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Meniere's Australia encourages contact between people who have Meniere's. Knowing how others have experience and coped with Meniere's can help you feel less alone. However please note that the advice, opinions and information given in, or implied by these personal stories remain those of the stories' authors and are not in any way endorsed by MA.
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 Meniere's and Grommets
In 2005 I had several bouts of what we thought was food poisoning. Each time it happened was after we had eaten out, and even though we often had eaten the same dishes, I experienced dizziness, nausea and diarrhoea and needed to adjourn to bed for the rest of the night. It seemed strange, but we thought maybe I was just a bit more susceptible than my husband to different foods!
By 2006 these episodes were becoming more frequent and they were most unpleasant, so off I went to the GP. Unfortunately our GP was away so I saw a locum, who told me that I probably had a touch of vertigo and he prescribed Stemetil, assuring me I would be fine within a couple of days. This just didn’t happen.
‘Meniere's – I’d never heard of it’
So back I went to our GP, explained the situation, he did a few preliminary tests and said he thought I should have a hearing test as he was concerned, that rather than vertigo maybe I had early Meniere's symptoms.
Meniere's – I’d never heard of it. The tests confirmed the GP’s diagnosis and he put me on Serc and referred me to a specialist here on the Gold Coast. At this stage my daughter got lots of information from the internet, and she joined me up to this support group - MSGV. We read everything we could, trying to learn more about the challenges of Meniere's.
The specialist was supportive and he also gave me lots of literature to increase my knowledge; he kept me on Serc and for a while life went on and I started to feel more confident again.
Then the attacks became much more frequent. On checking my diary I realised that these episodes were following a pattern. From the time I started noting the attacks, they were twenty eight days apart, then twenty five days, and so with ever decreasing time between attacks.
It got down to 12 days between attacks and by then I was not comfortable driving my car as I could not predict when I would suddenly be incapacitated again. Each attack seemed more severe and prolonged, and I would take days getting over them.
‘...I decided to try the grommet’
Eventually I saw the specialist again and he talked about the various ways of managing Meniere's so that life could go on – I was feeling so low that I really didn’t think there was any point. He suggested inserting a grommet (see below) into my ear (only one ear is affected at present). We discussed the benefits of this over the various other alternatives and I decided to try the grommet.
He was able to insert it into my ear immediately, and from then on life came back to normal for me. I did not have one attack whilst the grommet was in place. Apparently it minutely opens the ear canal and allows the pressures to adjust. I was able to gradually stop taking Serc, and life was great again.
Unfortunately the grommet dislodged after about 6 months, and for the next 3 months all was well until the tiny hole sealed over, and then I had the worst attack I had ever had.
We had a 3 month overseas holiday planned, and both my husband and I were quite devastated. So off the specialist again, and this time a slightly stronger grommet was inserted. We had the most wonderful holiday, and absolutely no problems with all the flying involved.
Currently this second grommet has now been with me for 9 months – 9 months of normal life, no Meniere's attacks.
So far in this journey with Meniere's I have not met anyone who actually has Meniere's, but I keep hearing from friends of their friends and some of their troubles. I understand that grommets are not all that common, but my specialist told me that about 75% of his Meniere's patients greatly benefit from them, and I am certainly one of those lucky people at the moment.
Gai - MSGV member
What's a grommet?
A grommet is a tiny plastic tube inserted into the ear drum (tympanic membrane) to equalise air pressure between the outer ear and the middle ear. This is a minimal surgical procedure conducted with either local or general anesthesia.  Professor Gibson states that for some people with Meniere’s disease this can partly relieve some of the symptoms such as the feeling of aural fullness and lessen the frequency of the attacks of vertigo [1].
Usually grommets cause no discomfort while in place. The healing ability of the eardrum is so great that it usually pushes the tube out in 6 to 12 months, leaving the drum intact [2].
Dr Timothy Hain notes on Dizziness and Balance website that: “There is a mixed literature about implantation of ventilation tubes (grommets) for Meniere's disease. It may be another placebo treatment, but it is easily done and generally harmless too.” [3]
In the 2006 MSGV Members Survey we asked participants if they had undergone surgery for their Meniere’s symptoms and whether they considered it successful, and whether they would recommend it to others.
In total 94 people responded. 21of them had grommets inserted and/or a Meniett device with 94% considering them successful and they would recommend it to others [5].
Web site references
Information about grommets was sourced from the following sites:
[1] http://www.healthinsite.gov.au/expert/Meniere_s_Disease
[2] http://www.mydr.com.au/default.asp?Article=3205
[3] http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/symptoms/etdysfunction.htm
]4] http://www.petube.org/Lbw/procedure6.asp - photo of grommet (above)
[5] http://www.menieres.org.au/papers.htm
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Past stories
Low Salt Diet and Life Journeys
The Silent Terrorist
Thoughts on the Traralgon Tinnitus Seminar
Living a Full Life with Meniere's
The Honest Truth - Scott's story
Trouble Getting a Diagnosis - A Young Mum's Experience with Meniere's
Kim's Diagnosis Reaction
Meg's Story
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