Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

What have you tried to calm yourself? @BeMagnified

These will probably sound useless, but when I'm stuck in a bad anxiety attack I have a hot milk, spray my pillow with lavender and put on a funny film and my masking noises to divert my attention from my anxiety at night and in the day I do some gardening, literally anything till it eventually passes.

@BeMagnified Don't feel bad I haven't gotten much sleep myself the last few days.

@BeMagnified - in Feb I had 118 hours without sleep so I know exactly what you are going through and how brutal it is. I needed medication in the end, although it was reluctant. That fight or flight mode is so tough, I know. Magnesium Calm can help, plus hot bath, warm milk and another sense like the scent of Lavender can help.
Watch something funny and light hearted. Sleep will come.

I finally fell asleep at the 39 hour mark. After watching a movie, I put on a favorite show and eventually fell asleep on the couch. I woke up 8 hours later. So far, I feel calmer compared to yesterday.

Good to hear @BeMagnified

@Strawberryblonde After getting home for the day, I basically watched movies to try to distract myself. My tinnitus has been especially bad this week and has been more or less unmaskable.

That's great to hear @BeMagnified!! - Now you've done it once, you're body will be ready and prepered to do it again

@DeanD Anxiety has been a long standing problem for me and so I have used medication for years. I started a new medication back in December and it worked really well for sleep. Unfortunately it also caused a lot of side effects and so I cut back on the dose. Now it's not quite as effective for sleep.

Exactly what @DeanD says, the next time you feel that fight or flight come on put a movie on and deep breath through the nose you get more nitric oxide that way to help calm down. What have you been using to try and mask it? @BeMagnified

Have you done any CBT? I did for my panic disorder and it's seemed to help. When I'm feeling anxious- epsom salt bath, distraction (puzzle, painting, colour, read), go for a walk, meditate. CBD if that's something you're into/can take.

@SamRosemary I did a few sessions of CBT about two and a half years ago. As long as I'm not so anxious that I freeze up, I do use distraction as a technique. I have a bubble shooter game on my tablet that I Iike to distract myself with.

Maybe check back into it. Or even a CBT book to follow along with. My therapy went hand in hand with a workbook and I had weekly homework and reading. Once I knew the pathophysiology of anxiety/panic it really eased my mind. Learn about the sympathetic/parasympathetic nervous system and the sensations and such. Found this very helpful.

@SamRosemary The social worker that I was doing CBT with ghosted me after a few sessions. So I never got very far into it. I have to rely on publicly funded therapy since I can't afford private therapy. I'm not sure what options are available to me at this time.

@SamRosemary I just figured out that you're also from Canada (I initially assumed that you were from the States for some unknown reason). I had a caseworker a few years that knew of what was available publicly for my area. She got me set up with CBT. I no longer have a caseworker and I'm not sure how to find out what is available to me today.

Unfortunately public funded is very limited and over subscribed and the sessions are very few and far between. I am currently going through it as private prices are way to much to be paying for the multiple sessions needed.
Read up a lot on it (CBT) and explore yourself what works and what doesnt, itll help fill in the gaps that public funded misses. @BeMagnified

@Strawberryblonde I have a book on CBT as well as some print outs. I used to do a lot of reading but my ability to concentrate has been limited lately (my caseworker gave me print outs while I was waiting to see someone a few years ago).

@Strawberryblonde In my experience for my area, public funded sessions tend to be weekly or every other week but they are limited in the amount of sessions that you get. There's also a wait list and it might be months if not longer before you can see someone. There's also a limited number of people who do free sessions and they may or may not be a good fit when it comes to personality

@BeMagnified I know services are different depending where you are so I probably can't provide you possible options unless you're from the Ottawa area like me. Do you have a family doctor? You could start there and ask them for referrals.

@SamRosemary I am from Ontario but I'm not from the Ottawa area. My PCP or my psychiatrist might be in the know of what services are offered in my area. I've looked online for information but I haven't been able to find a lot.