I came here after years of being quasi diagnosed with Meniere’s. I spent a lot of time on Meniere’s forum and learned about different supplements. I’ve been taking L-Lysine daily because I thought my symptoms might be virus induced since my left ear was worse and I had two bouts of shingles on the left side of the face. I also take vinpocetine and lemon bioflavanoids because they apparently increase circulation in the brain/ears.
My question to you experts is whether or not you think the vinpocetine and bioflavanoids can be helpful with MAV. It seems like something that causes vasodilation might be a plus.
The short answer as to whether or not these supplements would work for migraine is “I doubt it”. Have a read of this great thread called ‘What is migraine’. In it Scott discusses the vascular theory: http://mvertigo.cloudapp.net/t/what-is-migraine/1558
There are some VMS for which there is weak evidence in favour of migraine control but these are magnesium, butterbur and coenzyme Q10 - not vinpocetine and lemon bioflavanoids.
While the symptoms of Meniere’s and migraine can be frustratingly similar and on top of that there is increased co-morbidity of the conditions, true Meniere’s activity is rooted in in the endolymphatic sac whereas migraine is a neurological condition.
Having said that Vic, in some cases there seems to be considerable overlap between MM and MAV so much so that Rauch and others have brought this up in a few papers. No one really understands the link if there really is one.
Deb – agree with Vic that the bioflavanoids are very unlikely to be doing anything. There’s just no evidence for it but there is for others like BS and CoQ10 for example. JOH also has a homeopathic component to it (vertigoheel) which is of course just magic water. There’s nothing in it.
Thanks, Vic and Scott, for your replies. I never embraced all of the “JOH” supplements but did pick those that seemed related to my symptoms. And my symptoms in the past have been transient and varied so I’ve never really known what was helping or not.
I’m giving the magnesium a try. Effexor is the first prescription med I’ve tried and I’m not overwhelmed with the results.
I started the John of Ohio supplements two weeks ago. I am taking the label dose for all supplements except Ginko. My cardiologist said all of these were okay, except the Ginko. She did not want me taking it. In addition to these, I’m also taking two magnesium compound capsules every morning. According to John, it takes 6 months to get the supplements into your system to have any discernible success.
Gosh that seems a very long time, six months. Whow. Any indication as to why? I know I’ve had an adverse reaction to several vitamin supplements and they all occurred within a week or so based on that I’d have thought they got into the bloodstream pretty well. Be interesting to hear further on that one.
Ginkgo seems much the answer to all sorts of things few years back around the time I first started up with hot flushes so I tried it for a couple of months. No adverse reaction so I did a bulk buy only to suddenly start reading a lot in the National Press about how dangerous it could be cognitive issues from memory. Dropped it like the proverbial hot potato and a work colleague who’d taken it for years benefited from a large donation.