soldiermom

(correction: a person has vertigo due to a previous head injury, then they can not diagnose the person as having MD because they have MD should = vertigo.

This really is what you need to know ...what Big Dog is what the VA goes by. I have lived with MD for a little over 20 years and have just recently been made aware of my rights to SC compensation and am filing on Tuesday. I don't think I will have any problem with a SC qualification since I was diagnosed while on a tour of duty overseas in 1988 and I took no chances and kept copies of this from my medical files just in case they were "lost". Anyway, there are a couple of things that really need to be clarified, and really do make a difference in both being diagnosed and how you go about filing your claim, etc. NEVER, and please understand I am trying to help here, but NEVER confuse the terms "dizziness" and "vertigo". With Meniere's you have both, you may have both with other illnesses, but if you have vertigo, please do not refer to it as "dizzy". Vertigo is a "must have" symptom to be diagnosed with MD. The difference? Dizzy can be simply light headed and cause you to stumble or fall. Vertigo? Imagine your self on a merry go round spinning about 100mph and no one will stop it for several hours. Imagine an invisible force all of a sudden picking you up and SLAMMING you to the floor .....all of this all of a sudden and without warning most times. The vertigo (true vertigo) is one of the main reasons MD will get you 100% (30% min) rating. There are a lot of definitions and doctors own self described theories of MD out there, but the truth is the cause of MD is unknown, so if you know what causes it, then it can not be MD. While they have a good idea of what causes the "symptoms" of MD, (fluid retention in the vest sac, swelling of it, etc), They do not know what causes the MD...the disease that causes the fluid retention in the middle ear, etc. Maybe a better ex: A person has ringing that is caused by high blood pressure...then the tinnitus is not MD...a person has vertigo due to a previous head injury, then they can not diagnose the person as having MD because they have MD. so in basic terms, Meniere's can not be secondary to tinnitus. Meniere's can not be secondary to ANYTHING until they find out what causes Meniere's. (I hope that makes sense). Jim, I feel bad for you. You were obviously in the service back when there was so little known about Menieres, which is probably why so many people who were in the service 20 years or so ago, have a difficult time make the SC. I was fortunate in that my first attack was while I was stationed in Europe and a Dutch Neurosurgeon that had been researching it diagnosed me, our base GD commander did his own evaluation and testing after I was released and concurred. I have copies of this signed by him. Within a year after I was discharched, I was diagnosed by an Otolaryngologist who found that I actually have it in both ears. When one would start to let up, the other would become active, then there are times they both were bad. Now, the ringing is constant, no longer fluctuating, still have vertigo and and 2 or 3 times a day on average I fall or stumble having to catch myself. Forget talking to anyone on the phone.