Hmmmm...Are People Here Suffering From Anxiety's Physical Symptoms or Meniere's?

Very interesting post Nassman. I have anxiety - had it long before meniere's diagnosis. I take antidepressants (Lexapro) but intend to commencing reducing my dosage and finally cease taking them soon.

My ENT has diagnosed Menieres but I often wonder if I really do have it. I started having problems with Labyrinthitis and about 6 months later was diagnosed with MM. I am starting to think that I had a virus in my ears that damaged my inner ear but I may have finally gotten rid of it. I don't know for sure but I do know that I haven't had a serious MM episode is a long time.

 

Re: Hmmmm...Are People Here Suffering From Anxiety's Physical Symptoms or Menier

Hello All!
I will add my 2 cents worth here. I have, hyperacusis, tinnitus 24/7, have had anxiety and panic attacks, and have been diagnosed by a couple of Doctors as having Meniere's Disease and now the dots are being connected to MAV or a migrane disorder. This is a touch lengthy but let me quote for you something very interesting that just came to me in the newsletter from the The Hyperacusis Network.

" As part of the processing of sound in the brain, all sounds are evaluated subconsciously with regard to their meaning or importance to us. Sounds that are considered important (in either a positive or negative way) will be transmitted to the more conscious parts of the brain, while unimportant sounds remain "half heard". If the sound acquires a negative association, the limbic system becomes activated, inducing fear or irritation. The autonomic nervous system also becomes activated, provoking the "fight or flight" reaction. A subconscious classical conditioned reflex develops so that repetition of this sound enhances the activation of the limbic and autonomic systems. In people with significant hyperacusis, many sounds are evaluated in the subconsciousness as potentially threatening. This same mechanism occurs when people react negatively to their tinnitus sounds."

If you've ever read or had treatment for panic attacks you know about "fight or flight".

Nassman, I think that there is a definite connection that some researcher's are starting to piece together. Maybe, someday - there will be the hope of treatment and a cure for this mess of a disease (?)

Hang in there all!

PDA David

"Daize" Ruth for President!

 

Thanks for posting about that book Intrepid. Makes perfect sense. I look forward to reading about it.

 

I have hypercusis occasionally, on certain days. I do not buy this in my case at all. It doesn't fit with my experience or the other things that happen at the same time. It does give the doctors a reason to quit looking in frustrating cases though.

 

I think it shows that they are looking and am thankful for it! That is what is great about this site - each can share their opinion. PDA

 

Sarita, I'm definitely going to get a copy of that book....it sounds very interesting and relevant.

I know, from experience, anxiety takes many forms and many things cause or increase anxiety.

I'm open to all new research and theories.

 

I had meniere's symptoms for years with no anxiety. When my symptoms started to appear more regularly I started noticing I was feeling really horrible mentally, it wasn't till later I realized it was called anxiety. I finally figured out coffee was the problem, so I stopped drinking coffee and the anxiety went away. Even one cup of strong caffeinated coffee (sometimes people serve it by mistake) will send me over the edge.

After that I was good for a while, then it came back. I realized it was the nicotine gum I was chewing so I stopped that and the anxiety went away again.

I really think my lack of tolerence for stimulants is related somehow to the meniere's. Stimulants definately cause anxiety for me. When I'm away from them I don't have it.

 

I definatly believe in the anxiety's physical symptoms of menieres.I have been worrying,worrying and worrying about mm in my good ear and I have been sick,sick,sick!

 

It's hard to think of such a lovely thing as coffee/caffeine as a drug but it is. It makes us dehydrated (then why doesn't that helps us MM's?), nervous, rapid heart beat yada yada. But it's like alcohol, it gets a place in our culture and we forget the obvious, it's a drug.

 

Even without the MM, stimulants cause or make existing anxiety worse.
Caffeine is a drug June, absolutely.

 

Coffee is not a drug.

It is actually very good for humans.

Unfortunately, due to some of its effects, it MAY not be good for people with meniere's.



Coffee: The New Health Food?

Plenty of health benefits are brewing in America's beloved beverage.
By Sid Kirchheimer


WebMD Feature - Reviewed by Michael W. Smith, MD

Want a drug that could lower your risk of diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and colon cancer? That could lift your mood and treat headaches? That could lower your risk of cavities?

If it sounds too good to be true, think again.

Coffee, the much maligned but undoubtedly beloved beverage, just made headlines for possibly cutting the risk of the latest disease epidemic, type 2 diabetes. And the real news seems to be that the more you drink, the better.

Reducing Disease Risk

After analyzing data on 126,000 people for as long as 18 years, Harvard researchers calculate that compared with not partaking in America's favorite morning drink, downing one to three cups of caffeinated coffee daily can reduce diabetes risk by single digits. But having six cups or more each day slashed men's risk by 54% and women's by 30% over java avoiders.

Though the scientists give the customary "more research is needed" before they recommend you do overtime at Starbuck's to specifically prevent diabetes, their findings are very similar to those in a less-publicized Dutch study. And perhaps more importantly, it's the latest of hundreds of studies suggesting that coffee may be something of a health food -- especially in higher amounts.

In recent decades, some 19,000 studies have been done examining coffee's impact on health. And for the most part, their results are as pleasing as a gulp of freshly brewed Breakfast Blend for the 108 million Americans who routinely enjoy this traditionally morning -- and increasingly daylong -- ritual. In practical terms, regular coffee drinkers include the majority of U.S. adults and a growing number of children.

"Overall, the research shows that coffee is far more healthful than it is harmful," says Tomas DePaulis, PhD, research scientist at Vanderbilt University's Institute for Coffee Studies, which conducts its own medical research and tracks coffee studies from around the world. "For most people, very little bad comes from drinking it, but a lot of good."

Consider this: At least six studies indicate that people who drink coffee on a regular basis are up to 80% less likely to develop Parkinson's, with three showing the more they drink, the lower the risk. Other research shows that compared to not drinking coffee, at least two cups daily can translate to a 25% reduced risk of colon cancer, an 80% drop in liver cirrhosis risk, and nearly half the risk of gallstones.

Coffee even offsets some of the damage caused by other vices, some research indicates. "People who smoke and are heavy drinkers have less heart disease and liver damage when they regularly consume large amounts of coffee compared to those who don't," says DePaulis.

There's also some evidence that coffee may help manage asthma and even control attacks when medication is unavailable, stop a headache, boost mood, and even prevent cavities.


Rest of article: http://men.webmd.com/features/coffee-new-health-food?page=2 (page 2)
Rest of article: http://men.webmd.com/features/coffee-new-health-food?page=3 (page 3)

 

I don't know if that was directed to my statement or June's. Just to clarify, I was not saying coffee is a drug, but the caffeine in the coffee.
I agree that coffee has some health benefits but it's not for everyone. I have a heart condition and absolutely can't have stimulants. It is a trigger for MM and MAV and anxiety and panic disorders (for some).
Interesting article though. I had known that caffeine can help asthma and headaches but I didn't know about the other possible health benefits.

 

I didn't have any "anxiety" problems, until I had my first "spinning" attack while driving my car! Maybe the anxiety is brought on by Menieres...rather than anxiety bringing on the spinning?

 

Maybe it's a vicious circle that starts with the first attack and just keeps turning faster and faster. That's what I think. I also think once a downward spiral starts with anything we can and must deliberately intervene to break the cycle and with MM perhaps part of doing that is relaxation techniques. But no, I don't think people get MM because they think stressful thoughts. They get it because that is the weak spot in their body.

 

YES IT IS!! IT IS JUST ONE BIG VISCIUOS CYCLE!! ITS SCARY WHEN YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OF SOMETHING THAT IS JUST STUPID AND NOT NEEDED.
I HAVE HUGE ANIEXTY WITH THIS.

ALISA :'(

 

anything, including coffee, or caffeine, is good for you in small doses. if we overdo, anything, as humans will, it can and will be bad for you. drs even said years ago that sex was dangerous and could cause cancer, but that hasent stopped anyone.
yes, Alisa it is a vicious cycle. its scarey, it enough to drive a person over the edge between the dizzyness, the ringing, etc but in some small way i think we do ahve a bit of control. We have control enough to decide whether we want to let it drive us nuts or whether we will somehow learn to live with it. i have anxiety big time lately with this darn disease but im not going to let it beat me. not now or ever, i choose to listen to the message the angels must be trying to send. while i can see straight i draw or sketch animals, dogs, etc. for that brief time, i can forget about the menieres, the dizzy episodes, the ringing. when i cant draw and it builds up i knitt or crochet or take a nice warm bath and light some candles. lavendar helps vertigo alot or so im finding out lately