Okaaaay, It Is Ménière's

Before this bout of vertigo hit, I already had a diagnosis last year — Ménière's. I had gone for a few scans and an MRI. I hesitate to write out the official name because it's 'Ménière's disease'. The word 'disease' always scares people. This is not life-threatening at all, unless you do something stupid or have an accident while having a vertigo attack. This is just... ... ... a condition that one lives with. 

My first-ever vertigo episode in June 2021 knocked me out for four days. My second episode in January 2022 kept me home for three days. In 2023 and 2024, I caught these episodes before they were full blown. So I was simply woozy for the night or half a day, and once the meds went in, I was okay. Then this August 2025, I completely missed the signs and by the time I caught it and popped a pill in the night, I was down for 2.5 days; but it wasn't as debilitating as those first two episodes. 

For the longest time, I thought it was simple BPPV (benign paroxysmal positional vertigo). You know, ageing things. It has been happening once a year. But when vertigo lasts for days as one episode and is accompanied by ringing in the ears and crazy pressure, and such, I knew I should get it checked out. 

Ménière's is a disorder of the inner ear. This ringing and ear pressure that have plagued me for some years. Mostly in the right ear. I don't have migraines still. It probably developed over the years as an immune response to whatever allergies I have. And in the recent years, I have an imbalance of fluids in the inner ears — the ringing (tinnitus) is more pronounced in my right ear, and there's some crazy pressure that won't let up. I also have motion sickness that arose a few years back. So it's all linked.

I don't have chronic balance issues or hearing loss just yet. WHEWWWWW. 

The doctors didn't see a need for surgery to decompress the endolymphatic sac or severe the vestibular nerve. I have no interest in going anywhere near acupuncture or acupressure or taking any herbal supplements. I'm happy with oral medications or at worst, corticosteroid injections to the inner ear, but not gentamicin antibiotic. A combination of cinnarizine and cetirizine helps alleviate the symptoms of vertigo. 

I stayed in for two days, and I'm all better. I'm not gym-fit yet, but I'm Pilates-ready and Gyrotonic-able. Hopefully these two light stretches will jiggle those ear crystals back into where they're supposed to be. I'm just relieved that I'm never into handstands, headstands, yoga and whatever assorted inversions. 

The friends and husband told me to stay in. They said that if I had headed out to lurch around, I might have be arrested for suspected K-pod vaping. WHAT THE. Hahahahahaah. You guys!!! What I will do is to decrease salt intake even more, go easy on alcohol and caffeine. Grrrrrrr.