New Poll - What triggers you're Meniere's?

I could easily pick all the options, but landed on "barometric pressure". I can go on low salt/sodium diet, avoid coffee etc, but low barometric pressure is hard to escape from. Orgasm triggers attacks? Not in itself, but the way of getting there sure does...

 

I have to add: These polls have - if everybody participates - a great value! Have you ever heard a doctor say that barometric pressure has anything to do with MM? I am sure it has a great impact on my disease, and I was surprised so many others picked the same trigger. It could be great to present a poll for doctors to make them think twice about our illness and its strange triggers.

 

And now, a word from my migraine speck about barometric pressure and migraine. He is a migraine research scientist with about a half-sized practice of patients of which I happen to be one.

Here's what he said about migraine and barometric pressure. He said that it wasn't barometric pressure itself that triggered migraine, but the winds associated with it.

Chinook and Santa Ana winds are infamous for triggering migraine, he said. He said a good study was done in which the barometric pressure was carefully measured along with the winds and compared to reporting of migraine symptoms from the participants. The winds had the greatest effects on the migraine attacks. The barometric pressure itself had almost no effect at all. The researchers found that even tremendous fluctuations in barometric pressure when there were no accompanying winds triggered almost no one's migraine.

Who knew? Maybe MM is the same way? Maybe wind is a bigger problem really?

When I was growing up, we were always taught to cover our ears against the wind so we wouldn't get earaches. It always helped when we did. Maybe the wind is the bigger problem really?

Just throwing this out there. I know that extremely high pressure will trigger a migraine but around here, high pressure systems are always windy systems too.

I don't know. It's March. Maybe I should just go fly a kite. ;D

 

Hmmmm Interesting MedievalWriter,

 

This is very interesting. Although low pressure systems definitely bring on my bad hearing spells, I am good in the mountains which seems contradictory. Do you think you have to be out in the winds or just have them swirling around the house?

Second, I do not have vertigo or dizzies (knock on wood) but today I got mentally stressed about something and was probably physically tired from getting ready for company AND decided to relieve my stress by shoveling snow on the driveway - without a hat. It's cold and the wind is blowing. I have always been the type that catches a cold if I get a cold wind in my ears. I stayed out longer than I meant to, came in chilled, looked at somebody snowboarding up and down and felt a little dizzy. Finally I lay down.

I wondered even before I read this if it was my ears getting cold which they did. Something to think about. I am ok now.

 

I voted stress, I never would have thought that barometric pressure would be at the top of the chart's?

 

I don't think the dr's know either. I mentioned it to my oto and he said 'yeah people say weather' like it was not important in his mind. My primary has a sister who suffers from hearing loss from birth (not MM presumably) and said she says it responds to weather.

 

My Neurotologist mentioned to me FIRST about weather changes being a trigger. And that I would probably find that all my symptoms would kick in: the vertigo, the fullness/pressure/ear pain, louder tinnitus, etc. I then told him, ok, I'm really glad you mentioned that, because I was starting to see a pattern with the weather. Actually -- it was the FIRST trigger he mentioned. That is significant in itself, I think.

After we left the appt., hubby said, well that certainly seems to fit with what you've been going through.

Wind kills me as far as MM goes. I've been a migraine sufferer for 19 years -- that was always due to barometric pressure, not just wind.

 

Hmmm, never had a doc mention weather changes or anything else weather related for that matter...

 

Need to pick more than one. In order
1. Barometric pressure
2. PMS
3. Caffeine
4. Alcohol
5. Florescent lights

I can control 3 and 4, not the others which is what makes life interesting !

 

LOL, I love the answers on here! You guys are a riot! ;D

I answered "other" on the poll b/c I simply couldn't pick one over the others.

Salt, stress, caffeine, allergies, menstruation, visual stimuli, barometric pressure, and orgasm ALL affect my MM. I don't know about alcohol since I don't drink (are we still friends, Bergie lol?).

A note about the taboo orgasm topic (since others were so kind to share): After having one, I lose quite a bit of my hearing. If it's been a really good night, I almost can't hear at all haha. ;D

Caffeine is the trigger that affects me the fastest. About 10 minutes after finishing a cup of caffeinated coffee, everything is spinning, and it stays this way for a good 2 hours. I avoid caffeine at all costs!

Great post, Larry!

Brooke

 

I put stress, but changes in the weather and noise are also triggers

 

Stress.

Visual Stimuli (CRT Screens, Fixed foreground/Rotating background. Supermarket Aisle effect. Oncoming car headlights at night.)

caffeine

Adrenalin

Rapid Head Movements.

Unsteady or angled walking surfaces.

Sinus infections, hey fever, allergies or head colds.

Rapid temperature or barometric pressure change.

 

I was relieved when I went to my new docotor and mentioned the barameteric pressure is one of my triggers. They said they hear that alot....

Buffy

 

Salt and caffiene are clearly triggers for me.

Could only chose one and since I have removed caffiene and regulated the salt, I picked stress.

 

Interesting Buffy, never head that, then again I found Acyclovir some years ago now.
In and out of remission every since...

 

I chose barometric pressure, but I check the local pressure regularly, and haven't been able to nail down a pattern, except that it is very obvious that something happens when there is a change in the weather. Also, not on the list, but interrupted sleep is a big one for me. If one of my kids wakes me when I am in the middle of REM sleep - I'm a mess for the next 24 hours.

Emily

 

Me too. I find that rainy/stormy weather is a trigger (presumably low pressure) but love driving in the hills/mountains which seems contradictory. I also think humidity (like pot of water boiling on the stove) is a trigger for momentary problems but they don't last like the weather systems.

 

Great poll, thanks for setting it up! I picked stress, because that's definitely my #1.

But I can also list fatigue, barometric pressure, sodium, caffeine, alcohol, and dehydration as triggers.

I'm starting to think that hypoglycemia is also a trigger--anyone experience this? I'm noticing a pattern in that if it's been many hours since I've eaten something and I'm really, really hungry, my ear gets super buzzy.

I will note that the above triggers seem to affect me substantially less since I started with the chiropractor and lemon bioflavinoids about 6 weeks ago.

Katie

 

YES!! YES!! YES!!