menieresstrong

Let me just say this: Meniere's disease sucks . It really does, but there's nothing I can do about the fact that I have it. I can't make it go away, although I can manage it. There's no known cause for it, so I can't tell you what to do so you won't get it. In some cases it's hereditary, and in some cases a person's just shit out of luck. That's the wording my co-worker once used. She asked me, "So does it run in your family or were you just shit out of luck?" I was just shit out of luck. But... if I can't make it go away, why wouldn't I just try to live with it with the best of my ability? Meniere's disease has made my life better in many ways. I could live without the dizziness and especially the vertigo (which I don't get a lot anymore, thank goodness), and I hate it when I get pressure in my ear. But when it comes to my hearing loss, I find it the least of my worries. I got used to the idea of a hearing aid before I go...

My hearing has deteriorated so slowly that I never even realized it was happening. I knew it was happening, but as far as I'm concerned I hear just as well as I did five years ago. But... I really don't. I mean, I really  don't. Here's a picture of my very first audiogram back in 2012 when I'd never heard of Meniere's disease compared to an audiogram from July of 2016: The truth is, even after the latest audiogram I didn't feel as hard of hearing as I am on paper. My right ear being healthy naturally has a lot to do with why I feel that way, but still. I never noticed how bad my left ear had gotten. Every now and then I would pay attention to it and take advantage of certain aspects of my hearing loss, but I never thought about it any further. You know what I mean? I'm getting a hearing aid for my left ear sometime this spring, which ought to make things a bit easier for me, since I don't do so well in crowds, classrooms, and other noisy e...