# Huey Lewis has Menieres disease



## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

For those who may not know about this already, Huey recently did an interview on the Today show about this. It's a hearing disease and even though Huey can still have conversations with people, music, of any kind, sounds like noise. Here's the interview:






And here's a YouTuber who does rock oriented reports where he mentions that Huey is going to be working with the Starkey foundation where they'll try to find a solution, or hopefully a cure. Maybe in the not too distant future Huey and the News will be performing again.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

he’s gonna make it through on the power of love, I just know it


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

I bet he wants a new drug, to help with treatment


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

Dude hasn’t aged in 40 years.


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## fretboard (May 31, 2006)

I got Menieres at the end of summer 2001. Still sucks, but you (your body) adapts after a while to lessen the suckage (except for the whole "I don't hear so good anymore" thing - that doesn't get better).

I was about a year or so before I could drive again, take the subway on my own, etc... Sold off all the guitar gear in that year too and took a little sabbatical from guitar. I don't play out or jam with buddies anymore because I just can't hear everything - when I go hunting for the bass or drummer, I literally have to turn and look at them to help find where they are in the noise I'm hearing. Maybe that'll get better after time, but it hasn't yet.

Lousy disease for anyone to get, can't imagine it for someone who makes their living at music.


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

BSTheTech said:


> Dude hasn’t aged in 40 years.


Agreed. Hard to believe the man's 67 years old.



fretboard said:


> I got Menieres at the end of summer 2001. Still sucks, but you (your body) adapts after a while to lessen the suckage (except for the whole "I don't hear so good anymore" thing - that doesn't get better).
> 
> I was about a year or so before I could drive again, take the subway on my own, etc... Sold off all the guitar gear in that year too and took a little sabbatical from guitar. I don't play out or jam with buddies anymore because I just can't hear everything - when I go hunting for the bass or drummer, I literally have to turn and look at them to help find where they are in the noise I'm hearing. Maybe that'll get better after time, but it hasn't yet.
> 
> Lousy disease for anyone to get, can't imagine it for someone who makes their living at music.


Wow fretboard. Sorry to hear about that. I was reading that Menieres strikes 0.2% of the population. Also, in the comments about Hueys interview over on YouTube, one person was saying he had it as well and at times he considered suicide. Yikes. In the interview Huey mentioned that changing his diet may help a little. I was wondering if you changed your diet after you found out you had this?


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## fretboard (May 31, 2006)

Hey Kenmac,

I had all my treatment at Sunnybrook and they did attempt numerous diet changes (all regarding salt). I would assume stress was the major factor in my case, much more so than diet. 

The suicide thoughts? I dunno about that - but I TOTALLY get the whole Van Gogh cutting off an ear thing. That was what I spent my days thinking about for those first 10 months or so while it was in high gear. A little under a year into it the pressure in my ear released and although I lost 85% of the hearing in my left ear, I could function. We were lucky enough to be in a situation where I could "retire" at 36 and stay home and look after the kids while my wife could focus her attention at her profession.

Oddly, my dad's sister was diagnosed with the same disease a couple years after I got it.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

For those, like me, who had no idea what Meniere's Disease is:
Ménière's disease - Wikipedia

I now have a new fear.


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

fretboard said:


> Hey Kenmac,
> 
> I had all my treatment at Sunnybrook and they did attempt numerous diet changes (all regarding salt). I would assume stress was the major factor in my case, much more so than diet.
> 
> ...


Sorry to hear about your sister getting it as well. I can't even begin to imagine how frustrating and upsetting something like that would be. FWIW though, it sounds like you came through things alright. 



bw66 said:


> For those, like me, who had no idea what Meniere's Disease is:
> Ménière's disease - Wikipedia
> 
> I now have a new fear.


Yes, pretty scary stuff. Just a personal anecdote, I used to have an aunt who back in the pre-internet days would have this medical book that she'd read often and she'd find various ailments that she'd end up relating to herself, "Oh, I have this" or "I think I've had this before" and every month or two she'd call my dad to tell her what her latest ailment was. Even though she was a nice person she was more than a bit of a hypochondriac. I personally don't look up things like this on the internet. Even though I don't doubt the Wikipedia article there's a lot of information but also a lot of misinformation out there and you have to be careful.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

Uhhhh.... HOLY CRAP!!! I'm not a hypochondriac, so this is pretty rare for me to read something and immediately think I have it, but... This line: _*Ménière's is characterized by recurrent episodes of vertigo, hearing loss and tinnitus; episodes may be accompanied by headache and a feeling of fullness in the ears. 
*_
I get this from time to time. I have tinnitus in my left ear, and occasionally suffer from vertigo (which I thought was a by-product of the tinnitus because they had similar on-set dates). Thankfully I have not had a bout of vertigo for a few years. The "fullness" in my ears happens a few times a week. I thought it too was just the tinnitus. Doesn't change anything for me. If this had a cure, it might be a eureka moment, or light at the end of the tunnel, but no cure... no change. Good to know though.


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## Guest (May 27, 2018)

SWLABR said:


> Uhhhh.... HOLY CRAP!!! I'm not a hypochondriac, so this is pretty rare for me to read something and immediately think I have it, but... This line: _*Ménière's is characterized by recurrent episodes of vertigo, hearing loss and tinnitus; episodes may be accompanied by headache and a feeling of fullness in the ears.
> *_
> I get this from time to time. I have tinnitus in my left ear, and occasionally suffer from vertigo (which I thought was a by-product of the tinnitus because they had similar on-set dates). Thankfully I have not had a bout of vertigo for a few years. The "fullness" in my ears happens a few times a week. I thought it too was just the tinnitus. Doesn't change anything for me. If this had a cure, it might be a eureka moment, or light at the end of the tunnel, but no cure... no change. Good to know though.


Maybe the diet route could help prevent it from getting worse for you?


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

vadsy said:


> he’s gonna make it through on the power of love, I just know it


perhaps more than we know....a few years ago I read a memoir/tell-all of a former slutty rock groupie about her various escapades. She said he was hung like a horse.

I don't feel sorry for him.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

Player99 said:


> Maybe the diet route could help prevent it from getting worse for you?


It's possible. Although I've gone through various stages in where I was eating very healthy (to the point of being ridiculous about it) , and then there are the times I don't give a crap what I stuff down my gullet. I don't remember a difference. Certainly something I can be more conscious of. 

Currently my diet consists of black coffee and sarcasm. Not sure where that falls....


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

SWLABR said:


> It's possible. Although I've gone through various stages in where I was eating very healthy (to the point of being ridiculous about it) , and then there are the times I don't give a crap what I stuff down my gullet. I don't remember a difference. Certainly something I can be more conscious of.
> 
> Currently my diet consists of black coffee and sarcasm. Not sure where that falls....


My wife has it. It was debilitating, so I did some research - zero salt, zero chocolate, and zero caffeine with bi-monthly visits to the acupuncturist.

I still think she's faking it for attention though.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

adcandour said:


> My wife has it. It was debilitating, so I did some research - zero salt, zero chocolate, and zero caffeine with bi-monthly visits to the acupuncturist.
> 
> I still think she's faking it for attention though.


Zero chocolate, I could probably do. Zero salt, tough, but certainly a heavy reduction is possible. Zero caffeine?!?!?! F-that!


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