Dealing With A Vestibular Disorder Like Meniere's Disease

Hi Guys,
Read your story and I know how you feel. I have suffered from hearing loss for over 25 years and 3 Years ago I started suffering from Vertigo, Nausea, sudden falls and Vomiting lasting a couple of hours at a time. I went to a GP up the road but he thought I had a virus and sent me home with some tablets called Stemitel and told it would go away in a couple of days. A couple of days later it got worse the attacks were lasting all day long and everyday of the first week. I trudged back to the GP and he just shook his head and said I don't know?

I asked him to send me to my ENT Specialist which he did a month later I saw the ENT he also said that it was a Virus of the inner ear and put me on Tablets called Serc and told me that it would go away in about a week or two. One week later the Attacks were so bad I could not walk in my one bed unit. My partner called the Ambulance one morning she found me on the floor after spending two days in the Accident & Emergency Dept. the released me with a virus. By now I was getting pretty sick of it and two days later I found myself back in hospital again this time they did CT Scans, MRI & MRA which came back fine. They told me that they could not find anything at all and go home.

After 6 months had gone by and now I was not working my boss sacked me for taking too much sick leave I met a GP one day in a shopping centre that believed that I had Meniere's Disease. So I went to see him a couple of days later in his office and he recommended me to join Meniere's Australia and I did. And after dealing with constant Vertigo, Nausea, Sudden Falls & Vomiting for 12 months I finally found a specialist that dealt with Menieres's Disease and Vestibular Disorders at RPA Hospital. After one Visit to his office he said that he thought that it was not Meniere's Disease but I had lost 1/2 of the Balance in my right ear and this was the cause of my Vertigo, Nausea, Balance Loss & Vomiting. So off I went to get a balance Test and he was correct I had lost half my balance in my right ear and this is what was causing my problems.

He offered me a way to stop the symptoms that I suffered from every day by injection a drug called Gentamician into the Ear Drum I had a series of 3 injections and now I have no more symptoms apart from dealing with no balance in the right ear at all. I think that this was a small price to pay for something that stopped my life at the age of 35 Years Old.

Over the past year and a half since the last injection I have had allot of help from all sorts of professionals like Physiotherapists, Yoga, Tai Chi, Bowen Therapy, Neuro Physiotherapists. I have gotten my self to a point now that I can play Tennis, Golf and I am now working on getting back on the Motorbike. I was told that I proberly would never do these things again or even drive a car.

I just want everyone to know that there can be a life after Meniere's Disease or dealing with it but also remember that there are no magical fixes that fixes this disease in a couple of weeks. It takes a long time!!!!

I have now turned my life around and now I am helping others with Hearing Loss, Meniere's Disease and Vestibular Disorders with setting up a Support Group in Sydney, Australia.