Ate May and I were having lunch a few months ago in Quezon City – when she suddenly complained of extreme headache and vertigo. I had to literally drag her to the car to get her to her home.
The following day, after much research and phone calls – we headed to the Hearing and Dizziness Center in University of Santo Tomas.
My sister has been plagued with migraine and dizzying episodes since we were kids. And its just now that her symptoms has become worse and debilitating.
It turns out that she has Ménière’s syndrome/ disease. What is exactly is Ménière’s disease?
Ménière’s disease is an abnormality of the inner ear causing a host of symptoms, including vertigo or severe dizziness, tinnitus or a roaring sound in the ears, fluctuating hearing loss, and the sensation of pressure or pain in the affected ear. The disorder usually affects only one ear and is a common cause of hearing loss. Named after French physician Prosper Ménière who first described the syndrome in 1861.
There are a myriad of causes for the symptoms to appear. But for my sister the following triggers her Ménière’s syndrome:
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Too much salty foods.
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Too much sweet.
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Cola’s, coffee, tea and chocolate (CAFFEINE)
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Alcohol.
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Too much wheat and gluten in bread.
Ate asked me to research on this again because it seems my brother’s girlfriend also suffers from it. Food allergies is one of the risk factors in this disease.
Food and skin allergies run in our family. Ate May’s daughter suffers from Skin allergies, while my nephew in Vegas is allergic to peanuts. And being on the internet the whole day, I stumbled on Jan’s blog – her son also has food allergies (and not just one type of food – but a LOT of them). She prepares his food all the time because a cross contamination may cause their son to have an attack.
And I just learned from her blog that there is NO CURE for it. Ate May asked me to research if there was a treatment or a drug that can cure allergies – apparently there is none 
