My first experience with Meniere’s Disease and a heavy attack

A few days ago I figured out I had Meniere’s Disease for most of my life without knowing it. But it explains a lot. As I’m new to all this I decided to post about my experience. Maybe it will help someone.

Little sidenote before I begin. I have always been plagued by spells of dizziness throughout my life. But they only took a couple of hours and then went away. Sometimes I had these for a period on and off, other times they just came and went away for a longer period. I have been to the doctor several times but they never found a definitive reason.

Now the experience of my first major attack. Two weeks ago on Sunday I woke up feeling slightly dizzy. I didn’t think that much of it. Thinking it would be low blood sugar levels or low blood pressure. I took some quick sugars and measured my blood pressure which was a little on the low side but it has always been a little on the low side. The sugar also didn’t help so I waited and tried to go on with my day.

After lunch, I suddenly collapsed. Everything was spinning and I didn’t know what was up, down, left, or right. I couldn’t keep my eyes open as I saw everything around my spinning fiercely and felt extremely nauseous. I was scared because I never felt like this before and called for help to get into my bed. I could only lie still on my left side without having to vomit.

After almost two days like this, I got medication from the doctor for my nausea and dizziness. It helped a little bit. The doctor thought at that point that it was Vertigo. At least I could eat some salty crackers and drink water properly again. It took another day for me to be able to open my eyes without seeing the whole room spinning and getting nauseous. I couldn’t see clearly, except for things close to me, like a book or my phone. I also developed a ringing and a feeling of pressure in my ear. I also lost part of my hearing in that ear and it seemed like it became more sensitive to loud noises.

It took another day for me to be able to get out of bed and sit in a chair. The world still felt like it was spinning but less than before. Walking was extremely unsteady and I needed help with that. It felt like I tried to walk for the first time in my life. I couldn’t look at anything more than a meter in front of me because everything looked like it moved after that distance. Focusing on things was really difficult. I listened to the TV mostly and sometimes tried to look between squeezed eyes for a few seconds.

The next day I could look at the TV for a few minutes at a time as long as it was something simple and walked a little more steadily. I could finally eat fairly normally again without getting nauseous.

The sixth day didn’t give me much of an approvement and I called the doctor again. While describing my symptoms again they concluded that it wasn’t just Vertigo but Meniere’s Disease. But there isn’t anything you can do about it, except for waiting it out and trying to do the things you normally would as best as you can. In my case, they think the cause would be extreme stress as I had several stressful things lately that were building on top of each other. The doctor said it would be my body forcing me to rest.

I took the advice and kept my rest while trying to do normal but relaxing things like reading, watching TV (mainly simple Disney or Pixar movies), gaming (simple puzzles or point-and-click games without too much changing of the camera), etc.

After two more days, I felt a bit better and could walk fairly fine inside the house. Walking stairs became more easy and I could finally lie on my right side in bed. A day later I tried to walk outside for the first time with someone next to me. To the store around the corner and back. I felt unsure and it felt like I was swaying quite a bit, which in reality, I didn’t.

After that day I started walking daily for a short route of one kilometer. I normally walk quite a lot during my breaks at work. Now it felt like I had to learn how to walk properly again. After four days of walking it slowly became more steady. It’s still not what it used to be but I see progress.

I decided to try riding a bike after that. Getting on the bike was hard and the first part of my short route was wobbly. Riding in a straight line was really hard. When I tried to stop to turn around I almost fell because of a spell of dizziness. On my way back it went better. I tried after another day and it’s far from what it used to be but I’m getting there. I think if I keep practicing with walking and riding a bike I strongly believe it will get back on my old level eventually.

Now, two weeks after my attack, I still have a ringing in my ear but less noticeable than before. My hearing in that ear is still not fully back but the pressure is gone, after I felt something like that same feeling when you have water in your ear and suddenly it comes loose. My eyesight still hasn’t recovered fully. I still can’t see clearly and I’m going to the optician at the end of the week. I’m giving it another five days to see if it will improve first. I still have to look out with sudden moves of my head. Especially to the right. Sometimes it only gives a short feeling of dizziness. Other times it will give me the feeling that I’m falling.

When I researched Meniere’s Disease I discovered several things that explained a lot about for example the periods of dizziness I had for most of my life. I also sometimes had an impaired sense of balance which I couldn’t explain. Other times it was working just fine. I just thought that I was clumsy and lived with it. Now I started to think that maybe it came from Meniere’s Disease. I also had extreme motion sickness as a kid. I seldom could go in a car without getting sick. Now that I’m an adult and have my driver’s license, it has subsided a bit. I still have it but not as often anymore. Only when I’m not driving myself and when the car has to make sudden moves like in a traffic jam or a road with lots of side roads. I also can’t move around in VR games (except when I move in the same direction in real life) and often get nauseous from first-person games.

I hope this will help people in some way. If you have any questions or want an update, let me know. I’m just glad that I can share my experience with someone, who maybe knows what I’m going through and hopefully has some advice. And sorry for the long post.