[Juliana]

I'm wondering if anyone else here has been diagnosed with a vestibular disorder like Meniere's Disease, BPPV, labyrinthitis, vestibular neuronitis...?

I had severe BPPV for over 3 years. I developed panic attacks and agoraphobia after the 1st year. I was in the very small percentage of patients whose BPPV doesn't respond to traditional physiotherapeutic treatment (Epley and Semont Maneuvers). I got better with time and the use of anti-nauseants, along with cutting down on salt, taking a Niacin supplement and practising yoga. I wasn't able to start recovering from agoraphobia until my BPPV was under control. If I still had the constant symptoms of BPPV (extreme dizziness, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, lack of balance), I believe I would still be agoraphobic.

When I was starting to recover, my ENT specialist recommended a book to me by Dr. Harold Levinson called "Phobia Free." Dr. Levinson has some interesting, controversial hypotheses about the connection between inner ear disorders and phobias. The book was helpful to me. It applied to my particular case although many experts dispute Dr. Levinson's claim that 90% of people with phobias have some sort of inner ear disfunction. He contends that treating a patient's inner disfunction can result in an eradication of their phobias.

I believe I would not have become agoraphobic if I had not had BPPV. I know that I developed psychological components to my agoraphobia and I had to work on those and retrain my mind and rebuild my confidence with a Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, a psychiatrist and meds... and I still work on it everyday. It wasn't as easy as Dr. Levinson makes it sound in his book, but treatment of my inner ear problem was essential to my recovery from agoraphobia. I still have days when my inner ear acts up (stuffed up sinuses are usually the cause). The resultant nausea and dizziness send my anxiety levels soaring. So, my anti-nauseants and Flonase are always on hand just in case.

Here's a link about the book. Maybe someone else will find it helpful:
CLICK HERE

[InACorner]

i have menieres disease!!!
not terrible or anything i jjust cant sleep on my back or hang upside down or bounce up and down to much or go on to many rollercoasters...otherwise i will look like a drunkard whose climbing up telephone poles trying to get to the ground and away from the sky (lol my perception when it hits)

[Juliana]

LOL. I can't sleep on my back either. If I lie flat on my back I feel like I'm upside-down and everything starts spinning. I have a horrible time at the hair salon. I always wash my own hair at home in the shower if I'm just getting a cut, but if I'm having colour done, there's no way to avoid having to lie back and have my hair rinsed in a basin. It makes me feel so dizzy and sick. When I go to the dentist, I have to be heavily sedated before he tips the chair back. I'm SO much better than I was before, though. I couldn't walk without holding onto things and had trouble keeping food down during the 1st two years.

A friend of mine had meniere's and she had it bad for years. She had to stop working because of it. Then she got pregnant, and while she was pregnant she was symptom-free for the first time in years. She figured the meniere's symptoms would come back after she gave birth, but they didn't. It has been 7 years and she still hasn't had a recurrence. Strange, huh?

Do you have anxiety and phobias? If you do, do you think your meniere's might be contributing at all?

[Maven]

I was going to post here last night, but the electricity went out, followed a bit later by several fire trucks showing up outside my apartment. I didn't see any fire, but my boyfriend thinks a branch probably got blown down and knocked out a transformer. It took a while, but by the time the last one left (the last one might have been a utilities truck), the electricity was back on. I needed to get to bed, though.

I have Benign Positional Vertigo (I forget what your other "P" stands for, but I know it wasn't mentioned in my diagnosis). It doesn't affect most of my life, and only pops up every now and then. When it's acting up, it's usually when I turn certain ways in bed, and sometimes when I turn certain ways when sitting up.

[InACorner]

Have you ever had upside down dreams?? If i go the wrong way in bed and my head gets lower then my body i start dreaming funny..things get turned upside down and all confused...and now i have taught myself to wake up before any heavy damage is done ...just a little shaking of the head..no worries...other times if i dont stop it in time i shake, throw up and cant even stand up...God i really hate this....

[Maven]

I can't say I've ever had that, or heard of upside down dreams. Interesting.