How to Explain Meniere's to an Outsider

When you suffer from an illness that is silent how do you explain it to others.  This is the hardest thing that people have to deal with.  Your love ones watch you and they know when it is bad.  They know when you are having moments guided by your illness, yet the rest of the world has no clue.

I have been trying to come up with a way to explain Meniere's to some of my friends and family for a long time.  When you tell them that you have vertigo they have a little understanding.  Yet, in most people's eyes vertigo comes and goes it isn't something that effects your whole way of life.  Yet for me this disease makes a lot of decisions that I would like to make but now can't

I believe I have a way of explaining the disease so that those that never suffer can have a taste of what we go through in a days times.  This would be a fun awareness idea.  The only way to explain the disease is to experience a good old fashioned vertigo attack.  To make it more fun add silence and a ringing in the ear like none other.

So here is the trick create a type of silent, vertigo, imbalance, ringing that will give a person a taste without getting hurt.  I also have added my idea of a visual stimuli that gives them that added piece of frustration that a lot of suffers deal with.

*Disclaimer if you have Meniere's the very thought of doing these task may turn your nonspinning day into a spinning day.  Also please don't do the below without asking someones permission.  If you do it and someone gets hurt it is all yours.  Most people will not have to do anything but read the instructions and understand a day in our life.

Steps

1. Place chair in middle of a soft floor mat
2. Person needs to sit in chair
3. Place head phone on person with a slow buzzing sound in one ear.
4. Place ear plug in other ear.
5. The person then should follow the instructions below as quickly as possible

• stand
• sit
• stand
• turn in a right circle
• sit
• stand
• turn in a left circle
• sit
• stand
• turn in a right circle
• turn in a left circle
• sit

1. Person now views the most obscure photo...eye art (here is one of my photo's for an example.)

The last step is let them take off the headphones and ear plug and walk a straight line.  *You may need to have a cane there to help keep them from falling.

Well this is the best way I have of explaining it to an outsider.  I have a feeling that if they follow these steps or just think about what it would do to them they would never question your spins again.

For those of you with Meniere's hope you head ain't spinning too much today.  I know just thinking through this steps gave me the spins.  I am ready to start my awareness campaign.  After some medicine and a very long nap.

For my fellow fighters keep on fighting and remember one day they will figure this out and we will have won.  Until then don't give up hope.  It is okay to rest on bad days,  but on the good days enjoy life to your fullest because you deserve it.    

There is so much more and remember this is something that I live with and am writing from my perspective.  Talk to a doctor if you feel you may have this or any other disease because without proper diagnosis you will never get the treatment you deserve.