Living with Ménière's Disease: Help Me Stay Housed and Access Medical Care and Medication.
After years of unexplained symptoms, I was diagnosed with Ménière's disease — a rare vestibular and neurological affecting inner ear disorder that causes sudden, violent vertigo attacks, hearing loss, and loss of balance.
These attacks have taken away my ability to work in the career I love and have left me facing mounting medical costs and the very real possibility of loosing my housing and facing homelessness by mid March.
I am asking for help to cover essential medical care, medications, and housing while I fight to regain stability and rebuild my life.

In December of 2023, my life changed in a way I could never have imagined. After years of unexplained symptoms, I was finally diagnosed with a rare vestibular and neurological affecting disorder known as Ménière's disease.
Ménière's disease is a chronic inner ear condition that causes sudden, debilitating attacks of severe vertigo — a violent spinning sensation that makes it impossible to stand, walk, or even open your eyes without the world spiraling uncontrollably. These attacks can come without warning and are often accompanied by hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing in the ear), pressure in the ear, nausea, vomiting, headaches, involuntary eye movements (nystagmus), and extreme imbalance.
For some people, like myself living with this condition, it can also lead to what are called “drop attacks” — sudden and complete loss of balance and vision that causes a person to collapse without warning. I have experienced two drop attacks in public places (one which occurred in the workplace), which proved to be more frightening than anything I experienced before. Something I did not think was possible.
Because of the way this illness affects balance and coordination, sufferers can appear disoriented or intoxicated during episodes. Some have even referred to it as “the drunk disorder.” In reality, what is happening inside the body is far more frightening — the brain’s sense of balance has been violently disrupted.
There is no known cure for Ménière's disease or the vertigo it causes.
Although it is considered rare, it affects an estimated 0.3–1.9% of the global population, and up to 750,000 people in the United States alone are believed to be living with it.
But statistics do little to capture the human experience of living with this disease.
My journey toward diagnosis began seven years earlier, with chronic ear infections, severe hearing loss, tinnitus, and intermittent episodes of dizziness. I sought help from multiple ENT specialists, yet time after time I was told that nothing appeared to be wrong. Tests repeatedly confirmed that I had already permanently lost 75% of the hearing in my affected ear, yet no clear explanation was given.
Meanwhile, the pressure in my ears became constant and unbearable. With no answers from doctors, I began trying home remedies simply to cope with the persistent discomfort and imbalance that had quietly begun to shape my life.
Then in 2023, everything changed.
I experienced my first true Ménière's attack.
It lasted twelve hours.
Twelve hours during which I could not move, walk, eat, or drink water. Every attempt to shift my body caused the room to spin violently around me. When I opened my eyes, the world spun uncontrollably. When I closed them, the spinning did not stop.
The sensation was relentless — like being trapped inside a storm inside my own head.
Along with the vertigo came overwhelming nausea and repeated vomiting. My body had completely lost its ability to find balance or stability. I could not stand. I could barely move.
Eventually I attempted to seek medical help, but I was unable to obtain an ambulance. I had no choice but to endure the attack and wait for it to pass.
With the support of a few friends who stayed with me through those terrifying hours, I made it through the episode — but not without being deeply shaken and traumatized by the experience.
It was one of the most frightening experiences of my life.
When I returned to Trinidad in January of 2024, the attacks did not stop. Instead, they escalated.
I began experiencing a series of severe episodes in public places. Without warning, the world would begin spinning. My vision would distort, my balance would collapse, and I would become unable to walk or function normally. Standing upright became impossible.
Imagine suddenly losing control of your balance in the middle of a public space — unable to see clearly, unable to walk, unable to explain what is happening while the world violently spins around you.
It is terrifying, humiliating, and isolating.
At that time, I still did not yet have a confirmed diagnosis.
I was living in fear of when the next attack would come, unsure how I would manage if it happened while I was alone.
I still live in fear of my attacks, which have been happening several times daily over the last six months, and suffer from extreme anxiety and depression. As someone diagnosed with Bipolar disorder at a very young age this experience coupled with other life traumas over the last two years has taken it's toll on my mental health, leading to ongoing psychiatric care through various mental health facilities and programs, coupled with various medications.
It has been trying to say the least.
Ménière's disease is not just a medical condition. It affects every part of life — the ability to work, travel safely, maintain independence, and feel secure in your own body.
What most people take for granted — simply standing, walking, or maintaining balance — can suddenly disappear without warning.
Over the past two years, after MRI's, CT scans, bloodwork, hearing tests - finally I was diagnosed.
One would think things get better but with an unpredictable illness such as Ménière's disease it can get worse. Once again there is no cure for vertigo, only medications which have greatly varying effects on each individual.
Navigating this has been a minefield.
Since then my life has slowly and painfully deteriorated as a result of this illness alongside my mental health struggles. I have lost my ability to work consistently, and with it, the stability that work once provided.
Some of the hardest losses have been deeply personal. I have always loved working on the water, and that part of my life has been taken from me. I have also spent years building a career in hospitality and as a chef — professions that require long hours standing, moving, and maintaining constant balance. Unfortunately, those physical demands have become nearly impossible to meet while living with unpredictable vertigo attacks.
Despite medication — which has itself become a significant financial burden — my attacks have only become more frequent over the past year.
Without proper treatment, a stable regime of medication and the ability to stabilize my condition, maintaining employment has become increasingly difficult.
This has placed me in a position of deep and constant worry.
Due to my inability to work consistently, I am now facing a very real and frightening situation. My rent cannot be paid beyond the middle of this month, and I am confronting the possibility of losing my housing and becoming homeless while managing this serious medical condition.
As difficult as it is to share this, I am reaching out for help.
This fundraiser is being created to help cover medications, health insurance, food and most importantly *housing* while I work toward stabilizing my health, securing a stable means of income and rebuilding my life while transitioning into this new chapter.
A Small Act of Kindness Can Change Everything.
Living with Ménière's disease means adapting to a world that can quite literally begin spinning at any moment. The uncertainty of when the next attack will come affects every decision and every step.
Right now, what I need most is stability and the chance to continue fighting for my health and my independence.
Your support — whether through a donation or by sharing this fundraiser — will help provide that stability during one of the most difficult chapters of my life.
Even the smallest contribution can make a meaningful difference.
And if you are unable to donate, sharing my story with others can help spread awareness about Ménière's disease and the challenges faced by those living with it.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story, for your compassion, and for any support you may be able to offer.
Your kindness means more than words can express.

Sincerely,

Danielle