I'm not usually one to talk about my ailments, and I certainly don't like to whine about all of my problems. However, I know that many of you are concerned about me and my health. Therefore, I will mention this now, and give updates as they come, and try to keep the complaining to a minimum in my day-to-day writings.
I had my appointment with the ENT today. After describing my symptoms to him, he told me that his initial suspicion is that I have what's called "Meniere's Disease":http://www.menieresinfo.com/. After doing some research when I got home, I can say that my symptoms do indeed directly match the symptoms of this disease.
Meniere's disease, in a nutshell, is excess fluid in the inner ear. You'd be surprised how much trouble such a simple thing can cause. The symptoms are Tinnitus (ringing in the ears), Fluctuating, progressive, low-frequency hearing loss, a sensation of "fullness" or pressure in the ear (like you're descending in an airplane), periodic episodes of rotatory vertigo (dizziness, the bed-spins).
The Tinnitus is easy. So my ears ring. Fine. The low-frequency hearing loss could be very annoying, but, at this point, mine isn't too bad and it doesn't affect me less often than it does. The "fullness" in the ears is very annoying, but doesn't really stop me from living day to day. The vertigo, however, is unbearable. Sure, it would be far worse if it was constant vertigo. However, the fact that I get almost no indication that I will be having an "attack", only to find myself in the middle of one minutes later is difficult to deal with. To make matters worse, the vertigo is very incapacitating. I can't walk, I can't see, I can't hear. If I move my head in either direction, I'll throw up. I'll probably throw up once or twice anyway. Drugs don't help on the rare case that I can manage to keep them down. This lasts for at least 2 hours, usually more like 6. After which, I can do nothing but sleep, which is followed by two days (or more) of feeling as though I've been run over by a train. Not fun at all, let me tell you.
Meniere's isn't something you can test for. Instead, it's simply the diagnosis given when all other possibilities have been ruled out. Therefore, even though 99.99% of the time these results turn of negative, I will be undergoing three tests in the near future: an "MRI":http://www.cis.rit.edu/htbooks/mri/, an "ENG":http://www.tchain.com/otoneurology/testing/engrot.html, and a "ECOG":http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/testing/ecog.html. What these tests do, is rule out any other possibilities.
The MRI will rule out any brain disorders.
The ENG will rule out any problems with the acoustic nerve which provides hearing and helps with balance.
The ECOG will search for increased inner ear fluid pressure, which is a present in some cases of Meniere's disease.
The worse part about Meniere's is that there is no cure. There are some things that can be done to help relieve some of the symptoms, but, in the end, it's only slightly better, and certainly not "fixed". The fact that the vertigo attacks can come on quickly with no indication make it very difficult to be normal. Every time my ears feel like they need to pop, I worry if I'll be throwing up the next minute. Every time I drive home from work, I wonder if I'll find myself half way there and unable to drive. Every time my ears ring a little louder than normal, I wonder if I should just stay in bed.
The funniest thing is that I lived the majority of my childhood, and all of my adult life scared to death that I would some day be diagnosed with what my mom has: Cerebral Ataxia, a degenerative and hereditary disease of the brain and central nervous system affecting the cerebellum resulting in uncoordination, lack of balance, and poor motor skills that has no known cure. I went through periods in life where I would walk the balance beam once a week just to see if I was getting any worse. And now, after all of that, I end up with something entirely different, also incurable, and almost as incapacitating.
Regardless of all that, I've never been a whiner, and I don't intend to start now. I'll make do with what I have, deal with my problems as they come, and live the best life that I can.
