Virtually a prisoner in her own home, Sandra Lockyer spends most of her day in bed, unable to sit up, unable to stand unaided, unable to do almost anything, writes KAREN ROSINE.

A trip to the toilet just a few feet from her bedroom is a gruelling feat of endurance completed only by holding on to the walls and doors.

Sandra moves and lives like a 90-year-old. But she is 51 and suffers from a rare condition known as Meniere's Disease.

"I would try anything," she said. "I get very depressed. I don't want to be like this for the rest of my life. I want something to be done."

Meniere's Disease is most common in middle age. It occurs when there is too much fluid in the part of the ear known as the labyrinth.

The labyrinth is a structure in the inner ear which helps you keep your balance and sends messages about your movements to the brain. Sufferers experience a severe loss of balance and endure attacks of dizziness and nausea, varying in intensity.

There are treatments available but specialists at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford have ruled them out for Sandra on health grounds.

Speaking to the Oxford Mail at her home in Bower End, Chalgrove, Sandra said she was willing to try anything to escape what she described as a "living nightmare".

"I am bedridden, more or less. As soon as I get up I feel giddy and I can only lay on one side," she said.

"I can just about put the kettle on but then I get giddy. I have to hold on to doors and walls to get to the toilet, which is next door.

"I have not got a life at the moment. I can't even go into the sitting room to talk to visitors. They have to come into my bedroom. It is a living nightmare."

She said the condition was like her own personal jailer and led her to consider taking her own life. Her daughter Caroline, who cares for her 24 hours a day as well as looking after her own husband Jeff, who suffers from angina, has had to hide all tablets in the house for fear she might take an overdose. Sandra, who also has tinnitus, can barely leave the house - the furthest she can walk is to a car-parking space literally outside her front door.

She has had to give up her much-loved shopping trips with her daughter and her job as a factory cleaner.

"We had a family funeral a year ago and I could not even go to that. It has completely taken over my life."

The condition has also had a profound effect on Caroline, who has had to put her life on hold to look after her mum.

The 23-year-old has given up her home and moved into Sandra's house to look after her full-time.

Sandra's condition first manifested itself as an ear infection. When that did not clear up she was referred to specialists at the Radcliffe Infirmary. After numerous tests she was diagnosed with Meniere's Disease.

Caroline said: "Her balance is completely gone. She can't cook, make tea, go shopping. She is housebound.

"She was quite active before she was diagnosed - always out shopping. Now she can't go out on her own. She is effectively in bed almost 24 hours a day. Most people with this condition have attacks every couple of months. She has got hers 24 hours a day."

She added: "It is a hard thing to have to live with. I am always down at the doctor's trying to get her help - they are just saying nothing can be done."

DISEASE THAT HITS HEARING

Meniere's Disease affects patients with varying degrees of severity.

In the UK it is estimated it affects around 15 people in every 10,000 each year, mainly women.

The disease typically results in giddiness and vomiting, hearing loss and tinnitus. As the condition progresses, attacks become more frequent and severe.

The giddiness is usually accompanied by vomiting to such an extent it can leave the patient helpless.

Attacks can last anything up to a number of hours or even days and usually pass off completely, leaving the patient normal.

Hearing loss is usual. In the earlier stages this passes, but as attacks become more frequent hearing loss becomes more severe and eventually results in deafness in the affected ear.

The symptoms often come on very quickly but the condition typically goes into remission - sometimes lasting several years.

For more information contact the Meniere's Society on 01483 740597.

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