HEALTH
I’ve Got What? Meniere’s Disease?
Speak Up! I Can’t Hear You.
I have Meniere’s Disease.
Here, for all of you hypochondriacs, are the symptoms:
Fullness in one ear
Tinnitus (ringing ears)
Vertigo
Migraines
Although I’ve had ringing ears for decades, my ENT doesn’t think this was caused by Meniere’s, which, in his opinion, is a whole different reason why my ears ring.
Although we can’t be sure.
The medical profession doesn’t fully understand Meniere’s, in part because it’s such a rare disease. (Only 0.2 percent of the US population has it.)
So what does Meniere’s mean for me, besides ringing ears?
Hearing loss!
I’m going deaf in my right ear even faster than I was genetically destined to go deaf in that ear.
My dad and my Aunt Freda lived to be 87 and 94, respectively. In his last decade, my father definitely needed his hearing aid (although he continued to thrive as a psychoanalyst).
And Aunt Freda was deaf as a post.
Holiday dinners with the two of them weren’t tranquil. With dad, you had to SPEAK VERY LOUDLY…
