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Many patients report that certain situations can trigger symptoms of Meniere's disease or precipitate a fully developed attack, including:

• Otitis media - repeated ear infections may result in the spread of an infectious agent to the cochlea or the endolymphatic sac. This could cause changes in Reissner's membrane or of the fluids, leading to hydrops.
• Allergy - Some studies have shown that patients with Meniere's disease who are treated for allergy report an improvement in the severity and duration of their attacks. The theory is that an increase of allergy-related fluid into the endolymph may affect absorption or another unknown factor and lead to hydrops. To read more about the relationship between allergy and Meniere's disease, please click on the following link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=PubMed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=17986376&ordinalpos=3&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.PubmedResultsPanel.PubmedRVDocSum
• Upper respiratory infection
• Pregnancy
• Stress
• Fatigue
• Caffeine
• Salty foods
• Alcohol
• Sugar
• Menstruation
• Pregnancy
• Orgasm
• Barometric pressure changes
• Visual stimuli that produce nystagmus
• Trauma - Acoustic or physical trauma may lead to dysfunction of cells which produce or absorb endolymph. Also, if inner ear organs are injured by trauma, the cellular debris may cause chemical changes which affect the production or absorption of endolymph.

There also appears to be an association between Meniere's disease and migraine headaches, herpes virus, and hypothyroidism.