MS or Meniere's?

Hello, I'm new to this forum. I have posted on the IBS forum before. I am a 40 year old female. A few months ago I woke up with a pounding headache, fullness and ringing in my left ear, neck ache and tingling in my left hand (pinky and ring finger)..some strange tingles on the outsides of my feet. I put off the tingling, I have neck and back issues, so I thought that was it. Anyway, I thought my headache and ear problem was a sinus infection, as I felt the pain in my sinuses....I went to the doctor and she prescribed an antibiotic. While my headache seemed to go away, my ear problem did not. All this time I am also having some dizziness, and nausea. After two weeks I went back to the doctor and she referred me to an ENT. I saw the ENT who thought *inner ear* could be viral, or benign tumor....or MS. I told him my mother has Meniere's Syndrome and we decided to test for it. My hearing test indicated I cannot hear low tones. He put me on a water pill and low sodium diet (which I didnt follow :-/ ) and told me to come back in a month, we would retest the hearing and then see if I needed an MRI.

During this month I have had terrible anxiety over this. Every little twinge my body gives me is scaring the hell out of me. I have had some headaches that seemed to ache in my eye (left or right), some visual disturbances like sensitivity to light, some shimmers of light, and floaties...(sounds like Migraine?). I also have TMJ which causes my neck and shoulder to go out, and some tingling in my hand...left side..I visited my chiropractor and have since seen the tingling diminish...it also goes away if i change positions.

The dizziness and nausea went away after i started taking the water pill, although the last few days I have had to be careful about turning around too fast. I dont seem to have "balance" issues....and if i did that could really be explained by the TMJ or Meniere's. But I also can get little waves of weirdness that I seem to only notice when I am sitting at the computer or watching tv....I have had that for a long time, and it comes and goes.....but generally I just have a weird vibe, a strange feeling going on in my body. Just off, I guess.....

Today I went to see my doctor and my hearing improved slightly, but not enough. He truly believes this is Meniere's, but he wants an MRI to be sure. I suppose it's protocol. It's how you diagnose ...you rule things out. I am very scared that something has invaded my body that I cant get rid of....I have my MRI next week.

I dont know if this is MS or not, but I just wanted to reach out to anyone who'll read this that might have words of encouragement or wisdom. Maybe someone who's had a story like mine, or heard of this kind of thing...just waking up with it one day.

Thank you so much for taking a look.

Thanks Gretchen1. I really appreciate your post. You've lifted my spirits.

You're right. Things have improved or gotten better...all but the hearing....and the recent headaches...that could also be anxiety, tension headache, etc....I'm possibly doing that to myself....boy that makes me mad! no one else to blame! LOL

Oh I know I was just kidding, i'm not blaming myself..... Just trying to throw a little sarcasm at my chaos! LOL I hope i didnt scare anyone!

I really do have serious anxiety issues that I have dealt with for years...I have yet to find medication to help....Thank you

Daisybrown, I was wondering how you were doing and what your diagnosis turned out to be?