The saga begins: I had finished cleaning the spa in the back yard when my wife asked me if I wanted to go to the outdoor concert at the park in Camarillo. I said no, that I was feeling poorly and my left ear hurt and was stuffed up and I didn’t want to sit in the cold. Cold has always made my ears hurt. I thought I just had an ear full of wax so I made an appointment to see my ear, nose and throat doctor, Robert Bayer, the next day.

Dr. Bayer looked in my ears and then did a couple of things and I said, "Just clean out the wax and I’ll be out of here." He looked at me in a rather severe way and said, "There is no wax in your ear.  It’s clear". Between his expression and the tone of his voice I gathered something was wrong. I responded with, "This isn’t going to be easy is it?" He said, "No." And that started the long saga for relief.

I took all the testing I could imagine. My hearing was, of course, checked against a baseline that he had done some years ago and no appreciable loss was noted. I had the balance test, an MRI, an evoked response test by an audiologist, a test with some flashing lights and one test in which the technician handed me a bucket to vomit into in case I needed it. I didn’t, but wanted to. Dr. Bayer put me on meclizine and diuretic but I didn’t get much relief. By now the symptoms had gone from stuffy ear to dizziness, tinnitus, nausea and I was having difficulty hearing. My audiologist prescribed a phone for the hearing impaired and that helped a lot in that regard. The meclizine knocked me out but relieved the symptoms somewhat. I lost weight and was barely functional.

At this point Dr. Bayer referred me to the House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles to see a Dr. Antonio De la Cruz. Dr. De la Cruz confirmed the earlier diagnosis and put me on a lower dose of meclizine, more diuretic and some severe dietary restrictions - mainly low salt. I refused the shunt surgery he suggested until I was satisfied that a non-surgical regimen wasn’t going to control the symptoms. I was feeling better and managed to be able to get to work teaching at the college. I had to use a walking stick from time to time and was unable to drive occasionally. My psychological state was very poor. I thought, "Is this it for the rest of my life?"

Fortunately I found the Vestibular Disorders Association on the net and read a booklet they provide on the psychological effects of vestibular disorders. I also was able to attend a Rehabilitation Group at UCLA run by Majorie Harris that was of tremendous help during this time. I learned a great deal from fellow sufferers but mostly got encouragement to continue seeking a cure or at least control. Ms. Harris is a wonderful, caring person who spreads herself too thin to help as many people as she can with vestibular disorders.

I was surviving but not living a very full life until the spring of 1996 when the roof caved it. During the last week of March I was totally disabled. I was off work for six weeks, unable to drive and could only get around with the aid of a walking stick. I had all the classic symptoms in spades. Back to the House Ear Clinic for help! Dr. De la Cruz diagnosis was, "Bilateral Meniere’s but that’s not necessarily all bad." "Oh great!", I thought. "He’s lost his mind!" He continued to say that at their clinic they have experienced that a large percentage of people with bilateral Meniere’s are found to have allergies as the root cause.

I was "shipped off" to Dr. Derebery (pronounced deerberry), the clinic’s resident allergist. I started classic allergy testing. First I was a pincushion for the airborne allergens and then food allergies. The testing took about a month and I found out that I was allergic to the usual airborne allergens and to the foods wheat, corn, eggs and yeast. That was all news to me. I started the weekly injections for the airborne allergens and a food exclusion and rotation diet for the foods. I was provided with a computer printout of how to rotate foods and for twelve weeks I had no eggs, corn, yeast or wheat or products from them. At the same time I had to rotate all the other foods in my diet so no one food was consumed more than every three of four days. Also, coffee and caffeinated foods were forbidden. That took the summer and into the fall but I felt GREAT! I was mostly symptom free and had unbounded energy.

I wasn’t cured but I was psychologically very much better off and functional and able to work a full schedule. At the end of the twelve-week period I then had to "challenge" the four foods that were being excluded. I ate portions of each on successive weekends according to the instructions given and found I could tolerate eggs and yeast but not corn and wheat. I was at least down to two foods to exclude but had to wait another six weeks to test again. 

In February of 1997 I tested wheat again and got the same result, malaise, nausea, unsteadiness (I don’t spin anymore - I think my brainstem has quit trying to interpret those incoming, anomalous signals.) and a tremendous urge to sleep which I did the rest of the afternoon and evening. The next morning those symptoms had subsided but I had severe hyperacusis (extreme sensitivity to sound).

I challenged corn in mid March and had minimal symptoms to none at all. That means I can have corn and corn products in my diet but no more often than every three of four days. That’s better than nothing. Corn is the hardest food to avoid because its products are in so many things. For the most part I don’t eat any processed foods anymore. A web site called Avoiding Corn has been a tremendous help. 

UPDATE AUGUST 1998: I am now virtually symptom free. I can tolerate eggs, yeast and corn in normal amounts in my diet. The remaining culprit is wheat. I can have wheat once or twice a week spaced 3 or 4 days apart and suffer no symptoms. If I eat too much wheat the first symptom is the hyperacusis mentioned above. I no longer have spinning vertigo. I do have tinnitus but no more than I did 12 years ago before the Meniere's symptoms began.

I have now taken the allergy shots for two years and will continue to do so as long as necessary. I take one shot every two weeks which is a help.

UPDATE MARCH  2000: Except for indulging in too much wheat from time to time I am feeling quite well.  When I have too much wheat the first symptom is tinnitus followed by hyperacusis (extreme sensitivity to loud sounds).  I don't spin anymore or, at least, haven't in four years.  Also, a general feeling of malaise sets in which one person who wrote me described as, "The fog rolling in".  That's a perfect description.  My hearing has stabilized but I carry custom made ear plugs so I can attend my sons' jazz concerts.

I am continuing to take the allergy shots every other week.  We had a really bad allergy season this year before the rains came and I purchased two room air cleaners of the HEPA variety and I wake up much clearer than I used to and it cured my wife's snoring.  I hope she doesn't read this.  The air cleaners were purchased based on Dr. Derebery's advice.

If you’ve read this far I thank you. I hope it has helped. I want to say that my family has been supportive and understanding. At times it has been hard on them, living with a hearing impaired person who can’t eat hardly anything. My wife, Debi, has attempted to cook things that we could all eat and that is greatly appreciated. I cook as well and have developed some tasty dishes and discovered Trader Joe’s here in southern California. Trader Joe’s has many salt-free items such as nuts which is a staple for me.

Email me if you want to share experiences but please don’t ask for medical advice. I’m the wrong kind of doctor!