Coping with Meniere's disease: experience and benefits from the use of complementary and alternative medicine

To identify the significant events and persons prompting search for non-biomedical/complementary and alternative (CAM) ways to cope with the impact of Ménière's syndrome, the CAM therapies used and perceived benefits.

A narrative-based approach, with participants recruited from web sites and newsletters of two Ménière's Societies (in the UK and in Victoria, Australia) and searches of a monthly newsletter, Spin, for letters related to the use of CAM therapies. A thematic approach to data analysis was undertaken.

Twenty personal, written stories were obtained and 23 letters. Commonly, critical events or changes in the condition provided the catalyst to seek alternative treatment, and sometimes significant others (a GP, CAM practitioner, friends, family). The accounts illustrate a range and variety of journeys that participants travelled in locating satisfactory ways to manage the condition, and the essential 'personal' nature of the experience and perceived benefits. No single CAM solution or pathway was evident.

The findings suggest the importance of 'finding your own way', having a positive outlook and being proactive in regaining control over one's health, and the value of early recommendations to 'perhaps try alternative/ CAM treatments'.