As I detailed below, the level and frequency of my symptoms increased in Dec/Jan of '04.
When I visited my doctor's they recommended the next step as endo sac surgery (of which there are several types - I'll detail which they thought was best) or they said I could try the Meniett Box. Although they wouldn't make any guarantees about the Meniett and they said they are unsure why it works and don't feel the full weight of evidence is behind it yet.
The endo sac surgery being recommended by the House Ear Clinic was not your typical endo sac decompression or shunt. Rather, they have begun to believe that the sac itself may contain some of the cells responsible for causing the excess fluid build it up that they believe is the cause of symptoms in idiopathic endolymphatic hydrops version of Menieres (which is what they believe I have). As a result, while they do put a shunt in the surgeon told me he also typically scars the endo sac up quite a bit while he is in there in an attempt to destroy the cells he believes are causing some or all of the fluid production.
I had never heard of this version of endo sac surgery before. While the surgeon I spoke to is claiming 75% success rates anecdotally with this approach, he has not published a study on it. If he is right and the offending cells are located in the sac, and destruction/scarring of the sac will destroy those cells that is quite a find! But, at this point I believe it is only a guess (though a highly educated one) on his part.
I also purchased a book that discussed in detail the pro's and con's of endo sac surgeries (published in 1998) called "Treatment Options for Meniere's Disease, Endolymphatic Sac Surgery Do It or Don't Do It" by Arenberg and Graham. Got it for 10 bucks on eBay. The long shot of the book is lots of really smart ear doc's don't agree about the effectiveness of the surgery.
Two studies with in the last year show good results in testing the Meniett device and anecdotal evidence I've collected from menieres posting groups, etc... is also very positive for many people on the device. More people seem to be happy with that vs surgery, at least at first.
The Meniett is not thought to help everyone, but neither does endo sac decompression. I figured if I was going to start something new it should be the thing the doesn't require anyone cutting my inner ear open.
So on May 9th, I am starting the Meniett. I'll post here what I think of it, what it feels like to use it and if I have any correlating increase or decrease in symptoms.
I am ALSO getting thorough allergy testing done and as indicated by my doctor I am going to start allergy desensitization shots. These seemed to help me in the past, and allergy mitigation is starting to show a lot of promise in decreasing the severity and frequency of Meniere's symptoms on patients who have allergies.
