My tinnitus (persistent ringing in the ears) became noticeable to me in 2005 or so. Recently, it seems to me to have gotten yet louder. I can hear it when things get only vaguely calm or quiet.
In doing a bit of research, I’ve learned that the chronic dizziness (caused by the orthostatic hypotension I’ve had since I was fourteen) may have, in part, led to the tinnitus. Also, apparently long-term severe stress can cause or worsen the malady.
How ironic: My husband claims that he is the one with the hypotension (which started, no doubt, shortly after he starting having his period) and that he suffered years of spousal abuse (he likes to tell people that I would beat him up), and now I may go deaf because of it. It’s almost funny.
I sometimes get dizzy standing up too quickly. I was told it might be a blood pressure problem. I hope it isn’t vertigo or meniere’s disease.
It looks to me as though Meniere’s comes and goes, is an inner-ear problem, and can cause low-frequency hearing loss. (The tinnitus seems to be a result of any hearing loss. That’s the current thinking, anyway.) On the other hand, orthostatic hypotension is always there, is a blood-pressure problem, and isn’t currently related to hearing loss.
I think, at this stage, you’ll kind of have to do any diagnosis yourself.