Migraines and Meniere’s- What’s the Correlation?

If you have a chronic migraine condition, then you may be more likely to also suffer from Meniere’s disease, an inner ear disorder that is often comorbid with migraine headaches. Meniere’s disease causes dizziness, throbbing headaches, and ear ringing, symptoms that can easily be confused with a standard migraine attack.

What is Meniere’s disease?

Meniere’s disease is an inner ear condition that occurs to people between the ages of 40 and 60. With Meniere’s, excess fluid in the inner ear causes constant ear ringing, vertigo, nausea, vomiting, ear pain, and throbbing headaches.

As many of these symptoms also occur with migraines, Meniere’s can be overlooked when patients already experience frequent migraine attacks with aura, which in addition to dizziness and nausea can also cause stroke-like symptoms such as temporary partial paralysis, visual distortions, loss of consciousness, and speech slurring.

There is a high correlation between migraines and Meniere’s. You may notice that ear ringing sounds from tinnitus may get louder when you’re having a migraine attack.

Meniere’s disease may be caused by a virus, autoimmune condition, allergies, or genetics

Migraine Headaches and Dizziness- Stop the Ride, I want to get off!

What are the symptoms of Meniere’s disease?

Meniere’s disease symptoms are broken down into three basic categories:

1- Sporadic vertigo: spinning or rocking sensation, nausea, vomiting. Vertigo may last for several hours, but not usually longer than one day.

2- Sensorineural hearing loss: Hearing loss.

3- Tinnitus: Constant low-pitch ear ringing.

What’s the link between migraines and Meniere’s?

Migraines and Meniere’s disease are both neurological conditions. Scientists aren’t certain why migraine patients are more likely than others to develop Meniere’s or tinnitus, but they suggest that the correlation may result from neurological reactions to certain triggers in your environment.

Others believe that migraines and Meniere’s both occur from distorted communication between the blood vessels of the head and the brain.

Many researchers also suggest that tinnitus in migraine sufferers is a symptom of allodynia, a neuropathic pain disorder that also occurs with fibromyalgia, and causes hypersensitivity to touch, headaches, and ear ringing.