Endolymphatic Sac Decompression

I apologize if I have posted in the wrong section.

I have had the most miserable time of my life and still stuck in hell. Over and above my ear issues, after a thousand blood tests and feeling dead I eventually figured out on my own that a benzodiazepine was the cause for my overall health deteriorating. 43 days benzo free and slowly improving. I had no choice but to do a quick taper. For those that wish to know, I was on Bromozepam, 6mg at night for just over 12 months. Yes doctors scripts.

Long story short. My ears are a mess, particularly my right ear. Aural fullness, modulated tinnitus and distorted hearing. I was already well aware of cochlear hydrops - my ENT recommended Endolymphatic Sac Decompression. I've tried the diet, Serc, Diuretics... No help at all. This is not an episodal condition it's like this 24/7. I know the benzo added to all this stress as I'm currently in withdrawal. I have a few questions:

1. Can a Benzodiazepine cause Hydrops?

2. Is there anything I should worry about with this surgery, pre and post?

3. Concerns with anesthetic as I'm in withdrawal?

What a mess ... any help will be appreciated.

 

Hi @Virec,
I would talk with ENT about the op and any concerns you might have.
Good luck.
Love glynis x

 

Never heard of it.

Surgery is always risky. This is a delicate area too, so you should get info about the risks from your doc & other sources so you know what you're getting into.

Talk to the anesthesiologist about it. I've seen docs give benzos before surgery to relieve some anxiety, but I don't know about withdrawal.

 

Thank you

 

Current state of evidence for endolymphatic sac surgery in Menière’s disease: a systematic review

Abstract
Background:
Endolymphatic sac surgery is an invasive procedure recommended to patients with Menière’s disease.

Aims/Objectives:
To provide an overview and quality assessment of the existing evidence and to provide an updated assessment of the utility of endolymphatic sac surgery in Menière’s disease.

Material and Methods:
We performed a systematic literature search for systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The AMSTAR tool was used to assess the quality of systematic reviews and the Cochrane risk of bias tool for RCTs. The overall certainty of effects for the individual outcomes was evaluated using the GRADE approach.

Results:
One systematic review of high quality matched the inclusion criteria, and included three RCTs. An updated literature search from the last search date of the included review provided no further relevant RCTs. The identified RCTs individually reported a positive effect of both the placebo and active treatment groups following surgery, strongly indicative of a placebo effect. The overall certainty of the effect was very low.

Conclusions and significance:
There is still a lack of high-quality research suggesting that endolymphatic sac surgery provides a significant amount of symptomatic relief for Menière’s patients.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00016489.2019.1657240

 

Doesnt sound very promising, kind of a risky surgery for an uncertain benefit.