mueniers disease,veritigo and allergic reactions

My father suffers from Mueniers disease and vertigo and is currently taking CIRC. He has had many attacks that leave him nauseaous and unable to stand. Everything starts to spin and he becomes incapacitated. These attacks are random. He also has a pace maker and takes high blood pressure medication. He is 79 and other wise in very good health.

He has recently noticed that if he did not drink alcohol he would not have as many attacks and felt much better. He is not a regular drinker nor does he consume alot of alcohol, so please don't get the wrong idea.

I would like to know if there is some ingredient in beer or wine that would interfere with CIRC or cause him to have these attacks? Is this an allergic reaction? The quality of his life is very poor and is very distressing to me. He no longer drives and is choosing to stay at home because he is afraid of having an attack. Recently he went shopping and as he walked from the car to the shopping center he had an attack and blacked out momentarily. He fell on his side and injured himself quite badly.

He has seen many specialists but they really can't help him. very little research is done on Mueniers and other than CIRC, there doesn't seem to be any other medication.

Do you think a special diet may improve his condition? Do you have any links to other websites or more information?
Thank you
Joanne

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello Joanne,
It is generally seen that alcohol, sedatives, and tranquilizers can increase the drowsiness of meclizine and should be avoided while taking it.So pls ask your father to abstain from it.Alcohol allergy presents in the form of hives,flushing,swelling,itching,dizziness,vomitings,respiratory difficulty etc. It is usually not the alcohol that produces the allergic reaction to the wine or beer. The other ingredients in the alcohol, such as yeast, sulfur dioxide, and additives are often the culprits.I don’t think that your father is having any symptoms of alcohol allergy.

Various other modalities of treatment of meniere’s disease is there.They include medicines like lorazepam,compazine,zofran and decadron  and surgical management of meniere’s disease.

Pls limit the intake of salt in your father’s diet.Also avoid alcohol,caffeine and nicotine.Avoid taking stress as it can precipitate attacks of vertigo.Yow can log on to the following websites which will provide you with good information about this disease.

http://www.menieresinfo.com/treatment.html

http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/menieres/menieres.html

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted on how your father is doing.