the common side effects of oral dexamethasone include:

  • Aggression
  • agitation
  • anxiety
  • blurred vision
  • decrease in the amount of urine
  • dizziness
  • fast, slow, pounding, or irregular heartbeat or pulse
  • headache
  • irritability
  • mental depression
  • mood changes
  • nervousness
  • noisy, rattling breathing
  • numbness or tingling in the arms or legs
  • pounding in the ears
  • shortness of breath
  • swelling of the fingers, hands, feet, or lower legs
  • trouble thinking, speaking, or walking
  • troubled breathing at rest
  • weight gain

Other possible side effects are:

  • Abdominal cramping and/or burning (severe)
  • abdominal pain
  • backache
  • bloody, black, or tarry stools
  • cough or hoarseness
  • darkening of skin
  • decrease in height
  • decreased vision
  • diarrhea
  • dry mouth
  • eye pain
  • eye tearing
  • facial hair growth in females
  • fainting
  • fatigue
  • fever or chills
  • flushed, dry skin
  • fractures
  • fruit-like breath odor
  • full or round face, neck, or trunk
  • heartburn and/or indigestion (severe and continuous)
  • increased hunger
  • increased thirst
  • increased urination
  • loss of appetite
  • loss of sexual desire or ability
  • lower back or side pain
  • menstrual irregularities
  • muscle pain or tenderness
  • muscle wasting or weakness
  • nausea
  • pain in back, ribs, arms, or legs
  • painful or difficult urination
  • skin rash
  • sleeplessness
  • sweating
  • trouble healing
  • trouble sleeping
  • unexplained weight loss
  • unusual tiredness or weakness
  • vision changes
  • vomiting
  • vomiting of material that looks like coffee grounds
  • Abnormal fat deposits on the face, neck, and trunk
    • acne
    • dry scalp
    • lightening of normal skin color
    • red face
    • reddish purple lines on the arms, face, legs, trunk, or groin
    • swelling of the stomach area
    • thinning of the scalp hair

Although these side effects are from taking the steroid orally, clearly having such an unnatural substance in the body has risks. Given the choice of such steroids inside your body or strengthening your immune system naturally and removing the root cause of your symptoms, therefore allowing your body to function as it should, which one would you choose?

What ever helps Menieres sufferers at least find relief is a good thing but it is disconcerting and makes one cynical when money is always found for new pharmaceuticals to ‘treat’ health condition but never to actually find cures.

Whenever there is a new drug trial just google it and you will find it all over business and money sites. That really tells you all you need to know in terms of motive and ethics and therefore the long term effectiveness and safety of many drugs.

If you found this article and site useful Click here to support Meniere’s Help paypal.me/menieres

Related articles:

Dealing with Tinnitus
Overcoming Meniere’s Disease
Toxic Mold and Meniere’s

Help other sufferers:

Have you had any experiences with steroid injections for meniere’s? Tell us all about it in the comments box below or email Mike at meniereshelp@gmail.com

References/Further reading:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22858715/

Categories
Meniere's Disease Triggers & Causes

New Drug for Meniere’s Disease?

New Drug for Meniere’s Disease? Clinical trials starting soon.

According to a press release from Sound Pharmaceuticals (SPI) on January 5th 2016, new trials are set to begin to test the drug SPI-1005 for Meniere’s Disease.

SPI-1005 is an investigational drug that contains an orally available small molecule that mimics and induces Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx) activity. GPx1 activity is diminished after ototoxic insults that cause sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus.

In pre-clinical studies, SPI-1005 has been shown to prevent and treat different types of hearing loss that involve auditory hair cells and neurons. In a recent Phase 2 clinical study, SPI-1005 was shown to prevent sensorineural hearing loss due to noise.

“Based on the anti-inflammatory activity of SPI-1005, we hope that it will be of benefit in Meniere’s disease,” said Jonathan Kil, MD, CEO.

It is interesting that the focus of this study is based on the “anti-inflammatory” properties of this drug. We at Menieres-Help.Com and others around the world have been focused on dealing with the inflammation within the ear for over 12 years.To understand why inflammation is so important to Meniere’s sufferers click here.

The difference is we concentrate on allowing the body to deal with the inflammation naturally by making sure the immune system is healthy and strong enough to do so. A healthy organic wholefood diet supported by quality nutritional supplements has been successful in allowing sufferers to reduce their symptoms significantly for well over a decade.

In addition, this method results in general health being much better and there are no possibilities of any side effects from synthetic drugs occurring over time.

Moreover, and more importantly our approach has been to identify and deal with the root cause(s) of the inflammation causing the symptoms and to eliminate that cause from our life. Learn more about this by clicking here.

Any trials that may benefit Meniere’s sufferers are always welcome but as always it seems the focus is to “treat” the symptoms rather than find the cure by identifying the root cause. This is the plight plaguing the medical world and therefore patients in a corporate profit driven society. Find the root cause and eliminate it and it is game over but by treating conditions with drugs the big corporate pharmaceutical drug manufacturers get recurring income from millions of prescriptions that can be continued for decades if not the rest of a patient’s life depending on the condition.

Quite simply and to be brutally honest, there is no money in finding cures even though cures for many conditions are available, almost all of which are natural and drive from common sense, understanding how the body works and the importance of what we eat and do not eat, our environment, metabolism and internal organ health and muscular skeletal condition.

Read more on the clinical trials here.

Related articles:

Toxic Mold and Meniere’s

Dealing with Tinnitus

Meniere’s Success Stories
Categories
General Information on Meniere's Disease / Syndrome

Betahistine For Meniere’s Disease

By Mike Spencer

Betahistine For Meniere’s Disease – Efficacy and Safety Study

Can Betahistine stop vertigo in Meniere’s Disease?

Betahistine is a very common drug used to “treat” Meniere’s Disease. A new paper was published online in January 2016 on the long term effectiveness and safety of using the drug. The study was supported by grants from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Having suffered with Meniere’s Disease for seven years (and beating it), having used Betahistine, supporting Meniere’s sufferers for 12 years and researching triggers and root causes for 7 years, I have to say the effectiveness of this drug in my view is very questionable at best. Anyone who has read through Menieres-Help.Com will know we view the drugs used to treat Meniere’s with a LOT of skepticism. This is born out of our own experience and the experiences of thousands of people who have contacted us over the years.

It is our view based on experience and again, thousands of testimonials, that by supporting your immune system through a healthy, organic, wholefood diet and quality supplements you can live symptom free and moreover, by finding and dealing with your root cause (there are several possibilities here) you can give yourself more of a chance of living a normal life again

“Treatments” are only focusing on the “symptoms”, which are a result of the root cause and knock on effects throughout the body. Treating the symptoms can go on for decades with little to no success and cost a lot of money.

Do you really want to spend another 10, 15, 20 years or the rest of your life living with the horrendous effects of Meniere’s and spend a fortune in the meantime on useless or questionable drug treatments?

We have received emails from people who had lived with these symptoms for up to 30 years and nothing had helped, only to find they could have rid themselves naturally all along. Make no mistake you CAN get your life back. It is just a matter of informing yourself and taking appropriate action.

By letting your body deal with the problem efficiently through a comprehensive, healthy, strong immune system and eliminating the root cause(s) you will can rid yourself of Meniere’s forever and it will take a LOT less time and money.

The added bonus of this route is that there are no concerns for the long term effects of synthetic drugs being pumped into your body. Long term use of some drugs used to treat Meniere’s can actually cause some of the same symptoms.

Read through Menieres-Help.Com for information related to all this and Click Here to learn more about how you can free yourself of Meniere’s forever.

That aside we try to give as wide and comprehensive information on all things related to Meniere’s, so below is a summary of the study. Note in the abstract the author states “Current evidence is limited as to whether betahistine prevents vertigo attacks.“

I am sure you will agree if you suffer from Meniere’s that the vertigo is the worst of the many debilitating symptoms of this condition.

Study

Abstract

Study question What is the long term efficacy of betahistine dihydrochloride on the incidence of vertigo attacks in patients with Meniere’s disease, compared with placebo?

Methods The BEMED trial is a multicentre, double blind, randomised, placebo controlled, three arm, parallel group, phase III, dose defining superiority trial conducted in 14 German tertiary referral centres (for neurology or ear, nose, and throat). Adults aged 21-80 years (mean age 56 years) with definite unilateral or bilateral Meniere’s disease were recruited from March 2008 to November 2012. Participants received placebo (n=74), low dose betahistine (2×24 mg daily, (n=73)), or high dose betahistine (3×48 mg daily, (n=74)) over nine months. The primary outcome was the number of attacks per 30 days, based on patients’ diaries during a three month assessment period at months seven to nine. An internet based randomisation schedule performed a concealed 1:1:1 allocation, stratified by study site. Secondary outcomes included the duration and severity of attacks, change in quality of life scores, and several observer-reported parameters to assess changes in audiological and vestibular function.

Study answer and limitations Incidence of attacks related to Meniere’s disease did not differ between the three treatment groups (P=0.759). Compared with placebo, attack rate ratios were 1.036 (95% confidence interval 0.942 to 1.140) and 1.012 (0.919 to 1.114) for low dose and high dose betahistine, respectively. The overall monthly attack rate fell significantly by the factor 0.758 (0.705 to 0.816; P<0.001). The population based, mean monthly incidence averaged over the assessment period was 2.722 (1.304 to 6.309), 3.204 (1.345 to 7.929), and 3.258 (1.685 to 7.266) for the placebo, low dose betahistine, and high dose betahistine groups, respectively. Results were consistent for all secondary outcomes. Treatment was well tolerated with no unexpected safety findings. Without a control group of patients who did not receive any intervention to follow the natural course of the disease, the placebo effect could not be accurately assessed and differentiated from spontaneous remission and fluctuation of symptoms.

What this study adds Current evidence is limited as to whether betahistine prevents vertigo attacks caused by Meniere’s disease, compared with placebo. The trial provides information on symptom relief on placebo intervention which is relevant for the design of future studies on potential disease modifying treatments in patients with Meniere’s disease.

Conclusion

So is Betahistine For Meniere’s Disease the best way to go? That is for you and your treating health professional to decide. There are many options available to you. Betahistine is commonly prescribed and some say it helps. In my case it didn’t. Anything that reduces vertigo is welcome to the Meniere’s sufferer but as alluded to above, there are many ways to eliminate your vertigo.

Read the full report here

If you found this article and site useful Click here to support Meniere’s Help paypal.me/menieres

Related articles:

Can Meniere’s Disease be caused by Autoimmunity?
Dealing with Tinnitus
Preventing Deafness and Restoring Hearing in Meniere’s disease

Help other sufferers

Have you used Betahistine? Tell us about your experiences in the comments box below or email Mike at: meniereshelp@gmail.com

Categories
General Information on Meniere's Disease / Syndrome Uncategorized

Social Security Disability Benefits Meniere’s Disease

How to Apply for Social Security Disability Benefits when you have Meniere’s Disease

We recently received this helpful article from Ram Meyyappan of  Social Security Disability Help. Hope you find it useful if you are out of work in the U.S. because of Meniere’s.

Applying for Social Security Disability Benefits with Meniere’s Disease in the United States.

Meniere’s Disease can result in sporadic episodes of vertigo. The spinning sensation and fluctuating

hearing loss can make it almost impossible to maintain the responsibilities associated with full time work

activity. If the symptoms associated with Meniere’s Disease have prevented you from performing fulltime work activity and have resulted in the loss of income, Social Security Disability benefits may be able to help alleviate some of the financial strain.

There are two disability programs that you may qualify for if you suffer from this condition, including Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

Qualifying for SSDI Benefits

In order to qualify for SSDI, you must have earned enough work credits through your previous work history. As of 2013, you earn one work credit for every $1,160 that you earn.

You can earn a total of up to four work credits per year. If you are age 31 or older, you must have a total of 20 work credits in order to qualify for SSDI benefits. If you are under the age of 31, you must have worked half of the time since turning age 21.

For example, if you are 29, you must have worked four of the past eight years in order to have enough work credits to qualify for SSDI benefits. If you do not have enough work credits to qualify for SSDI benefits, you may be able to qualify for SSI benefits.

Qualifying for SSI Benefits

SSI is a needs-based program. You do not need any work credits to qualify for SSI benefits. You must, however, meet the financial criteria that have been set forth by the Social Security Administration (SSA).

In addition to proving that you are disabled according to Social Security guidelines, you must also not earn more than $710 per month as an individual or $1,060 per month as a couple. Your household assets must also not exceed $2,000 as an individual or $3,000 as a couple.

Meeting the Blue Book Criteria

The easiest way to qualify for disability is by meeting a condition that is listed in the Social Security Blue Book or a condition that meets or equals a Blue Book listing.

The Blue Book is a publication set forth by the SSA that lists all of the conditions that could possibly qualify an individual for Social Security

Disability benefits, along with the criteria that must be met for each condition that is listed.

Meniere’s Disease is covered under Section 2.07 of the Blue Book, which covers disturbance of

labyrinthine-vestibular function. According to the Blue Book, in order to qualify for disability benefits with Meniere’s Disease, you must be able to prove that:

• You suffer from disturbed function of vestibular labyrinth demonstrated by caloric or other vestibular tests; 

• You suffer from hearing loss that has been established by audiometry.

To prove your disability to the SSA, you will want to include copies of certain medical evidence with your disability application. Examples of what should be included are:

• Bekesy audiometry results

• Pure tone and speech audiometry results

• Positional and caloric testing results

• Copies of polytomogram results

• Imaging reports of the skull and temporal bone such as CAT scan or MRI with or without contrast material.

For more information on applying for disability with Meniere’s disease, please visit:

www.disability-benefits-help.org/disabling-conditions/menieres-disease-and-social-security-disability

Applying for Social Security Disability Benefits

You can apply for Social Security Disability benefits online (http://ssa.gov/pgm/disability.htm) or in person at your local Social Security office. You will be asked to fill out a number of forms including the Adult Disability Checklist, the Adult Disability Report, and the actual disability application.

If you are applying in person, you should bring copies of the medical records mentioned above with you to your appointment. If you are applying online, you will be provided with a cover sheet that will allow you to fax your medical evidence to the Social Security Administration.

Make sure that you do so as soon as possible to avoid delays in the processing of your application. You will receive a decision regarding your disability claim within three to six months of the date of your application.

If your claim for Social Security Disability benefits is denied, you have 60 days from the date of the denial notice to appeal the decision. If you need to file an appeal, you may want to consider retaining the services of a disability attorney.

A disability attorney can help you determine why your initial claim was denied and will help you gather the evidence that is needed to strengthen your claim.

Article by Ram Meyyappan

Social Security Disability Help

If you found this article useful Click here to support Meniere’s Help paypal.me/menieres

Related articles:

Dealing with Tinnitus
Acupuncture for Meniere’s Disease
Managing Meniere’s
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