The vertigo consists of dramatic and debilitating attacks, during which the patient feels that either she or the room is moving. These attacks may be so severe that the patient cannot stand and often has nausea, retching, and vomiting.
Symptoms are absent between flare-ups.
The condition may affect only one ear or, in 20 percent of cases, may grow to include both ears. The base-line hearing between attacks gradually gets lower and lower. The attacks vary considerably from one patient to another and from episode to episode. The exact cause of M ni re's disease is not known. It is believed to involve an increase of fluid in the labyrinth that puts pressure on the membrane of the labyrinth wall and affects both balance and hearing.