In February 2018 I had a serious fall and hit my head hard on the pavement.
I was in hospital for 2 days having tests. Since that time I've had v. bad tinnitus, dizziness, extreme tiredness. My Rheumy says my PMR is OK at the moment, but could these symptoms be Menier's Disease? Comments welcome.
Greenheath
I assume you had a severe concussion at the time? That can leave traces for some considerable time. I think you perhaps need to see the consultant you saw at the time for an assessment. They aren't typical of PMR but could be typical of post-concussion syndrome - and that can last for some months.
No, I was not concussed. In fact, I amazed myself that I could think and speak very clearly following the accident. My head was stitched in 3 places, but concussion was not the issue. The tinnitus has definitely worsened since the accident. It is continuous and loud.
I was sent to an audiologist who did all the tests and then said 'there's nothing you can do for tinnitus. Join the tinnitus society on the internet.' Oh dear.
Greenheath
Not much of an audiologist - there are things that can be done to mitigate the effects of the tinnitus including hearing aids that produce white noise so it masks the irritating tones.
It is possible for the effects of concussion not to appear for some time - and it may not have been apparent while you were in hospital. I still think you need medical advice about it:
These sound like signs of concussion. I hope you are taking things very easy and avoiding situations where you may damage your brain while you heal - eg, not a good idea to run or jog or perform activities which can jar the brain
Thanks for your post. No, I was not concussed. I spoke and thought very clearly after I fell. I am certainly taking things easy. I have no option because I'm SO tired all the time. I don't run or jog - haven't the energy for anything like that. I checked the Meniere's website and all my symptoms seem to match.
Greenheath
I can see why you’re worried because it is muddy water for making a diagnosis. You don’t have to have to have problems with thinking and speaking to have concussion. However, did everyone else think you were thinking and speaking clearly? Shock can make one feel as sharp as a pin as well as the opposite. The fact that your problems started with the fall suggest it is that. My daughter who is 17 hit her head on our granite worktop (long story, involved a dog) in March. She was lucid and wasn’t knocked out but for 8 weeks she had dizziness, motion sickness type nausea, headaches, extreme fatigue, tinnitus and foggy short term memory. She still gets minor episodes when she’s tired and still can’t bear any pressure on her skull where the impact was. I’ve seen people with problems months later after minor head injury, some with a couple of symptoms and some with the full house including depression. Whatever it is, I hope it improves soon; not having an end date makes it harder.
Well, I'm not inside your body, but the symptoms you describe are definitely symptoms of concussion and symptoms can appear even two or three weeks after the injury. The good thing is these should gradually subside.
Hi Greenheath. I have Menieres as well as PMR. It hasn’t been active for many years but I am left with deafness, tinnitus and minor balance problems. Your symptoms don’t sound like Menieres. A Menieres attack will render you helpless. It is characterised by rotational vertigo which knocks you to your knees and makes you vomit violently. I also had diarrhoea as well as vomiting when an attack struck. The room can be spinning round and round for hours on end. It is a horrible disease. Your symptoms don’t sound like Menieres.
Liz.
Main feature of meniere's disease is long vertigo attacks between 2 and 24 hours. Its not really a helpful diagnosis because it doesn't mean anything much in medical terms, it just means "you have those symptoms in that pattern". Its a bit like IBS, a diagnosis might help, but its never really IBS - there's always an underlying cause.
Whatever it is, like any disease, the best approach is to try to increase circulation to that part of your body, and equally to reduce inflammation in that part of the body. In practice you have to remove "that part of the body" and the only really useful things you can do are eat a healthy diet, not expose yourself to more viruses or bacteria, relax and reduce stress, and try to take as much exercise as possible.
Meniere's typically takes 2 or more years to settle down, so there is hope 
Very often we want a diagnosis so we know what we're dealing with, but its a double edged sword - meniere's is often a wrong diagnosis, and so little is known about it that there's no treatment. Once you have that diagnosis doctors are not interested.
There's one guy selling a vaccine for about $30,000 or so, but its not tested or medically validated in any way, and you can't really tell whether it works or not because in most cases meniere's settles down by itself anyway.
The biggest pitfall with meniere's is anxiety. Its not like normal anxiety where its brought about by worry or unhelpful/repetitive thoughts, its brought on automatically within your mind and there really isn't a lot you can do about it other than recognise that this is happening and try to be strong. Going to visit some counsellor with big sympathetic eyes won't do much for you if this happens
Just my twopence worth, I hope it settles down for you.
BTW this is my first post here - hello xx
To add to the others’ comments. My Grandmother had Meniers and she was mostly fine in between but had awful attacks where the room wouldn’t stay still and she would have vomiting and diarrhoea, unable to get to the toilet because she was helplessly unsteady. When the attack was over, it was back to normal.
Just to add to the others - just because you could speak and think clearly doesn't mean you didn't get concussed. I don't know if my story might help. I narrowly missed an accident on the highway a few years ago. I managed to stop short on the grass next to the pile-up. Afterwards we went on our way to Boston where we walked around for three days. Then my neck started to really bother me and I went to the doctor. Diagnosed with whiplash only. But I was miserable- more tired when I woke up than when I went to bed, making math mistakes, crabby. A second doctor said "what do you expect with a concussion?" When I replied that I hadn't hit my head and was told no, he replied that if I snapped my head back and forth enough to change the curve of my neck, what did I think happened to my brain banging about inside my skull?" Funny thing was I never really had head pain. 6-8 weeks later the symptoms had disappeared.
I think a second look by a doctor is warranted. Whether it's from the fall or not, you have new symptoms and they deserve a good look and some advise. The fatigue may be because when the brain is healing at night you don't get quality rest. Sometimes you can get crystals in your ear canal that can cause symptoms. There are exercises you can do to get them to move. I'm not sure if it would help both the dizziness and the tinnitus.
Good luck, rest and I hope you feel better soon.
I agree with the folks who suggest you have had a concussion. One does not need to be "knocked out" to experience the effects of trauma to the brain.
I once heard a pathologist describe the head as a rigid box with a blob of jello (the brain) inside. Any blow or violent movement to/of the head causes that blob of jello to bash back and forth in the rigid skull. You can well imagine the damage caused as the brain bangs into the hard surface.
I sustained a concussion from a stumble while getting up off the floor. I lost my balance and hit the edge of the table. I had no visible injury, no cut ,
No stitches.
My doc called it a brain bruise, and even though I had no indication of intracranial bleeding, I still had severe effects for months post injury.
My effects were foggy thinking, head ache, trouble focusing and organizing my thoughts, dizziness, tinnitis, impaired balance.
Symptoms all resolved over a period of 12 months.
So much for my experience.
Hi Greenheath,
I am going through the same two weeks now and Counting. If you have had Audiology hearing tests, that would confirm or rule out Menieres disease. There are three causes for vertigo with benign position accounting for 80% the kind you hear about that says to put the crystals back into place in your ear. The type I deal with, two of the four causes, called Labyrinthitis. Labyrinthitis causes dizziness or a feeling that you're moving when you aren't. ...
and Vestibular neuronitis. Menieres accounts for less than 1% of diagnoses. Hope this gives you a starting point. Feel better. I have a PT evaluation in a week. My symptoms are very severe and not responding to meclizine and Zofran what's your rarely used together even out of double dose for each. I'm miserable. And it's time to see my Rheumy for another taper. NOT happening while I feel like He's not going to be pleased. It was already put off another month because of my very out of whack thyroid level. It's always something it seems.
Janet
#lori-el hey greenheath, how long has it been since you hit your head? Was the fall an accident that happened or was it caused by a medical condition? If it was an accident it could just (and I don’t mean the word just to belittle it) I mean it could be a severe concussion which can take as long as a year depending on its severity.
Hopefully it’s not anything else more sinister. A concussion is plenty to deal with at its most severe. You need to see the consultant to be checked over for it. Then at least you’ll know. Just sounds more likely with the timing of the onset of issues. Lori-el
PMR, Probiotics and digestive diseases
Is it or is it not PMR
PMR myth busting #2 - that PMR is an older woman's disease
Small vessel disease relagionship to GCA and PMR
Forum for Meniere's for Friend
