Autoimmune and the Ear

About five years ago I was diagnosed with a lupus-like illness, having six of the eleven symptoms--including joint pain, pos. ANA etc.  Two years ago I suffered from severe dizziness, slight loss of hearing, nausea etc.  I saw an ENT specializing in balance and inner ear disorders and was diagnosed with benign paraxysmal positional vertigo.  It took almost a year for me to feel better.  During that time and since, I have suffered from an on again, off again, pain in the bones behind my ear and surrounding area.  It even hurts to lay my head on a feather pillow when this occurs.  For the past two weeks I have suffered from a severe amount of pain in that area to the point the even tylenol 3 only took the edge off.  My PCP now has me on augmentin for a possible mastoiditis.  I have been on the meds for five days and the extreme pain is gone but I still have a throbbing pain in the area and now have an ache deep in  my ear and the feeling of cold wetness in my ear.  The PCP said if I did not feel better after the antiobiotics she would send me to an ENT. Is it possible that this is related to my autoimmune disorder or  have I been having a simmering mastoid infection without the ear infection---is that even possible?  Thanks for any help.

[Wear/a/Jimmy]

Don't know about your question

But I would not wait around as you GP wants you too. Mastioditis is no game, and in some cases can be deadly.

[lin211]

Thaks for the advice----------do you know if you can have mastoiditis without having a middle ear infection?

[Wear/a/Jimmy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastoiditis