Does Your Tinnitus Change While Sleeping?

[frohike]

I usually sleep for a REM cycle (around 2 hours), wake up, check the clock, continue sleeping. But sometimes I wake up to the tune of new tinnitus patterns, continuous beeeeeeep, or repetitive machine-like noises. What's curious is that if I wake myself up it fades, and if I wake myself up fully, it goes away, and I'm left with my usual hissing tinnitus sound.

This used to scare me physically (a distinctive feeling on my gut), but it has happened so many times, that when now when it happens, or when I have a few days with bad T, I'm resigned. I still worry, but only a little. Whatever has to happen it will happen, and I better spend my time doing things that make me happy while I can.

I wanted to share this story because this phenomenon is part of my life and I have never read about it. Only sometimes people write they woke up in the night with a terrible T. Or that they wake up after 90 minutes. I wonder if some day doctors will make sense of what neurons are up to during the night. Probably raising the volume and throwing a party!

 

[Michael B]

I used to wake up to lower tinnitus, no matter how bad it was the night before. I used to call this my tinnitus miracle. I too wondered what sleep did for my tinnitus but didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. That's changed a few weeks ago and I now wake up to louder tinnitus pretty much every day. No happy endings here, just wanted to share my experience.

 

[SomaticT]

My tinnitus is louder in the mornings. I've since discovered I clench my teeth in the night! My doc thinks that the tightening of my neck muscles caused by clenching are making my tinnitus worse. I now sleep w a mouth guard which protects my teeth but doesn't stop the clenching. I've also had Botox in my masseter to reduce clenching w limited success. Make sure to ask your dentist if you clench in your sleep, it might help, good luck to you.

 

[SomaticT]

I usually sleep for a REM cycle (around 2 hours), wake up, check the clock, continue sleeping. But sometimes I wake up to the tune of new tinnitus patterns, continuous beeeeeeep, or repetitive machine-like noises. What's curious is that if I wake myself up it fades, and if I wake myself up fully, it goes away, and I'm left with my usual hissing tinnitus sound.

This used to scare me physically (a distinctive feeling on my gut), but it has happened so many times, that when now when it happens, or when I have a few days with bad T, I'm resigned. I still worry, but only a little. Whatever has to happen it will happen, and I better spend my time doing things that make me happy while I can.

I wanted to share this story because this phenomenon is part of my life and I have never read about it. Only sometimes people write they woke up in the night with a terrible T. Or that they wake up after 90 minutes. I wonder if some day doctors will make sense of what neurons are up to during the night. Probably raising the volume and throwing a party!

Ask dentist to check if you have bruxism - clenching your teeth when you sleep could be affecting your tinnitus. Good luck.

 

[illegalmonkey77]

My T always seems to move around when I lay down. It doesn't change tones really but lets say I sleep on my left side(T is in right ear), my T will move to my left usually as if it's a liquid draining from my right into my left. It can also feel like it's centered in my head or simply in both ears rather than just one. Once I'm up and about though it always goes back to the T I'm used to hearing, only in my right ear.

 

[Samantha R]

@frohike
Yes, sleep affects my tinnitus.
Sometimes, if I take a nap or am woken out of a sleep cycle, my tinnitus rages. It's one gigantic hiss that's taken over my whole head.
I can go for months without experiencing this, then a couple of weeks ago, I had it three times in one week.
By the third time, I was beside myself and had to take a clonazepam to get back to sleep.
I need to get back to sleep to 'reset' the noise.
I am in disbelief at having this go on, never would have thought such a crazy condition existed. I lay there trying to get back to sleep and think what a joke tinnitus is. Unbelievable.

 

[frohike]

I am in disbelief at having this go on, never would have thought such a crazy condition existed. I lay there trying to get back to sleep and think what a joke tinnitus is. Unbelievable.

Indeed and I have read similar comments in this forum. The first time I heard T, I went through my room trying to locate the sound. When I finally found it... are you serious life?? I take consolation knowing that others are struggling in the same fight.

@SomaticT I have bruxism and a mouth guard. Some days I clench, others I don't. I think stress plays a role. I used to do mental activity all day but that ain't healthy. I try to take it easy after work.

@Michael B thanks. It's interesting to know how T evolves for other people.

 

[Tinniger]

Me and my tinnitus benefit from a long night's sleep

 

[Samantha R]

@frohike
Yes, I have read about other people experiencing the same thing too which is somewhat reassuring to me. My greatest fear is that one day I may have this kind of noise to deal with 24/7, which chills me to my core. I actually do need to go back to sleep to settle the noise down again.
It's a vicious cycle - noise is distressing, need to go back to sleep to reset it, can't sleep because I'm anxious, take a clonazepam!
I just hope my kids don't get this shit.

 

[dorje]

Hi @frohike
My T changes during the night, not the tone though, but the volume. Sometimes when I wake up it's completely gone (then I lie down for a while longer and enjoy a total silence, lucky me, I know), sometimes its volume is down to tiny 1. Then it develops during the day. Strange.

But I've also noticed that my T reduces when I lie down for few minutes after work. No idea why.

 

[rainbowjade]

Indeed and I have read similar comments in this forum. The first time I heard T, I went through my room trying to locate the sound. When I finally found it... are you serious life?? I take consolation knowing that others are struggling in the same fight.

@SomaticT I have bruxism and a mouth guard. Some days I clench, others I don't. I think stress plays a role. I used to do mental activity all day but that ain't healthy. I try to take it easy after work.

@Michael B thanks. It's interesting to know how T evolves for other people.

Frohike - that made me laugh in your description going through the room to locate the sound, my tinnitus first started as the sound of bees buzzing before adding the very loud hissing and then motorbike revving - and now heartbeat - as you said are you serious life? But I wanted my hubs to get someone to sort out the bees as I was sure they were nesting in the wall cavity along side the bedroom. I asked him to listen at the wall loads of time and when he said he could not hear anything - I told him he needed his ears tested coz it was so loud. Turned out to be my new best friend Mr T who I would dearly like to kick him out.

 

[Harley]

@frohike
I am in disbelief at having this go on, never would have thought such a crazy condition existed. I lay there trying to get back to sleep and think what a joke tinnitus is. Unbelievable.

I can very much relate to what you wrote here.
I was in excellent health both mentally and physically, when I got blindsided by this waking nightmare, which I had no idea even existed.
I didn't know that something this bad is even remotelly possible.

My first reaction to Tinnitus was:
"Are you fuc##ng kidding me?!?!?!"
It is now 3 years later and my reaction is exactly the same.
"Are you fuc##ng kidding me?!?!?!"

This must ne the most evil, asinine, useless, pointless and absurd condition in existence.

 

[Harley]

Either way, knowing that sleep seems to be a trigger to Tinnitus increase or decrease for most people, it should be considered a major clue by the scientific community as far as the mechanism of this condition is concerned.

It obviously has something to do with different brain chemicals being relased at different stages of sleep and their interraction with Tinnitus.
If a team of dedicated biochemists and sleep specialists was assigned to this one, it should not be that hard to figure out what exactly is causing those fluctuations and then reverse engineer or mimic the chemicals involved in lowering Tinnitus.

But sadly I don't think there is any serious research of this kind being carried out (at least not that I'm aware of), since Tinnitus is mostly considered to be just a minor annoyance by the medical circles and their priorities are elsewhere.

 

[Elmer B Fuddled]

Tinnitus the little sneaky bast##d has the ability to change a peaceful sleep to an awakening high pitched hissing. Once it has woken me up it does not change and when daylight comes and I can't get rested I'm up cussing tinnitus until I can put my hearing aids in. Which only masks the ringing enough to continue the day. There is definitely something in the neurons playing while we sleep. And EHS doesn't help the situation either. To bad we couldn't take the brain out and hang it on the bed post till morning.

 

[Samantha R]

I can very much relate to what you wrote here.
I was in excellent health both mentally and physically, when I got blindsided by this waking nightmare, which I had no idea even existed.
I didn't know that something this bad is even remotelly possible.

My first reaction to Tinnitus was:
"Are you fuc##ng kidding me?!?!?!"
It is now 3 years later and my reaction is exactly the same.
"Are you fuc##ng kidding me?!?!?!"

This must ne the most evil, asinine, useless, pointless and absurd condition in existence.

I'm also three years in and things have drastically improved for me.
Curcumin has helped immensely and I rarely get these night spikes anymore.
I would say I'm habituated though, but my tinnitus is now mostly mild.
Having said that though, I still think this condition is nuts, and certainly pushes you to the brink of insanity.

 

[Harley]

I'm also three years in and things have drastically improved for me.
Curcumin has helped immensely and I rarely get these night spikes anymore.
I would say I'm habituated though, but my tinnitus is now mostly mild.
Having said that though, I still think this condition is nuts, and certainly pushes you to the brink of insanity.

Im glad things have settled for you.
Can I ask you how much of the Curcumin are you taking?
I have tried some pretty high doses in the past, but with zero effect on Tinnitus.
Also what brand of Curcumin are you taking if you don't mind me asking?

Either way, Curcumin is one of those great supplements that everyone should be taking, regardless of Tinnitus.

 

[Mister Muso]

Yes. I had two days of loud ringing filling my head. Then when I got up this morning it was a somatic hissing sound. Not sure which is worse, but variety is the spice of life they say.

 

[foam]

Yes. I had two days of loud ringing filling my head. Then when I got up this morning it was a somatic hissing sound. Not sure which is worse, but variety is the spice of life they say.

Somatic hissing is better.. At least it goes away pretty early in the day

 

[foam]

Either way, knowing that sleep seems to be a trigger to Tinnitus increase or decrease for most people, it should be considered a major clue by the scientific community as far as the mechanism of this condition is concerned.

It obviously has something to do with different brain chemicals being relased at different stages of sleep and their interraction with Tinnitus.
If a team of dedicated biochemists and sleep specialists was assigned to this one, it should not be that hard to figure out what exactly is causing those fluctuations and then reverse engineer or mimic the chemicals involved in lowering Tinnitus.

But sadly I don't think there is any serious research of this kind being carried out (at least not that I'm aware of), since Tinnitus is mostly considered to be just a minor annoyance by the medical circles and their priorities are elsewhere.

I listened to a podcast by a neurologist the other day and he stated that there are only 7? major receptors in the brain and swinging things one way or the other is incredibly simple and easy. He was all about the under and over methylation and how different people need different drugs / supplements. After reading this forum a lot I can see that there are various types of Tinnitus that would need to be tackled completely differently but there are definitely lots of people on the forum in each specific group. No one is alone.

 

[Harley]

I listened to a podcast by a neurologist the other day and he stated that there are only 7? major receptors in the brain and swinging things one way or the other is incredibly simple and easy. He was all about the under and over methylation and how different people need different drugs / supplements. After reading this forum a lot I can see that there are various types of Tinnitus that would need to be tackled completely differently but there are definitely lots of people on the forum in each specific group. No one is alone.

Did you happen to remember this guys name by any chance?

 

[foam]

Did you happen to remember this guys name by any chance?

Nope but I might be able to find it again.. It was in a list of random podcasts I had playing to distract myself when I first got tinnitus.. I was like that's randomly relevant.. I'll have a look for it tonight. Ok found it.. It's called "Healing mental illness with chemistry". My father has quite a bit of experience with this kind of thing, he used to have brain spasms that would leave him unable to walk for days and have a fuzzy head for months until he started playing with this zinc and copper balance theory.. He made a full recovery eventually. https://cdn.voiceamerica.com/health/011455/nathan073115.mp3

 

[Harley]

Nope but I might be able to find it again.. It was in a list of random podcasts I had playing to distract myself when I first got tinnitus.. I was like that's randomly relevant.. I'll have a look for it tonight. Ok found it.. It's called "Healing mental illness with chemistry". My father has quite a bit of experience with this kind of thing, he used to have brain spasms that would leave him unable to walk for days and have a fuzzy head for months until he started playing with this zinc and copper balance theory.. He made a full recovery eventually. https://cdn.voiceamerica.com/health/011455/nathan073115.mp3

Thank you for this info.

 

[foam]

Harley, interesting how he says most of the time it's an excess of something that screws up your brain rather than a deficiency. The diet I was on leading up to me getting tinnitus.... Not good in that regard lol. I would have be well overloaded on several fat soluble vitamins. Possibly near toxic levels of Folate, vitamin A and vitaain D. I'm laying low on those for now. Probably I would have been deficient in magnesium and potassium at he same time.

 

[om1]

Mine does, it becomes more noticeable when I lie down. I got mine after a silent reflux episode that stemmed from taking PPIs + antibitotics combo to get rid of H Pylori which had caused ulcers. I got mine only when sleeping and also now my T increases when my reflux does and both mostly while sleeping as well.

 

[Harley]

Harley, interesting how he says most of the time it's an excess of something that screws up your brain rather than a deficiency. The diet I was on leading up to me getting tinnitus.... Not good in that regard lol. I would have be well overloaded on several fat soluble vitamins. Possibly near toxic levels of Folate, vitamin A and vitaain D. I'm laying low on those for now. Probably I would have been deficient in magnesium and potassium at he same time.

Yes that is one of my theories as well.
I wish there was some kind of a easy test, that would tell us exactly which brain chemicals or vitamins are either excessive or defficient.

 

[JohnAdams]

yes

 

[Mister Muso]

Somatic hissing is better.. At least it goes away pretty early in the day

Agree, except when you're in loud environments and it keeps increasing to be the loudest thing you hear. I'm working at home today so it's settling down nicely. Now a few beers in the evening should settle me nicely

 

[John Mahan]

Sleep is my biggest trigger. I wrote about why I believe this to be so in the other active thread titled:
Something I Don't Get with Your Brain Is Trying to Replace the Lost Sound Frequency Theory

Seems to be a very common root cause of tinnitus as reflected by members here.

 

[Mister Muso]

Amitriptylene has saved my sleep and reduced my hyperacusis. My tinnitus is no better but hey ho. However it also makes me exhausted all day the next day... back to the doctor I go.

 

[Shera]

Sleep is a big thing for my T. The constant change in volume and tones contributed to my year and a half insomnia horror show. Sleep can change the volume and noises. My T woke me up constantly. If I'm lucky now and get a good nights sleep I'll start of the day with quieter T.

Though I had a horror show week were I would wake up with the freakiest noises drowning out all other sounds. Luckily I had just started to sleep again and my body was like screw this noise, go back to bed. So I survived that horror show. I'm just happy it's never gotten that bad again. *knock on wood* Though it looms over me.

If I have to wake up in the middle of the night to take my mom to ER or go out to shoot a predator my T is a angry monster. Sometimes going back to sleep takes the edge off, but not always.

My T isn't fond of naps either. Which sucks because I use to love naps.

I do find that changing myself to sleep on my back helps a lot and the right pillow.