Feeling Foggy? How Your Inner Ear Affects Your Brain
Brain fog, dizziness, and cognitive issues can stem from inner ear problems like Meniere's Disease. Learn the connection from a nurse practitioner's personal experience.
Several years ago, I developed intermittent bouts of what I would later term brain fog in which I experienced nonlucid moments, similar to waking up after anesthesia.
The first and most memorable occurred while I was driving on I-565 to work one morning. While not exactly dizzy, I recall feeling so strange that I pulled the car over on the interstate and waited for the spell to pass.
The foggy spells progressed and I began experiencing pressure in my head. Being in my late 20s and an ENT nurse practitioner specializing in dizzy patients, I began noticing the pressure in my head was centered over my right ear and that I had developed a faint humming and roaring tone.
I asked our audiologist to check my hearing and run a simple sound test for Meniere's Disease. It was positive in my right ear. Suddenly the brain eating amoeba had a name!
What Is Meniere's Disease?
Meniere's disease is an inner ear condition usually characterized by dizziness, ear fullness, tinnitus (or noise in the ear), and hearing loss. You can have a combination of symptoms or all of the symptoms which can vary case-by-case.
Meniere's Disease is thought to arise from genetic and environmental factors, although the exact etiology is unknown. It is thought to be related to a variety of events that lead to elevated pressure in the endolymph fluid causing a condition known as hydrops.
Standard workup includes a hearing test (audiogram), and sometimes an MRI to rule out the remote possibility of a benign brain tumor.