That Vertigo Thing, Part Deux

So, when you have Meniere's Disease to the extent that I do, which is to say, nearly what's known as "end stage" Meniere's, treatments are few, far between, and ever more drastic.

The worst of these involves removing all the functioning parts of the inner ear to the affected side. From this point hearing in that ear is impossible. It's a pretty drastic measure.

The next-worst of these is called vestibular neurectomy. It involves severing the vestibular nerve that leads to the affected ear. The hoped result of this treatment is that in severing the vestibular nerve, which is responsible for balance, to that ear, the other ear can then take up the duties both ears once took care of. It's a permanent fix, if it is indeed a fix. It works for a lot of people. At one time, before I was diagnosed with MS, this was the fix we were going to try out. During pre-surgery testing, a caloric-conversion test showed that I had some type of brain damage. It was from that point that my MS was diagnosed. But that's another story. Anyway, because of the brain damage, the oto-neurologist strongly advised to never have the procedure done. I've stuck with that recommendation. I may not have much balance left regarding that ear, but I do have SOME, which is better than none.

The recent vertigo problems had obviously become bad, heading toward severe. The next-line defense against vertigo of my type is injecting steroids directly into the inner ear canal, thus killing the hair cells responsible for balance, and temporarily relieving the vertigo. It also has the unfortunate side effect of causing hearing loss in that ear, but I really didn't have that much to lose to begin with, so bugger that.

Last week the ENT did the steroid injection thing, which has greatly helped. In case you're suffering just a bit of the dizzies and are thinking this sounds like a groovy idea, keep in mind it involves cutting a hole in the ear drum, inserting a needle (after application of deadening agents and peroxide and much suctioning) into the canal and filling it with steroids. It hurts. Rather a lot.
However! The procedure has been very successful, as I am now only having 2 bad days a week as opposed to 4-5 bad days a week. Woot!

I will likely have another treatment of the same next week. Might as well kill as many of those little buggers as possible, right?

Meniere's Disease usually goes into remission after a couple of months. Usually. My case is fairly rare, with the disease seldom going into remission completely. I've lost at least 70% of the hearing in my right ear, with a small amount of loss in the left ear. I have a 30%+ chance of developing Meniere's in my left ear. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's already there since I've got ringing in that ear as well. Did I mention the ringing? My ear has about 5 different ringing tones, varying from a light buzz to one that sounds like those old-fashioned fire alarms you had in school when you were a kid. I've had the ringing since 1995. I thought I was going to lose my mind at first. I learned that a number of people with tinnitus caused by Meniere's actually commit suicide. I can understand that.

I can't say I'd ever kill myself over it, but I get the urge. Totally. You never know how much your balance means to your every day life until you don't have it.

So good-bye balance. I knew ye when....