Meniere’s Disease

Over 7 years ago I didn't work at all because I felt severely bad ALL THE TIME! I've struggled with vertigo/dizziness (panic attacks because of it) since I was 8 years old, I remember my first Vertigo attack after an extremely stressful family holiday (to cut a long story short my father is an alcoholic and manic depressive since I was 3 years old).  Suffice to say a lot of my childhood wasn't always pleasant. Over the years I've certainly had my fair share of health problems.  The past few weeks I've had a flare up of it all over again.  Most of the women in my family have had bouts of vertigo, my nana, mother, aunty, sister and cousin have all experienced it in varying degrees.

I've just been to see my doctor and he has confirmed what I always suspected is that I do have Meniere’s Disease (you can read about it here: http://vestibular.org/menieres-disease) simply put it is excess fluid in the inner ear and causes attacks of vertigo (spinning dizziness), nausea (sometimes vomiting) and leaves me incapacitated for hours and sometimes days on end– hence my issues with flying, boats, heights, lifts, escalators, elliptical machines, treadmills etc etc.. He explained about how the fluid volumes in the inner ear are affected by the hormonal and electrolyte balance of the fluids in the body. To restore function and overall manage my symptoms I need to keep my insulin levels low and as steady as possible. So the more consistent I can keep my insulin levels and my sodium levels the less fluctuation there will be in the fluid volume in my inner ears.

A couple of weeks ago I had a servere vertigo attack that lasted almost a week.  I used to get them all the time before I was primal and I had forgotten how bad I used to be and that recently I have taken my renewed health for granted. During the last 6 months I've not really been what I'd call Primal, more like a 50/50 approach (you can read about my latest post here: http://primaljourney.blogspot.co.nz/2013/07/everything-in-moderation.html) I've had a huge wake up call with regards to keeping myself healthy. 

When I eat Primal I'm about 80% free of these debilitating symptoms, the flare ups I generally have come when I've had a couple of days eating gluten, excess carbs and sugar. Also things like lack of sleep, stress and travel also exacerbate the symptoms. 

I have come to the realisation that for me personally I need to keep my carbs relatively low (50-80gms).  

It affects my neurological health and my ability to live a normal life.  I will always have Meniere's Disease as there is no cure but I can manage my symptoms with eating primal and keeping myself as healthy as possible.