Meniere's Disease - early symptoms???

[TopoTip]

Is there anyone on here who can help me work out what might be happening with my hearing?

I'm 41 with general good health. I have two children age 2 and 4 months. I'm breastfeeding and still have broken sleep.

I've noticed that when I feel very tired, both with this child and with my first, my ears feel full and I can hear a low grade noise hum a bit like white noise or traffic rumbling in the distance. I put this down to sleep deprivation and general stress and tiredness having small babies.

Then more recently I've noticed my DP can hear things I can't. So I went for a hearing tests at Boots and discovered I have mild to moderate hearing loss in the lower frequencies. It seems to be neurosensory.

I've had one attack of vertigo about a year and a half ago when I woke up. It was awful but passed after a while. I have had some moment of feeling very slightly off balance when my ears are full but nothing which affects me day to day.

I'm worried now that it is Meniere's and going to get worse and worse.

Tbh I've have questioned how good my hearing is from my 20s but it's only more recently I feel it's noticeable due to the ear fullness.

Does anyone have any insight or experience of this?

Look up vestibular migraine. I woke up with vertigo a few years ago. Doctor diagnosed bppv and although it got better my balance has never been quite right since. I just feel off. My hearing in the effected ear isn't great but comes and goes. Feels full, sometimes pain. I'm worse in certain situations like supermarkets or walking on patterned floors. Slight double vision at times

I am quite a bit younger than you but have this. My vertigo was really really really bad to the point where I would fall over like a drunk. I also fainted a couple of times. Had loaaads of tests done and due to my age at the time (23) they didn't want to officially give me a diagnosis unless i had repeated episodes.
There is nothing they can do really. I have tinnitus is my left ear and quite a bit of hearing loss but in the lower frequencies so a hearing aid is useless.
The biggest trigger for me is alcohol and salt/sugar intake. I can't drink at all. It makes the pH in my ear go crazy and I can almost guarantee an attack. I haven't actually gone back to get a diagnosis as I manage it pretty well myself. They also can't do anything and I'd need to update my life insurance etc which I CBA to do.

I'm 50 and have a family history of menieres. I'm not diagnosed despite having tinnitus and hearing loss, as my balance issues aren't bad enough. Stress, lack of sleep and some kinds of exercise make it worse.

Ho thanks for your responses. I looked up vestibular migraine and it does sound similar. I didn't realise a migraine could be permanent?

I stopped drinking a few years ago now but not because of this. I seem to notice my ears react to the weather as well - if it's high humidity they feel very full.

@justcheckingreally I'm sorry to hear it started so young for you. Did it build up from milder symptoms like a bit of dizziness or did it hit you with a full attack out of the blue?

Do you limit your salt and sugar intake too?

Also have your symptoms continued to get worse or levelled off?

@TopoTip I had bad vertigo for a couple of years before I went to the Dr. I used to think I was really lightweight, any little bit of alcohol would make me not be able to walk. I thought it was normal to be 'drunk' but completely understand what's going on. I didn't realise it was vertigo for ages. I'd be so dizzy I'd have to hold onto walls and people would laugh and think I'm pretending.
This was nothing compared to an actual attack though. The first time I had an attack it felt like my ears got completely blocked. I couldn't hear anything except intense ringing and voices in the background. The ringing was the same sort of noise you hear in films shortly after a bomb goes off. My head would spin and I had to hold onto a wall. This happened a couple of times before I went to the Dr. They thought it was a ear infection but it eventually happened in public and I fell flat on my face causing massive swelling on my whole nose and eyes. I looked like I'd been badly beaten. My GP referred me to the ENT hospital and I was seen pretty quickly. I had all sorts of weird tests including one where I was laying down in a dark room with warm and hot water squirted into my ear. My left ear did not like that. That's always been the ear that was the most effected and it caused them to refer me for an MRI scan of my brain and ears. This all came back fine. The tests, including the hearing were inconsistent and really puzzled them. They said they don't understand why, at my age, I'm showing all the symptoms of meniers disease. They were very apprehensive to put a final diagnosis. They said the disease can sleep for 15+ years. They don't know what triggers it and the attacks could come back. My hearing was fine after the first couple attacks but the more you have the less your ear 'unblocks'. It normally felt like taking ear plugs out but the last time it happened it didn't unblock all the way. The Dr explained that this is quite expected and the more the disease progresses with uncontrolled attacks the worse the hearing loss.
I haven't had an attack in years. I don't limit anything except for alcohol because it's not the amount I eat, it's how consistently I eat it at that amount. So eg if I'm going to eat a lot of salt I need to make sure I do that daily. It's the spikes that cause pH to change drastically in the inner ear fluid that will cause attacks for me and for a lot of others. It's much easier to be consistent in the amount of sugar and salt you eat. I can't consistently have alcohol everyday, besides it's the only thing that's historically been my biggest trigger so I actually hate the thought of it now.
It has all definitely levelled off for me. I do get worried sometimes when flying, especially long distance with high altitude, I worry my ears won't unplug.
Its quite funny telling people I don't drink because of my ear.

Sorry for the insanely long post. Hopefully some of that is helpful.

This is such a useful thread, thank you. My tinnitus is DREADFUL now, and I can no longer hear my long case clock ticking in the hallway. I have low-grade dizziness 80% of the time these days. Peri menopause has made it all so much worse. I had no idea the ‘plugged’ feeling was normal. @justcheckingreally you’ve helped me so much, thank you!

I've been diagnosed about five years. It took a while with them thinking it was all the other, similar conditions. Mainly because my hearing loss wasn't bad to start with. When I moved to a new area they picked it up really quickly. Had very similar tests to PP, including wearing blacked out goggles while having hot water squirted in my ears and having to name two countries for each letter of the alphabet (apparently to occupy your brain so it can't concentrate on correcting the dizziness).

Started taking tablets first but they weren't working. Kept having severe dizzy spells that lasted days on end, drop attacks - face planted a pavement, split my lip, broke my nose & two ribs. Poor DH got terrible looks on the way to the hospital.

Now I have steroid injections straight into my middle ear every six months and they've been great. BUT...

Tinnitus always there - the 'noise after the bomb' one. It occasionally spikes really loud which is usually a sign of an attack. Air pressure can set me off, spinning images in TV / films, loud music or noises, crowds, busy places.

I have 70% hearing in the affected ear, which isn't that bad but if there's another noise like someone else speaking, tv etc it's difficult hearing. Also if are behind me when they speak.

@iklboo they kept telling me to talk to them about my house and all my previous addresses- now I know why!
My hearing is also 70% on the effected ear. At the very low frequency end, I can only hear about 20%.
That's interesting to hear about the steroids. I never got to that part, tinnitus is definitely there for me too. I can't sleep on my left side as the pillow blocks my ear and all I can hear is the screeching.

@justcheckingreally - I find wave, rain or thunderstorm sounds on Alexa really help with the tinnitus at night. And yes, low frequency is much harder to hear for me too.

That all so helpful, thank you for relaying your experiences.

I've never had a drop attack or anything that severe. They sound terrifying.

My hearing loss is virtually the same in both ears which is weird as it seems most of you are saying it's one ear that is badly affected.

It can be both sides but it's more common to have one side affected. But I am starting to get similar symptoms in my right ear which is a bit worrying.

Is this menus

Sorry clicked too soon ! Feel for you op. I'm having similar issues I guess we can't know what it us til we get a diagnosis. Have you had one yet ? X