I have a bit of a history of inner ear problems too.
I am not sure if what I have put up with on and off for years is related to your problems stilton, but I do think that some habitual sleep positions can be unhelpful. When things are good, I try to vary my sleep position, or fall asleep flat on my back (which isn't good for other reasons but does introduce some randomness as to which side I end up on!). I also have a long term minor neck problem but hadn't linked it, but who knows - we're all different, and neck problems clearly are often central to stress and tension affecting the head.
I do have some permanent tinnitus but I am lucky that it is high pitched and mild so it is always very easy to tune out and most days I go all day without noticing it at all.
Years ago I saw a specialist after a wobbliness with nausea episode and they toyed with the Menieres tag. I tried SERC (betahistine) with no conclusive result. Some people report on the internet that they had to trial different dosages before they got it to work. Not sure where you are based, (Stilton is in Leicestershire, UK I think) but I think betahistine hydrochloride is banned in US. Not sure why. You can get it in Canada I believe. I am not sure if any reliance on it is approved anywhere for pilots? But apparently it helps some people.
I have very occasionally experienced that clicking in the ears you mentioned I think, associated with more frequent other symptoms like 'fullness' in one ear in particular. Because of what I am about to post next, I wonder if the clicking is anything to do with excess calcium deposits.
I too firmly believe that avoidance of stress is essential to keep symptoms / episodes at bay.
I haven't needed to revisit any specialist for years but the last time I had an episode of 'fullness' which resulted in a little annoying vertigo (which can come on quite suddenly and is therefore a important self-diagnosis self-grounding issue if you recognise onset) I spoke to a European friend of a friend who said "Oh I had that recently and my doc gave me a simple exercise and it went straightaway!"
So I had to investigate!
What he had, and what I have had once or twice since learning about it, is basically calcium deposits that have become loose in part of the inner ear.
The condition is known by its acronym BPPV (Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo). The exercise/manoeuvre also has a name and I will go hunt for it.
Anyway, I tried his trick straightaway and there was some immediate improvement. Prior to the next episode I had, I also caught a programme on BBC Radio 4 which advocated the same thing for self help. It's the single most useful thing I have learned about my own inner ear problems and sometimes in the past, I have struggled for as long as a month or more with various symptoms.
You say you don't suffer vertigo, but many inner ear problem sufferers often do eventually. So whatever else may be occurring in your ear (the suspected viral damage), if you ever do start getting balance problems do consider that a crystal or two of calcium may have come loose, especially if you are no longer a youngster! The 'exercise' or manoeuvre is simply a systematic three positions one minute each for your head which basically tips any loose calcium crystals into a dark corner where they are not interfering with balance or anything else. Its a bit like one of those ball bearing toys where you have to sit all the balls in the holes simultaneously!
I am guessing that some people have a genetic or dietary pre-disposition to some of these problems. My mother has suffered from tinnitus since middle age. But moe practically, I assume that excess calcium is often associated with too many dairy products in a diet? Is your username a clue to your own dietary preferences?
... pass the port with that, old chap?
(Obviously?) alcohol consumption even at low levels may be unhelpful as I remember from ATPL theory that there is a mini-sac in there somewhere, essential for controlling balance, but which is detrimentally prone to soak up alcohol and not disperse it again for maybe as long as a day or two.
As has been suggested generally, I have no doubt that my own vestibular equilibrium has been re-trained to some possibly considerable extent over the years. I can remember times past when I could not stand on one leg in the shower with soap in my eyes
I am sure you will come to understand your own symptoms and beat it, so the very best of luck with that, and I hope, like others, that relating my experiences might be at least partially helpful. As I say, the most important thing I believe is to avoid unrelenting stress, and in your line of work to learn to self-diagnose early onset if you find you improve but start to slide back. Unfortunately if that happens, you might this time get completely clear (I hope you do), but suddenly get this back again in a few years. At that point, you obviously don't wouldn't want it to take you by surprise in the wrong place
