So it seems you don’t have much confidence in these diagnoses?
I have to say I don’t have much confidence in ENT medicine. In my experience its all a bit ‘nebulous’ and full of hypothetical possibilities but very little is truly concrete and that’s largely because they simply can’t ‘lift up the bonnet and see whats inside’ as the inner ear and other organs are set deep inside the bone of the skull and given its a fluid filled system its very hard to visualise ‘flow’ and ‘pressure’ elements. It’s not possible to determine if there is a leak, for example, with a simple conservative scan. The most high resolution scans available are CT scans but are generally not done unless absolutely necessary because they subject you to radiation. It also concerns me there is evidence of trends and dogma: 50 years ago your symptoms might have been considered Menieres, 20 years ago due to a fistula and nowadays you might get a MAV diagnosis, but what does that tell you?
If you want to get a diagnosis you are more comfortable with then I suggest you get at least two more opinions from ENT experts completely out of the circle of the ones you’ve so far approached. It took me a year to find a diagnosis I was comfortable with because before that I was just told stuff that just didn’t ring true. I saw three ENT’s and one neurologist. Thankfully the neurologist prescribed medicine which made me feel better, though I was not satisfied with her diagnosis, but then again she was only being professional and going by current professional guidelines and they need to be very careful.
It seems to me you at least have some kind of ear trouble. These things usually resolve themselves over time but it can take a long time (like I’ve said, I’m getting better, and I’m much better but I’m still only 2 years in!). Conservative approach is generally the best idea: surgical solutions for ear medicine are usually destructive in nature and that’s not a good way to go imho as time will usually heal anyway and you don’t want to make things worse: let the body heal itself even if this takes time!
The thing you should focus on is trying to find a regime that will make you feel better. Diet’s help people with ear trouble very often (MAV, Secondary Hydrops (SEH) and Menieres patients are all recommended to avoid the 6C’s). Beyond diet is the possibility of using a medicine to reduce symptoms. I’d suggest talking to your neurologist about trying the MAV medicines. Amitriptyline is used to help MAV, fistula and SEH patients.
Hain’s article on drugs is really good:
http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/treatment/drug/drugrx.html
Anything that reduces stress is also a very good idea: relaxation exercises, meditation & mindfulness and seeing a psychotherapist are also good options.
Make sure you understand health anxiety, worry about chronic symptoms can get out of control and you can end up very stressed and anxious. It’s important to find perspective. If you think this is a factor, consider reading this book:
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| “Overcoming Health Anxiety” |
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| More recommended books here |
A lot of board members follow a diet, but not all. A lot use medical prophylaxis, like me, and some have rescue medicines for migraines and to reduce the impact of acute vertigo.