Meniere’s disease is a rare disorder of the inner ear. It can cause episodes of extreme dizziness and a feeling of spinning. These episodes can be so severe that the person cannot stand up without falling down. The spinning that comes with Meniere’s disease occurs without warning and can include rapid involuntary eye movement. This limits a person’s ability to work, drive, and participate in physical activities. These episodes come and go and can happen weeks to years apart. Meniere’s affects most people in stages and the symptoms get worse over time.In the early stage, individuals will have sudden onsets of spinning and occasional hearing loss after these episodes. In its early stage, hearing usually will return once an episode stops. In the middle stage of the disease, symptoms of spinning become less severe but ringing in the ears and loss of hearing increase. In this stage, many people can experience long periods of time with no signs at all. The late stage of Meniere’s includes a progression of hearing loss and ear ringing. In this stage, spinning often subsides but loss of balance becomes a regular occurrence. Learn more about signs of Meniere’s disease below.
