A question for any of you tri-folks who might have this inner ear issue. Part of the regime for preventing attacks is to abandon caffeine and significantly limit salt. Okay, giving up coffee is … grim. Not adding salt to my food is also dismaying, from a gustatory perspective.
But how do you deal with salt restriction, especially in longer runs or rides, and especially in the heat? In the past, I have used electrolyte supplements if I’m out on the road for more than a couple of hours in the heat. If anybody has any experience on this, I’d be intrigued.
When I asked my ENT this question, I thought his experience as a competitive cyclist would be insightful. His response was, “That’s a good question. You’ll have to play it by ear…”
My default option is to continue to supplement during long runs / rides, and if I go wobbly afterwards, to deal with it.
My mother-in-law has the same disease… she rides occasionally, but has never expressed this concern, and since she’s 400 miles away, it hadn’t occurred to me that it could become a problem.
Your ENT has a good sense of humor (and you too).
I’d look for the max sodium intake that is known to cause an attack and avoid exceeding that threshold. Overly simplistic??
I appreciate the input. Your thought is logical, but I’m not sure it would work. Meniere’s is highly individualistic in its presentation, and is apparently caused by hydrops of the vestibular canal. I’ve only had a couple of attacks, and I was liberally dosing myself with coffee + salt (not mixed together, thank you very much!) for the 45+ years prior to this diagnosis. The problem primarily is all of the salt & fluid shifts during a long ride or run, and their inherent variability based on heat, humidity, fitness, etc. I don’t know how I would figure that threshold amount of sodium in that context.
I, too, have Meniere’s. My symptoms started about 9 months ago. One thing that I’ve found is that even person with Meniere’s is different; therefore, my thoughts may or may not relate to you at all.
I’ve reduced my sodium intake down to about 1000 mg a day, which was almost impossible at first. As funny as it sounds, your ENT is probably right. He (or she) realizes that every person’s effect from sodium is different. You have to hit that “sweet spot” of sodium intake.
Just remember, on your longer rides and runs, you may be sweating out a lot of sodium so the supplements should only be replacing your lost sodium.
Me too. since '05. Keeping low intake esp. early in the day works for me. Salt ingested with longer and harder workouts doesn’t bring on the ringing or the vertigo. I rarely take salt on training sessions under 2 hours and never supplement on long rides or races. So far no attacks have prevented training or racing. I do have much more trouble swimming straight in open water now and will swerve on the bike sometimes when quickly turning my head around, like for changing lanes or crossing traffic.
Caffeine does not affect me but alcohol will the next day so my limit is one or none these days.