Not a great week - Update as of 10/12/09

Finally, after several back and forth phone calls, I heard from specialist #1 - the ENT doctor. I went in for several tests a couple of weeks ago, mainly to check out inner ear issues. Got hooked up with electrodes to my head and had to watch moving lights and dots. Had ear plugs inserted and listened to clicks and stuff. Then had the hot/cold air blown into ears, then had to count backwards and then forward in multiples of 3's, with eyes closed then open, waiting for the spinning sensations. This last test wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, though the cold air was more uncomfortable than the hot air. The results....

everything looked normal. All within the expected parameters. Whatever caused my symptoms was not inner ear related. The only interesting comment was that "during a couple of the tests, there were 1 or 2 instances that were outside the normal parameters that were more brain related than inner ear related, but nothing to be concerned about." The ENT doctor said that whatever was going on "was probably some flukey, one time only thing that will probably not occur again." And that since I've had everything checked out, I should feel good about that....

which I do, but there is still a part of me that wants to know what caused all this, so if there is something I can do (or stop doing) to ensure it never happens again, I can do (or not do) it.

I'm not inclined to pursue 2nd opinions right now, since I haven't had any further episodes since mid-August. However, both the ENT and the neurologist said that if I have another episode, I should get with the neurologist ASAP, which leads me to believe that while they don't know what the cause was, the leaning is towards a neurological one. Or, it just could be that it's better to er on the cautious side, since the neurological issues would be obviously more serious.

So I guess I'm back to where I started - not knowing. Several tests, many $$ later - at least I know (to a better degree) that all the heart, arteries, inner ear and brain parts of me are OK.