And what is the difference between "burnout" and "remission"? Lots of questions came up for me on this in my mind because someone i was talking to yesterday said she knows two people who had Meniere's and when they went deaf from it, the vertigo went away. But I know that has not been the case for some people here. It got me thinking of how one knows if your ear is going through burnout-ie-if I'm losing hearing, does that mean it's headed for burnout? Can it suddenly burn out or suddenly go into remission, or is it usually a progression with certain signposts of it happening? (and I remember from sirlanc's recent thread that remission can be "brought on" by treatments, but I guess I'm talking more here about spontaneous remission.) I know some people have Meniere's for 30-40 yrs or more and never burn out, so it all varies. I'd love to hear anyone's comments of what they know about burnout and/or remission. Hope springs eternal! I'm praying for one or the other-lol. Has anyone here actually had their ear burn out or go into spontaneous remission? What did it look like for you?
This is what menieres.info says about burn out. http://www.menieresinfo.com/start.html#prognosis Some doctors say that Meniere's "burns itself out," leading patients to erroneously conclude that Meniere's will simply fade away and that they will be "cured." However, "burnout" does not mean this at all. "Burnout" refers to a condition where Meniere's Disease has progressed to the point where it has finally destroyed the entire (or nearly the entire) vestibular function in the affected ear. At the point of burnout, the patient has little or no vestibular function left and the body may or may not compensate in other ways. The vestibular function in the other ear may take over and/or the patient may learn to balance through visual cues (with some degree of difficulty occurring during darkness). However, nothing stops the relentless progression of Meniere's Disease, and it will continue to destroy hearing, produce the sense of fullness, and produce tinnitus -- even in patients who are "stone" deaf (because of Meniere's Disease or otherwise). While some patients reach a rotational vertigo-free, or nearly rotational vertigo-free, state of burnout, burnout is a progression, not a cure, and there is no certainty of any one patient reaching burnout. Not all doctors (and not all patients) believe that "burnout" can happen
okaaaaay... that's not sounding too great, I guess, and definitely totally unpredictable. But I will take "vertigo free"! Thanks for posting this, Vicki!
I can only speak for myself. I believe that I had menieres and mav. My menieres or vertigo went away after my hearing in my left ear was totally destroyed. You could play rock music in that ear as loud as you like. Although buchholz says that you can have hearing loss with mav I don't agree with him. I do agree with him however that there could be many people who have been diagnosed with menieres when they actually have mav. The vertigo went away shortly after I had different type of vertigo, more like somersault than rotational. Looking back that was the start of my burnout or remission. I still have mav but control the triggers through diet.
Interesting, Jaypr-thanks for sharing that. I think I remember others saying their vertigo "changed" before burnout. Did you still get vertigo after that, from the MAV, before you controlled triggers? Or was the vertigo gone and you just had other symptoms?
Meniere's Disease should translate into "unpredictability" because it's uncertain how it manifests itself to some patients. What work for one may not work for others and burning out is just a clear example of that. I believe that the beast may be on is way out of my system because my vertigo attacks have been fewer and far between. Yet, I would not be surprised if they returned as they had in the past. I had almost NO symptoms from 2004-2007. I felt so good that I stopped taking all medications for three years. In 2008 my symptoms came back with a vengeance, so I resumed my medication regimen. Unpredictability sucks!!!
I did get vertigo a few times after that but it was short lived because I then got to grips with the mav triggers. I know now I would get vertigo again if I consumed my triggers, like alcohol, caffeine, soy sauce and msg.
I've had Meniere's for almost 30 years; when it first began I would have a period of several attacks over a month and then several years of remission. In 2009 it suddenly morphed into multiple, daily, severe attacks, despite many efforts by my ENT for relief. In 2010 I was referred to a neurotologist but in the meantime my attacks changed from rotational vertigo to vertical vertigo and at times a very slow motion vertigo. He told me the symptoms indicated I was burning out. Fast forward to March of this year when vertigo returned. I was now referred to a neurologist who specializes in balance disorders; had the ENG and rotary chair test which indicated a 37 percent loss of vestibular function in the right ear so obviously I have not burnt out. Vertigo continues with roughly 3 attacks per week. Guess for me there will be no burn out.
For me neither Lorrie I have MM for 48 years but antivirals stopped my vertigo attacks for the last year and 3 months, have you thought about trying them?
I asked the same questions to my OTO. He told me there is no way of telling if and when there will be burn out....
