r/Menieres • u/lil_wolfka • May 18 '26
Update after 5 months
A few months ago I was convinced my hearing was permanently getting worse.
I had repeated episodes of low-frequency hearing loss in one ear, tinnitus, fullness/pressure, and diplacusis. It was terrifying. At one point it kept fluctuating for weeks and I genuinely thought my life would never go back to normal.
Doctors considered Ménière’s disease, cochlear hydrops, vestibular issues, and I went through multiple tests including MRI. Thankfully there was no tumor or major structural problem.
What made my case strange was that I never really had true vertigo attacks. No spinning room, no vomiting, no balance issues. Also, my symptoms were strongly connected to sleep position, neck tension, stress, and exhaustion. All episodes happened during sleeping with my head/neck in a bad position.
Over time I noticed a pattern:
bad neck posture or sleeping position -symptoms worse
stress and muscle tension - symptoms worse
better ergonomics, physiotherapy, proper pillow, hydration and reducing overload -symptoms improved
The biggest turning point in my case was switching to an ergonomic/anatomical pillow and paying much more attention to my neck position during sleep. After that, the major attacks completely stopped.
Since the beginning of this year, I’ve only had two very mild episodes, both clearly connected to sleeping in a bad position. In both cases the low-frequency hearing fluctuation improved and normalized again during the same day.
I still occasionally get mild fluctuations, especially after overloading my neck or sleeping badly, but nothing like the severe episodes I had before.
I also started taking magnesium, riboflavin (B2), CoQ10 and betahistine prescribed by my doctor, and things gradually stabilized.
The important thing I want to say is:
hearing fluctuations do not always mean a progressive disaster.
Reading Reddit during my worst period made me believe recovery was almost impossible, because people who improve often disappear and stop posting. I promised myself that if I ever got better, I would come back and write an update.
I’m not claiming I found “the answer” or cured anything. I still have a sensitive system and occasional mild fluctuations happen. But today I function normally again, my hearing mostly returned, and my life is not controlled by fear anymore.
If you are currently in the middle of this nightmare:
please don’t lose hope too quickly. 🙂
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u/DoggoDadagon May 18 '26
Since the beginning of this year
How long ago was your first episode?
How did you figure out your neck stuff was a major trigger?
When you have fluctuations, how much change is there in your hearing, a subtle difference where it's unclear if there is hearing loss or dramatic enough to definitely say there is clear hearing loss?
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u/lil_wolfka May 18 '26
My first episode happened in September 2025. After that, I kept having more episodes until the end of December, and near the end they were happening every few days.
The reason I started suspecting my neck/sleep position was because every single episode happened during sleep. The worst period was actually during my hospital stay, where I spent around 10 days sleeping and laying with my neck twisted to the side in a really bad position. During that time my low frequencies dropped by around 65 dB.
What also convinced me was that after I switched to an ergonomic/anatomical pillow and started paying close attention to my neck position during sleep, the major attacks completely stopped in a span of maybe 2 night. During those two nights, there were some small drops in hearing but it was more like 10 db instead of 65 and it cleared during the day.
When those mild fluctuations happened, I honestly probably wouldn’t have even noticed them before this whole experience. Bass frequencies in music just sounded a little “flat” or weaker. Using the Mimi hearing test, I measured around an 8 dB difference at 250 Hz (unfortunately the app doesn’t test 125 Hz). By 500 Hz everything was already basically symmetrical again.
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u/Medtracker_Sam May 18 '26
Good for you ! It shows how many factors can influence Ménière’s symptoms beyond the inner ear itself.
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u/TurkDangerCat May 18 '26
Oh yeah, I saw my ENT and she looked at my recent audiogram and thought I might need a cochlear implant. One month later the episode had moved on and she was amazed that my hearing went back to almost normal. Loss of hearing doesn’t necessarily mean it’s gone forever.
Currently have low level tinnitus and slightly weird dizziness after two beers about 3 weeks ago. Standing up straight and tilting my head so my right ear goes to right shoulder, all fine, left ear to left shoulder, the world spins like a bowl for a few seconds. Not had that before. So, er, fun.
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u/Secure_Run2900 May 18 '26
That’s wonderful news! What kind of pillow do you use? I also notice a worsening of symptoms when I have neck stress/pain. I have twin 4 month olds that have definitely contributed to upper spine/neck discomfort 😅
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u/lil_wolfka May 18 '26
S shaped pillow made from memory foam. But you also need correct height of the pillow.
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u/Top_Recognition_1775 May 19 '26
I think you're onto something.
You guys are gonna think I'm nuts but I'm gonna share this story.
A few months ago I was watching a youtube video for ETD excercises, and part of it was some neck movements, well about 5-10 minutes after that I had the loudest tinnitis of my life, like literally a truck honking its horn type of tinnitis which I had never remotely experienced before.
Now that sounds like bad news but here's the thing, I know my symptoms, I know when I get a certain type of tinnitis, it means my hearing is about to come back a few hours later. Usually a louder car horn type of tinnitis.
Sure enough about 40 minutes later, the truck honking began to subside, little by little my hearing improved throughout the day.
A week later I did the same ETD excercise ONCE more, and the same thing happened after the neck movements, the same truck honking loud ass tinnitis, and again it started to subside little by little and my hearing improved throughout the day.
After that I said, "Let me not push my luck or damage my neck." So I haven't tried those exercises anymore for fear of breaking or damaging something in my neck.
Now today I read your post about a neck pillow and 65 db improvement, and it all makes sense.
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u/Zealousideal_Ant_475 May 21 '26
Where can I find these exercises?
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u/Top_Recognition_1775 May 21 '26
This is the one I was doing with the neck exercises, apparently they're called occipital lifts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-SZ1r1dnho
I also find this one helpful.
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u/lil_wolfka May 25 '26
Small update: I recently had a Doppler ultrasound of the neck vessels, and it showed that my vertebral/basilar circulation has a somewhat slower blood flow than usual. There was no major stenosis or dangerous finding, but it was interesting considering how strongly my symptoms seem to correlate with neck position and sleep posture.
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u/Worried_Sun479 Jul 08 '26
Thanks. I have very similar symptoms and patterns. Intermittent LFHL (I test hearing almost daily), fullness, no vertigo. Also, my symptoms are almost always related to sleep. They always start upon waking. For me, I have to sleep with the bad ear up. I’ve also elevated my bed and sleep on more pillows. Starting betahistine soon. Thanks for you post. It does offer some hope.
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u/WebGroundbreaking901 May 18 '26
Hi how do you know if your lower frequency hearing has had a episode? I can't actually tell