No joke about patients today needing an advocate. That’s where we help each other on this forum. Some members have great experience w/ patient advocacy & have been able to help others here. Some offer great suggestions & information on this forum which help all who read their posts, Some members do both. I am so thankful to have benefitted from this group!
In 2015, I had a cycling accident w/ a head injury (I was a week away from having my 2nd ES surgery). I bring this up because about a month after the accident I began having horrific, mind numbing tinnitus in my left ear (side that still had the styloid). The ENT who did my ES surgeries treated it w/ high dose prednisone & a diuretic which did nothing, so he referred me to “the ear guy” in the practice (ES doc is “the throat guy”). Ear guy told me he thought I had Meniere’s Disease but sent me off for a CT w/ contrast “just to make sure” I didn’t have an acoustic neuroma. Thankfully I didn’t, but in some ways it would have been the better diagnosis. Loud tinnitus & extreme hearing loss are now my constant companions. I refer to my left ear as my “God ear” i.e. it can only hear God’s voice. 
Gotta have a sense of humor about these things. But seriously, I do feel there’s a connection somehow to the nerves that were irritated by ES & my version of MD because when my MD symptoms flare I feel a lot of pressure in the left side of my neck. Been trying to figure out who to see to make a connection but am striking out so far. Haven’t been to a neurologist yet so perhaps I should consider that option next.