Meniere's
The fucking Meniere's vertigo is back. I went literally 250 days without it, and it came back with a vengeance on Friday night (just before the CSO concert I was at was about to begin--something I had waited MONTHS to see). The only thing that could have set it off is the weather. I'll go back to keeping the little recordkeeping journal of what I eat, the weather, what meds I take, etc... but even last winter when I tracked this, the only common denominator was weather changes (and only winter weather changes at that--big low-pressure systems over the Great Lakes--like Edmund Fitzgerald-type storms--or very windy days with big temperature drops.)
The weather may be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but usually there is some other underlying cause as well--PMS, a cold, stress, not sleeping enough, etc. It's hard to know what to think. They always say "low-salt diet," but that's only been a 50/50 in times like this. I can go out to a buffet and be fine, and other times I have a bowl of oatmeal (ZERO salt) and an hour later the world is spinning.
I read something yesterday about using a massager on the mastoid bone for half an hour while laying down--the theory is that the vibration loosens up any possible debris within the fluids in the inner ear, thereby reducing the inner-ear congestion around the vestibular and hearing structures. I tried it last night. I feel fairly typical this morning--no dizzies, but I didn't expect that since there is usually a 5-7 day spread between attacks anyway.
So, my thoughts of what to try now:
-Massager as needed on the mastoid bone. I need a smaller massager--the one I have is for back and body and it's difficult to hold against my head.
-Magnet therapy--I need to research this more.
-Zofran during the next vertigo episode. The neuro gave me a prescription for it, and I haven't tried it yet. I usually use meclizine, which at least gets rid of the nausea, but it stays in my system for a good 24 hours, which means I am one step above zombie-fied for the rest of the day even when the vertigo is over.
-Magnesium (epsom salt) foot bath as needed. This doesn't necessarily stop the attacks, but just in general, magnesium calms me down--it doesn't make me tired, but just makes me calm. So yeah, that's a plus.
The weather may be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but usually there is some other underlying cause as well--PMS, a cold, stress, not sleeping enough, etc. It's hard to know what to think. They always say "low-salt diet," but that's only been a 50/50 in times like this. I can go out to a buffet and be fine, and other times I have a bowl of oatmeal (ZERO salt) and an hour later the world is spinning.
I read something yesterday about using a massager on the mastoid bone for half an hour while laying down--the theory is that the vibration loosens up any possible debris within the fluids in the inner ear, thereby reducing the inner-ear congestion around the vestibular and hearing structures. I tried it last night. I feel fairly typical this morning--no dizzies, but I didn't expect that since there is usually a 5-7 day spread between attacks anyway.
So, my thoughts of what to try now:
-Massager as needed on the mastoid bone. I need a smaller massager--the one I have is for back and body and it's difficult to hold against my head.
-Magnet therapy--I need to research this more.
-Zofran during the next vertigo episode. The neuro gave me a prescription for it, and I haven't tried it yet. I usually use meclizine, which at least gets rid of the nausea, but it stays in my system for a good 24 hours, which means I am one step above zombie-fied for the rest of the day even when the vertigo is over.
-Magnesium (epsom salt) foot bath as needed. This doesn't necessarily stop the attacks, but just in general, magnesium calms me down--it doesn't make me tired, but just makes me calm. So yeah, that's a plus.