Any Tips for Getting More Sleep When You Have Tinnitus?

[Welsh Lisa]

I struggle getting off to sleep because of the constant high pitched hissing. Sometimes I can be awake until at least 4am and then tend to get some sleep simply as I'm so tired. Not keen on taking sleep medication.

Can anyone suggest anything else? Do pillow speakers help? Or any Apps?

And what is white noise please? I've seen that mentioned when looking in the App Store but don't know what it is nor whether it might be beneficial.

 

[coffee_girl]

A good high speed fan blowing on your toes is good for masking and very comforting too.

 

[kmohoruk]

For myself, I use a Sound Oasis 5000 sound machine. It's good quality sound so it doesn't mess with my tinnitus too much, and just masks it enough so I can get to sleep.

You can usually find them online for pretty cheap as well!

https://www.amazon.com/Sound-Oasis-S-5000-Deluxe-Therapy/dp/B0085LW1DA/

I've also heard of some people having some success with sound pillows. For myself, the sound is a little too close to my ears. But some people swear by them

 

[JohnAdams]

I drink.

 

[Ed209]

I struggle getting off to sleep because of the constant high pitched hissing. Sometimes I can be awake until at least 4am and then tend to get some sleep simply as I'm so tired. Not keen on taking sleep medication. Can anyone suggest anything else? Do pillow speakers help? Or any Apps? And what is white noise please? I've seen that mentioned when looking in the App Store but don't know what it is nor whether it might be beneficial.

You could try exercising as this will naturally tire your body out. You could also try taking melatonin as well.

I'd advise you try and establish a routine if you do get some sleep to help your circadian rhythm. Stay away from phone screens and the TV in the late evening because the light tricks your brain into thinking there is still daylight.

Use a fan like coffee girl said, or another form of masking if you feel it helps you. The main part is switching your mind off rather than the tinnitus noise. Overthinking is a sign of anxiety, which let's face it, comes with the territory.

I'd say exercise will be one of the best things though. Try hill walking or taking a strenuous walk somewhere.

 

[another sean]

Alcohol free Passion flower drops is my miracle sleep aid. Also work for anxiety.

 

[MBH]

Hello.

This is what works for me.

I take a shower in the evening, I use a fan, a sound machine that plays white and nature noise. I put on a eye mask and take two OTC Tylenol pm. I sleep thru the night.

 

[Jazzer]

Melatonin (just 2mg - Circadin in the U.K.)
works like a charm for me.
Melatonin is a sleep hormone that occurs naturally in the body, so this is a supplement rather than a sleeping drug.

 

[RSV]

Alcohol free Passion flower drops is my miracle sleep aid. Also work for anxiety.

Does it cause tinnitus to spike? Everything causes my tinnitus to spike.

 

[another sean]

Does it cause tinnitus to spike? Everything causes my tinnitus to spike.

Not at all for me.

 

[Luman]

I tend to like steady sounds, like a fan or white noise, and I use the LectroFan, which has 10 different fan types and 10 white noise selections. The electronically produced effects do not repeat, and can cover/mask many different noises and intrusive sounds very well. It can run on A/C or USB.

 

[Lane]

Can anyone suggest anything else?

mHBOT does more for my sleep quality than anything else I've tried in the past 20 years. -- Best!

 

[Mattv]

Exercise like a fiend. Your body will be so tired you will sleep like the dead...

 

[Bill Bauer]

Exercise like a fiend. Your body will be so tired you will sleep like the dead...

Doesn't work for me. In my case, if there is any effect of exercise, it is to make it Harder to fall and stay asleep.

 

[Bill Bauer]

constant high pitched hissing

The sounds of crickets help with high pitch tone. This sound might work well with high pitched hissing...

 

[andy92]

Hi everyone,

It has been 9 months now since that fateful day I first heard the low pitched drone in my right ear...

It has been an absolute rollercoaster.

There are weeks where my tinnitus is so loud I hear it above trains, planes, the tube. But then there are those few weeks of bliss where I really don't hear it unless I am in a quiet room - those are the best, I always feel incredible!

I have realised for me that my tinnitus is highly susceptible to three things (in order of importance):
1. Sleep - if I go into a deep sleep for more than 8 hours I know my day will be great and tinnitus will be lower
2. Noise - if I am somewhere where I know the noise is too much it will spike my tinnitus
3. Stress - when work is crazy and I am flying here there and everywhere my tinnitus goes nuts

Unfortunately, to get sleep for the last nine months I have developed some horrible habits to force me into a coma.

I'm drinking 2-3 strong beers of a night and having a joint to knock me out. If I'm away for work on a stressful client it can be a bottle of wine and more...

I have tried and tried to sleep without any aid, but it doesn't work. My body can't seem to sleep on its own any more. It's like it just doesn't enter that dreamy phase where you drift off.

I am stuck in this horrible loop. I hate drinking, and smoking but I am desperate to sleep because if I don't I know my tinnitus will be louder than a jet plane and will ruin my day and subsequent nights and it can take me a week to recover from a night of insomnia.

I have always been a chronic insomniac, but managed to get it all under control before tinnitus - primarily by sleeping in silence. Now when I don't have a drink, the noise becomes too much, I can't mask it and so I go into horrible panic attacks.

I would really appreciate some tips. Do I need to just spend a couple of weeks with no sleep? Practising sleep hygiene until my body finally crashes? This sounds like absolute hell to me and an impossibility!

I would really really appreciate some good advice from the insomniacs out there and especially anyone else who has used drink and weed to get to sleep. I should mention I don't drink during the day - ever and only ever have my first beer at 10pm... To be honest I'm not a massive fan of the booze.

I need to stop, I had a big wake up call from my dentist last weekend. The alcohol is having serious effects on my teeth and body. But I have a very stressful, high paced job with lots of travel, I don't really know if I can face several nights of no sleep and racing tinnitus.

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[glynis]

I struggle getting off to sleep because of the constant high pitched hissing. Sometimes I can be awake until at least 4am and then tend to get some sleep simply as I'm so tired. Not keen on taking sleep medication.

Can anyone suggest anything else? Do pillow speakers help? Or any Apps?

And what is white noise please? I've seen that mentioned when looking in the App Store but don't know what it is nor whether it might be beneficial.

If tinnitus keeps you awake and is a constant mental torture when you want to sleep then it's time to look into your options.

Melatonin is a natural medication that is good.

Sleeping tablets are good but only for a week or two as they can soon become addictive and over time stop working.

A low-dose antidepressant for sleep well below the therapeutic dose for depression can be taken long-term and not be addictive.

love glynis

 

[MRItechssuck]

I'm randomly drug tested at work, so "drinking and weed" will not help me get to sleep. Lol
sleeping pills, and antidepressants won't work either, and melatonin can have strange side effects for some.

... I can sleep some and ignore the ugly sounds, but once I wake up at 0400 everyday, not on purpose, I'm up for good because the 80 dB or so sound and hiss... and my wife wonders why I think about causing harm to that incompetent MRI tech... but jail probably isn't conducive to sleep either . ‍

I try to be logical... (bad/loud) night tonight... the d@mn noise is there, will be there forever... so it's like getting used to sleeping next to a fire station... but at least for me... the siren is constant.

Good luck.

 

[Digital Doc]

@andy92

Lack of sleep with T is a bad combo, and keeps making things worse.

What worked for me was:
- Use of earplugs to quite the outside world down and promote not waking up
- Melatonin at bedtime to help get to sleep
- Nightly aloe tea, a natural anti-inflammatory
- Daily omega3, about 500 mg supplement, another anti-inflammatory

With this regimen, I went from waking up throughout the night, to restful sleep.

 

[Michael B]

Crickets sounds work for me as well. I used a Sound Oasis sound machine but found that for a few dollars I was able to purchase the same crickets sound from their website and download it onto my phone.

 

[Kriszti]

How much melatonin do you take?
I'm experiencing with natural supplements, because I don't want to get hooked on benzos. So far I haven't had real success with anything. In the melatonin leaflet it's suggested to take 1-2 pills (3mg) an hour before bedtime. I still wake up 1-2 hours later and I am unable to go back to sleep anytime soon. If I'm lucky I can get another 2-3 hours of sleep, but not without waking up a lot.
Should I take melatonin for a longer time to work? I mean for consecutive days to be efficient? Now I take melatonin one day, not working, then valerian the other, occassionaly Frontin (that's a Xanax type of med). Nothing seems to work. I use masking sound of thunder on a very low volume from YouTube. That's the only calming music right now which doesn't make me want to slit my wrist.

 

[Star64]

How much melatonin do you take?
I'm experiencing with natural supplements, because I don't want to get hooked on benzos. So far I haven't had real success with anything. In the melatonin leaflet it's suggested to take 1-2 pills (3mg) an hour before bedtime. I still wake up 1-2 hours later and I am unable to go back to sleep anytime soon. If I'm lucky I can get another 2-3 hours of sleep, but not without waking up a lot.
Should I take melatonin for a longer time to work? I mean for consecutive days to be efficient? Now I take melatonin one day, not working, then valerian the other, occassionaly Frontin (that's a Xanax type of med). Nothing seems to work. I use masking sound of thunder on a very low volume from YouTube. That's the only calming music right now which doesn't make me want to slit my wrist.

Melatonin does not need to be taken consecutively for it to work, it usually has some effect about 1 hour after ingestion if it is going to work for you. You can buy slow release melatonin and some people say this works better at keeping them asleep for longer periods.

Personally I cannot take melatonin, it gives me vivid dreams and restless legs, so it does not help me sleep at all. I do hope you find an alternative to benzo use for sleep, because getting hooked on these drugs is something you do not want to experience.

 

[Kriszti]

Melatonin does not need to be taken consecutively for it to work, it usually has some effect about 1 hour after ingestion if it is going to work for you. You can buy slow release melatonin and some people say this works better at keeping them asleep for longer periods.

Personally I cannot take melatonin, it gives me vivid dreams and restless legs, so it does not help me sleep at all. I do hope you find an alternative to benzo use for sleep, because getting hooked on these drugs is something you do not want to experience.

Thank you very much. I hope so too. At least Frontin doesn't seem to be helping either, so I'm not intrigued to take it.

 

[Kriszti]

@Star64
Sorry for bothering you, but may I ask you what is your opinion on mixing sleeping pills? I mean, is it okay to take melatonin and valerian at the same night? Or is it absolutely futile? Should I increase my dosage of one instead of trying to mix two different types of natural sleeping pills?

 

[Mister Muso]

Deep breathing from the diaphragm helps me if I wake in the night. I started the habit initially because I found it settled my tonal tinnitus which increases when I yawn or turn over. Now I've become so accustomed to doing it that I've found I could drop my sleep medication and I am able to get a reasonable night's sleep using this technique. The sound of my breathing through my nose helps to mask my tinnitus enough to distract me whilst I drop off.

 

[Star64]

@Star64
Sorry for bothering you, but may I ask you what is your opinion on mixing sleeping pills? I mean, is it okay to take melatonin and valerian at the same night? Or is it absolutely futile? Should I increase my dosage of one instead of trying to mix two different types of natural sleeping pills?

I would not take the two together, and I do not know what other meds you are taking so it is hard to advise.

Even these supplements should not be taken with certain drugs because of possible interactions. Valerian is stated to work better after several weeks use.

Sorry I can't help more, none of the supplements helped my sleep but many people do have success with them.

Sleep is a big issue for me, but I use meditation now, similar to @Mister Muso but I know you are not interested in that.

Last night I had trouble sleeping after several attempts of meditation I finally fell asleep for 5 straight hours, now that is a huge plus for me. So I hope you find something that works for you

 

[lightning]

I have tinnitus that cannot be masked, which began sometime between 12/27/2019 and 1/1/2020 that I can only attribute to acoustic trauma. The un-maskable tone is in my left ear, and it's a fluctuating tone, constantly getting quieter and then louder, making it very hard to ignore. I have some other tones, but they disappear as soon as I hear anything at all in the environment. I am very anxiety prone and I'm not on any medication for that or anything else. During the day I can deal with the sound without too much trouble. It sucks but I can keep busy, plus I am attempting the "Back to Silence" method which can be therapeutic (I understand I'm somewhat failing at it right now by describing the tinnitus).

Night time is a whole different story. I can usually fall asleep OK initially, but I always wake up periodically during the night. I've always been like that, even pre-tinnitus. Now with this intrusive tinnitus, I instantly zero in on that sound and start to get nervous and anxious, leading to panic. I use sound enrichment which helps a little, but not enough. I'm often unable to get back to sleep for hours. This has ruined my sleep and every morning I feel like I just barely survived a traumatic event.

I know I'm not the only person here with a similar set of circumstances, so I'm here to ask you all for suggestions on how to manage this. Thank you.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Are you using crickets sounds for your sound enrichment?

You can try taking Amitriptyline. It isn't addictive and it won't make you feel drowsy the next day. It has even been used as a treatment for tinnitus, but like all potential treatments, a very small fraction of people end up making their tinnitus worse when they take it.

 

[Michael Leigh]

I have tinnitus that cannot be masked, which began sometime between 12/27/2019 and 1/1/2020 that I can only attribute to acoustic trauma. The un-maskable tone is in my left ear, and it's a fluctuating tone, constantly getting quieter and then louder, making it very hard to ignore. I

HI @lightning

It is not usually a good idea to try and mask tinnitus so that it can't be heard, especially when it is intrusive as yours is. Using sound enrichment set at a level where it isn't drawing attention to itself, is the preferred method that Audiologists and Hearing Therapists advise tinnitus patients to use particularly at night. Feeling anxious and stressed is not unusual in the early stages of tinnitus. It might be good idea to have a word with your doctor, who may prescribe something to help with this. Please click on the links below and read my posts on tinnitus that you might find helpful. Since your tinnitus is noise induced, I advise you not to use headphones even at low volume for now.

All the best
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-to-tinnitus-what-to-do.12558/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

 

[Tybs]

The un-maskable tone is in my left ear, and it's a fluctuating tone, constantly getting quieter and then louder, making it very hard to ignore.

This description is similar to my primary tone: non-stop up and down. It took roughly 8 months for it to fade, but I rarely hear it these days. Are your sounds reactive to external sounds as well? And do you know the cause of your tinnitus?

When it comes to sleep: I have positive experiences with an electrical therapy device called the "Alpha Stim". Expensive, but three weeks in the treatment, my sleep expanded to 6-8 hours per night. Has been like this for a month now, thereby greatly improving my physical and mental condition.