Majjic
Sun, Jun-13-04, 13:04
I was diagnosed with Menieres Syndrome about 5 or 6 years ago. It's an inner ear/balance disorder caused by excessive fluid in the inner ear. It causes severe vertigo, tinnitus, 'fullness' of the ear and progressive deafness.
It doesn't sound like much but most people end up being unable to work or live a normal life. Imagine being really, really drunk and then going on a fairground ride where you're spun around. Now imagine being in that state for for hours or even days on end and that's how bad it can get. Also imagine having an alarm bell or a bee buzzing in the ear all the time, but sometimes it's so loud that you can't hear anything else. Also imagine feeling like you want to constantly pop your ears but you can't, but it's so painful you would seriously consider bursting your eardrum with a knitting needle to relieve the pressure. The disease can be so severe that those with severe symptoms end up having their inner ear removed surgically.
Luckily I'm not that bad although it has been getting worse over the last couple of weeks. I noticed that when I started Atkins my symptoms practically went away. Since I've started introducing more carbs (and, I have to admit, they're bad carbs - spuds, pasta, bread), my symptoms are coming back on a mission, and have in fact gotten worse.
This could be a coincidence. Meniere's is a bit like a time bomb with a faulty clock - you never know when an attack is going to hit you. But I do find this really interesting and will experiment further.
According to another website a sizeable proportion of Meniere's sufferers reported a definite or noticable improvement in their condition after starting the Atkins Diet. Anyone interested in this (admittedly very small research) can find out more at:-
http://oto.wustl.edu/men/diet.htm
It doesn't sound like much but most people end up being unable to work or live a normal life. Imagine being really, really drunk and then going on a fairground ride where you're spun around. Now imagine being in that state for for hours or even days on end and that's how bad it can get. Also imagine having an alarm bell or a bee buzzing in the ear all the time, but sometimes it's so loud that you can't hear anything else. Also imagine feeling like you want to constantly pop your ears but you can't, but it's so painful you would seriously consider bursting your eardrum with a knitting needle to relieve the pressure. The disease can be so severe that those with severe symptoms end up having their inner ear removed surgically.
Luckily I'm not that bad although it has been getting worse over the last couple of weeks. I noticed that when I started Atkins my symptoms practically went away. Since I've started introducing more carbs (and, I have to admit, they're bad carbs - spuds, pasta, bread), my symptoms are coming back on a mission, and have in fact gotten worse.
This could be a coincidence. Meniere's is a bit like a time bomb with a faulty clock - you never know when an attack is going to hit you. But I do find this really interesting and will experiment further.
According to another website a sizeable proportion of Meniere's sufferers reported a definite or noticable improvement in their condition after starting the Atkins Diet. Anyone interested in this (admittedly very small research) can find out more at:-
http://oto.wustl.edu/men/diet.htm