My Story:

It all began about two years ago. I was walking across a room and was suddenly light headed and had to sit down. My husband nor I thought too much about it. Maybe too much sun, something I ate, anything could have set that off.

The following year I was dropping my son off at his friends house for a sleep over and I went to get out of the truck and I could not walk. All I could do was stand there with my back up against the truck and my arms spread and trying to hold on as the world was spinning around me. After about fifteen minutes the feeling subsided but I was very tired and sleepy. Almost exhausted and I had no idea why or what was causing me to feel this way. I went to the ER and the doctor thought maybe I was having a slight stroke or something so he ordered a CAT scan and that came back as normal. He did mention to me that I should see an ENT doctor that maybe it was possible I have Miniere’s Disease. So I made my appointment to the ENT and after a few test there he said he sees nothing wrong with the ear and the hearing was fine and gave me drops of antibiotic just incase. I asked him what about Miniere’s but he said, "Oh no, your too young." I was 37 years old at this time.

In October of 2007, I was struck down as if a Mac truck had hit me. I got Vertigo so bad I was actually vomiting and was dysfunctional. Not only did I have vertigo, I felt like there was dried cement in my left ear it was so full and I had this overwhelming feeling that it was impacted with something, and there was a high frequency roaring I heard so loud I actually thought maybe other people could hear it and I would try to scream over top the noise when I would talk to anyone at home. I couldn’t work, sit up, walk, do anything that normal people could do on an everyday basis. I was literary a prisoner in my own bed, house, and mind. I called my husband at work crying telling him there is something wrong with me and I know it. I know my body and there is something wrong. He came home to take me to the ER again but all they did was give me liquid valium and I slept it off for five hours. My husband insisted I go to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation to yet again get checked out. But this time I was headed to their Neurology Department. No more ENT’s or ER’s for me. There was something wrong and someone was going to tell me what was happening to my body. I felt like I was slowly deteriorating from the inside out. The neurologist I seen made me go for an MRI. He thought maybe I had MS or brain tumor, something to that effect. MRI came back normal with no findings. I started to think to myself, "Am I crazy or are these symptoms really happening to me?" "Surely if there’s symptoms the doctors can come up with a diagnosis right?" Yet no one could help me. Everyone told me this test and that test was normal. ENT’s telling me nothing was wrong with the ear and looked fine to them. I was about to lose my mind. I decided to take matters into my own hands. I searched around the web and found a doctor at the hospital close to me that specializes in vertigo and dizziness within the inner ear. I made an appointment told him of all my attacks, medical history, doctors I had been to and test they had run and he said it sound like to me you have Miniere’s Disease and I do not specialize in this but I know a fellow at The Cleveland Clinic who does and maybe he can help you. I made an appointment the next day and when I went in I took all the CAT scans and MRI and reports from the previous doctors, and again told him my long story about the last two years. He said, it sounds to me like you have "classic symptoms" of Miniere’s Disease and that there was no ideal test to prove you have it but over periods of time and ruling out all other factors, the roaring, the fullness feeling, I really at this point couldn’t hear out of the ear very well, and the nasty vertigo attacks. He run a hearing test on me and in just two years, I had lost all my high and low frequency hearing. He gave me some vertigo medicine to help with the vertigo and a diuretic to release some of the excess sodium in my body.

It’s been two months since I seen him and when I go back in a few weeks I am giving him a great big ol hug. A thanks for believing in me that there was something actually wrong and a thanks for the water pills, they seem to minimize the attacks a great deal. I am back to work and living a great life again.