Nursing and Meniere's Disease Help!

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I'm a 19 year old with Meniere's disease and I've had it for about three and a half years. I'm doing my pre-reqs for nursing; this summer I had an internship at OHSU and have just fallen in love with nursing and helping people (I want to be an NP). I had surgery three months ago but it looks like it's failing :cry: I've been laying around crying all day because I don't want to give up on my dreams. This disease is HELL and it's more hellish if you are trying to be a normal 19 year old who hangs out with their friends, goes to school, works, and just has fun. Any nurses with Meniere's out there? Or just people with advice in general. I feel like if I let my profs know about Meniere's they give me bad grades; which has happened to me before. Or people tell me I can't do it; my uncle even told me that nobody would want to hire me because I take days off, I've had profs embarass me like telling me to take a leave of absence when the disease is permanent, and a family who sometimes gets it then sometimes doesn't. Can you be a nurse with a disability? Or do they not want you to be; are you more likely to be laid off or fired because of your disability or do people treat you unfairly? Any advice or guidence would be very much appriciated!

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I hope that the young lady who posted her woes with Meniere's disease is still out there and has decided to stick with nursing. I am a nurse who recently discovered that I too have Meniere's. I graduated from nursing school a few years ago and was happily practicing my learned skills when I was "hit" wth the disease. I say, "hit" because that is just how it felt. I am learning how to deal with this disease although it's been difficult. If you can dedicate yourself to some life changes, you can control this and live a normal life, even continuing to be a nurse. That was one of my biggest lessons because I was afraid I could not stay in nursing. - there ARE things you can do to continue on in your chosen field. And remember, there are so many different types of jobs you can do as a nurse besides working as a staff nurse which can be stressful with long 12 hr shifts as well as emotional and spiritual stress. With your education, you are a valuable commodity to the nursing community. :redpinkhe I'm going to send along an article that can be found online at the following link. I know it will give you some valuable info on how to take back control as well as some encouragement in general:

http://www.zimfamilycockers.com/menieres.html

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I just wanted to tell you whoever you are that thank you and I guess give an update. In November of 2009 I was diagnosed with Migraine Associated Vertigo and was put on Verapamil ER and Gabapentin; since then I have been able to live a normal life vertigo free. I turned 21 four months ago and have been living my life and thanking God everyday for my health and wellbeing. I am no longer going into nursing but I did get my CNA and plan to go on to graduate school for becoming a teacher as I'm a senior in college now. I wish you the best of luck and thank you so much for posting this, if anything it will help someone else.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Thanks for the update!

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Hi Just wanted to let you my son was diagnosed with Meniere's Dz when he was younger and he was sent to a neurotologist who prescribed the medication Methazolamide which is usu used to treat glaucoma. He was on this for 6 months and never has had another episide!!~

Hey it's worth a try.

Best of luck.

Cincyreds

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Thank you for the NEW information with regards to your son's experience w Meniere's. I have never heard of using this particular med. for Meniere's and I have done A LOT of research on the subject. I will investigate this possibility with my PCP.

Thank you for your post!!!!

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