Meniere's Disease Support Group

I take Hydrochlorothiazide as a diuretic. One of the side effects of it is dizziness (go figure-- need help with the dizzies and the med may cause it). My doctor originally prescribed 2 25mg once a day. Later she cut it to one and then back to two. I have stayed with just one and have felt much better. Occasionally though if i know i had a lot of salt the day before or a really salty meal, i will take the other one about mid-day or so. I also take Potassium as this diuretic is not potassium sparing. Those are 1 pill 3x day. I also take a Multi-vitamin, Calcium, and allergy meds. You didn't mention a potassium pill so you might want to ask your doctor about that. Not sure if it would have anything to do with the lightheadedness or not but it couldn't hurt to ask. My blood pressure is great although my heart rate does get elevated at times, before an attack, during one, afterwards, etc... During an attack it will usually be in the 100's and has been as high as 145.

Thanks so much, I am taking a diuretic, HCTZ 12.5 mg in the morning. I am trying to eat one banana a day but that doesn't come close to the Potassium daily dose. I am just getting tired of this.

Most of us dianose with meniers got lightheadedness. It was so severe for me for first few years. Again, the lightheadedness comes with the tinnitus. Ive always have it with or without the duretic. But i do remember, that the first time i took duretic that i had a bad reaction to it. My experience with ENT...it like a big guessing game and i have had many maybes but no results. What i noticed is the associated neck problems and the hearing loss that accompanied it.
Improvements over the years...change my sleeping posture...supporting my neck properly and cutting down on coffee and soft drinks. Lightheaded may be a result of the imbalance between the left and right ear vestibular function.

I was prescribed diazide and prdnisone for my Meniere's and it caused me to have a vertigo attack daily. I stopped taking it and felt better. Of course the doctor said it made no sense. The lightheaded feeling is common for me with this disease.

The doctors will prescribe predisone and duretic to see if its autoimmune system going haywire and attacking the hearing. For me it did not work and made me feel sick. My ENT was confused because they have certain assumption how one with meniers should feel after treatment.

THe confusion is confusing only to the point that they accept the fact they dont exactly understand menieres. Another frustrating fact is their acceptance that the dont understand meniere completely yet they are arogant enough to try to fit you in a category. The truth of the matter is that they dont fully understand. The symptoms vary in severity from person to person as well as the cause. Some papers do indicate that a large number of people with menieres types syndrome have associated neck problems along with the vestibular damage and hearing loss.

I totally agree with your comments. I stopped seeing my ENT when he stopped listening to me. I have been seeing a chiropractor/alternative medicine doctor and with her advice on nutrition and some chiropractic adjustments, I am doing so much better.

We just posted an article about Meniere's in the neuropathy group.
Come check it out
http://dailystrength.org/groups/ne...

Anyone else can't find the meniere's post on the neuropathy page? I keep trying!

Well not being a doctor, but when I first started having my issues, they thought I had damaged my vistibular system, which if damaged when you move your head, change positions it can cause you to get a little dizzy/off balanced. What test have they run on you? Have the done the test where they put hot/cold water into your ears...they can sometimes tell if thats your problem by that test. If it is your vistibular system, you can sometimes retrain your system again. For example if you find that when you move your head quickly to the left and you get dizzy. Regain your balance, and then move your head again. Continue to do this a few times a day. Any movement that gets you dizzy continue to do it over and over(obviously don't fall down and be in a safe area). Like I said this may not be your problem but its worth asking about. When they thought this was my problem thats what they told me to try. Good luck, I know this is rough but it will get better just make sure they do the right test!

Did your doctor ever consider the lightheadedness being a result of your blood pressure? Thats what it sounds like to me.
Also, have they run all the balance tests on you to ensure that you do have Meniere's? If not, I would question your doctor about that.

I hope that this helps.