Meniere’s disease: Loud ringing in your ears, vertigo and nausea

Faryal stood up to get a glass of water while watching television. In the very next moment, she fainted. Her husband and daughter woke her up. They told her that she had been unconscious for nearly ten seconds.

“Even after I had regained consciousness, I felt dizzy,” explains Faryal. “I had to lie down immediately. There was a loud ringing in my ears which only subsided a day later. My left ear also felt heavy.”

Faryal visited an E.N.T. specialist who told her that she might be suffering from Meniere’s disease. “The doctor said that he needed to carry out a hearing test to ascertain that I was suffering from Meniere’s syndrome,” recalls Faryal. “In the test, I was asked to distinguish between different words. The results indicated that my left ear was affected. The doctor gave me anti-vertigo medication and warned me to take it as soon as I suspected the onset of an attack. Three months later, my ears began to ring again and I immediately took the medicine so that I wouldn’t get dizzy.”

In layman’s terms, the Meniere’s disease or condition is caused by heaviness in the inner ear, explains Dr Mubashir Ikram, consultant otolaryngologist at the Aga Khan University and Hospital. “The pressure of liquid inside the inner ear increases and the patient feels it as ‘heaviness’ in his or her ear. We don’t know what causes this condition – anybody may fall victim to it.”

A patient of Meniere’s disease suffers through a number of symptoms. The patient experiences vertigo, which begins suddenly, rises to a peak and may cause vomiting, nausea, sweating or beating in the eyes from side to side. “The dizziness will slowly subside over a period that may be as short as 20 minutes or as long as two hours,” says Dr Ikram. “During this time, it is recommended for the patient to lie down and take some anti-vertigo medication. If patients experience excessive vomiting or nausea, then it sometimes becomes necessary to admit them to the hospital and give them fluids through a drip.”

Another symptom is that the patient will hear ringing in his or head, also known as tinnitus. During an attack, this ringing may become very loud and at other times, it may not be heard at all. In addition, the affected ear feels heavy or full. Lastly, there is episodic hearing loss. For some time, the patient may not be able to hear at all or not be able to hear clearly. Over time, and with frequent attacks, hearing loss may become more long lasting and hearing may not be recovered completely even after the attack subsides. In advanced stages, permanent hearing loss occurs.

Even if an individual experiences all these symptoms, it is not necessary that he or she has the Meniere’s syndrome. “A hearing test, called pure-tone audiometry, has to be carried out for complete diagnosis,” explains Dr Ikram. A clinical examination of the ear relays absolutely nothing since in the clinical examination, we can only see the eardrum and Meniere’s affects the inner ear only, which is not visible to us, he said.

Mansoor, a 35-year old businessman, fainted while he was working in his office. He underwent a hearing test and was told that he had the Meniere’s disease. Two weeks later, he had another bout of dizziness, accompanied by severe nausea, while he was at home. Since then, he has lived in perpetual fear of yet another attack. “I am afraid that I will get an attack while I am driving or alone in a room,” he admits. “I am completely helpless during an attack. My ears begin to ring loudly, my eyes throb and before I know it, I faint. My business requires me to travel overseas extensively. It has been five months since I was diagnosed with Meniere’s and so far, I haven’t been able to muster the courage to travel. I carry anti-vertigo medicines with me at all times and take them when I even slightly suspect the beginning of an attack.”

Sundus, a 40-year-old woman, has been a victim of Meniere’s for the past 10 years and has an attack at least once in every five months. “Aside from the physical discomforts of an attack, this syndrome is also highly traumatizing,” she says. “The stress of anticipating an attack at any time often makes me cranky, depressed and frustrated. My family life has suffered due to this disease.”

Yet another disadvantage of Meniere’s is that it can lead to permanent hearing loss. If this occurs, Dr Ikram recommends surgery. “In such cases, an operation is carried out which does away with the affected ear altogether. After the operation, the patient may suffer vertigo for a few months because he or she will be hearing from only one ear. With time, the body will adjust and the patient will be able to live normally again. However, if both the ears get affected by Meniere’s, and there is permanent hearing loss, the patient can do nothing except resort to hearing aids.”

Source:/www.dailytimes.com.pk