Signs & Symptoms of Meniere's Disease - Vertigo (or Vertigo Disease)

Vertigo, or vertigo disease, as some people are told, is an abnormal sensation that causes you to feel as though you or your environment is moving or spinning. It is a feeling that shows up when the balance nerve is “impacted’ or alerted to a problem. People describe dizziness and vertigo as two totally different sensations but they are both primary symptoms of Meniere's disease.

Whereas dizziness is a sensation that seems to come from the inside of you, vertigo seems to “come” from an external source or force. There is an actual physical sensation of you “moving or spinning”. People feel the car they are driving or riding in, is rotating wildly or spinning around them. Of course, they have no way to stop that. Dizziness is more of an internal feeling that you can’t get away from the spinning inside of your head. These distinctions are noted by your doctor and are valuable to remember.

Vertigo, often the most debilitating symptom of Meniere's disease, forces the sufferer to lie down or if they can't get to a bed in time, crawl along the floor, even up the stairs. Sometimes the attack is so powerful that the person falls to the ground "as a bag of sand". These attacks can be accompanied by severe nausea, vomiting, and sweating. It is very important to remember that all of these symptoms are unpredictable. That leads to the person living the life of a recluse because they can never plan on a "good day".

Typically, the episode can include a combination of vertigo, drop attack, tinnitus, and hearing loss lasting minutes or several hours.

We are all different: therefore our feelings and descriptions can vary. Discomfort comes in varying intensities and durations. Some people with Meniere's disease may experience a sudden onset of an attack that can last for hours. Others have brief or even momentary periods of vertigo.

An episode might come a few times a week, or a month. Some suffer once or twice a year. Some are totally unable to move. Someone may only have a slight vertigo or temporarily loss of balance. Still others feel unsteady all day long for long periods. For most people the immediate outcome of any of these episodes is total exhaustion and the need to sleep for hours.

Here are a few (unedited) comments from readers:

“I suffer from clusters of attacks, mostly vertigo. I have had three drop attacks.”

“When I have an attack of vertigo, I always get a bad headache and sinus congestion beforehand (1 day to 2 weeks before) 24 hrs a day. “recently been diagnosed with vertigo and tinnitus -consultant says he just has to live with it.

“I was recently diagnosed with Meniere's disease and up until recently only had issues with hearing out of my left ear and tinnitus. Now I am starting to experience vertigo and am getting very concerned that if this gets worse I will not be able to work or drive.”

Vertigo of any type occurs when there is a problem in the vestibular labyrinth (semicircular canals), the portion of the inner ear that controls balance. (Don’t you immediately ask yourself “why”?) This causes the loss or a change of your balance. It is this sudden loss of balance, which often forces the person to fall to the ground. Often it is a sensation of being knocked around, especially the head.

Many injuries occur because the people have no warning to protect themselves or break their fall. They are often seen as staggering. If someone is driving, their head might be suddenly flung to the side or shaken, ending up with the person being completely disorientated.

To the Meniere's disease sufferer this is a very difficult condition to deal with. They can be totally debilitated for varying lengths of time. But what is even worse is they can't plan ahead. They will have no idea when an attack might occur. It could be in the grocery store with its bright lights and long aisles. Or it could be on the road with the scenery rushing by.

It's so unpredictable and the results are so devastating! We have heard many instances of people being “knocked down” in a doctor’s office, in emergency departments, or being forced to lie down in grocery stores. As you can see, these attacks can happen anywhere.

For the family members, this is also a very hard condition. It's most difficult to understand why this person can't go somewhere with them. They LOOK all right, until they witness a drop attack! So again everyone feels defensive and very frightened. It requires a lot of patience and understanding to cope with vertigo or vertigo disease.

As you read this, do you not get a sense of frustration that no one seems to know what to do? To get past these debilitating episodes?. To discover the cause of vertigo? There is a recurring theme throughout this website. It is this. Absolutely nothing happens in our bodies without a cause.

Nothing happens by chance. So what can you do to get some answers? You would certainly have gone to your doctor already with these symptoms. But you also need to do your own “thinking”. If you know that nothing happens without a cause, then how can you figure out the next step, apart from going through regular medical channels? You do need to do that. You need to eliminate any other possible problems. Unfortunately you do need to do the scans and other tests.

But in the meantime, you can also use a very basic science method. The cause always “happens” before a Meniere's disease symptom shows up. So it would make sense to really go over what you did during the previous 24 hours.

You might want to get a copy of our observations on Meniere's disease. Many people have shared with us what had caused their symptoms. We call this email document our “Observations” and offer it to anyone who requests it.

Vertigo is challenging for the sufferer and his family. It is well worthwhile to try and find the cause in spite of the frequent and really sad prognosis of “there is no cure: you have to live with this”. Everything has a cause: it may be well hidden and yet undiscovered, but it has to be “there”.

If you would like a copy of the system we talk about throughout the site, please use this link to go to the Meniere's Disease System Information page.

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