Health A-Z

Medical Content Created by the Faculty of the
Harvard Medical School

Meniere's Disease

Symptoms

The symptoms of Meniere's disease vary considerably from person to person. Some patients experience a cluster of attacks for a few weeks followed by years of relief, and other patients experience symptoms regularly for years.

A person with Ménière's disease may experience any or all of these symptoms:

• Vertigo and dizziness, often so severe that it is temporarily disabling. There may be a sense that the room is spinning, twisting or rocking. Balance can be severely affected. The sensation can last from a few minutes to several hours. After the vertigo goes away, a sense of imbalance can remain for hours or days.

• Nausea and vomiting during an episode of vertigo.

• A feeling of pressure or fullness in the affected ear.

• Ringing, buzzing or other noises in the affected ear (tinnitus). This ringing is often low-pitched and may distort normal sounds.

• Hearing loss that comes and goes, but gets progressively worse over time. Low-pitched hearing often is affected earlier in the disease.