Meniere's: Is there a good illness?

This is not a moment to celebrate, but I was diagnosed with Meniere's five years ago. After struggling with its symptoms, of which vertigo was the worst, I am now healthy. What a simple but great thing to say!

With Meniere's, I guess one can never say he has overcome it completely. Even if you don't experience its symptoms for years, you wonder if the root-cause is still there, hiding in the tiny canals of your inner ear. Regardless of being sure or not, thank God I am now symptom-less!

Looking back I wonder now if I am happy that I lived what I lived! Frankly, I experienced more positives than negatives. Yes, the negatives were real bad. Being dizzy until vomiting then passing out to wake up with no appetite and power to stand up was hell. Living this intermittently, not knowing when you will get hit by the attack again was neurotic! Yet I still believe MY positives were more than MY negatives. For instance:

1) I now have a constant reminder that I have to take care of myself well. Otherwise, vertigo may show its ugly head anytime! Taking care of myself involves eating healthier foods and staying away from stressful situations and people as much as possible.

2) I now know that when things get worse in life, you can get stronger by managing shorter spans of life. If a week is hard to manage, you go for managing a day. When a day is hard to manage, you go for managing an hour. When an hour... You got the point :-)

3) I now know who and what matters to me more. I also know better than I AM the most important person to me! Not in a selfish way. I am my own doctor, care-giver and care-taker, so I should treat myself even better than my loved ones. In this regard, the Meniere's experience made me more independent, realistic and mature.

4) This one does not apply to all Meniere's patients but I hope one day it does. Due to Meniere's I designed my first website, learned (and still learning) how to promote it, reached and assisted many people who want to be healthier and helped few improve their eating habits. If I had not suffered from Meniere's, I believe I wouldn't have shared a health-conscious message with others at the current level.

In summary, my five year experience with Meniere's made me wonder if there is good illness. Well, my short answer is no, BUT it can be turned into a positive experience as much as possible. It depends on your approach to life. Let me conclude by repeating a cliche "often you can't control what life throws at you, but you can control your reaction to it".

To healthier lives and more positive attitudes! Cheers :-)

Umit

THE list of low sodium diet tips is ready!

As some of the followers of this blog know, I have been running a Facebook fan page for low sodium dieters for sometime. The first comers to the page usually are starting a low sodium diet and look for quick tips and tricks to lower their sodium intake. When I was answering to one of these inquiries the other day, I had an a-ha moment and decided to put all the quick tips I can think of in a webpage. Just to have a central location where I can refer people to. Here is the link to this 'tips' page I made:

http://eatlowsodium.com/osc/low-sodium-diet.php

If there are any ideas you would like to add, please add a comment below. I will update the list per your comments.
Thank you,
Umit

Useful ideas on low sodium meals

Even though you watch your sodium intake, things slip sometimes. You cook healthy meals, bring home-made meals to work and shop for low sodium versions of foods, but sometimes you find yourself at a restaurant, worse a fast-food chain eating that delicious but not so healthy sandwich!

What do you do then? If only I knew which meals have lower sodium so I make a more conscious choice while ordering my food. I guess it is all about preparation!

So I decided to go through nutrition facts of restaurants and filter out the meals with the lowest amounts of sodium. I place my findings at the following link: Low Sodium Meals

You need to click on a restaurant name (on the left hand side of the page) in order to see my meal ideas for that restaurant.

Some of the meals I found are fairly low in sodium. Examples:

At Subway: 6 inch Veggie Delite + a chocolate chip cookie = 430 mgs of sodium.

At Wendy's: 5-piece chicken nuggets + garden side salad (no croutons) + sour cream and chives baked potato + apple slices = 540 mgs of sodium.

At McDonald's: A medium-size McNuggets + premium southwest salad (without chicken) = 750 mgs of sodium.

At Chili's: Grilled salmon with garlic and herbs + house salad (no dressing) = 880 mgs of sodium.

At Arby's: Chopped farmhouse chicken salad (roast) + marinara sauce = 840 mgs of sodium.

At Panera Bread: A four cheese egg souffle + Caesar salad (no dressing) = 830 mgs of sodium.

At Taco Bell: One gordita supreme chicken + cheese nachos = 740 mgs of sodium.

If you are on a strict low sodium diet due to a health condition, my suggestions may NOT be good for you. Also my suggestions only consider sodium content. If you need to consume less cholesterol or gluten or are allergic to certain ingredients, please check nutrition facts provided at the websites of these restaurants as well.