I have been having ear infections for years over the last couple of months they have been horrible. My rheumy looked in my ear and saw a lot of scarring and spoke with my pcp I was sent to an ENT after the exam he surprised me by saying your Lupus and Fibro combined with your arthritis has affected you ears you have hearing loss in your right ear and I am sending you for further testing. I never thought of ears being affected so I am starting to research this so I found this and wanted to share.
http://vestibular.org/autoimmune-inner-ear-disease-aied