Mary,
Sorry you are still having these pains,, I know mine were very painful and although infrequent,, painful while ongoing..
I don't know who diagnosed your AN, if it was Dr Santos,, I also don't know what "type" of Dr he is,, ENT, neurotologist, GP,,, but he seems unconcerned. One thing I have realized over the years of dealing with Drs. is that quite often 1) they don't "know" you and spend typically 15 min. on your reason for being there and then poof they deal out meds and "hope' you get better,,,2) only YOU know how you are feeling and yes, maybe we are not always as proficient as we could be in explaining it to Dr, but it is part of their "job" to get the best idea from asking questions from what we do say as to what may be going on,, not ALL of them are as concerned about doing that part of their job as they might should be,, and 3) in that case,, you certainly "owe" them nothing and do not have to return to them if you are unsatisfied with their performance... and I totally agree that having a Dr yell at me for not following instructions about meds when you have explained that they are not working is TOTALLY unacceptable and I most definitely would not return to that Dr.. there are MANY more Drs around and some need to realize that....some,,, not all of course ,, are very arogant about their "self-worth and abilities"..........
Have you asked any friends about ENTs that they use ,, that is one good way to find a good Dr. ,,I agree it can be very frustrating not to say expensive to find a good Dr nowadays... also there are patient advocates that I have heard of although I don't know how to go about finding one, but some on here have and do use them,, that may be an avenue to explore..
But most importantly when dealing with your health is , I believe, you have to realize that it is your body, only you know how you are feeling and to what degree your symptoms are inpacting your life,, and it is up to you to continue to look until you find a Dr that is compassionate and not afraid to spend some quality time with his/her patients until they can determine what is going on,, to just listen for 10-15 min to your "complaints" and then prescribe meds and then not listen later to how you have reacted to those meds,, it totally unacceptable ,, that is not a compassionate considerate Dr and there are some out there....
sorry to rant, but I have been dealing with Drs. trying to get accurate diagnosis for another pain, unrelated totally, and have "run across" many of the type of Drs I am speaking of,, and it is very frustrating,,, hang in there and ask around about maybe an ENT for this ear pain ,, these ANs are so rare, or have been in the past, that not many Drs are going to know much about them, their symptoms or what they can cause us to deal with and those same Drs. are not going to admit it,,,,,
If you have not done so, you may want to send your MRI and any auditory testing out to the House Ear Institute as you have probably read about on here and at least get a second opinion from one of their Drs. When he calls to talk, ask him about this issue and anything else you are concerned about.. I did it and they are wonderful resources to speak with even if you are not considering using them,,, it is most helpful to talk to Drs that have actual experience with these tumors as they have dealt with patients that have experienced all sorts of symptoms......there are also other Drs/hospitals that will give free consults but I am not aware of which would be close to you.... good luck,,, I hope you are able to find a Dr that will be honest and upfront with you concerning this symptom.... sorry to rant... not a good day I guess....
Jane
