Disney and Meniere's Disease- anyone?

[spincandy]

Hi,

I'm just wondering if there are any fellow Meniere's Disers out there? I haven't yet met anyone sharing my condition- it would be great to find people out there who are!

I've had the condition for just over a year now and done Disney as a sufferer once and will be again very soon. I have to take it very slowly and always have my meds on me.. but find, if I'm careful, I can do most things. Have any of you guys out there done Disney on Meniere's?

Rach xx

 

[mechurchlady]

My friend long ago had Menierre's and was able to help it with manganese. She would get dizzy easy. I never did have it thankfully so I cannot help you. You should not have problems at the parks beyond what you experience at home. Some rides may make you really dizzy, even more than other people and you will have to test to see what your limits are. For my friend it was gettting up too fast that cause her a lot of problems.

 

[Earstou]

I don't have Meniere's, but that was one of the things they checked me for before they found my brain malformation (Chiari). Due to surgery for it, I'm now restricted from most wild rides, especially roller coasters. But when I was able to ride them, I would be very careful about going on the wild rides. Like I would only do one and wait a few hours before doing another, or save the wild ride for the end of the day. Before I was diagnosed, I rode BTMR a few times in a row. I nearly fell over about 10 minutes after the last ride because I became very dizzy. We ended up sitting for a long time, and then my dh helping me out of the park due to the dizziness.
Oh, and I don't go anywhere near the teacups!!!

 

[crashbb]

My dad has Meniere's Disease and the only ride that bothers him is, weirdly, the ferris wheel (of which there are none at Disney). I think that the disease effects everyone differently, so it may be a bit of 'guess-and-check', I'm afraid. I'll call my dad tonight and see if he has any other thoughts (i.e. problems that he just didn't mention to me when we were last there). I know, however, that hearing loss (rather than dizzy spells) are his main Meniere's symptom over the last few years, so that probably makes a difference.

 

[trekrider]

Spincandy:

I have been diagnosed with Meniere's for about 5 years now and have been to both Disneyworld and Disneyland since then.

I find that any ride that alters my sense of Gravity can be a problem. I avoid any roller coasters that invert and looking down can bring on attacks so even calm rides like Peter Pan can at times be a problem.

Like most Meniere's sufferers I have good days and bad and some days I can handle things, I love soaring over California but on a recent trip while attempting our third ride of the day I had to bail as I strapped in because I could feel the beginnings of an attack.

Similarly I once made the mistake of getting in a swinging car on the Ferris wheel at California Adventure (this was after a ride on the Mickey coaster, which loops not once but twice and the second one is backwards). Luckily the ride operators are attuned to people having problems on this ride and yelling stop as you approach the bottom gives the operator the chance to disembark you. Happily, I managed to keep my decorum(lunch) until I was able to disembark, my wife and son then finished the ride while i waited on what I am sure was firm, but to me was moving ground.

BTW - The Tower of Terror is right out.

That said my wife (toodycat) and I always find plenty to do in the parks even if I am having a bad day. I can't think of anything better than strolling down Mainstreet and catching some of the live bands or watching the parade.

As with you I bring my medications. I also monitor my salt intake as this seems to help - -This is especially important when eating in restaurants every day as I have little to no control of the salt in my food.

trekrider:

 

[mechurchlady]

OK now I am half awake, sigh, I got to do this board earlier in my day, lol.

http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/balance/meniere.asp

Basically the problem is that the ear is like a glass with water in it. Persons with menieres over react to some movement while others are hardly affected. Looking at a glass of water you see the pitch and roll cause the water to come out but yaw (turning in a circle but not up or down) has little effect on the water in the glass. The G-force of a loop coaster forces the water in the glass to stay in the glass. A ferris wheel has pitch which for some people can cause problems, try at home copying the motion of a ferris wheel while using a glass of water.

For my friend the sudden change of position cause her problem. A lot of science here to learn. As shown it varies from person to person. Also not every person with meniere's has the same cause. Some have too much liquid in the ear because of water retention associated with high salt diets. Some have some sort of damage in the ear. I will let you read that article for more science. yawn.