Can't Sleep AT ALL without the Help of Xanax — Tinnitus So Loud

[spinnaker]

I can no longer sleep without help from drugs. I have tried everything. Trying to relax, melatonin, masking sounds, playing the radio. But the tinnitus has gotten SO LOUD none of that helps. When I say can't sleep I mean none, nada. I just lay there all night.

Add to the fact with this recent ramp up in my tinnitus, I am also getting ear pain in the left ear, I think due to recent sensitivity to sound. Something I never had before or at least never really noticed.

Nothing works anymore except Xanax. But I don't want to be on it every night and my doc does not want me on it every night but I need it every night just to get at least some sleep.

I also have Ambien that I have been taking for years when I would have trouble sleeping. I tried one instead of the Xanax the other night and it was useless. And no I have no intention of mixing the two.

I have no idea what to do. I have work but fortunately near retirement age. I was not planning on retiring but might have to. But I think it is going to be worse just sitting at home all day. And if I can't sleep, I can't go out.

The bigger problem is I have an elderly mother I need to be able to take care of. I need to be able to sleep to take care of her. When this all first started getting worse, I was on my Ambien which worked but did not want to stay on it every night so stopped taking it. I stopped sleeping and was unable to take her to a doctor's appointment. Which causes more stress for me.

And my situation is not helping her and her situation is not helping me. Not that we blame one another because we love one another.

I am so desperate, I don't know what to do anymore. I am going on .5mg of Xanax tonight and hopefully I can start not taking them every night.

I did go out and buy a new mattress today, hopefully that will help a bit.

 

[Lilah]

How long have you had tinnitus and/or this new spike?

 

[MBH]

I have head tinnitus and spikes at night, but what I do is take a shower at night, 2 Tylenol PM, I use a sound machine on ocean, and a fan, also get an eye mask, and stick to the same routine. If you want to try a med type in search sleep and swe how several posters tried different meds.

I know what's it like taking care of yourself to take care of others. It's alot of weight on your shoulders.

 

[Notch]

One Sleep Aid tablet (doxylamine succinate) knocks me out.

 

[PeteJ]

One Sleep Aid tablet (doxylamine succinate) knocks me out.

How do you describe your tinnitus?

Mine is loud and I get low quality of sleep. I can't sleep with it so loud. Too many tones and the pitch too high.

 

[PeteJ]

It is not low enough to cope with it. It's a cicadas like noise. I also describe it as electrical power line buzzing but when I hear cicadas near me, it's pretty close to what I hear in my head.

In fact, I can't tell if it's the actual ones outside or it is the tinnitus. I hate this shit.

 

[Astro]

I can no longer sleep without help from drugs. I have tried everything. Trying to relax, melatonin, masking sounds, playing the radio. But the tinnitus has gotten SO LOUD none of that helps. When I say can't sleep I mean none, nada. I just lay there all night.

Add to the fact with this recent ramp up in my tinnitus, I am also getting ear pain in the left ear, I think due to recent sensitivity to sound. Something I never had before or at least never really noticed.

Nothing works anymore except Xanax. But I don't want to be on it every night and my doc does not want me on it every night but I need it every night just to get at least some sleep.

I also have Ambien that I have been taking for years when I would have trouble sleeping. I tried one instead of the Xanax the other night and it was useless. And no I have no intention of mixing the two.

I have no idea what to do. I have work but fortunately near retirement age. I was not planning on retiring but might have to. But I think it is going to be worse just sitting at home all day. And if I can't sleep, I can't go out.

The bigger problem is I have an elderly mother I need to be able to take care of. I need to be able to sleep to take care of her. When this all first started getting worse, I was on my Ambien which worked but did not want to stay on it every night so stopped taking it. I stopped sleeping and was unable to take her to a doctor's appointment. Which causes more stress for me.

And my situation is not helping her and her situation is not helping me. Not that we blame one another because we love one another.

I am so desperate, I don't know what to do anymore. I am going on .5mg of Xanax tonight and hopefully I can start not taking them every night.

I did go out and buy a new mattress today, hopefully that will help a bit.

Dont beat yourself up. I took Xanax for the first year man. It's a shock to your emotions to always be in distress. Use the Xanax to sleep while you try different treatments and while you become more accustomed to the ringing. Whenever you decide to stop definitely slowly taper off. Don't stop cold turkey. Xanax was a god send for me in the beginning.

 

[spinnaker]

How long have you had tinnitus and/or this new spike?

About 3-4 weeks.

 

[spinnaker]

Dont beat yourself up. I took Xanax for the first year man. It's a shock to your emotions to always be in distress. Use the Xanax to sleep while you try different treatments and while you become more accustomed to the ringing. Whenever you decide to stop definitely slowly taper off. Don't stop cold turkey. Xanax was a god send for me in the beginning.

I went down to .5mg last night. Did not do a damn thing for me. I think part of my mistake was taking 10mg of melatonin with it. I had horrible nightmares. Real quick brief ones that would wake me.

My PCP is not going to renew my script. This one very clearly said ONLY WHEN NEEDED. Which really means not every night. But I need it every night.

I think from the stress of lack of sleep, I have also developed restless leg. I don't know how much longer I can last.

 

[spinnaker]

How do you describe your tinnitus?

Mine is loud and I get low quality of sleep. I can't sleep with it so loud. Too many tones and the pitch too high.

Pretty much same here.

 

[Lilah]

I use a sound pillow, a white noise machine, and classical music on the radio. I can still hear my tinnitus slightly with all this. I have also been taking this supplement for two months or so: https://www.covenanthealthproducts.com/Cerenity-PM-120-CT. I previously took Trazodone for six months. I wanted to stop in part because I was not getting great sleep with Trazodone, and I did not want to increase the dosage. My sleep isn't great either, but I usually manage to get around 6 hours with a couple of interruptions. I do get better sleep when I am less anxious, that's why I focus on the classical music when I sleep.

 

[Astro]

I went down to .5mg last night. Did not do a damn thing for me. I think part of my mistake was taking 10mg of melatonin with it. I had horrible nightmares. Real quick brief ones that would wake me.

My PCP is not going to renew my script. This one very clearly said ONLY WHEN NEEDED. Which really means not every night. But I need it every night.

I think from the stress of lack of sleep, I have also developed restless leg. I don't know how much longer I can last.

I'd get another doctor. Any doctor with half a brain will have no problem prescribing benzos to a new sufferer of tinnitus. I'd suggest a therapeutic run of them and not long term though. Use them the first 6-12 months to give you time to try to wrap your head around dealing with this noise. I definitely needed and was thankful for them In the beginning but now I sleep just fine without them. Melatonin gives me shitty dreams too so I never use it haha. I'm going on 4 years of 24-7 high pitched ringing in both ears.

 

[spinnaker]

I'd get another doctor. Any doctor with half a brain will have no problem prescribing benzos to a new sufferer of tinnitus. I'd suggest a therapeutic run of them and not long term though. Use them the first 6-12 months to give you time to try to wrap your head around dealing with this noise. I definitely needed and was thankful for them In the beginning but now I sleep just fine without them. Melatonin gives me shitty dreams too so I never use it haha. I'm going on 4 years of 24-7 high pitched ringing in both ears.

I took 1 mg last night and got 4 hours of sleep. I really need 8. My fear is getting dependent on them. And it becoming less effective. The first time I took it I got 7 hours of sleep. And now I am down to 4.

Plus the internet is just full of horror stories on withdrawal of benzos.

Plus I am not a new suffer. Had it for years. Only recently has a spike caused me not to be able to sleep.

 

[Astro]

I took 1 mg last night and got 4 hours of sleep. I really need 8. My fear is getting dependent on them. And it becoming less effective. The first time I took it I got 7 hours of sleep. And now I am down to 4.

Plus the internet is just full of horror stories on withdrawal of benzos.

Plus I am not a new suffer. Had it for years. Only recently has a spike caused me not to be able to sleep.

You build a tolerance and have to increase dosage pretty frequently. It's unavoidable. And you won't go through the horror story withdrawals as long as you taper off VERY slowly.

 

[Rafalek73]

I took 1 mg last night and got 4 hours of sleep. I really need 8. My fear is getting dependent on them. And it becoming less effective. The first time I took it I got 7 hours of sleep. And now I am down to 4.

Plus the internet is just full of horror stories on withdrawal of benzos.

Plus I am not a new suffer. Had it for years. Only recently has a spike caused me not to be able to sleep.

Is this your worst spike in 40 years?

 

[spinnaker]

Is this your worst spike in 40 years?

Yes... I have had brief ones but they might just last the day. Never one this long.

 

[spinnaker]

You build a tolerance and have to increase dosage pretty frequently. It's unavoidable. And you won't go through the horror story withdrawals as long as you taper off VERY slowly.

This does not sound good. I WILL NOT increase any more dosage. If I do that I will never get off.

I am regretting starting this in the first place. I was sleeping better with my Ambien but the doc convinced me to try Xanax to see if it would help with stress. I thought I would try it from what I learned about it reducing the level. So far it has done nothing after 3 weeks.

And now I can't sleep with the Ambien.

 

[John Mahan]

Dont beat yourself up. I took Xanax for the first year man. It's a shock to your emotions to always be in distress. Use the Xanax to sleep while you try different treatments and while you become more accustomed to the ringing. Whenever you decide to stop definitely slowly taper off. Don't stop cold turkey. Xanax was a god send for me in the beginning.

I agree with this. Tho Clonazepam is my benzo of choice...very sporadically now.
When tinnitus appears, it puts brain chemistry into a death spiral. To reel yourself back in, try medication.
Very hard to control mental health when such an unwelcome visitor comes and doesn't leave.

 

[Stu1983]

Diphenhydramine which is an antihistamine or most older antihistamines will help you sleep.

 

[linearb]

@spinnaker I am back on benzos now, but, I went through this exact thing when I withdrew from them last time (yes with the screeching tinnitus), and the REALLY short version of what helped was:

* came to believe, with the help of a psychiatrist, that not sleeping was just really uncomfortable but not actually dangerous and that I would not actually hit a point where I was hallucinating or unable to work
* started listening to guided body scan meditation tapes every night right before bed
* gradually came to see my bed as a "safe space" and learned how to lie there, not sleeping, without being worried about whether or not I would sleep
* gradually came to trust that "my body is getting the bare minimum rest it needs, I'm fine, everything is fine"

Of course I was dealing with a ton of other benzo symptoms on top of all this because I had been seriously dependent. It took me something like 3-4 months of this to get back to anything like normal sleep, and that whole period was incredibly uncomfortable because I was mostly sweating and nervous and unbelievably tired all day, and then obnoxiously alert at night. But, with the exception of one day when I think I left work at 2 to cry for 2 hours and then whimper and listen to guided meditation tapes on the floor until my wife got home, I think I got through it all without missing any work or otherwise derailing my life.

I'm agnostic as to whether or not you should come off Xanax, that's your decision; I think benzos are super dangerous and in general people should avoid them if they can have a decent quality of life without them, but no one can decide that for you.

 

[John Mahan]

@spinnaker I am back on benzos now, but, I went through this exact thing when I withdrew from them last time (yes with the screeching tinnitus), and the REALLY short version of what helped was:

* came to believe, with the help of a psychiatrist, that not sleeping was just really uncomfortable but not actually dangerous and that I would not actually hit a point where I was hallucinating or unable to work
* started listening to guided body scan meditation tapes every night right before bed
* gradually came to see my bed as a "safe space" and learned how to lie there, not sleeping, without being worried about whether or not I would sleep
* gradually came to trust that "my body is getting the bare minimum rest it needs, I'm fine, everything is fine"

Of course I was dealing with a ton of other benzo symptoms on top of all this because I had been seriously dependent. It took me something like 3-4 months of this to get back to anything like normal sleep, and that whole period was incredibly uncomfortable because I was mostly sweating and nervous and unbelievably tired all day, and then obnoxiously alert at night. But, with the exception of one day when I think I left work at 2 to cry for 2 hours and then whimper and listen to guided meditation tapes on the floor until my wife got home, I think I got through it all without missing any work or otherwise derailing my life.

I'm agnostic as to whether or not you should come off Xanax, that's your decision; I think benzos are super dangerous and in general people should avoid them if they can have a decent quality of life without them, but no one can decide that for you.

You are an amazing guy linearb. Big respect for your warrior spirit.

 

[Lilah]

not sleeping was just really uncomfortable but not actually dangerous and that I would not actually hit a point where I was hallucinating or unable to work

Is this really true?
Don't we need at least 6 hours of sleep per day?

 

[Digital Doc]

@spinnaker @linearb

"I'm agnostic as to whether or not you should come off Xanax, that's your decision; I think benzos are super dangerous and in general people should avoid them if they can have a decent quality of life without them, but no one can decide that for you."

There's a reason why benzos are a prescription med, and the continuing need and dosing should be done with appropriate care from your doctor.

 

[linearb]

@spinnaker @linearb
There's a reason why benzos are a prescription med, and the continuing need and dosing should be done with appropriate care from your doctor.

People should not blindly encourage others to take dangerous, addictive drugs which may be subject to prescription control, but that's different than people sharing their own experience. People sharing their own experience often provokes other people to ask them for advice, what do you expect?

Benzos are not a prescription med a good many places. Even in the US there are a large number of benzodiazepines which can be legally imported for personal use because they're not specifically scheduled here (and benzos at schedule-IV don't trigger analog controls), and we certainly have people on here using them (search the forum for "etizolam"). Seems reasonable to share information along those lines, as well. Beyond that, you seem to be coming onto a chronic health forum criticizing non-MDs for sharing health information amongst each other, which seems dubious, especially when considered it in light of the bad and factually wrong information some MDs have given me about benzos over the years, as well as the fact that "the system working as its supposed to" just gave us a couple million opiate deaths courtesy of Purdue lobbying dollars and lots of theoretically qualified MDs.

@Digital Doc how do you feel about cannabis, which is completely legal here and doesn't need medical oversight, but people are clearly using it in many cases as self-care to manage their own conditions? Just curious; I think cannabis is less problematic than Xanax for a number of reasons, but still falls prey to your basic point that people are assessing their own "continuing need and dosing" without any input or oversight. I'm not sure that's a great situation, but I certainly wouldn't put cannabis back under prescription control.

Is this really true?
Don't we need at least 6 hours of sleep per day?

I doubt if that period of time did me much good in terms of my long term health, but "need" is a strong word. What I remember is I would sleep "not at all" for several nights which probably meant fitfully sleeping in 5 minute bursts on and off during the night. Then, usually, after 4-5 days of that I would catch a break and crash out and sleep for 4-6 hours. It was super unpleasant and the quality of my work suffered, but I managed to be in my desk getting enough done that no one really noticed. If anything work was somewhat of a useful distraction and it was the other 18 hours a day that were worse.

You are an amazing guy linearb. Big respect for your warrior spirit.

Thanks, but -- I did what I did because I thought I had to, and what I was capable of doing was no more than what circumstances demanded of me. I have had an amazing support network through all this, in terms of family/friends that have always been there, and actually gotten pretty decent care from the American health system by virtue of living good places and staying well insured. If the circumstances of my life, or my tinnitus, suddenly got catastrophically worse, who knows what would happen? There but for the grace of Todd go I, I suppose.

I think I have more of a bureaucrat's spirit, probably? Put a problem in front of me, I don't hack it apart with a sword, I just start looking for the red tape and trying to work my fingers in under it

 

[Digital Doc]

@linearb

I have no experience with cannabis. In my state, it is under medical control, and not available legally for recreational use. Other states, like Colorado, are certainly less restricted.

While there may be workarounds, benzos are a prescription drug for good reason. Benzodiazepine withdrawal is a real disease that occurs on occasion. While there are many important indications for this class of medicine, including anxiety and sedation, we should all have a healthy respect for them as I certainly do.

 

[guenguer]

Is this really true?
Don't we need at least 6 hours of sleep per day?

No. I'm a 5 max with 2-3 interruptions. For months.

 

[volsung37]

Some people I know function on less than 4 hours per night.

As we grow older we tend to need less sleep.

Mind you before tinnitus I used to love a good long night's sleep.

 

[volsung37]

I'm using Zopiclone 3.5 mg at the moment. I get about 4 hours good sleep with it.

I have used Promethazine 50 mg in the past. I got longer sleep but could feel a bit groggy next morning.