Dream — You Gotta Read This!

[Jamie]

This is what happened last night:

I've had tinnitus for 30 years, since I was 13, following an ear infection. It's progressively worsened over the years and has severely impacted my life.

Last night, I had a dream that I was back in school, and suddenly, the tinnitus in my left ear (my worse ear) became incredibly loud — louder than anything I had ever experienced before. Eventually, I woke up.

Here's the strange part: when I woke, my right ear (my better ear) was ringing louder than I'd ever heard it — as loud as it was in the dream. I got up, went to the bathroom, then climbed back into bed. Thankfully, the ringing gradually quieted to almost its normal level.

I'm not sure what happened. Did the dream feel so real that my mind created the ringing? Or did I have a "ringing attack" that influenced the dream?

It's made me wonder: is this all in our heads? Does our mind hold the key to turning this off?

Has anyone else experienced something like this?

 

[Path Maker]

I've had dreams where a real sound is occurring in the environment (like a noise outdoors, or etc.) and in a half-sleeping/half-semi-conscious state, the external sound becomes part of the dream. My best guess is that that's what happened to you. Even though your dream told you "left ear" and when you awoke, it was actually the right ear, that's the kind of thing that happens in dreams by definition.

I wish it WAS "only" << the mind that held the key. I DO think that there are ways to effect the actual physical brain structures to reduce excitability, etc., and also that some mind calming techniques can directly alter the physical brain structures and aid in tinnitus suppression. There is a real challenge with this in that it is very individual and also lots of trial-and-error is involved in trying to make some of that work.

I hope that the tinnitus you have reduces and that you get more peace.

 

[Jacob83]

I've thought about this a lot as well, like when my tinnitus is obviously there but I don't notice it's there because I'm distracted or caught up in other things and don't notice it when otherwise I would. Like can we out think tinnitus? Our minds are pretty amazing, afterall.

Also, like you, my tinnitus is much stronger in my left ear than it is than my right ear and I too woke up in the middle of a dream last night with my right ear producing a very loud high pitch ringing. I just layed there and thought, "Seriously!?" and got out of bed and walked around for a bit and it went away after a while.

 

[Frédéric]

I wasn't sure whether to start a new thread or add to this one, as my experience relates to two specific points:

1. At least twice a week, I actually hear my tinnitus during my dreams. It's "wonderful" (ironically) to realize that even in sleep, tinnitus can still bother me.
   
   
2. In these dreams, I often face situations where I'm forced to give up my studies or my job due to the effects of tinnitus, like sleep disturbances, and impaired cognition and attention.

Has anyone else experienced something similar? I should also mention that I have to take sleep medication to be able to sleep.