Ben Thompson, AuD.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to episode 20 of the Pure Tinnitus and Hearing Podcast. I'm the host, Dr. Ben Thompson of Pure Tinnitus. Today we are here with Pattie and her husband, and Pattie is going to share her story of tinnitus and how she went from very loud, obtrusive, annoying, bothersome tinnitus to a significant reduction in her symptoms. And any time I work with a patient via telehealth who has this kind of success story, I do my best to share it to motivate and inspire others. So, Pattie, I'll pass it to you. Please tell us a bit about what happened around the time of your tinnitus when it began in April 2020 and bring us into that place initially. Welcome.
Pattie
Thank you, Ben. It's a pleasure to be here. Yes, I want to help anyone that has tinnitus. And actually my story kind of started at the end of 2019 when I developed a heart problem. And so I was really anxious from all that, and so in April '20, the tinnitus started, and it was horrible. It was so loud. I was afraid to tell people that I had this noise in my ear because I was afraid that they would think, oh boy, she needs to go to a home or something. I didn't tell my husband for the longest time or go to the doctor. But anyway, that said, I finally told a really good friend of mine, and she knew all about the tinnitus. And so I was really surprised. So she was happy that I had shared my story with her. So then I shared my story with Terry. It was not only loud noises. It was also some music that would kind of float in and out, and that was quite scary.
Ben Thompson, AuD.
You had musical tinnitus, and you had some other noises like ringings. Is that correct?
Pattie
Yes, really loud ringing.
Ben Thompson, AuD.
And I actually had some notes of those initial times. Eight months later, we actually met, but for those eight months, what was your life? What was your experience of dealing with this tinnitus? How did it affect you?
Pattie
It was really bad. It was really bad. I talked to my husband about it, and then finally I had to go to my doctor. And so he checked my ears and everything, and he said, "Oh, your ears are fine. but do you want to see an audiologist?" I said, "Yes." And so she came in to Hilo from Honolulu. And then it was quite scary because I was in denial because she told me, she said, "You're deaf in both ears." Oh, okay, thank you. See ya. But the tinnitus was so loud. It was night and day all the time. It was really, really scary. And so, yeah, I was living with that for the longest time.
Ben Thompson, AuD.
I have a note that you said your general practitioner, your doctor, they said, "It will always be there. There's no way it's going to go away." Is that correct?
Pattie
Exactly, that's what he said. And so me being the person I am, I wouldn't accept what he said. So you can ask my husband. I was on my iPad practically day and night until I found a, would find a solution. So I found a couple of solutions, but then I met Ben, and Ben was my really big hope for my tinnitus.
Ben Thompson, AuD.