Hello doctor,
I would like to share my story quickly, and my question is to those who suffer from Meniere's. Does this sound at all like the syndrome? I have not received a Meniere's diagnosis, but I am scared I might be in the early stages of it because only one ear is involved. About 14 months ago, I had recovered from a long period of an upper respiratory cold. When I started to feel better, I started getting a headache in my left ear. Some people have never heard of a headache in the ear, but if you can imagine what a migraine feels like (throbbing, pounding, etc.) that is exactly what it felt like but directly in my ear. It was happening every two to three days. It would subside with Advil. Usually, when I get a headache or a migraine, I do not think too much of it, but these headaches started to get my attention. Why were they always in the same spot? Was I doing something wrong? I changed my diet, thinking it was the food. I tried to get more sleep as I was also postpartum, and nothing budged. I got massages, etc. Then, around the same time, I got BPPV in my right ear. At this time, I did not have any tinnitus. I was treated with the Epley maneuver for the BPPV which was a terrifying experience. For example, I would be holding my cell phone in between my neck and shoulder and have violent, brief, vertigo episodes, sometimes in public too. Anyways, that was treated. After the actual spinning sensation was gone, I noticed I was still dizzy. It was not as violent as before, but it was still there. If I moved my head suddenly, I would feel a minor sense of disorientation for one to five second. Almost like the feeling you get when you shake your head and then stop. I still have that feeling today. And, at the same time, with more and more ear headaches, my left ear started developing more pronounced hyperacusis and tinnitus. I have had it in both ears, but it is more pronounced in the left. In the left ear, I also have a morris-code type of tinnitus on top of the constant one. I cannot say I get episodes of extreme vertigo. I just get dizzy moving my head from say, looking down at my cell phone, to looking straight or looking down to the left to looking straight. Sometimes, I will just be staring at something and get visual vertigo. It has just been awful. I do not feel like I am living in the same body anymore. And it concerns as to why all of the other symptoms are only in the left ear. I have had a full workup of vestibular testing, and they have been normal. I do not have any hearing loss either. There is nothing I know that causes headaches in the left ear, and I know that the hyperacusis and tinnitus are a result of the headaches I get. Also, the left ear clicks and flutters at times as well. Sometimes, it pops on its own. I know something is going on in there and it is scary that I do not have any answers. VENG, ECOG, MRI head, CT scan head and hearing test, all are normal. Does this sound like Meniere's?