The reason I'm asking is because my sister was recently diagnosed with Labyrinthitis, which (from what I understand) is an inflammation within the inner ear. Vertigo (dizziness) is the main symptom, but it can also cause nausea, vomiting, and malaise. Here is an article I found online about labyrinthitis, in case anyone is interested.
http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic290.htm
I took my sister to the ER because she was so dizzy and nauseated. As the doctor described Labyrinthitis, I kept thinking about how similar it is to HG! He said that when Labyrinthitis is extreme, the patient has to be hospitalized. Sometimes patients are so sick that they cannot open their eyes or roll over in bed without nausea and vomiting.
This is how I felt when I had HG. I had to lay down in a dark room without any kind of movement or stimulation, because it made the nausea and vomiting worse.
Anyway, after he described the symptoms of Labyrinthitis, he gave my sister some meds: meclizine, steroids, and valium. I was surprised, because meclizine and steroids are basically the two meds I am counting on to work for me the next time I have HG. He said that the meclizine helps fight the dizziness and the steroid reduces the inflammation within the inner ear. And he said that a short dosage of steroids can usually stop the Labyrinthitis.
After the doctor talked about the meds, he said that a Labyrinthitis patient will start to have some better days among the bad days. And that eventually the good days will be better than the bad ones. Again, another similarity to HG!
I walked out of the ER completely surprised by all of the similarities between Labyrinthitis and HG. Is there any way that there might be a connection? Could pregnancy possibly change the inner ear to make it more susceptible to Labyrinthitis? I realize that this is probably a long shot, but I just had to post about it in case there might be any kind of a connection!
Thanks!
- Anna
