Meniere's Disease and Migraine: Effect of Migraine Medications on Symptoms of Meniere's Disease

OBJECTIVES: To observe the incidence of Meniere's disease (MD) and MD-related symptoms (i.e., aural fullness, tinnitus, hearing loss, and vertigo) between (a) non-migraine and migraine patients and (b) migraine untreated and migraine treated patients within the TriNetX database. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of (a) non-migraine and migraine patients and (b) migraine treated and untreated patients within the TriNetX database from 2013 till 2025. Patients underwent propensity score matching for sex, age, race, and known lifestyle/disease confounders for MD. Incidence of MD and MD-related symptoms were evaluated 5 years post index date and beyond 5 years post index date. RESULTS: Migraine patients demonstrated a greater incidence of MD and MD-related symptoms 5 years and more than 5 years post index date. Amongst migraine patients, those not receiving treatment demonstrated a lesser predilection (risk ratio [RR] = 0.43, 95% CI: 0.28-0.66) of developing MD than patients receiving treatment. There was no significant difference in the incidence of hearing loss or aural fullness between migraine untreated and treated subgroups. Migraine patients not receiving treatment had an increased risk of experiencing tinnitus (RR = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.03-1.19). CONCLUSIONS: There exists a connection between migraine and MD. Migraine patients receiving migraine treatment are statistically significantly more likely to develop MD compared to non-migraine patients. These results support the findings of preceding studies that have demonstrated a pathophysiological link between migraine and vestibulocochlear dysfunction.