Success - no more dizziness!

Discussion in 'Your Living Room' started by charleston, Oct 23, 2006.

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  1. charleston

    charleston New Member

    For breakfast, how about yogurt (goat if allergic to cow dairy) and granola, or just eat the same thing you eat for lunch or dinner. It doesn't have to be breakfast food. How about egg whites, avoiding the yolks, which is what you're probably sensitive to? You can make a great omelet with only the whites.
     
  2. tamarak

    tamarak New Member

    Hi! I've been away from the board awhile, but I wanted to reply to this fabulous thread. And also a question...in Pardonme's response to her thread about researching the condition, she mentions several things that she was looking at..diet was one of them, adrenal fatique was another. Are these two things linked? Do we get adrenal fatigue when our bodies are trying to manage spiking sugar levels? Sorry, but even though I'm feeling much better and no attacks lately, I'm still not totally clear on why I'm doing what I'm doing...Also, isn't there something to do with hormones and the digestive processes? I think I read something about that in the book about preventing cancer that I was quoting from a couple of months back.

    Tamara
     
  3. SpinininOhio

    SpinininOhio New Member

    Tamara
    If Rick does not happen along, pm him. He has the answers to those questions. The short answers: yes - adrenal fatigue. yes - stress hormones are used in the digestive process. Good to see you back on, you bring alot to this board.

    SpinininOhio
     
  4. Rick

    Rick New Member

    ...Basically in my case, and I believe others have found the same thing, is that a food allergy and Reactive hypoglycemia was triggering my vertigo attacks. I narrowed down the food allergy to Gluten (wheat and oats) and went on the gluten free diet. With the reactive hypoglycemia, I started eating small meals more frequently that was high in protein (basic hypoglycemia diet). That cured the vertigo attacks but then I started gaining weight. Once I hit 245, I said, something's not right, why all of a sudden do I have reactive hypgolycemia and have to follow this diet? What changed? I didn't used to have to do this.
    ...That's when I read about Metabolic syndrome, Hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, prediabetes, etc, etc... and started following the Glycemic index and that cured the hypoglycemia without having to eat all the time. I actually bought a watch that had 10 alarms so I would remind myself every 2 hours to eat something. With the glycemic index, I started eating normally again and dropped back down to 225. But after a few months, I found that my hearing improved along with a drastic improvement in my voice recognition (the distortion was gone). I saw my blood pressure drop along with my triglycerides. So excess insulin can cause all kinds of health issues along with exasperating our Meniere's. I think what is confusing with the metabolic syndrome stuff, is that eating high glycemic foods didn't trigger a vertigo attack, it was the resulting reactive hypoglycemia that was triggering the vertigo attacks. But it was the chronic high levels of insulin that was causing the elevated blood pressure, poor quality of hearing, and high triglycerides.
    ...Did that clear anything up or is the water muddier than before. But with all the theories aside, it's still a case of two different dietary changes that caused significant improvement in my meniere's.
    ...I also think that an important clue, that I missed completely, was that I had Meniere's for 15 years with one or two vertigo attacks a year. That was entirely manageable. But then I gradually started getting more and more veritgo attacks until at one point I was getting two a week. You read similar stories like that all the time on this board and others. If I had been thinking, I would have investigated as to what conditions do we get as we age. Metabolic syndrome(prediabetes or diabetes) and food allergies are probably at the top of the list.
    ...So if I had just looked at my general health and said, "ok, i'm getting older, what might be happening". I would have discovered, by a process of elimination, that I had a food allergy and that I had insulin resistance, long before I actual did make those discoveries. When my symtoms started escalating I weighed 180 lbs. The fact that all of a sudden I couldn't control my weight and that it was all going to my mid section was a Huge, huge, signal that I was dealing with metabolic syndrome. I could have fixed that before I ever had a vertigo attack from reactive hypoglycemia.
    ...If we only could have been taught in school what our bodies are telling us, we could prevent many, many problems. Our no, I'm rambling again.
    rick
     
  5. nassman

    nassman Guest

    For ANYONE who experiences menieres-type symptoms such as vertigo. tinnitus, ear fullness, etc., because of food allergies or varrying blood sugar levels, this means YOU DO NOT HAVE MENIERE'S DISEASE. It means you have allergies and by eliminating the food(s) that cause your allergies, you find relief from the symptoms.

    People with legitimate meneire's disease cannot do this.

    I wish this distinction would be made.
     
  6. tamarak

    tamarak New Member

    Sigh...Nassman, I wish that life was as simple as you make it sound! I understand that you want to let people know that the symptoms can be caused by multiple sources--but lets face it, Menieres is "idiopathic" and generally treated by conventional physicians with an almost hit or miss approach with greatly varying degrees of success. The question of whether or not the symptoms are "Menieres Disease" or not is almost a useless one.

    Instead wouldn't it be more helpful to healing to learn what has been working for others who have a similar set of symptoms and trying to see if similar changes can work for us...of course, I am referring to relatively benign changes such as diet.

    This is why I am so grateful to this site--it gave me the opportunity to learn from others. Whether or not "Menieres" even exists as a concrete category or not is simply irrelevant to me--I leave that to the folks who are looking for funding for their medical research. What is starkly relevant is that thanks to what I learned from Rick--I went from two major attacks of 9-10 hours of spinning to no attacks.

    Thanks Rick...diabetes is in my family and my sister lives in a pre diabetic state (pregnancy and now again as she is aging)--I've been eating high protein by the necessary elimination of wheat/gluten so that might be "killing two birds with one stone).

    I've talked with a lot of celiacs but none ever had dizziness too. I suspect that I might actually be celiac (yes, Nassman, you heard right--I even suspect that you're right and I don't have this thing we call "Menieres") and that when my body is weakened (dietary mistakes, stress, not enough sleep) then I open myself up to Menieres-type symptoms.

    Tamara
     
  7. Rick

    Rick New Member

    ...I would love to believe that I didn't have Meniere's but I still have tinnitus, fullness, and hearing loss in the low frequencies of my left ear. Remember that I had these symptoms along with occasional vertigo attacks for 15 years before being plaugued by the food allergies and blood sugar issues.
    ...All I have done is eliminate the frequent vertigo attacks that were happening and a slight improvement in hearing (remember the big improvement was in voice recognition not in db). I think you could make the argument that these vertigo attacks were not Meniere's related but I'm afraid I still have Meniere's.
    ....I know you get agitated with all the food allergy and glycemic stuff, but there's been lot's of people with Meniere's who have had the same thing happen. They go along for many years with the occassional vertigo attack and then all of a sudden the vertigo starts happening again.
    ....And since they'll probably come here first for information, I'm afraid you'll have to put up with my ramblings. I do however believe that while the vertigo caused by food allergies and blood sugar issues was not caused by the meniere's, I do however believe that the damage caused by the Meniere's has made me suseptible to vertigo attacks caused by other sources.
    Rick
     
  8. charisse

    charisse Been hanging here for 8 years

    I think there is not enough known about mm, that perhaps it is a trigger in some people for whatever reason.
     
  9. nassman

    nassman Guest

    Let me use this analogy.

    Severe head pain or headaches could be occurring in an individual as a result of a brain tumor.

    With another person, the same head pain could be the result of migraines or cluster headaches. This person might be in so much pain that they think they have a brain tumor. However, when they are administered appropriate medication, the head pain goes away. In other words, their belief that a potential tumor was causing their pain was false. They did not have a tumor all along.

    The person who ACTUALLY has the tumor can take all the drugs they want but as long as the tumor is pressing on vital nerves of the brain, the pain will be there. The only answer is operation or radiation/chemotherapy to shrink the tumor's size.


    So, how does this fit in with meniere's?

    Well, a person with severe allergies that experiences vertigo and tinnitus can eliminate these symptoms by indentifying the allergen. They NEVER had true meniere's to begin with and that is why they find a solution. HOWEVER, the person with meniere's will have so relief when the same steps are taken because THERE IS NO IDENTIFIABLE cure or solution to meniere's discovered as of this point in time.


    That is the difference....and in my opinion it is a HUGE one.
     
  10. cowcollector

    cowcollector Don't hug a tree, hug a cow!!

    hey nassman
    could someone have severe allergies and then develop mm?
     
  11. Rick

    Rick New Member

    ...I like the headache analogy, but instead of a tumor let's use hypertension as the underlying cause. Once the person gets medical care and the proper medication the headaches are controlled. This could be the eqivilant to a Meniere's person going on a low sodium diet, no caffiene, and diuretic use. Then the person starts getting headaches again. Their first thought is going to be that their hypertension is acting up again and they go to the doc. The doc says that their hypertension is under control and sends them home. They then log onto a "headache" message board and find out that some headaches are caused by food allergies and blood sugar issues.
    ...So they make the dietary changes and the headaches go away. problem solved but they still have hypertension and if they quit their treatments for hypertension, the headaches will come back.
    ...The real problem with this analogy is that when the person went back to the doc and the doc saw that it wasn't hypertension, they would probably suggest allergies because allergies are common causes for headaches. The problem we have is that vertigo isn't as common as headaches, therefore the docs never treat us any different except for meniere's.
    ...You can even take the analogy a step further. When the person makes the dietary changes to address the blood sugar issues, they also find that their blood presure drops even farther and they are able to reduce the amount of hypertension medication they were taking which indicates that the hypertension may have been caused by a carbohydrate metabolism dysfunction.
    ...So did they really have hypertension or just metabolic syndrome? Or did their head just hurt and they wanted relief?
    Rick
     
  12. tamarak

    tamarak New Member

    Ahem...I was in a hurry this morning and left out the vital information (that many of you who know me already know this...) that I went from two attacks of 10-12 hours of violent spinning (and vomiting) PER WEEK to none at all. That's worthy of notice.

    Can I conclude that I don't have Menieres?

    Like I said this morning--I don't have a lot of faith in the category "Menieres" in the first place--so I don't really worry too much about whether this is Menieres (along with the depressing diagnosis that it is a chronic, incurable debilitating disease...) it's really only for idle curiosity that I was wondering about HOW the mechanisms of metabolic syndrome/adrenal exhaustion/food intolerances work together--and I could afford the idle curiosity because I'd already solved the majority of my problem.

    I've almost totally slipped away from the site because I really no longer am searching for clues to health--I think mainly I've found them--but the gifts this forum (and it is clearly labelled "Menieres.org") has given me--regardless of whether I actually have "Menieres" or something else are so great that I really cannot bring myself to totally leave.

    I guess it's really just a matter of disposition...some people like to argue, weigh and discuss how many angels can dance on the head of a pin--I'm more of the zen buddhist persuasion myself. It is irrelevant to me. Nevertheless, discussions of this type are obviously relevant to you and I can respect you for your forthright approach to expressing your beliefs.

    However, I certainly hope that you will not discourage those of us who take a different approach to health and healing than you do, Nassman. Especially when it is working so well. Things are not so cut and dried for all of us as they are for you.

    These discussions about diet and metabolic syndrome etc. belong dead centre in this Menieres discussion forum--please do not try to marginalize them simply because they do not fit with your opinions.

    Thanks for your attention.

    Tamara
     
  13. Mnme

    Mnme Guest

    I've now had the good fortune to actually meet several Meniere's sufferers who contacted me after hearing through the grapevine that I managed to eliminate all of my symptoms. What was notable was that every single one of these people believed their case was different... that they had 'real' Menieres: which suggested I didn't. They had all (like me) been diagnosed, with second and sometimes third opinions. They thought they had 'tried everything'.

    And yet every single one of these people DID improve. Those who applied the ideas a little were helped a little and those who made big changes improved dramatically. Over the years I have kept telling people this, but not many seem to want to hear it. This never ceases to amaze me. When does enough anecdotal evidence become enough? After all, this is about the REAL stories... real people. Not just theory and tests.

    Lee
     
  14. cheese

    cheese New Member

    Hey Lee

    Sorry if its been done to death, but i'm not sure if i've heard your story. Were you another no-glutener? or was it something else?
     
  15. Mnme

    Mnme Guest

    Cheese, it was 5 years worth of concepts pulled from every Discipline I could lay my hands on... rolled into a user friendly package. But gluten was one of them. Years ago on this Forum I used to argue that every Meniere's sufferer should try a gluten free diet before being diagnosed... but at that time no one wanted to hear of gluten here (I later noticed Rick mentioned it). You would be amazed if you saw the old posts... they were actually quite hostile to such a controversial idea. It's funny to now hear you say 'Are you another no glutener'. Just shows there are many less obtrusive ways to get a message across. :)

    Lee
     
  16. cheese

    cheese New Member

    I've heard enough people here talk about it, so there must be something to it. The reason i've never tried it though, is because when i 1st got sick i was given a gastroscopy because of the constant nausea....... Biopsies were taken, and the results confirmed that i didnt have celiacs. I suppose it wouldnt hurt trying, but I just can't seem to believe that it would help my case considering the results of my biopsies.
     
  17. Rick

    Rick New Member

    ...A lot is going to depend on what is troubling you and sometimes what your definition of vertigo is. One thing you find is that you'll see lot's of different people trying to find answers to a lot of different symptoms.
    ...In my own case it was the rotational (seeing things spin) vertigo attacks that was disabling me and occuring up to two times weekly. These attacks would last from 4 to 6 hours, during which time I was completely helpless: couldn't keep my eyes open, violet vomiting, and couldn't walk. For some reason, it took me a long time to see a pattern that these attacks were coming right after eating. And that's the point I wanted to make, if these symptoms or whatever symptoms your dealing with, come right after eating, then you can be fairly certain, it was what you ate.
    ...My case was very well defined but I do want topoint out that several people who have benefited from dietary changes, weren't so well defined. I saw a drastic improvement in less than 3 days after going gluten free. It's taken some people weeks or months to determine that their health improved. The relief was so gradual in some that it wasn't until they tried eating the offending food again that they saw a dramatic turn for the worse.
    ...I am also hesitant to call it an allergy or celiac. All I will admit is that wheat and oat products have triggerede vertigo attacks within 5 to 10 minutes after eating them. I have now gone almost 4 years without a vertigo attack since going gluten free and following the GI. So there's no doubt in my mind that it was diet that was triggering my vertigo.
    ...I still have tinnitus and fullness so I'm not completely symptom free. I also get perioduic bouts of BPPV like symptoms which are similar to Meniere's in symptoms but completely different in what triggers those episodes and I've seen quite a few on here describe their symptoms and in my layman's mind, it sounds more like bppv than meniere's, so I'm not surprized that food elimination doesn't help.
    Rick
     
  18. Mnme

    Mnme Guest

    Picking up the damage to the intestines that signifies Celiac Disease is like investigating for damage AFTER a heart attack. Far better to stop the damage much earlier than that. The symptoms are the best indicator that something is wrong in the early stages.

    Also Cheese, going gluten free is not the tough diet most think it is. There are gluten free substitutes of pretty well everything... even beer! (phew!) :)
     
  19. charleston

    charleston New Member

    For new sufferers who may be reading these comments, I'd like to add this: if you get dizzy right after eating, it may not be what you just ate. I lost 48 pounds eliminating "what I had just eaten" which I assumed was making me dizzy. In actuality, I was dizzy because my blood sugar was too low and the food I had just eaten had not yet had a chance to raise the blood sugar. (And the weight loss made the reactive hypoglycemia harder for my body to handle.)
    Changes in blood sugar do affect your blood vessels. This is where the Meniere's comes in.
    And I'll add my two cents' worth: Meniere's is a set of symptoms, not the cause. So you and I may both have Meniere's, the accumulation of too much fluid in a tiny tube in the ear, but it can be caused by two different reasons.
     
  20. tamarak

    tamarak New Member

    Okay Charleston...I'll go with that definition of Menieres. Thanks for creating this great thread. It's important to leave tracks for others when we find success!

    Tamara
     

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