Dream Treatment: Increasing Time Away From Tinnitus

I am very happy to report that I was able to reproduce yesterday's results without even trying. I automatically woke up after a few hours of sleep, went to the restroom, lied back down, and even though I wasn't prepared for it and didn't really want to experience it yet, I started having an even more aggressive experience than yesterday morning. This time I not only saw the flash of light, but felt very strange vibrations/fuzzy feelings all over my body. The newness of this once again made me feel circumstancial fear even though I was simultaneously feeling physical euphoria. I am going to continue going to bed with the same expectation and excitement; I hope a continuous trend will result.

Still no Dream-Initiated Lucid Dreams.

Even though I was am only testing the waters, and am afraid at the time, I am throughout the day very excited about this. I will continue to attempt to summon extra courage in the morning by remembering that I am doing this to prove something, though I am not sure what, for many tinnitus sufferers.
 
SUCCESS

Had my first lucid dream. It lasted about 0 seconds. I was watching some TV shows in 3rd person live, and then teleporting back to the living room to talk to people about it, which I never found weird cause in waking life I also think of everything from a disembodied 3rd person. But later I felt horror when I saw a monster and thought, "there is no way this is reality; I need to do a reality check". I checked my watch; noticed a change in it and woke up in bed(and then did a reality check there to make sure I had actually woken up).

Every morning my mind and body are waking up automatically after my second N3(non-rem), as I reach my second REM!!!3-5am. This is amazing. My mind and body are setting me up for the wake-back-to-bed technique(WBTB).

Also pretty much everyday, I experience WILD dream-entry symptoms. Today it was all about seeing moving colors, feeling dizzy, and having that sinking feeling in your stomach indicating you are falling. WOOO! I also am receiving a contoured sleep-mask in the mail. I am having trouble falling asleep after the sun comes up.
 
My dream recall has been greatly increasing. I am feeling more comfortable with the W.I.L.D. sensations; hoping to succeed in it soon. I Also think I am getting better at falling asleep at night; getting to sleep consistently earlier. The sleep mask I got in the mail is great for getting extra sleep in the morning and I sometimes use it at night as well. My dream journal has been wonderful for giving me insights and increasing dream recall.
 
Sleep mask is working great. This morning was the first day WILD dive was actually enjoyable. Been having them pretty much every day, often twice a day for a couple weeks now. It feels like I'm getting further and further into it each time; exercise during the day seems to help that night. A few nights ago I woke up, and as I sat up, I very distinctly felt a cat's tail brush against my face(tactile hallucination). In the WILD dives I have been hearing hallucinated sounds(couple nights ago I heard a train whistle), and feeling sensations. A few nights ago I was listening to rain sounds and felt rain drops on my leg.
 
Just tried 3mg of melatonin 200mg of l-theanine together: Very powerful effect. In the future I will probably just try melatonin by itself to compare. For now I am going to keep taking the two. Wild is so much easier now. I chickened out this morning cause I was losing feeling in my whole body except my throat which had a lump in it/felt tight. I also felt as if I was ready for dreamland but I wasn't getting any hallucinations, so I was worried about entering into dreamworld with no body and no landscape(which happens while dreams generate), because all I could see was blackness, and there was no dream-body replacing my physical body. I am still determined to overcome my fear of these unusual experiences, and make it all the way through; even if the only thing on the otherside is blackness(the dreambody and dreamscape later forms if this happens).
Later this morning I saw my first fully-formed hallucination behind my eyelids! It was a rotating intricate paper star, with writing all over it. I even opened my eyes, looked at my room, thne closed them again and still saw it. Also had non-lucid dreams I was able to recall. What a morning! :)
 
I have had several dream-induced lucid dreams: one lasting only a min or so where I decided to go hang-gliding(quite the thrill), another that was only 10 seconds long, and a very long one that I didn't have full control over(for reasons of deception about the nature of the dream that a dream character pulled on me).

I have come VERY close multiple times to entering into the dreamstate directly from wakestate, but this last time, because of the hypersensitivity of the senses(which sometimes happens) I had intense pain, feeling as sthough my arm under my pillow was being crushed. And when you move with WILD, it is generally over.

Once i am in another lucid dream i plan to suggest to my subconscious to heal the neural pathways responsible for my condition.
 
Some days the tinnitus doesnt seem to be a villain. Now it seems like sum of the whole. The meds, cymbalta, trazadone and benzos. Im worn down my body is exhausted. Im trying to blow off the trazadone cutting it down, my hyperacusis is improving. Im finally dreaming there convoluted never the less. Ive been to the gun shop twice theres plenty to pick from. I want to live yet Im in such a dark place. The benzo doesnt work any more but I cant just stop the anxiety it is also killing me. I welcome any response. Thank you. Peace.
 
@ruben ruiz sorry to hear you're in such a black place.

My experience with being off benzos for a while (then on then, then off again, and now off for a number of years) is that there are other strategies for managing anxiety and keeping it from spiraling out of control, but it's incredibly hard to learn those strategies effectively if you're already spinning with it.

Do you have any experience with guided meditations? A starting point would be to try to do something like this 45-minute body scan meditation:

45 minutes is long; a goal might be to do that one once or twice a week, and do a 10-minute version the other days:
 

Log in or register to get the full forum benefits!

Register

Register on Tinnitus Talk for free!

Register Now