Need ENT help, vertigo/loss of hearing 3 months on/off

[fixme1233212]

I am a healthy 22 year old male.  I have had problems with ONLY my right ear for about 3 months now.  The problem seems to go away and come back, and the symptoms are the same every time.  I start by losing my hearing, then I start to get it back with a ringing in my ear, and then I get my hearing back and bad vertigo for about 3 days.  It will go away for a bit and come back.  I get no pain really, and I don't have a cold that I can tell of.  I have never fought something for this long before and have had no allergies in the past.  I got and MRI and they saw inflamed sinuses.  I was prescribed prednisone and the symptoms went away, but this only masked the symptoms (as a anti-inflammatory would do).  They gave me a few anti-virals and those didn't help.  SO here I am, a student in desperate need of an answer so I can start hearing my teachers and stop spinning in class.  My question is could this be bacterial (or would bacterial be consistent, and in both ears)?  What viruses inflame my sinuses, affect my ear, and last this long?  
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
-Jimmy

[meniere135]

If you find out that you do in fact have Meniere's disease, please, before trying surgery give food elimination a try!  It worked for me.  I can't be the only person it works for.  Like I said before, there's no guarantee that it will help you, but after experiencing relief myself - I found that it's absolutely amazing that a food can do this to you.  

Good luck finding your answer.  We hope the best for you.

[fixme1233212]

I do have pain (headache type pain to my whole right side of head) when I apply pressure beneath my jaw on the right side by my ear.  The left side causes no pain when I put pressure in the same area.  I don't have a lump that I can feel so I don't know if it's the same and come to think of it, I haven't told my doctor about it yet either.
My ENT doctor today said I probably have Menieres Disease.  I figured she would say this, but I just don't want to believe it.  I am 22, never had any problems before, and it came out of no where and is hitting hard.  And I don't know why prednisone worked and neither did she when I asked.  My white blood cell count came back normal too.  SO, they are putting me on diuretics hoping it will help, but I think I should get a second opinion.  If they don't work, I'm gonna get the radical procedures they do for Menieres because there is no way I am going to deal with this, even if it cost's me complete hearing and sense of balance in my right ear.  
I'll keep y'all posted and let me know if there's anything else you guy's think it could be!
Thanks for the reply's
-Jimmy

[Londres70]

Keep us posted.  

[FernandoLKBorges]

Jimbojimbo, my dizziness is only very slight, and I was always prone to low tensions attacks, so I never figured out they could be connected.

My symptoms are similar to yours, but along with headaches, which I can only describe as a painfull cold tension feeling at first on what seems the right nerves for a few minutes and then a normal headache covering all the right and the back of the head, it takes a paracetamol 1 gr to fall asleep, and nausea. Tiredness is constant and sleeping is not resting.

I have a lump I can "grab" and move just beneath my right ear and behind the jaw, goes up all the way to the ear. Is yours the same? Keep us posted.

[fixme1233212]

Thanks guys, I'll see what happens.  I guess they found a "medium/large" polyp in my right maxillary sinus, the same side where my problems are.  I think I'm gonna get surgery to get it removed just in case that's the problem. I really can't take this anymore!  I can't believe there are people out there who have to live with this.  
Thanks

[meniere135]

Since the steroids helped you, check into food elimination.  I went to an otolaryngologist and was diagnosed with Meniere's.  I went on steroids and it stopped the attacks.  So he told me to try food elimination to see if that was causing the problem.  I chose to get off of gluten first (since my family does have gluten problems ).  Gluten is found in wheat, barley, rye and possibly oats.  I haven't had an attack since them - and that was 12 years ago.  Cow's milk products, gluten and sugar are frequent problems to the ears.  I'm not saying you have Meniere's for sure or that food will help, but I saw your post and thought I'd mention my experience in hopes that it would help you.  Maybe you just have simple allergies.  But I know the torture of ear problems.  So if this helps, great.  If not, keep trying to find answers.  If it is meniere's, they use diuretics to drain the fluid from the inner ear and my doctor also used a low dose BP medicine to open up the capillaries to maximize blood flow to the ear.  I no longer need the medications as long as I stick with the diet.

Good luck!

[Londres70]

Are you seeing an ENT Specialist?  If not, I would recommend that.  Sounds like Meniere's Disease or the inflammed sinuses are affecting your rt inner ear.   If it is the latter, I believe it is related to allergies.  

In my opinion, it doesn't sound infection-related.   I could be naming viruses all day long that can cause infection.