Tinnitus for 41 Years — Now Hearing Loss and I Need Help

Hello,

I started to develop tinnitus at six years old and by 20 the high pitched ringing in my ears was constant. It does not bother me much BUT now I am having difficulty with hearing and am petrified. I have a super high deductible and can't afford a bunch of doctors or unnecessary tests so I want to try to get it right on the first shot.

Timeline of possibly associated symptoms:
*Birth to present: Highly sensitive to loud noise (causes pain).
*age 6: tinnitus becomes noticeable.
*age 6 through adulthood intolerant to pressure changes despite being able to easily crack ears at will. Even gentle nose blowing cracks and causes ear discomfort.
*age 20 tinnitus 100% constant.
*age 26 onset of bouts of migraines and vertigo.
*age 38 migraines stop and vertigo much milder.
*age 39 increased difficulty understanding people talking. Never watch tv without subtitles even though I can hear the noise of the tv is too loud I can't easily understand the voices.
*age 47 (present day) I feel like I hear fine but I cannot understand people unless I have an idea of what they are going to say.

Other info that could have a connection but not sure how:
* I have autoimmune diseases and a strong family history of a myriad of autoimmune diseases.
* two of my sisters have central auditory processing disorders and I have suspected that I could have a milder manifestation.
*I suspected Meniere's for a time but the migraines went away.

I am ready to make an appointment to see a doctor but not sure how to approach as there could be many causes or more than one contributor to the problem.

What type of doctor should I see who will consider the bigger picture and take all my history into account? I don't want to just go and have someone shove hearing aids at me and assume I have ordinary age related hearing loss if there is something more going on.

Help? Where do I start?